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Lions #2
Lion of the North
THOUGH HE'D LED HIS CLAN TO PEACE AND PROSPERITY, LUCAIS SUTHERLAND COULD NOT REST
For Elspeth Carmichael, the woman he had once loved and lost, had returned to the Highlands, carrying with her the taint of an enemy alliance. And reawakening the danger of an ancient curse!
Though free of her nightmare marriage, Elspeth was no better off, for now she was the prisoner of Lucais Sutherland, the warrior laird who laid claim to not only her property, but to the secret places of her heart and soul!
For Elspeth Carmichael, the woman he had once loved and lost, had returned to the Highlands, carrying with her the taint of an enemy alliance. And reawakening the danger of an ancient curse!
Though free of her nightmare marriage, Elspeth was no better off, for now she was the prisoner of Lucais Sutherland, the warrior laird who laid claim to not only her property, but to the secret places of her heart and soul!
299 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 1995
About the author
Suzanne Barclay
63 books26 followersCarol Suzanne was born on 20 December 1945 in USA, daughter of Phyllis and Whit Hoose. She married Kenneth E. Backus, and obtained four stepchildren.
Published since 1992 as Suzanne Barclay, was an author for Harlequin Historical, specializing in romance set in the Medieval era. She founded the Lake Country Romance Writers in 1993, and served as the chapter's first president. She passed away on 15 September 1999 after a long battle with cancer.
Published since 1992 as Suzanne Barclay, was an author for Harlequin Historical, specializing in romance set in the Medieval era. She founded the Lake Country Romance Writers in 1993, and served as the chapter's first president. She passed away on 15 September 1999 after a long battle with cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 8, 2018
Set in the Highlands of Scotland this was a romantic tale of the clans in the 1300's.
The scenery was vivid and the characters clearly defined.
The life of the rugged Highland Warriors and their clans in this era was very interesting and the tale was of heartbreak, love and intrigue.
The plot was fast moving, enthraling with an added mysetery of the ancient past and its untold treasures.
A very enjoyable read.
The scenery was vivid and the characters clearly defined.
The life of the rugged Highland Warriors and their clans in this era was very interesting and the tale was of heartbreak, love and intrigue.
The plot was fast moving, enthraling with an added mysetery of the ancient past and its untold treasures.
A very enjoyable read.
August 19, 2018
2.5
4 years earlier, Lucais Sutherland was a scrawny, but intelligent bard who had just inherited his grandfather's title of chief and thinking himself in perfect position to marry the woman he loved, Elspeth Carmichael. But Elspeth had been raised idolizing her warrior brother Lionel, and wanted a warrior for herself, so she cruelly rejected Lucais and married Raebert Munro. Now she knows that was the greatest mistake of her life as she endured 4 years of abuse and fear and inadvertently caused the ambush that risked her father's life. Now that Raebert is dead (by her hand) she no longer feels that she belongs with her family. So she heads off to a property that was promised to her in what is left of her marriage settlement. What she doesn't know is that the Munro had no right to deed this land to her as it belongs to Lucais Sutherland's clan and he's been battling the Munros over it because they've been trying to get into it. Lucais takes Elspeth and her men prisoner, and boy is Elspeth surprised at the warrior that Lucais turned out to be....and irony's a bitch because her cruel remarks are the reason he's all strong and braw, showing no weaknesses, but she NOW knows she doesn't want a warrior at all. She wants the gentle man that Lucais USED to be. She soon finds that man under the surface, but the hurt that Elspeth doled out years ago is tough for them to overcome. Lucais is pretty quick to put the past behind them, as he's never stopped loving Elspeth, but there's a major issue of trust between them as Elspeth and Lucais still battle over the property that she believes is hers, but he claims is his (because obviously another clan cannot gift property that doesn't belong to them). Elspeth also causes suspicion by defending a member of the Munro clan, leading everyone, including Lucais, to believe she's working with them.
This wasn't my favorite of this author's books, I'll start with that. I rather liked the set up here with Elspeth having decimated the hero's heart years ago and Elspeth having MAJOR regrets over her decision (not because she loved Lucais though - she claimed to be drawn to him but unable to respect him because she believed he lacked strength). I was eager to see how that regret and Lucias's anger over her cruelty played out, especially when Lucais had turned out to be exactly what Elspeth had claimed she'd wanted. This sort of delivered, but kinda disappointed in that delivery. Lucais started out with some nice anger and that whole, "I'm strong enough now" angle fizzled out pretty quickly as it became clear to him that she'd been abused and his strength scared her. And while Elspeth had plenty of regrets (especially since she'd been abused) it felt like THAT was the only reason for her regret, rather than the fact that she broke the hero's heart. She never apologizes for that nor how cruel she was in the doing of it. Did she have to be so cruel?
