Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander, #1)

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Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander #1)

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 26,231 ratings · 1,421 reviews

An Alluring Laird

He was known throughout the kingdom as Hawk, legendary predator of the battlefield and the boudoir. No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart—until a vengeful fairy tumbled Adrienne de Simone out of modern-day Seattle and into medieval Scotland. Captive in a century not her own, entirely too bold, too outspoken, she was an irresi...more

Mass Market Paperback, 375 pages

Published May 29th 2007 by Dell (first published March 9th 1999)

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Best Paranormal Romance Series

31st out of 1,454 books — 6,860 voters

Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

Beyond the Highland Mist by Karen Marie Moning

Best Highland/Scotland Romance Novels

5th out of 285 books — 824 voters

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Mar 30, 2012 Emily May rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, fantasy, romance, 2011

3.5 stars

I'm having mixed feelings about this one as a whole but I would just like to say that my 3.5 star rating is, in this case, a rather positive one. I actually enjoyed reading the majority of this novel and I also wouldn't mind checking out Moning's other Highland novels as I've heard this is the least popular of the series. It suffered somewhat from the inevitable comparisons that I simply had to make to the Fever series, it was nothing like those and I'm starting to believe nothing ever...more

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Apr 12, 2011 UniquelyMoi *Dhestiny* BlithelyBookish rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads, 3-stars, author-karen-marie-moning, disquised-incognito-undercover, fae-faeries-dark-fae-fae-queen-fae, fantasy-fairies-fey, first-in-series, first-read-of-an-author, gypsy-rom-roma, historical-fantasy, historical-romance-highlanders, historical-romance-series, masquerading-as-someone-else, recd-by-friends, series-highlander-moning, starts-with-a-thru-d, time-travel, hero-great-heroine-sucked, reviewed-by-me, highlanders

Beyond the Highland Mist is my first read by this author, and not a bad start to the Highland series, though only loosely tied to it.

Those who know me know that I suffer from a sometimes debilitating disorder known as MRBIOs, Must Read Books In Order syndrome. It’s important that you understand this about me because I’m about make a shocking statement, here: In order to enjoy this series, it isn’t necessary to read the first book. Yes, I really did say that, and no, I’m not on medication. Just...more
Beyond the Highland Mist is my first read by this author, and not a bad start to the Highland series, though only loosely tied to it.

Those who know me know that I suffer from a sometimes debilitating disorder known as MRBIOs, Must Read Books In Order syndrome. It’s important that you understand this about me because I’m about make a shocking statement, here: In order to enjoy this series, it isn’t necessary to read the first book. Yes, I really did say that, and no, I’m not on medication. Just stating the facts.

As I said, this isn’t a bad start to the series, though it definitely suffers from a case of the FITS – First in the Series syndrome. My overall feelings about this story have nothing to do with the fact that I’m not a fan of time travel, rather everything to do with the hero and heroine.

Hawk has all the characteristics of an amazing hero, and I adored him! In ways, he reminds me of Gaston from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast because he’s extremely good looking and enjoys reaping the reward of women in his bed because of it. He’s a powerful laird, physically and mentally, and his clan has great respect for him. He’s a man of honor and integrity and can be trusted to always do the right thing. Was he perfect? No, and by the end of the story I wanted to shoot him and end my own misery.

What prompted my brush with charactercide? Read on.... (view spoiler)

Adrienne, on the other hand, bothered the heck out of me right from the start and I never really cared about her one way or the other, except for how she affected Hawk’s happiness. I found very little about her to be appealing, and by the end of the story there was really nothing she could have done to redeem herself enough to be deserving of Hawk.

For those who, like myself, aren’t fans of time travel, that element in this book is very minor and I don’t think it takes too much away from the story. Although I suppose it could be argued that it had a huge impact on my rating because Adrienne being from the future and her over the top “I have rights” attitude throughout the book ruined the story for me. I’m giving this 2.5 stars because Hawk was hot.

Again, this book is not necessary to the ongoing storyline of the series.
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Jun 05, 2011 ♥ Sam ♥ ~S2~Im made of awesomness rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: blog-reviews-for-my-wenchy, highlanders, historical-romance, kilt-wearing-babes, next-in-the-series, part-of-a-series, time-travel

Beyond the Highland Mist - First of all I have read this series out of order, intentionally. I was told by a dozen fellow reviewers that the first three in this series were pretty flat. So I read 4-7 and FREAKING LOVED THEM, but then my gal pal, Nissie and I decided that we should pay the first three in the series homage. After reading the first one, I’m going to have to swing my vote in favour of this one not being anywhere near as good as books 4-7. The only compensation being that I got a chu...more
Beyond the Highland Mist - First of all I have read this series out of order, intentionally. I was told by a dozen fellow reviewers that the first three in this series were pretty flat. So I read 4-7 and FREAKING LOVED THEM, but then my gal pal, Nissie and I decided that we should pay the first three in the series homage. After reading the first one, I’m going to have to swing my vote in favour of this one not being anywhere near as good as books 4-7. The only compensation being that I got a chunk full of Adam Black * Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin*.

Now I’m not going to lie, KMM has a way with her words. She has a nice knack for making things from the lick of the lower lip to talking about Falcons, pretty darn sensual. And can build sexual tension to a boiling point!

