Talking about Julie Garwood's 'The Wedding' at Parajunkee's View

I'm talking about one of my favorite books - Julie Garwood's The Wedding over at Parajunkee's View.  Haven't tried historical romance?  See why this one's on my keeper shelf.

Ransom by Julie Garwood

Since I liked her other Highlander books so much, I grabbed Ransom with much anticipation. I was not disappointed! Ms. Garwood's stories are romantic, but I love the humor she infuses into her stories too.

Ransom is the story of Brodick, one of the characters from The Secret (my review here), and Gillian, and English Lady. As a child, Gillian and her sister try to escape as her father's castle is attacked. Her sister gets away, but Gillian is captured and brought back just in time to witness her father's murder. The murder, Baron Alford, sends her away to live with an uncle.

Fast forward a few years, and she has been brought back to Baron Alford to see what she remembers of a valuable box her father had in his posession that the baron is trying to find. He keeps her captive in the castle.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the son of one of the Lairds, Iain, is kidnapped at a fair and brought back to Alford's castle in a plot to kill the Laird. BUT, they got the wrong child. Gillian overhears the barons discussing the Highlander who is coming to assist, and she knows the traitor will know they have the wrong child and kill him.

Gillian tries to escape with the child, Alec, and is injured while doing so. They are caught, and Alford beats her savagely and tells her she must go to the Highlands, where he hears her sister is hidden, find the box, and bring the box and her sister back to him before the Fall Festival. If she does not, he will kill Gillian's uncle. Gillian brings Alec with her, hoping to return him to his family, and travels a pretty good distance but, unable to go further, sends a request for help to Alec's protector, Brodick, through a Scottish soldier passing through. She doesn't know how to make sure Brodick will get the message, so she claims to be his bride, knowing he'll come out of curiosity if nothing else. She sees the traitor going towards England while she is hiding out, waiting for Brodick.

Intrigued by the strange message, Brodick does come, with backup, and is overjoyed to see Alec alive and well. He agrees to assist Gillian with her plan to bring Alec home and ask Alec's father to help her find her sister. On the long way back to return Alec, Gillian charms the Highlanders. They all treat her as if she really is Brodick's bride despite her protestations, "A claim's a claim" they state.

Once they finally get to Iain's keep with his son, she tells them what has happened and they agree to assist her. However, she refuses to tell them the names of the baron and his henchmen who kidnapped and assaulted her, as she fears the Highlanders will go after them and Alford will kill her uncle.

Over the few days at Iain's keep, Gillian and Broderick grow more and more attracted to each other and share a few kisses, and when he hears there's rumor that Gillian is his mistress, Broderick insists on marrying her to protect her reputation. She, of course, is having none of it, because she knows she must find her sister and the box and return to England, where she will probably be killed. The wedding scene was one of the funniest I have read!

They find Gillian's sister, but she doesn't want to speak with her. Gillian can't believe it's true and hatches a plan to see for herself. Meanwhile, she tells Brodick who the Barons are after he promises the Lairds will not to act unless she is with them. She wakes up the next morning and they're gone, so she goes off to find her sister, but is ambushed by the Highland traitors and rescued by an unlikley character.

The confrontation between Gillian and Alford is great. Ms. Garwood did a great job of tying all the loose ends into a satisfying ending. This book has good guys that are bad guys and bad guys who are good guys. There is a female character, Bridgid, whose part starts small and humerous at the beginning, and gets funnier as the story continues. I will definitely read this one again!

Book Binge

I learned something new this week. I did not know how many genres of Romance there are. I knew about Erotica, Larissa Lyons kindly informed me there is Erotic Romance, or "Romantica", I stumbled across Highland Romance, Medival, Regency, Historical, Paranormal, Contemporary, Western, I saw one about a Pirate but I don't know what that would be called - Swashbuckler Romance? I've also run across some m/m and menage.

I've been so involved reading all these Highlander Romances that I'm very behind writing about them! I tore through Julie Garwood's Highland stories - I read one of her Regency (?) romances, Lion's Lady, but didn't care for it too much. I also read one of her contemporaries, Shadow Dance, which was pretty good, although I think there were several books in the series before it. I've also just discovered Kinley MacGregor (Sherrilyn Kenyon). I've read books two and three of her Highlander books and love them! Not a big surprise as I do love me some Dark Hunters!

