Review: ‘Highland Conquest’ by Heather McCollum
Highland Conquest
by Heather McCollumSeries: Sons of Sinclair #1
Published by Entangled Publishing LLC (Amara) on April 28, 2020
SubGenres: Historical Romance, Scottish Historical Romance
Format: AudioBook, Paperback
Pages: 384
Narrator: Tim Campbell
Length: 9 Hours And 7 Minutes
Source: Purchased
Audience: 18+/Adult
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Cain Sinclair has a plan. In order to finally bring peace to his clan, he will wed the young female chief of their greatest enemy. Only problem: capturing her and forcing her back to Sinclair castle doesn’t exactly make her want to say yes. Ella Sutherland may be clever, passionate, and shockingly beautiful, but what she isn’t is willing.
Every attempt Cain makes to woo her seems to backfire on him. A gift? The kitten practically claws his eyes out. A competitive game of chess? Even when he wins, he loses. It seems the only time the two ever see eye to eye is when they’re heating up Cain’s bed. Still, the only thing Ella truly wants is the one thing he cannot offer her: freedom.
But when Cain discovers she’s been harboring a secret—one that could threaten both clans’ very existence—he’ll have to decide between peace for the Sinclairs or the woman who’s captured his heart.
Highland Conquest is the first book I’ve read from author Heather McCollum and it definitely won’t be my last, especially when I’m in the mood for more Scottish Historical Romance books. I love reading books about Scottish heroes, especially when I’m married to one of my own.
The MMC, Cain Sinclair, is the typical alpha male who is all about conquering and taking what he wants. Unfortunately, he’s going to meet his match in the FMC, Ella Sutherland. Ella Sutherland is a warrior and she can hold her own, and she’s tired of men like Cain telling her what to do. Cain is determined to convince Ella to marry him, even when she’s the enemy, because all he wants is peace between their clans. The way he does it, though, is by capturing her and holding her captive until she eventually changes her mind about marrying him.
I loved that Heather not only gave me an alpha Scottish Highlander but also wrote a fierce and strong heroine who wasn’t going to let the Highlander walk all over her. I always love it when the hero doesn’t have it easy in the book, and I loved that Cain even tried to give Ella gifts, but she wasn’t budging. Ella has her reasons for not giving in to him, especially with how she was treated in her clan.
This was definitely an entertaining Enemies to Lovers storyline with a lot of banter between Ella and Cain. It did take a bit for these two to give in to that romantic relationship because there were trust issues, especially when it came to Ella. That’s due to how she was treated in her clan and that she was supposed to be Cain’s enemy, especially with what she ended up doing at the beginning of the book.
Overall, a delightful book, and I give it four stars. I can’t wait to read the rest of the Sinclair brothers’ books, especially since Heather introduced each of them in this book.
If you enjoy listening to your audiobooks, then I definitely recommend the audiobook for this book. Tim Campbell is a new narrator to me, and he did a phenomenal job of bringing this Scottish Historical Romance story to life. I need to listen to more audiobooks he’s done now.
Trope(s)/Element(s):
🏴Highlander Romance
🏴Enemies to Lovers
🏴Marriage of Convenience
🏴Capture/Captive Romance
🏴Alpha Scottish Hero
🏴Strong and Fierce Heroine
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About Heather McCollum
I am Heather McCollum, writer of 16th and 17th century Scottish romance full of adventure and intrigue, sprinkled with humor, history, and spice. Brawny Highlanders and feisty heroines are my favorite characters!
I am also a mom of three kids, dog-mom of one rescued geriatric golden retriever, and wife of one 6 foot 4 inch Highlander. When I’m not trying to help my kids make it through the day, baking things I see on The Great British Baking Show, or writing, I’m usually educating women on ovarian cancer (I’m a nine-year survivor).
I love kilted heroes, chai lattes, and eating buttered air-popped popcorn for dinner on Friday nights (my dog loves this one too).
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My obsession with reading started over 30+ years ago when I went to my first Scholastic Book Fair and found R.L. Stine's Fear Street series. Later, I came across Anne Rice's novels at my public library when I was fourteen when my obsession with vampires started. I was the girl who preferred to be a vampire over a princess any day. My husband says I would leave him a heartbeat for a vampire that looked like Spike or Angel (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) or Damon Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries. (It's true, though, and he's accepted it.)
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