Sidheach James Lyon Dougal, (whoa! Wrap your mouth around that one a half dozen times) aka HAWK, is the 16th centuries version on Brad Pitt, or whatever you consider the epitome of perfect. Okay so imagine the most perfect man ever in your head....got it?.....hold it..... okay, so that’s, Hawk.

Adrienne is the 20th Centuries version of a ‘man hater’ – she herself is pretty stunning. But because of her 20th century loathing of pretty men, she is by no fault of her own sucked back through time to be used as a pawn against Hawk. Adrienne finds herself married to Hawk and stuck in the 16th Century, the roll she seems to slide into a little too smoothly. No freaking out about time travel, no ‘OMG IM IN THE LAND BEFORE TOILETS AND *GASP* TOILET PAPER!’.

This is where Adam Blacks worms his way into the equation – he wants to get revenge on Hawk after the Queen Fairy Aoibheal made her King Finnbheara jealous with her tales of Hawk. And so the story begins.

Time travel, romance, seduction, fairies, Rom, danger, action, love are only snippets into what we get in this book. But in saying all these things there was still something lacking in this story that was there in the other books. I didn’t like that to Hawk there was never a question as to if he, himself would go to Adrienne's time to save her; it was always she had to come to him. Also Hawk was really quite full of himself and well Adrienne didn’t fare much better. I guess this book has a case of what’s been come to known as FITSI – FIRST IN THE SERIES ITIS.

But I will be reading on because I already know the series ends up to be magnificent.
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Apr 07, 2011 BarkLessWagMore rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobook, romance

Next up on the IPod.

This book has received many favorable reviews but this isn’t going to be one of them. I feel like the Goodreads grouch but as I was listening to this on audio my overriding thought was, “when the hell is it going to end?” It seemed to plod on and on and if I heard the heroine exclaim “I HATE BEAUTIFUL MEN!” once more whilst drooling over two pretty men I was certain I was going lose the last thread of sanity that’s holding me together.

I’m not going to waste your time (and mi...more Next up on the IPod.

This book has received many favorable reviews but this isn’t going to be one of them. I feel like the Goodreads grouch but as I was listening to this on audio my overriding thought was, “when the hell is it going to end?” It seemed to plod on and on and if I heard the heroine exclaim “I HATE BEAUTIFUL MEN!” once more whilst drooling over two pretty men I was certain I was going lose the last thread of sanity that’s holding me together.

I’m not going to waste your time (and mine) by rehashing the plot bit by painful bit. Basically, it’s a time-travel in which the modern day heroine gets flung back in time straight into the lap of a man in need of a daughter to marry off to “The Hawk”. Hawk is a beautiful man, with big beautiful man parts that he’s been using to give pleasure to most of the women in the area for years. He’s ticked off a jealous fey King and he’s in service to his King (because of something his father did) and both King’s have something to do with the time flippery of the heroine. Got it? No? I’m not sure I do either. The Hawk isn’t supposed to love whatshername (Adrianne, was it?), which is why the fey chose her (as punishment) but, imagine this if you will, they fall madly, truly, deeply, forever after in love, despite it all.

I’m being sarcastic because that's how I roll when I'm grumpy after listening to this male narrator go on and on for what seemed like two months. He does a super sexy Hawk voice but his falsetto female voice just didn’t work for me and when he read the sex scenes I was more than a bit uncomfortable in a bad way. These two characters come across as a bit bratty for way too much of the story. She tries to make him jealous to push him away because, don’t forget(like the author would ever let you), SHE HATES BEAUTIFUL MEN! HATES THEM!! because she’s been scorned by one. She doth protest way too much and spends numerous pages flirting with a gorgeous-o (I dare not say beautiful) blacksmith and it was downright mean to Hawk and didn’t make me sympathize with her at all. The Hawk, of course, falls for it every damn time and stomps off in a huff determined to make her love him anyway, even when he thinks she’s slept with the other dude. Why, man, why?! There are lots of nice girls out there who would give you those babies you want and wouldn't hurt you so!

I was so confused. I got the impression that she was a modern girl, who in her past, was treated exceptionally bad by an arrogant, beautiful bastard whom she had a relationship with and from the bits revealed it seemed as if she lived with the man. However, it is later revealed that she is a virgin. Twenty, living with a guy and a virgin still? Her ex seemed like a real worldly man and I just didn’t get this but maybe I just have too dirty of a mind? Yeah, that’s probably it.

Despite my many issues with this book I did love “The Hawk” and felt that he deserved better than Adrianne and her silly head games. This book made me so crazy and nattered on for eternity but because it made me feel something, even if that something was too often anger, I have to give it three stars for making me care. I’ll probably read the next one too because that’s how I am.(less)

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Jul 30, 2010 The Black Pearl rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: time-travel, favorites, paranormal-romance, highlanders

I love historical romances - especially those featuring pirates, knights, and highlanders - so I was excited to discover Karen Marie Moning's "Highlander" series. "Beyond the Highland Mist" is the first in the series and I am so glad I picked this book up!