I also tried to read The Virgin's Secret by Victoria Alexander but couldn't finish it. I've finally given up and will try again later. I'm surprised, because I LOVED What A Lady Wants. I'm going to do a post about it - I spent a good portion of the book laughing out loud.

I'm also looking for recommendations for a good Book Swap. I've found one or two online but don't know if it's more of a hassle than it's worth, or if they're reputable. All I know is I'm gonna have to get another job to keep myself in books!

The Secret by Julie Garwood

Okay, I am totally turning into a Julie Garwood fangirl! I really liked The Secret. Hmm...I wonder why: sexy highlanders, fiesty heroines, hot kisses, tender love scenes....mmmmmm...

Oh, where was I? Oh, yes, the book. Ms. Garwood weaves great stories. I love her heroes, her heroines, and her supporting characters. I do wonder about some of the dialogue, whether it's too modern, but thankfully she doesn't do the doonae's and hasna's. But you know what? I don't care! She writes a great story.

The Secret is set in 12th Century Scotland. Judith and Frances Catherine were small children who met at a seasonal fair set on the border between England and Scotland. Judith was from England, Frances Catherine was from the Scottish Highlands. Each year they would meet at the fair and became fast, fast friends, even though the English and the Scots were bitter enemies. Frances Catherine's mother died in childbirth, and her granmother did as well. Frances Catherine was terrified the same fate would fall to her. As a child, Judith swore to help her when they grew up and had babies, she promised she wouldn't let her die.


Fast forward a few years and Frances Catherine is married and pregnant. She is married to her Laird's brother, Patrick. When they got married she made Patrick swear that he would bring Judith to help her with the delivery. The clan elders do not believe Judith will come, but they send someone to ask her to come anyway, so Patrick's vow to his wife is not broken. It's an eight day journey to Judith, and they are shocked when they arrive and she is packed and ready to go. She can't wait to see her friend! The Scottish escort is rough and unfriendly, but Judith wears them down with friendliness and spunkyness. She rides to Scotland with Iain, the Laird, who quickly becomes captivated by her, as do the rest of his soldiers.

By the time she arrives in Scotland, Judith realizes she has feelings for Iain. She has a wonderful reunion with Frances Catherine and starts to settle in. When word gets around that she's there to help with the pregnancy and birth, she receivesa request to assist another woman. Turns out the midwife is a real piece of work and has scared the other expectant mothers silly. Judith learned about midwifery as soon as she found out Frances Catherine was pregnant, but has not ever actually witnessed a birth, so needless to say she is terrified when they come to her for assistance. All goes well, however, and she ends up assisting in a few more births.

The midwife becomes jealous, as Judith is becoming sought after and she is not. Also, the midwife wanted Iain to marry her daughter, and is not happy about his attentions to Judith. She has another small episode with the midwife's assistant, but handles it cleverly and turns her into a staunch ally instead.

Meanwhile, Judith has a secret about her father that no one but Frances Catherine knows. When Judith was an infant, her mother left her father, the Highland Laird MacLean, to go back to England. She told Judith her father was an English baron who died fighting the Scots. Judith didn't find out the truth for many years. The only memento she has of ther father is a ring with his seal on it that she wears around her neck. Her father is one of Iain's enemies.

Ian accidentally finds out who her father is, and convinces her to marry him before it becomes common knowledge for fear his council will object. She begins to enjoy her life with Iain and endears herself to his people.

Then, one afternoon, Judith goes for a ride with a few guards, and they are overtaken by MacLean soldiers and kidnapped. The Laird MacLean intends to use her as bait to kill Iain, but Judith surprises him by telling him she is his daughter and showing him the ring. He asks many questions and embraces her as his daughter and Iain makes an alliance with him without the council's approval. Frances Catherine goes into labor and has some problems, but delivers with Judith's assistance and all is well.