I liked Lucais quite a bit. He had some major issues with trusting Elspeth and was quick to jump to the worst conclusion about her, which was frustrating, but I felt like that was justified and he was still super patient and pretty damn forgiving just about everything she did or had ever done. I also admit I wasn't a huge fan of how cold he was to the little girl (his daughter), Gillie, but his reasons were understandable. Elspeth had a lot of nerve coming in and being all judgmental when she knew nothing about him or his circumstances.
In fact, Elspeth grated on my every last nerve. For such a supposedly strong, feisty heroine, she whined and complained an awful lot. She gets all pissy and upset that she ended up handfasted to Lucais, but does she really feel any gratitude that he basically saved her life with it? (She also kind of fails to remember that her headstrong behavior is what put her in the situation where it was needed to save her life anyway.) She shows him gratitude but I don't think she FELT it. And why is it, that with all the evidence in front of her eyes and the insistence of an entire clan that the "broch" (the property she has the deed for) actually belongs to the Sutherlands, she continues to insist that it belongs to her because she has a paper that says so? She knows damn well that deed came from the hated Munro clan and that they aren't above lying to the king to prevent actually having to hand over any of their own property, so why wouldn't she believe the Sutherlands about it? It makes her look ridiculous that she keeps fighting Lucais to be able to access HER supposed property in the face of all that evidence that it never actually belonged to her. And she gets all upset that he won't trust her with anything and can't understand why, when she's the one who came marching in with a plate of lies to serve up to him about why she was there. He has every reason to be distrustful. That he'd trusted her as much as he did was a sort of miracle that she should have been grateful for (but gratitude isn't her strong point).
One thing that irritates me more than any other is the TSTL heroine. Heroines that throw themselves into danger because they think they can handle it or who go traipsing after the hero after he specifically told her to stay put because she thinks SHE's the only one who can save the life of her skilled knight earn themselves a one-way ticket to my TSTL shelf. Elspeth does just that. Lucais heads off to face the Munros at the broch and Elspeth tags along secretly because she needs to save him and keep him from danger. When Seamus Munro insists that Lucais show him the inside of the broch, Elspeth knows that Seamus will try to kill him. I'm sure Lucais knew it too, but instead of trusting her man to be able to handle Seamus in combat, she comes forth and says SHE'LL do it instead, allows Seamus to clobber him, tie him up and leave him behind while she takes him into the broch, to save Lucias's life. And she's shocked when she learns that Seamus sent someone back to kill Lucias...because she was too stupid to remember she was dealing with a dishonorable villain. In the end, Lucias ends up in the broch anyway, likely to be killed by Seamus because all she did was put herself into a situation to be rescued. She didn't prevent confrontation or save anyone's life...she put MORE people in danger with her stupid actions and the men are too focused on her spirit and beauty to realize that woman has no brains to go along with them. So yeah, I don't care for Elspeth and she kinda made this book less enjoyable for me. Lucias deserved a better heroine.
Also trigger warning for this book: the heroine was physically and emotionally abused by her dead husband and raped 4 times. This is not described in any detail, but the heroine does mention it. Gillie's mother, now dead, was also raped by a man and . Again, not graphically described, but mentioned several times by the hero. Rape and abuse are pretty commonly mentioned throughout this book.
4 years earlier, Lucais Sutherland was a scrawny, but intelligent bard who had just inherited his grandfather's title of chief and thinking himself in perfect position to marry the woman he loved, Elspeth Carmichael. But Elspeth had been raised idolizing her warrior brother Lionel, and wanted a warrior for herself, so she cruelly rejected Lucais and married Raebert Munro. Now she knows that was the greatest mistake of her life as she endured 4 years of abuse and fear and inadvertently caused the ambush that risked her father's life. Now that Raebert is dead (by her hand) she no longer feels that she belongs with her family. So she heads off to a property that was promised to her in what is left of her marriage settlement. What she doesn't know is that the Munro had no right to deed this land to her as it belongs to Lucais Sutherland's clan and he's been battling the Munros over it because they've been trying to get into it. Lucais takes Elspeth and her men prisoner, and boy is Elspeth surprised at the warrior that Lucais turned out to be....and irony's a bitch because her cruel remarks are the reason he's all strong and braw, showing no weaknesses, but she NOW knows she doesn't want a warrior at all. She wants the gentle man that Lucais USED to be. She soon finds that man under the surface, but the hurt that Elspeth doled out years ago is tough for them to overcome. Lucais is pretty quick to put the past behind them, as he's never stopped loving Elspeth, but there's a major issue of trust between them as Elspeth and Lucais still battle over the property that she believes is hers, but he claims is his (because obviously another clan cannot gift property that doesn't belong to them). Elspeth also causes suspicion by defending a member of the Munro clan, leading everyone, including Lucais, to believe she's working with them.
