Royal Highlander #3
“Perhaps next time, you should run after the sickly men, and I’ll fight the women.”
Sebastian Grant
Highland Sword takes the Royal Highlander trilogy out on a high note. Morrigan and Aidan’s repartee and slow-burn romance are fun to watch reach fruition. The overarching plot plots from Highland Crown and Highland Jewel wrapped up nicely. For those who have read their other books, references to older books are a welcome reminder that they all take place in the same world.
Many romance novels shy away from the hardships suffered by many during the Regency era in Britain, but Jim and Nikoo embrace it, especially the tensions between Scotland and England. Morrigan has lost her father and fled her home as a direct result of the conflict. Aidan fights in the courtroom as a barrister defending his clients accused of treason. This conflict and the villains that it spawns are the antagonists that Morrigan, Aidan, and their allies face, and it works well.
Morrigan is a character that we’ve seen different sides of in each of the books of the Royal Highlander. She showed herself to be a dutiful daughter and protective sister, but now she shows us her vulnerable side. Pain is a common element of Morrigan’s past, some ordeals we’ve seen before, and this book shows us trauma that shaped who she has become. This past drives her to become a capable fighter able to defend herself while making her fearful of following her heart with Aidan. It’s rewarding watching her make peace with the past and move forward, even when forces try to blackmail her.
Aidan is well-known as a capable talker, which goes along with his profession as a barrister. It doesn’t mean that he’s incapable during a fight. He and his brother Sebastian survived the Battle of Waterloo. That doesn’t stop Morrigan from giving him a black eye or two. He still prefers to spar with Morrigan verbally, and their banter is very amusing. Aidan is also one of the rare romance heroes that is the one to say that he won’t sleep with his love until they’re married. It’s a refreshing change of pace from books where the hero immediately tries to dive under the heroine’s skirts.
Aidan and Morrigan have a slow-burn romance that builds over weeks instead of days and is more organic feeling because of it. They have other duties and tasks that take them away from each other, and while some readers may not like the emphasis on aspects other than the romance, it is more accurate.
The Royal Highlander trilogy has come to a close, and with it, the stories of Isabella, Maisie, and Morrigan come to their happy conclusion. I look forward to where Jim and Nikoo will take us next.
Affiliate Links