Sixteenth Century - Sidheach (Sid-hawk) James Lyon Douglas is known as Hawk, legendary lover to countless women. His sensuality just oozes off the pages. He is well-aware of the hold his beauty and his sexuality holds over the women who are lu...more I love historical romances - especially those featuring pirates, knights, and highlanders - so I was excited to discover Karen Marie Moning's "Highlander" series. "Beyond the Highland Mist" is the first in the series and I am so glad I picked this book up!

Sixteenth Century - Sidheach (Sid-hawk) James Lyon Douglas is known as Hawk, legendary lover to countless women. His sensuality just oozes off the pages. He is well-aware of the hold his beauty and his sexuality holds over the women who are lucky/unlucky enough to share his bed. As he so arrogantly brags to his best friend and captain of the guard, Grimm, "There is not a woman I can not have." A wish upon a star by his friend soon finds the legendary lover eating those very words.

Twentieth Century - Adrienne de Simone has had enough with beautiful men. Finding her world turned upside down by a failed and almost fatal relationship with a gorgeous playboy, she swears off beautiful men forever. Finding herself the pawn in a game between the mortals and the fae, Adrienne is thrust back in time to the sixteenth century where she is to be wed to the man who is the very epitome of everything she has sworn off in men.

Things start getting very interesting when the first time Hawk sees his wife, who he was determined before to ignore, she's checking out the blacksmith, Adam Black. Once so sure of himself, Hawk finds himself treading the very unfamiliar waters of jealousy. Determined to not lose his bride to a blacksmith, Hawk sets out to seduce her only to find his every plan thwarted by the not so easily won Adrienne.

I laughed until I cried at these two! Hawk's jealousy towards Adam was hilarious...and touching. The secondary characters were just as enjoyable, too! From Lady Lydia, the Hawk's mother to Tavis and his "I'll say" to the Rom and their superstitions - all come together to form a wonderful story of wit, mayhem, and magic!

By the way, I found myself just as enchanted by Adam Black the blacksmith as the heroine and after a quick search on Amazon.com I found that he has his own book! *squeal Of course it comes much later in the series and so I'll have to wait patiently until I've finished the others before I can find out what happened to my favorite "prankster". *wink
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Mar 02, 2013 Mitzi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: writer-karen-moning, genre-romance-pananormal-fantasy, genre-romance-historical, genre-romance-time-travel, heat-3-boiling, narrator-phil-gigante

Good series. Just listened to audio version (Sept 2012) after reading the book a long time ago. It wasn't as good of a story as I remember it, but I did like the narrator and want to continue to reread/relisten to them.

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Jan 21, 2013 LibraryLass rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, 2012, 2013, mine, para-romance

Loved it!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the whole premise of this book. The idea of a man (Hawk) getting his comeuppance by sending a woman (Adrienne) who hates beautiful men, just tickled me right from the beginning.

I thought it was a clever plotline. I have read time-travel before and enjoyed but this was clever and funny. It certainly had its poignant moments too and this just added a bit of depth to the story.

I loved how KMM developed Hawk and Adrienne's characters. Their relationship was a given,...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Luu rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal, historical, adult

Judit wrote: "a to si ešte nečítal jej červenoknižnicovú Highlander time-travel sériu, kde hlavný hrdina žijúci v minulosti objaví tampóny (z budúcnosti) a čistí s nimi pištoľ."

Plus:
- je tam ostrieľaný škótsky Casanova, ktorý zviedol 5000 žien
- ale nemiloval nikdy žiadnu
- až pokiaľ mu nepričarovali úžasnú Adrienne de Simone, pretože je to jediná žena v histórií, ktorá jeho čaru nepodľahne
- (vôbec neva, že je z roku 1997)
- ale v skutočnosti sa za maskou namakaného svalovca skrýva nežná a citlivá...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Loederkoningin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-great-k-and-k-shelf, gender-stereotypes, kidnapped-heroines-and-captors, surprise-virgin, unintentionally-funny, love-baby-strikes-again, meh-but-not-awful, guilty-pleasures, too-much-emphasis-on-glorious-looks, too-much-sugar, cult-of-domesticity, fluffy-romance, f-m, karen-marie-moning, formulaic

What will be your reason for picking this one up?

If it's anything like: “Mmm, I really like KMM’s Fever series...Mac 3.0 was alright and Mac 4.0 kicked some ass. And Barrons..oh Barrons! That hot, carnal, cantankerous badass... So why not try KMM's other series?” Well, let's say you're in for a surprise. Beyond the Highland Mist is nothing like the Fever series. Evidence to substantiate this bold statement you ask? How about this?

"The thing about the room that struck her so hard was that it see...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Annie the Destroyer *Leather Lust* rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Annie the Destroyer *Leather Lust* by: Rhonda

Shelves: ebooks, first-book-in-series, my-hottie-harem, read-in-2011, keep-a-spare-pair-of-knickers, genre-historical-romance, pnr, author-karen-marie-moning, series-highlander, the-hymen-club

3.5/5 stars

Thanks Rhonda for this book! Xo

Hawk is the perfect man, the epitome of male beauty. Legions of females fight for their one chance to be with the legendary Hawk, but Adrienne de Simone isn’t one of them. It isn’t the fact that she comes from the twentieth century. Or the fact that she doesn’t notice Hawk’s stunning good looks. It’s the fact that Adrienne just hates beautiful men.

And doesn’t that just suck for Hawk?