This wasn't my favorite of this author's books, I'll start with that. I rather liked the set up here with Elspeth having decimated the hero's heart years ago and Elspeth having MAJOR regrets over her decision (not because she loved Lucais though - she claimed to be drawn to him but unable to respect him because she believed he lacked strength). I was eager to see how that regret and Lucias's anger over her cruelty played out, especially when Lucais had turned out to be exactly what Elspeth had claimed she'd wanted. This sort of delivered, but kinda disappointed in that delivery. Lucais started out with some nice anger and that whole, "I'm strong enough now" angle fizzled out pretty quickly as it became clear to him that she'd been abused and his strength scared her. And while Elspeth had plenty of regrets (especially since she'd been abused) it felt like THAT was the only reason for her regret, rather than the fact that she broke the hero's heart. She never apologizes for that nor how cruel she was in the doing of it. Did she have to be so cruel?
I liked Lucais quite a bit. He had some major issues with trusting Elspeth and was quick to jump to the worst conclusion about her, which was frustrating, but I felt like that was justified and he was still super patient and pretty damn forgiving just about everything she did or had ever done. I also admit I wasn't a huge fan of how cold he was to the little girl (his daughter), Gillie, but his reasons were understandable. Elspeth had a lot of nerve coming in and being all judgmental when she knew nothing about him or his circumstances.
In fact, Elspeth grated on my every last nerve. For such a supposedly strong, feisty heroine, she whined and complained an awful lot. She gets all pissy and upset that she ended up handfasted to Lucais, but does she really feel any gratitude that he basically saved her life with it? (She also kind of fails to remember that her headstrong behavior is what put her in the situation where it was needed to save her life anyway.) She shows him gratitude but I don't think she FELT it. And why is it, that with all the evidence in front of her eyes and the insistence of an entire clan that the "broch" (the property she has the deed for) actually belongs to the Sutherlands, she continues to insist that it belongs to her because she has a paper that says so? She knows damn well that deed came from the hated Munro clan and that they aren't above lying to the king to prevent actually having to hand over any of their own property, so why wouldn't she believe the Sutherlands about it? It makes her look ridiculous that she keeps fighting Lucais to be able to access HER supposed property in the face of all that evidence that it never actually belonged to her. And she gets all upset that he won't trust her with anything and can't understand why, when she's the one who came marching in with a plate of lies to serve up to him about why she was there. He has every reason to be distrustful. That he'd trusted her as much as he did was a sort of miracle that she should have been grateful for (but gratitude isn't her strong point).
One thing that irritates me more than any other is the TSTL heroine. Heroines that throw themselves into danger because they think they can handle it or who go traipsing after the hero after he specifically told her to stay put because she thinks SHE's the only one who can save the life of her skilled knight earn themselves a one-way ticket to my TSTL shelf. Elspeth does just that. Lucais heads off to face the Munros at the broch and Elspeth tags along secretly because she needs to save him and keep him from danger. When Seamus Munro insists that Lucais show him the inside of the broch, Elspeth knows that Seamus will try to kill him. I'm sure Lucais knew it too, but instead of trusting her man to be able to handle Seamus in combat, she comes forth and says SHE'LL do it instead, allows Seamus to clobber him, tie him up and leave him behind while she takes him into the broch, to save Lucias's life. And she's shocked when she learns that Seamus sent someone back to kill Lucias...because she was too stupid to remember she was dealing with a dishonorable villain. In the end, Lucias ends up in the broch anyway, likely to be killed by Seamus because all she did was put herself into a situation to be rescued. She didn't prevent confrontation or save anyone's life...she put MORE people in danger with her stupid actions and the men are too focused on her spirit and beauty to realize that woman has no brains to go along with them. So yeah, I don't care for Elspeth and she kinda made this book less enjoyable for me. Lucias deserved a better heroine.