The council has a meeting to discuss Iain's alliance and his wife's relationship to MacLean, and Iain resigns as Laird. Judith prepares to leave and doesn't know Iain has resigned. As they prepare to leave, one by one the rest of the clan states their intent to go with them. There is a scene where they discuss the wants and needs of the clan, and Iain ends up remaining Laird, with Judith at his side.

Loved this story, there is no way my review does it any kind of justice. Her characters are so well-rounded and the storyline is so full! Great read.

Shadow Music by Julie Garwood

I picked up Shadow Music because I'd recently read The Bride and loved it. I figured I'd like this one too (plus, the cover was safe, no half nekkid people in a scandalous embrace on it). This was a great story. I think I have a soft spot for Highlanders, or maybe forced marriages, or ladies whose reputations have been ruined for no good reason. I'm seeing a pattern in all the Romance stories I've liked so far.

Gabrielle's mother was a princess from St. Biel, and her father was an English Baron. St. Biel had a curious history; there was a story of lost gold, but no one knew if it was true.

Gabrielle was a beautiful young woman, and to keep peace between England and Scotland, her king, John, had promised her to an older Laird of a Highland clan. Her dowry was to be a piece of land in Scotland that belonged to the king, but many clansman coveted this piece of land. As Gabrielle arrived at the Abbey where she was to be wed, she came upon a group of men preparing to murder another and ambush his kinsmen. Under cover of woods, she shot and killed the main attacker (with a bow and arrow!) and his co-conspirators ran. She rushed out and brought the injured man to the Abbey to be nursed back to health, but did not want anyone to know as she was not aware of the parties involved and didn't want to accidentally end up in the middle of a clan war. While at the Abbey her betrothed was murdered. There were two English Barons who had been fighting to marry her before the King gave her away and they each saw this as an opportunity marry her; however things went awry and Gabrielle was accused of being a whore and banished from England. The Baron's plan was to kidnap her while she had no protection, however, Gabrielle's cousin by marriage was there and knew the accusations were false. He convinced his friend, Laird Colm MacHugh to take Gabrielle under his protection and marry her. MacHugh did not want to do it but owed his friend a debt (favor, not money) and took her. He told her they would marry in 6 months so no one would wonder if any children were his. Of course he is very Alpha and expects her to follow his orders and she replies with "as you wish" and does whatever she wants. Oh, and the man whose life she saved turned out to be Colm's brother.

There are many trials they must face, but they do fall in love. The king finds out about Gabrielle's banishment and the lies surrounding it and has new plans for Gabrielle. He sends a messenger to apologize and offer her the land back but she knows it's a trick. She quickly (and secretly) marries Colm and is therefore free of her obligation to follow the king's orders. But one of the Barons is not done with her, he wants the rumored gold and he knows Gabrielle knows where it is! So he kidnaps her! Of course, Gabrielle outsmarts him and gets a message to her husand who comes to save her.

This was a really good book to read but hard to write about, there were so many twists and turns, it really kept my attention. I really liked the characters and rooted for them through the whole book. If Ms. Garwood's books all have such terrific characters and sexy Highlanders to boot, I think she has a new fan!

I'm not sure about the title of the book, I don't know what it had to do with the story. It might be the sound Colm's sword makes before it strikes down his enemies.

The Bride by Julie Garwood

I came across this book by accident. I was in Barnes and Noble and I was trying to get my daughter to behave so I could pick one more book, so I asked her to pick one for me. She actually picked the book next to this one, which didn't look very interesting, but this one caught my eye.

I really liked this book. Alec is a Scottish warlord who had been in England at the behest of his king, and was told to pick a wife from four sisters on his way back to Scotland. His friend Daniel was to pick a wife as well. Jamie's father didn't pay his taxes, so he was forced to offer up two daughters to wed in payment. Alec chose Jamie and they were immediately married and off to Scotland that day. She didn't like him because he was Scottish, he didn't like her because she was English. Jamie was quickly accepted into Alec's clan after she healed one of the warriors they thought was dead. Her prickly temper kept her at odds with Alec, who also had a quick temper. As they began to know each other and understand each other's personalities, they grew closer. There was a bit of mystery - someone was trying to kill Jamie! It was not the person I thought it was. This was a very entertaining story. I'll try another of Ms. Garwood's stories.