I just love it when the shameless manwhore finally falls for someone wh...more 3.5/5 stars

Thanks Rhonda for this book! Xo

Hawk is the perfect man, the epitome of male beauty. Legions of females fight for their one chance to be with the legendary Hawk, but Adrienne de Simone isn’t one of them. It isn’t the fact that she comes from the twentieth century. Or the fact that she doesn’t notice Hawk’s stunning good looks. It’s the fact that Adrienne just hates beautiful men.

And doesn’t that just suck for Hawk?

I just love it when the shameless manwhore finally falls for someone who doesn’t gasp and giggle at their every word. But Hawk isn’t your typical womanizer. He’s scorned with his past reputation for being the King’s whore. And it seems that in spite of his actions, nothing will erase his past. I also love the fact that he is relentless and will stop at nothing to win Ari’s heart.

Adrienne was a solid heroine who had a strong will. She didn’t fall prey to the sexy lilt in Hawk’s voice or his chiselled body (I would have!). And I admired that. But I felt like she held out for too long and when she finally yielded to Hawk’s touch, it was almost too late.

What irked me a bit about this book is the fact that it seemed too short. I’m not talking about the length of the novel... For lack of a better explanation, I think it was the fact that the scenes seemed so short. Just when I was getting into a scene, it cut off and I was left feeling deflated. This happened countless times! It was a little frustrating.

I loved the time travel idea and thought it added a unique element to an already interesting world. And of course, there’s Adam Black who has set me afire just by his first appearance in this novel. I just adore that smithy! I cannot wait to read his book!

I think this series could cause some problems with me. I’m sensing another obsession coming on and with word going around that the series gets better, I’m going to be in deep Highlander trouble.

p.s. I may be alone in this regard, but I kind of like cheesy covers like this one! Whose with me?? *silence* Okkay fine...

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Sep 04, 2010 FlibBityFLooB rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scots-and-kilts, time-travel, read-in-2010, historical-paranormal, loved-the-audiobook-narration, marriage-of-convenience, made-me-laugh, love-triangle, witty-i-am-not, fae-or-elves, zzauthor-moning-km

4.5/5 stars. I think that my enjoyment of this novel largely stemmed from two things:

1) I read Karen Marie Moning's urban fantasy FEVER series first. It's one of my favorite series, and I think that seeing the potential for cross-over in this series brought lots of enjoyment to my reading of this book.

2) I listened to the audiobook. The narrator has a sexy male voice and was able to do so many different accents in very nice ways ;) This is the same audiobook narrator who does Jerricho Barrons fr...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Jen (Red Hot Books) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: highlander, historical-romance

I am a big fan of Karen Marie Moning. I love her Highlander books and her Fever series. But Beyond the Highland Mist was written before she hit that sweet spot in her writing that made me a fan for life. It’s not that it’s a bad book –it’s not. It’s just a little better than a standard OK-romance novel.

Hawk Douglas is the sexiest and hottest lover to ever grace the Highlands. And when the Fairy Queen wishes to make her consorts jealous, she sings his praises. It works. They decide to punish him...more I am a big fan of Karen Marie Moning. I love her Highlander books and her Fever series. But Beyond the Highland Mist was written before she hit that sweet spot in her writing that made me a fan for life. It’s not that it’s a bad book –it’s not. It’s just a little better than a standard OK-romance novel.

Hawk Douglas is the sexiest and hottest lover to ever grace the Highlands. And when the Fairy Queen wishes to make her consorts jealous, she sings his praises. It works. They decide to punish him by pairing him with a woman who will deny him. The Court Fool, Adam Black, plucks Adrienne out of the present day and drops her into the lap of the father of the woman Hawk is betrothed to. Janet, the woman Hawk is supposed to marry –though he has never met, is actually dead. So her father forces Adrienne to impersonate his daughter and marry Hawk.

Adrienne has been badly betrayed by her former fiance and she has sworn off “beautiful men.” When you couple that with Hawk’s reputation as a womanizer, she vows never to give in to his advances. Of course that makes him want her all the more. To complicate matters further, Adam Black has insinuated himself into the picture, posing as an uber-sexy blacksmith, also vying for Adrienne’s attentions.

What I think I liked least about this book is that when seduction seemed to fail, Hawk turns to other methods to force Adrienne’s affections. The story compares it to “seeling” a falcon and, yes, by that point, Adrienne was secretly in love with him. But it still did not sit well with me.

Of course, Adrienne has her flaws too. She is downright cruel to Hawk, even when we get to a point where he clearly is in love with her. We all have our hang-ups and fears but there were times I found myself yelling at her to just get over it already.

Otherwise, the story was alright. It doesn’t measure up to Kiss of the Highlander , but it is in this book we meet the illustrious Adam, who plays a role in almost every Highlander story and even makes a cameo in the last Fever book. He’s a very different “man” than he becomes over time, but it’s interesting to see his evolution through the books.

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Jun 08, 2010 DarienMoya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-reads

^^MYSTIFYINGLY GOOD!^^

Beyond the Highland Mist is the first book in Moning’s Highlander series. A tale of when men were men, all brawn and brains, where the fey lurked about and caused confusion. Where men wore kilts and you would die just to get some wind to blow up those suckers. When a Sixteenth century warrior meets Twentieth century woman, things will never be the same again.

Adrienne de Simone is sick and tired of beautiful men. She knows hands down behind the face of an angel is the heart...more ^^MYSTIFYINGLY GOOD!^^

Beyond the Highland Mist is the first book in Moning’s Highlander series. A tale of when men were men, all brawn and brains, where the fey lurked about and caused confusion. Where men wore kilts and you would die just to get some wind to blow up those suckers. When a Sixteenth century warrior meets Twentieth century woman, things will never be the same again.

Adrienne de Simone is sick and tired of beautiful men. She knows hands down behind the face of an angel is the heart of a devil. Now basically on the run with one eye always over her shoulder, she lives her life in fear and solitude with her cat Moonshine. Adrienne world is about to be shaken up when she becomes a chess piece to the Fey. A pawn in their game to bring destruction to a man they hate. The worst part is that it was a time where beautiful men were abundant and she is about to land herself the most beautiful of all.

Sixteenth C- Sidheach (Sid-hawk) James Douglas is a well known man of beauty, women plot and kill to get into his bed. His prowess and virility is well known, men respect him and also hate him. What they never see is the true man that he is, heart filled with courage and love for his people and a dream that he will meet the perfect woman and have babies. His sexiness comes of the pages and slaps you in the face, he sweats sex and oozes pure sensuality. Unawares he is about to become an enemy of the Fey, all because his legendary bedding skills. “There is not a woman I cannot have” those words uttered by the Hawk are about to be put to the test.

Things get all kinds of interesting when Adrienne finds out she is to become the wife of some man she does not know, plus the year is 1513 of course she is going crazy. Time travel does not exist but her eyes do not deceive her because the proof is there. So now she is married to a man by proxy because he refused to show up to his own wedding, she has to pretend to be someone else. This woman is all kinds of pissed.

The first meeting between Hawk and Adrienne is hilarious when he catches her checking out the smithy Adam Black. Adrienne is in all kinds of hell surrounded by hot and sexy men, and the worst happens to be her husband who she wants to be wrapped around like a pole. Hawk is seriously jealous of Adam who plays a serious part in the coming together of our hero and heroine. It is just down right hilarious, fun and sexy.

So what we have here is a wonderful story of a love that span the ages. The chemistry between Hawk and Adrienne is simply sizzling; Adrienne defiance in loving him and Hawk’s persistence in making her was just written wonderfully. No one writes fairy drama like Moning and they play an important role in this book. Laugh out loud funny, with interesting , witty and fun characters whats not to love.

On a side note if you have not read the Fever series by Moning, you should do so.
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Jul 03, 2011 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, 3-star, time-travel, highlanders, steamy, karen-marie-moning

2 1/2 to 3 stars

I'm glad I read this series out of order (these books can be read out of order). I'm honestly not sure if would have continued the series had I read the first three books in the series first. Personally, I don't think the series was particularly engrossing until after the third book. Books four, five, and six are my favorite, with book six, The Immortal Highlander, my favorite of the series. You must, however, read books four, five, six, and seven in order.

I recommend reading th...more

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Jul 21, 2010 ~♡♥Ang ♥♡~ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So I have never read a Highlander book or anything by KMM,I thought that this way killing two birds with one stone would come in handy..LOL.. I think that is the old saying??
Any who I have finished This book, At start i was like,eh i dunno if i am going to like this!
But as i got past the first 3 chapters it happened!! I fell head over hells for Hawk and Adrienne,there story was fantastic and the plot and romance was so so so GOOD, i couldn't put it down!!
I Really did enjoy reading this book and...more

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Jun 26, 2011 cosmogirl7481 rated it 3 of 5 stars

*SPOLIER-IFIC*

So, where do I begin with this book?

I had high hopes. Lots of people I love have read the series, so naturally, I thought I love it. Romance…I’m in. Elements of supernatural…still in. Huge stallion cock…I’m totally in! I mean, really. We all know how I love a cock as big as your wrist. J/S

The beginning was really choppy for me. Like bouncing around a lot and I was willing to hang in because I know it can be difficult to establish all the players in your story. But the whole part wh...more *SPOLIER-IFIC*

So, where do I begin with this book?

I had high hopes. Lots of people I love have read the series, so naturally, I thought I love it. Romance…I’m in. Elements of supernatural…still in. Huge stallion cock…I’m totally in! I mean, really. We all know how I love a cock as big as your wrist. J/S

The beginning was really choppy for me. Like bouncing around a lot and I was willing to hang in because I know it can be difficult to establish all the players in your story. But the whole part where Adrienne was pulled to the 1500’s was really confusing. Like really confusing. And I may not be the brightest person ever, but I’m pretty bright. Even on a bad day.

Anyway…I started to like the book more once Adrienne met “The Hawk.” I loved the sexual chemistry. And I really loved the way she busted his apparently monstrous balls. Also, as a fan of huge cocks… I had to ask myself, at what point is it no longer sexy? I mean, all I can think about is the scene in 40 Year Old Virgin where Seth Rogen talks about the “show” he saw in Mexico. Fucking a horse (or a horse cock) is not sexy. That shit would be painful. Yet, just like him…I found that couldn’t turn away.

There are so many miscommunications in this story. Like, if they could have just used their words more, I would have been happier. And while I can appreciate the Shakespearian homage to all things whimsical and misunderstood, I felt like the natural direction of conversation should have led to them disclosing more. Like, the conflict for them could have come from her mistrust of men and the vast difference in the times they were both from.

All the UST leading up the actual sex was so much hotter than the act itself. PS: virgin sex is not hot. Ever. That shit hurts. And a virgin would not be telling a man with a monster cock to do it harder. IMHO

I still don’t understand the whole purpose of the fairies in this story. Like, why do they even care about the humans? And why did the queen want to make the king and Adam jealous? And while we’re on that, are we supposed to be happy that the queen finally steps in and makes everything better? That bitch was the reason all the drama happened in the first place.

So, yeah. Not my favorite book ever. But to the author’s credit, I couldn’t stop reading. Don’t know if I’ll continue the series. Though, someone told me that the author said that book one was her least favorite. So, maybe…
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Dec 22, 2011 Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: highlanders, virgin-heroines, fated-mates, fae, time-travel, pregnancy, medieval, reformed-rake, paranormal-historical

Beyond the Highland Mist
3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
Laird of Dalkeith, Hawk Douglas’s reputation with the ladies is the stuff of legend even in the land of the fae. No woman has ever refused his touch but neither has one captured his heart until the arrival of Adrienne de Simone. A modern-day woman transported back in time to Medieval Scotland by a vengeful fairy, Adrienne is coerced into marriage to Hawk but swears that she will never again be tempted by a beautiful man. Can Hawk convince her of his love...more Beyond the Highland Mist
3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
Laird of Dalkeith, Hawk Douglas’s reputation with the ladies is the stuff of legend even in the land of the fae. No woman has ever refused his touch but neither has one captured his heart until the arrival of Adrienne de Simone. A modern-day woman transported back in time to Medieval Scotland by a vengeful fairy, Adrienne is coerced into marriage to Hawk but swears that she will never again be tempted by a beautiful man. Can Hawk convince her of his love or will she deny him forever?

Review:
Time travel romances have never been a favorite of mine as they are often resolved unsatisfactorily with the heroine returning to her own time and falling in love with a descendent of the hero merely because he happens to look like his ancestor (seriously?!)
Thankfully, this does not happen here. The time travel element of the story plays a very small role and is handled intelligently with a satisfying ending.

The fae world is another engaging aspect of the book. While it is not the focus of the plot, which is more of a historical than a paranormal romance, the fae serve as a catalyst for the main events in the story. Much of the focus is on Adam Black, a trickster character very reminiscent of Puck from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While not a particularly likeable or sympathetic character, he is intriguing and apparently gets his own book later in the series. It should be very entertaining to see him get what he deserves.

The relationship between Ari and Hawk is the highlight of the book. Their verbal sparring and banter is simply wonderful. It is particularly interesting to read a book in which the hero falls in love first and must convince the heroine that he is worthy of her. Hawk is noble and honorable when he could so easily be an arrogant ass. Adrienne is a strong character but she can be annoying at times with her prejudice toward good-looking men and her inability to see just how much Hawk loves her. Nevertheless, once she gives her heart, the romance improves greatly.

The main problem with the book is that a number of secondary conflicts are established but never resolved such as Ari's past in New Orleans, Hawk's relationship with Olivia and the things he was forced to do for King James.

Overall, a well-written book with an interesting premise and I will be continuing with the series.
(less)

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Apr 04, 2010 Jaime West rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, it-s-a-keeper, favourites

I will be the first to admit that I was a little trepidacious going into these books, but after finally hunting down a version without a mills and boon cover, I began reading.
And I was pleasantly surprised, the writing is great, there is humour and you can't help but fall for the characters, and I love that individuals from this book will be used in the next books.
Oh, but of course, Adam Black, the yummy black smith!! He is such a scumbag, I love him!!

Anyway, I won't repeat the 'summary' in my...more

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May 02, 2012 ✌ Kaye ♡ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance, paranormal-fantasy, series, adventure-travels, romance, side-eye

2.5

I don't care for Adrienne. At. All. I know she's been through some things. But I've never been a fan of treating people sh*tty who have been nothing but kind due to past transgression of others. This is a book so I accept and expect it. But it goes on for too many pages. And her foolishness and lack of common sense ("No one's trying to kill me!" Seriously?!? So the poison and arrow didn't mean a thing.) is annoying.

There were parts I liked and really enjoyed. But there were also some very ann...more

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Jan 22, 2009 Alaine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-historical

These books are written for pure escapism and this one will not disappoint. It's a fun time travel historical romance, the first in a series of eight called the Highland Series.

The Fairy Queen upsets men in her court by praising the gorgeous mortal Hawk, a Scottish lord. The Queen's jester wants to show that he's more desirable than Hawk, so he transports Adrienne, from the 20th century because she hates beautiful men, back in time to the 1600's and makes her Hawk's bride. She doesn't trust him...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Sara rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-paranormal-urbfan, guilty-pleasure

I love Karen Marie Moning, but this book was awful - trite characterizations, with leaps of logic & plotting that made my head spin. BUT, it was written so long ago & she's come so far that I can only shake my head and check publication dates before I get my hopes up about a book. She has since learned her craft & I'm thankful for it - the Fever series is one of my all time favorites.

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Jul 29, 2012 Blacky *YA/NA addict* rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-fantasy, of-course, highlanders, 2-stars-for-quality, 2-stars-for-enjoyment

This is quite a rant, I'm not usually up for writing bad about books, but I gotta voice my opinion on this one, sorry KMM fans, don't take it personally. I will continue reading her stuff though :) Just hope the stories will be better than this one.

Spoiler alert ahead!

I've watched a lot of soap operas, and this book was just like one. And a bad one at that. I just couldn't like it much.

The writing style was ok, this is a new writer for me so it took some getting used to, but I didn't mind anyth...more This is quite a rant, I'm not usually up for writing bad about books, but I gotta voice my opinion on this one, sorry KMM fans, don't take it personally. I will continue reading her stuff though :) Just hope the stories will be better than this one.

Spoiler alert ahead!

I've watched a lot of soap operas, and this book was just like one. And a bad one at that. I just couldn't like it much.

The writing style was ok, this is a new writer for me so it took some getting used to, but I didn't mind anything about it.

The story - well that was the biggest problem. You know, when you watch a soap, at the end of every episode there is a :O moment. The main pair always ends up fighting about some terrible misunderstanding, or some bad guy tries to off them or something... Well that was basically this book from the start. Every single scene between the H/h, if it started good, ended bad, there were sooooooo many misunderstandings I can't remember them all, more than I have fingers on my arms AND legs. When there wasn't a misunderstanding in question, there was a bad guy/woman to stirr things up and make trouble, or attempt a murder or some blackmail or another form of badness. I think there was just one scene, only one between H and h that didn't end in a fight or in any bad way, and that was when they had sex for the first time (might I mention, the only sex scene in the novel, not including some foreplays that were waaaay sexier than the actuall sex). Oh yes, and in the story the hero got 2 potions from a gypsy. One was an aphrodisiac, and another some viagra alternative that leaves a man up for hours and hours. You'd think that was a good thing? Noooo. He uses the viagra stuff, but doesn't have sex with her because it made him feel distant from her, not emotionally involved, so he goes away and suffers till it warns off. Then she drinks the afrodisiac and becomes horny as hell. But noo, he can't have sex with her because HE didn't make her horny, and untill he does that - no hanky-panky. So I guess now you'll know what I mean about every freaking scene not ending as it should. Always some stupid excuse for it to go bad. It drove me crazy.

The heroine was irritating as hell. I couldn't stand her. The main problem is that I just couldn't relate to her in any way. She hates beautiful men because her ex was beautiful and he did some awfull things to her. OK I get her, hate the ex. But he didn't do those things because he was gorgeous. He was just bad. And to hate all men who were good looking because you had an experience with a good looking man is just silly. I couldn't get that. So she helped a lot with those scenes that never ended good, because she ruined 2/3 of them all by pushing Hawk away because he's so gorgeous (hmmmmm no comment)

The ONLY good thing about this was Hawk. I actually liked him, even though I cannot understand how he could fall in love with a woman like Adrienne, but hey, each to his own. I fell in love with Scottish Highlanders a long time ago, and I love them still, so Hawk holds a soft spot for me here :) Although there wasn't much brogue here except for some "aye" and "lass" involved, I hope it'll get better in the next books.

It's just too bad for a character who's hung like a horse (literaly, she really does say that in the novel and the heroine sees and thinks he really is horse-like-hung) to have only one sex scene. I expected some more (yes I'm bad I know, but still, it tickled my imagination XD)

So, I guess I'll follow the advice and move to book 4 lol

Sorry again for the lovers of this one, I just couldn't help myself XD(less)

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Nov 05, 2011 Rebecca (everyday reader) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: time-travel, magical

Romantic tale of love that sneaks up on two people from different centuries. The Hawk has slept with a lot of women but he has never fallen in love and Adrienne has been bitten and decieved but never felt for her ex as she does for Hawk. They are a stubborn but passionate couple, and I like them together. The Fae are a sneaky bunch and Aiovheal is a meddling bitch who just wants to stir up trouble. Adam Black is no good in his ways. I enjoyed it! Great Read!!

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Mar 28, 2013 Brooke rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-romance-time-travel

Based off the cover alone, I was prepared for a Harlequin novel, or something of the sorts... But this was a wonderful, romantic, mystery with excellent characters and a wonderfully told story... You can tell it was of her earlier writings but it doesn't diminish KMM ability to tell a fantastic story.

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Jan 22, 2011 Teryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: rating-pg-13, read-in-2011, romance-paranormal, romance-historical

This book had potential until it got about 1/2 way through, then it petered out. THe sexual tension was great, but there was too much of it and THEN when it came down to the real deal, it totally fizzled. The heroine Adrienne drove me crazy! She was a little too hard headed, lol

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Nov 26, 2011 Melanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: karen-marie-moning, time-travel, historical-romance, hot-highlanders, virgin-no-more, accents-make-me-melt, library, dnf, cocky-hero, dumb-heroine

Ok, I tried to read this book once before, but I just couldn't get into it and after a couple of chapters I let it go. This time, I wasn't any more enthralled, but I did my best to stick to it (although I do admit to a certain amount of skimming) and it's left me rather unimpressed. Honestly, it's hard to believe that this book is by the same author who wrote the remarkable Fever series.

If I had to pinpoint what my problems with this book were, I'd have to say I had a hard time connecting and c...more

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Apr 12, 2011 Lisa Kay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-romance-paranormal, genre-romance-scottish-hero, genre-time-travel, authors-k, authors-m

3 1/4 stars. A little extra b/c it is so well written. To see the reasons for my low rating, check this great review: UM Dhestiny's Review. I could almost say "Ditto"!

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Mar 30, 2010 Shawna rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of historical romance with paranormal/time travel elements & hunks in kilts

Shelves: historical-romance, highlanders-hunks-in-kilts-scots, pnr-angeldemon-fae-magic-witch-misc, karen-marie-moning, series-highlander, time-travel-fantasy-pnr, historical-romance-medieval-misc, heroine-naïve-virgin-like-a-virgin, heroine-i-wanna-bitch-slap-annoying, heroine-abused-traumatic-past-rape, hero-stud-mantel-hall-of-fame, hero-stalk-me-baby-possessive, hero-gigolo-prostitute-escort, hero-alpha‎, hero-im-gaga-over, hero-abused-scarred-tortured-angst, sizable-packages, 2010-reads, captive-kidnapped-hostage-slave, enemies-to-lovers-opposites-attract, hero-mix-of-alpha-beta, i-read-no-longer-own-sold-swapped, married-couples-married-convenience, hero-bad-boy-playboy, hero-expert-skilled-voracious-lover, historical-romance-scottish, paranormal-romance, 3-stars

3-3 ½ stars – Historical/Paranormal/Time Travel Romance

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Feb 09, 2013 Makenzie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-challenge-reads, 2013-read, highlanders, historical-romance, romance

3.5 Stars

First I must begin with the quirks:

Ok...while I have no problems reading about vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc., I always seem to have an issue grasping time-travel. I don't know why, but even while knowing that the novel already includes the paranormal aspect, time-travel, to me, is the epitome of unnatural. That doesn't mean that I'm not sitting here typing this and hoping that I will disappear from my couch and end up in the lap of a hunky, 14th century warrior. It's just the hard...more 3.5 Stars

First I must begin with the quirks:

Ok...while I have no problems reading about vampires, werewolves, fairies, etc., I always seem to have an issue grasping time-travel. I don't know why, but even while knowing that the novel already includes the paranormal aspect, time-travel, to me, is the epitome of unnatural. That doesn't mean that I'm not sitting here typing this and hoping that I will disappear from my couch and end up in the lap of a hunky, 14th century warrior. It's just the hardest theme for me to wrap my head around.

The one thing I do wish is that KMM gave a little more realism (again, yes, I realize we've already passed the borders of reality) to Adrienne's ability to fit in after landing 500 years in the past. There wasn't much explanation aside from her speaking a couple of languages. I love languages and can manipulate my accent pretty well thanks to vocal training, but I think it's a bit of a stretch that she would be able to pick up on their accent enough to pass as a Scot. Not to mention the fact that I can't imagine they'd be speaking 20th century English back then. Pretty sure I wouldn't be able to understand a word they said. I know I'm being picky here and asking for realism in an unrealistic situation, but hey...it's one of my quirks.

Discarding the technicalities above, and moving along to the story:
I enjoyed the story, but it did include a lot of misunderstanding and hiding one's feelings and circling around truths, which leads to the frustration of multiple characters, and ultimately, me. It was a lot of bouncing from one extreme to another, either hopelessly in love or vein-burstingly mad. I also felt that, at times, some details were skimmed over (mostly in dealing with their pasts) that perhaps could have been expanded a bit, but then again, perhaps they really didn't have anything to do with the story, and it's just my curiosity.

All in all, it was a good story with a hunky, God's-gift-to-women highlander who could make the best stallion envious. I will admit to a moment of weakness (view spoiler)

I hear the books progressively get better later in the series, so I really look forward to reading what else KMM has in store. This was my first novel by her, and while a bit frustrating, it was not disappointing. I also plan on getting around to her Fever series at some point as well. :) (less)

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May 02, 2012 ✿Piper✿ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: highlander, karen-marie-moning, favorites, romance-time-travel, men-scotland-ireland, women-average

This was such an amazing book! Loved the story! This is the first time-travel I've ever read and I can't wait to start reading the second book.

Adrienne was raised in New Orleans and she's lived there all her life. Until tragedy- or perhaps just reality- strikes and Adrienne flees her hometown. It's 1997 and Adrienne vows that she will never fall for beautiful men again. Until she is teleported back into the Scotland highlands in the year 1513.

Hawk has fought for the king for 15 long years. His l...more

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About Karen Marie Moning

Karen Marie Moning (rhymes with 'awning') is the # 1 New York Times bestselling author of 12 novels, including the Rita-award winning Highlander novels and the internationally bestselling urban fantasy Fever series. Her books have been published in 21 languages, and her events draw fans from all over the world.

She divides her time between the mountains of Georgia and the beaches of Florida.
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“Bedevil the devil and devil be dammed. I fear no devil and bow to no man.

- Adam Black” — 55 people liked it

“Valhalla on the right. Paradise regained on the left. Stuck between a Godiva truffle and a chocolate eclair. Between a rock and a very hard place. Two very hard places from the looks of it.” — 45 people liked it

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