Also trigger warning for this book: the heroine was physically and emotionally abused by her dead husband and raped 4 times. This is not described in any detail, but the heroine does mention it. Gillie's mother, now dead, was also raped by a man and . Again, not graphically described, but mentioned several times by the hero. Rape and abuse are pretty commonly mentioned throughout this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 25, 2012
Elspeth made a mistake 4 years earlier in choosing Raebert over Lucias, preferring a warrior over a bard. Raebert turned out abusive and Lucias grew into a warrior. Elspeth returns home cowed and nearly penniless when he husband dies. Determining to take possession of the one remaining piece of property she owns, Elspeth finds herself in the middle between Lucias and her ex-father-in-law, all claiming the tower. The big theme of this book is trust or rather the lack of it. Most of the book is accusation and defiance rather than communicating.
July 14, 2020
Qualcosina in più di sole tre stelline se le potrebbe meritare ma solo per la brutalità di alcuni personaggi e per il lato imprevisto "paranormale" che sfugge via in una toccata e fuga e che se ampliamene curato avrebbe davvero meritato molta attenzione.
Credevo che fosse un racconto un pò più intenso, non ricordo nemmeno cosa mi abbia spinto a comprarlo.
La storia procede cautamente, senza forzature o sbordature insensate ma in alcuni punti va perdendo tutto l'effetto accumulatosi o che ci si aspetterebbe in determinate occasioni come eventuali scene love-love.
Certamente è vero che non tutti i racconti debbano per forza avere scene esplicite ma toccate e fughe sonno poco apprezzate in alcuni romanzi, e questo ne risente un pò.
Il bello di questo racconto è che non c'è una verginella indifesa, o una prode guerriera come protagonista, ma una donna che per scelte sbagliate ha vissuto momenti di degrado e che ha poi scoperto come ritrovare la felicità e la prima scelta veramente sensata nella sua vita. Gli antagonisti poi sono ben fatti e l'eroe di turno inizialmente non delude le aspettative ma poi va perdendo il suo spessore malamente.
Non c'è male ma sarebbe potuto essere maggiormente coinvolgente o molto meno affrettato di quanto è stato...anche come primo impatto con questa scrittrice!
P.S. Ringrazio la Gabaldon perché senza di lei alcune tradizioni o paesaggi e quant'altro riguardanti le Highlands sarebbero solo brutti ricordi incomprensibili.
Credevo che fosse un racconto un pò più intenso, non ricordo nemmeno cosa mi abbia spinto a comprarlo.
La storia procede cautamente, senza forzature o sbordature insensate ma in alcuni punti va perdendo tutto l'effetto accumulatosi o che ci si aspetterebbe in determinate occasioni come eventuali scene love-love.
Certamente è vero che non tutti i racconti debbano per forza avere scene esplicite ma toccate e fughe sonno poco apprezzate in alcuni romanzi, e questo ne risente un pò.
Il bello di questo racconto è che non c'è una verginella indifesa, o una prode guerriera come protagonista, ma una donna che per scelte sbagliate ha vissuto momenti di degrado e che ha poi scoperto come ritrovare la felicità e la prima scelta veramente sensata nella sua vita. Gli antagonisti poi sono ben fatti e l'eroe di turno inizialmente non delude le aspettative ma poi va perdendo il suo spessore malamente.
Non c'è male ma sarebbe potuto essere maggiormente coinvolgente o molto meno affrettato di quanto è stato...anche come primo impatto con questa scrittrice!
P.S. Ringrazio la Gabaldon perché senza di lei alcune tradizioni o paesaggi e quant'altro riguardanti le Highlands sarebbero solo brutti ricordi incomprensibili.
October 6, 2023
Divertidissímo.
Pense numa história cheia de brigas entre clãs, muita dor de cotovelo e um casalzinho que vive às turras até cair na cama... É exatamente esse o tipo de livro que se tem nas mãos.
O Leão do Norte é o segundo livro da saga Lions of the North e alegremente joga todo o contexto histórico pela janela para nos brindar com momentos ridículos e dramáticos e muitas cenas de sexo - ainda que água-com-açúcar.
É uma boa escolha de leitura para aquelas tardes em que o cérebro precisa desligar.
Recomendo.
Pense numa história cheia de brigas entre clãs, muita dor de cotovelo e um casalzinho que vive às turras até cair na cama... É exatamente esse o tipo de livro que se tem nas mãos.
O Leão do Norte é o segundo livro da saga Lions of the North e alegremente joga todo o contexto histórico pela janela para nos brindar com momentos ridículos e dramáticos e muitas cenas de sexo - ainda que água-com-açúcar.
É uma boa escolha de leitura para aquelas tardes em que o cérebro precisa desligar.
Recomendo.
January 28, 2021
This was a book I owned from I was very young and into this type of genre. I recently bought it again and it was great as I remembered it to be.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews