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Bold, Tangled and Torn are now compiled in The Handfasting, Book 1 of The Handfasting Series, and no longer available individually.
121 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 18, 2013
19 people are currently reading
243 people want to read
About the author
Becca St. John
17 books48 followersAn Accidental Writer ~
Writing was a tool, not a toy, until a stay in an ancient (I swear it was haunted) hotel on a frightfully stormy night straight from a clichéd novel full of howling wind and creaking floors. The night drove me to a bookcase full of dog eared romances. Sleepless turned to fascination. Hooked I read old romances, new romances, both sexy and sweet until my own tales begged to be written.
Writing was a tool, not a toy, until a stay in an ancient (I swear it was haunted) hotel on a frightfully stormy night straight from a clichéd novel full of howling wind and creaking floors. The night drove me to a bookcase full of dog eared romances. Sleepless turned to fascination. Hooked I read old romances, new romances, both sexy and sweet until my own tales begged to be written.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 10, 2013
There isn't really enough of a "book" here to review. This might have been a good book, if it were a book, but it was just a teaser preview. There was nothing brought to closure, and it just arbitrarily stopped, very incomplete, no rhyme nor reason except maybe to triple the selling price by selling one book as three. Labeling it "Book 1" is deceptive--it is actually 1/3 of 1, without enough satisfactory conclusion to be considered a book by anyone's definition.
July 12, 2013
This review is from: Bold (The Handfasting) (Kindle Edition)
Bold is very badly written. I have never read any book quite this bad. Its so disjointed and their is no character development or back story to help you understand what the story is about. The story made me feel like I had just walked in a room with a crowd of people having a conversation and I was at a loss to understand what they were talking about, because I wasn't their in the beginning of the conversation. The heroine Maggie is a silly brat. At 20 she should have been more mature. Instead she was just ridiculous throwing childish temper tantrums. I got all 3 parts of The Handfasting series Free and I am so Thankful!! I Did Not pay my money for these books. I am just going to delete them from my kindle. Even Free this story is not worth the time it takes to read it. Sorry I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND PLEASE DON'T PAY FOR!!! If you think you want to read it wait until it is free again.
Bold is very badly written. I have never read any book quite this bad. Its so disjointed and their is no character development or back story to help you understand what the story is about. The story made me feel like I had just walked in a room with a crowd of people having a conversation and I was at a loss to understand what they were talking about, because I wasn't their in the beginning of the conversation. The heroine Maggie is a silly brat. At 20 she should have been more mature. Instead she was just ridiculous throwing childish temper tantrums. I got all 3 parts of The Handfasting series Free and I am so Thankful!! I Did Not pay my money for these books. I am just going to delete them from my kindle. Even Free this story is not worth the time it takes to read it. Sorry I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AND PLEASE DON'T PAY FOR!!! If you think you want to read it wait until it is free again.
May 24, 2013
This Handfasting series by Becca St John is actually one book divided into three parts so reading them out of sequence won't do.
Bold part one
Tangled part two
Torn part three
I’m not given to hair pulling theatrics I'm far too boringly sensible for that but ach the frustration of bloody cliffhangers!
Bold is part one of Becca St John’s Handfasting series. A complete book divided into three parts it seems so um why not just make it into a full length novel? Tangled is part two and Torn (due for release) part three.
Once a fanatical now ex-reader of historical romance but urged on by the mixed reviews I downloaded Bold and soon I'm immersed in Maggie and Talorc’s tale.
‘I/we know best’ just grinds my teeth to the gum every time and one of the reasons I turned away from HR and entrapment is not among my favourite themes. I did like the twists and turns, the otherworldly element, the characters and secondary characters, the setting although a little more descriptive would have been nice and I liked the authors writing style. Once I ignored the grammatical errors and the suspicious use of out of era words, the story raced along.
Soon as Torn is released I’ll read Tangled rather than take the risk of another cliffy.
February 17, 2020
What is up with this heroine? What is up with this story mode? The whole story is this weird categorization of female and male roles in this old society. Everything is being identified and trying to be pushed into the category of the "man" or "woman" side of workings and thus settle their delicate sensibilities (yes men's too, cuz they get the most unsettled here when women try to do man's work) in these uncertain times. And yet no matter how much every character in this book reiterates that the main hero is a good man doing man's work and everyone especially the heroine should cut him some slack and that the heroine is this extraordinary paragon of female power and perseverance that every man, woman, and child admires there is definitely something smelly in the land of the lairds.
Everything was so... loud here. The emotions, the reactions and the heroine particularly. She is painted as this uber special girl that everyone recollects her doing some pretty brave things when they feel more reckless and lucky when it comes to the stuff that mostly happened to her and what she actively initiated... She keeps fighting and fighting against her new circumstances, and in a way one can understands.
The heroine's admirable qualities are being pointed out by the hero and everyone else and what does she do? She’s constantly throwing fits, screaming like a banshee at the slightest inconvenience, throwing herself at her brother's grave like a soap-opera heroine and blaming the hero for misunderstanding her INTENTIONALLY mixed signals. I mean if she was intending to reinforce the stigma that women are confusing crazy bitches job well done there TSTL. I felt so bad for the hero for being so deeply in love with that bag of crazy. To the point where I thought there should be a public apology offered on the side of our sex, cuz I would like to think were are not all that much bat shit crazy. But no. The apology should come from the author for writing such a malicious female character and letting her out into the wild to wreak havoc and reinforce all the bad sex stereotypes that the female movement has tried fortuitously to dispel for centuries.
I didn't believe some of the reviews when they said the heroine's constant rejection of the hero was so tedious, cuz sometimes the heroine saying 'no' can be taken as too much when the hero is being super sweet and romantic. But they were warning sighs offered by other readers all along. Up to a point I understood why the heroine was holding steadfast against being steamrolled into a role and marriage not of her choosing, no matter how deeply she wanted it on a animistic level, it should still be her consciences choice. It's just the way she went about rebelling against the choices she had to make that made her seem like a ridiculous brat. She zeroed in on all the wrong things in her resentment. It all pointed towards the guy that was simply following her heart and waaaaaay overreacted every time he even breathed in her direction. While her family and clan members who super peer-pressured her into this decision she could not see any fault in them. She could not wait to come back to them once she thoroughly fucked with the hero's sanity and heart (in turn fucking with the reader's sanity and patience).
She was issuing ridiculous demand after demand to the hero and when he showed even a slight sign of not understanding her far from clear demands she would go into a tail spin and put him on the villain fire-pit ready to lit the match at any second. She was so clueless to her surroundings all the time and no wonder she never could catch the attempts on her life till the very end. I mean if I had been a hired assassin I would have had no trouble taking out this clueless ridiculous woman. She would have been a goner in chapter two. And that ridiculous clan of hers, it would have been easy to convince them it was all for the better, what with how toxic she was in her grief for her twin brother and it would be an easy thing to convince them that she could have not handled this world without her brother and she is in a happier place with him now.
Now her grief for her brother was understandable and it was unfair how little patience everyone in her vicinity had for her grief process and just forced her to move past it. I supposed that is what also snapped her in full blown crazy mode when she had to cope with things she was not ready for, but that was handled so poorly by the author. Again she seemed like a petulant child throwing temper tantrums what with how hard she was in understanding and explaining how much of her sadness was still lingering and that she needs a bit more time to come to terms with that. And she just was rebelling and denying everything her clan tried to force her to do without putting any real push in explaining why she was not ready and convince them all that she needed this time to come to terms with everything. And cuz no one wanted to give her that time, but just thought that marriage to a complete stranger, being ripped from the only home she has known and convincing her that the child everyone is predicting was gonna be the golden babe reincarnation of her twin will solve all her emotional problems.
Whelp no wonder she went off one crazy bend when she could not quite visualizes all these obscure predictions that were never explained by neither her family, clan members or her husband. And we unfortunately as the reader had to read through her emotional breakdown and rationalize it to ourselves with the "It's ok, she has been through a lot. She needs to go through some trials to get her HEA ending. It will all be worth it in the end." And dear author when the reader has to justify to themselves why their reading and trying to sympathies with all these bat shit crazy characters it means the choices you have made for your characters and story have been very very very bad indeed. And thus another book ends in a bad review warring other readers to stay away from this hot bed mess of crazy and look for something that actually follows some sense.
Everything was so... loud here. The emotions, the reactions and the heroine particularly. She is painted as this uber special girl that everyone recollects her doing some pretty brave things when they feel more reckless and lucky when it comes to the stuff that mostly happened to her and what she actively initiated... She keeps fighting and fighting against her new circumstances, and in a way one can understands.
The heroine's admirable qualities are being pointed out by the hero and everyone else and what does she do? She’s constantly throwing fits, screaming like a banshee at the slightest inconvenience, throwing herself at her brother's grave like a soap-opera heroine and blaming the hero for misunderstanding her INTENTIONALLY mixed signals. I mean if she was intending to reinforce the stigma that women are confusing crazy bitches job well done there TSTL. I felt so bad for the hero for being so deeply in love with that bag of crazy. To the point where I thought there should be a public apology offered on the side of our sex, cuz I would like to think were are not all that much bat shit crazy. But no. The apology should come from the author for writing such a malicious female character and letting her out into the wild to wreak havoc and reinforce all the bad sex stereotypes that the female movement has tried fortuitously to dispel for centuries.
I didn't believe some of the reviews when they said the heroine's constant rejection of the hero was so tedious, cuz sometimes the heroine saying 'no' can be taken as too much when the hero is being super sweet and romantic. But they were warning sighs offered by other readers all along. Up to a point I understood why the heroine was holding steadfast against being steamrolled into a role and marriage not of her choosing, no matter how deeply she wanted it on a animistic level, it should still be her consciences choice. It's just the way she went about rebelling against the choices she had to make that made her seem like a ridiculous brat. She zeroed in on all the wrong things in her resentment. It all pointed towards the guy that was simply following her heart and waaaaaay overreacted every time he even breathed in her direction. While her family and clan members who super peer-pressured her into this decision she could not see any fault in them. She could not wait to come back to them once she thoroughly fucked with the hero's sanity and heart (in turn fucking with the reader's sanity and patience).
She was issuing ridiculous demand after demand to the hero and when he showed even a slight sign of not understanding her far from clear demands she would go into a tail spin and put him on the villain fire-pit ready to lit the match at any second. She was so clueless to her surroundings all the time and no wonder she never could catch the attempts on her life till the very end. I mean if I had been a hired assassin I would have had no trouble taking out this clueless ridiculous woman. She would have been a goner in chapter two. And that ridiculous clan of hers, it would have been easy to convince them it was all for the better, what with how toxic she was in her grief for her twin brother and it would be an easy thing to convince them that she could have not handled this world without her brother and she is in a happier place with him now.
Now her grief for her brother was understandable and it was unfair how little patience everyone in her vicinity had for her grief process and just forced her to move past it. I supposed that is what also snapped her in full blown crazy mode when she had to cope with things she was not ready for, but that was handled so poorly by the author. Again she seemed like a petulant child throwing temper tantrums what with how hard she was in understanding and explaining how much of her sadness was still lingering and that she needs a bit more time to come to terms with that. And she just was rebelling and denying everything her clan tried to force her to do without putting any real push in explaining why she was not ready and convince them all that she needed this time to come to terms with everything. And cuz no one wanted to give her that time, but just thought that marriage to a complete stranger, being ripped from the only home she has known and convincing her that the child everyone is predicting was gonna be the golden babe reincarnation of her twin will solve all her emotional problems.
Whelp no wonder she went off one crazy bend when she could not quite visualizes all these obscure predictions that were never explained by neither her family, clan members or her husband. And we unfortunately as the reader had to read through her emotional breakdown and rationalize it to ourselves with the "It's ok, she has been through a lot. She needs to go through some trials to get her HEA ending. It will all be worth it in the end." And dear author when the reader has to justify to themselves why their reading and trying to sympathies with all these bat shit crazy characters it means the choices you have made for your characters and story have been very very very bad indeed. And thus another book ends in a bad review warring other readers to stay away from this hot bed mess of crazy and look for something that actually follows some sense.
April 10, 2013
I was thoroughly enjoying this book, I just loved the very fiesty Maggie, this lassie had away of her own. Having lost her twin brother a warrior, in battle, she had made up her mind there would be no warrior man for her. Maggie didn't want to loose her heart and then find herself a widow. However that was before she met Laird MacKay, the attraction is instant, he wants and means to have her as his wife. However Maggie has other ideas, he is a cunning and devious warrior and poor Maggie finds herself handfasted to him for 1 year and a day, all she has to do is keep her heart safe and her traitorous body in check, then she can leave the MacKay. The heat just sizzles between these two characters. Add to that a villainous gang, all abandoned by their clans, but bent on revenge and out for blood, the plot thickens. This has been such a page turner, I hope I have not too long to wait for part 2 and 3.
March 19, 2013
Probably more like 3.5, but I'm going to round up. The book was good, but you have to get the next one to know what happens to Maggie. I'm kind of tired of books written in 2 or 3 parts. I want an ending. Also, while I liked the story, the author should work on descriptions of the scene I feel they were sometimes vague, I would have to go reread the last couple of paragraphs to catch what was going on.
January 9, 2022
Good
Maggie lost her twin brother in battle. Refusing to ever wed a warrior her family agrees to allow Laird Mackay woo her for few days and if she agrees wed him. Maggie wants nothing to do with the man she blames for Ian's death. He convince her to handfast with him. But upon traveling back to his lands they are attacked and she is injured.
Book end with cliff hanger and must read book 2 . over all Maggie is immature and whines a lot. But so far good to read will read book 2
Maggie lost her twin brother in battle. Refusing to ever wed a warrior her family agrees to allow Laird Mackay woo her for few days and if she agrees wed him. Maggie wants nothing to do with the man she blames for Ian's death. He convince her to handfast with him. But upon traveling back to his lands they are attacked and she is injured.
Book end with cliff hanger and must read book 2 . over all Maggie is immature and whines a lot. But so far good to read will read book 2
October 16, 2019
Bold forces Maggie into hand fasting with him in one night. Taking her from her home and family the next day. She resents him for not giving her time to come to know him. It doesn’t help that someone is trying to kill her. A very exciting book.
March 23, 2020
DNF at 20%
I seriously tried but between the accent and how slow the story was moving, I fell asleep 3 times and that is very unusual for me. I didn't give it 1 star as I only reserve such ratings for truly horrible and insulting books. This was OK but just not my cup of tea.
I seriously tried but between the accent and how slow the story was moving, I fell asleep 3 times and that is very unusual for me. I didn't give it 1 star as I only reserve such ratings for truly horrible and insulting books. This was OK but just not my cup of tea.
April 23, 2019
romance audible. Clan chief wants Maggie for his wife. Maggie does not want a warrior for a husband. She agrees to a hand fasting, not knowing if they are lntiment they will be considered married.
January 29, 2020
I listened to this in a boxed set, here is the review for the whole story.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
February 20, 2015
Cliffhanger Alert!
OMG! Becca St. John's The Handfasting is an amazing trilogy!! I don't read serial novels; actually I avoid them like the plague, but this one spoke to me, so I couldn't resist. It's a highland romance, which I absolutely adore, and all three books were available. I absolutely refuse to read an unfinished book with a sequel that has not as yet been published. By the time the second book is released I'd have moved one. Anyhow, I got all three books in the trilogy and I put them aside--and to my shame, I forgot about them...until recently. Once I started reading book one, I could not put it down, because I wanted to know, NEEDED to know, what happened next. As soon as I finished one book, I moved on to the next, until all three were read--in a single day! I was literally up until 1:30 this morning finishing the last book.
This first installment in the story is absolutely riveting. The characters are all wonderfully developed. I loved Maggie's feistiness and Bold's--well, his boldness. LOL The two are a perfect match. Maggie is the youngest of eight children--she's also the only girl. With seven warrior brothers and a warrior father--all big, tough, bossy, overbearing men--Maggie has had to fight tooth and nail to get any say in the family. She's a "strapping lass", meaning she's tall and full bodied, very curvy. LOL As feisty as she is; as willing and able to fight for what she wants, all Maggie really wants is an easy going husband, one who will not try to control her--in other words, she does not want a warrior! This determination not to marry a warrior is only enhanced when her twin brother, Ian, dies in battle. Maggie is distraught at the loss of her brother, and harbors some resentment towards Bold, who is the one who called her family to arms when her brother died. Although Maggie's father is Laird of their clan, the McBedes are a sept of the McCay clan, of which Bold (Talorc the Bold) is laird. I think that means he was an overlord of sorts and they owe him fealty.
In any event, the best part of the story is Bold's single-minded determination to make Maggie his. The man pretty much became obsessed with Maggie from stories he heard about her, told by her brothers and the other men of her clan; stories about her bravery and her fiery nature. When stories about her past deeds inspire the up to then defeated men, to win a battle, Bold decides he will marry Maggie, sight unseen; a woman of her strength of character and bravery would make him an excellent mate and produce a bevy of equally strong brave children. LOL Even though he decides to marry Maggie, Bold expects to be disappointed with her physical appearance once he lays eyes on her. Well, this is a romance novel, so you know THAT doesn't happen. LOL! Instead, the opposite is true. There is an instant, combustible chemistry between Maggie and Bold, one which confuses and scares the innocent beauty. As determined as Bold is to marry Maggie; however, she is just as determined to have nothing to do with him. Bold is exactly what Maggie does not want; a warrior...and a quintessential one at that; fearless and fierce on the battlefield and a true leader of men.
Bold uses every method at his disposal, both fair and foul, to get Maggie to marry him. It was equal parts fun, equal parts uncomfortable for me to read about the methods he used to get her to agree. In the end, she agrees not to marriage, but to a handfasting...now all she has to do is keep her heart and her body safe and in a year and a day, she'll once again be a free woman. But there's a conspiracy against Maggie, one to keep her married to Bold, one which is forged by none other than her family. Unknown to Maggie, once a couple consummates a handfasting, they become husband and wife, just as surely as if they had been married in a church. This little fact is one that Maggie's mother conveniently forgets to tell her. LOL Anyhow, devious Bold gets his way and he and Maggie marry. When this first book ends, the couple are en route to Bold's lands and the story ends with quite a cliffhanger!
As you continue the story, throughout all three books, the romance between the two is the focus of the story with the conspiracy/murder plot adding plenty of intrigue and action to the plot. Overall, it made for a very romantic, very exciting read. FYI, this is not a clean story. Although there is no sex in this first book, as you continue the story there are a couple of love scenes. IMO those scenes are not overly graphic, nor is there any crude language used. Anyhow, if you decide to read this book, make sure you have the second and third ones available to go, because you're gonna want to know what happens next! FYI, the entire trilogy is now available in one book; The Handfasting. Happy reading!
October 29, 2013
I'd forgotten how much of a guilty pleasure these medievel Highlands tales are for me! I must remember to read more of them. Years ago, I had gotten hooked after reading "The Secret" by Julie Garwood, I swear one of the best romance books ever written! I've gotten sidetracked over the years into young adult and paranormal fares for some time now. So, being 'hungry' for a long forgotten fave genre, I may overly gush over this one, "Bold".
"Bold" had me from the start. I immediately loved Maggie's scrappy and willful behavior. The fact that she had seven strapping brothers who were massively protective of her just added charm - she thinks she is strong and independent however, what she doesn't know is how protected she really is. Her brothers boast stories of her so often, she is made out to be a 'divinity' of a sort - a 'symbol' of what is good. The times are hard, goodness is hard to come by. Thus, Laird Bold decides she would make him the perfect wife - that she should lift the spirits of the people, get them excited again and waning to make things better. Make the people want to fight for what is right and good. He makes it so. But. The clan has unseen enemies. An enemy on the inside, who wants to take all that Bold has. Maggie does not fit into the plan and attempts at her life are made.
This is where "Bold" ends. Seriously. It was a great start but then just ends very abruptly. Fortunately, I have books 2 and 3 already on my kindle. I got them on the kindle free page at some time, so fortunately I did not have to go buy each one just to find out what happened. I have now read all three 'books' and can attest to the fact that each one is incredibly short. Why are they not put together into ONE book? The fact that one book was divided up into three and sold for $1.99/each - just eats at me. I don't like it. Honestly, the writing is great, I loved the story - but I must give three stars to an otherwise 5 star book - because of this crappy 'set up'. I mean, I can see the positives - better marketablilty, more sales....whatever. I just don't appreciate the way it looks - like greed city. I know it doesn't work that way and that authors make very little, going indie it's tough getting noticed...lalala. I hate that this is even an issue to discuss because really, the book itself is what deserves the attention...but the buyability of the book(s) are obviously crucial to their being available to enjoy them.
I wish I could give 5 stars to all three books as ONE whole, but as I am to write three reviews, they will each get an average rating. "Bold" and the next two in the series are GOOD reading. I totally enjoyed my time with the Clan in the Highlands. Rating in this way is a difficult thing for me, as I believe in giving appreciation where it is due - and considering the writing, it is due here. I just have a problem with the splitting. If reading three short books to achieve the content of one regular length book does not bother you, DEFINITELY read the series, particularly if you like historical romance.
"Bold" had me from the start. I immediately loved Maggie's scrappy and willful behavior. The fact that she had seven strapping brothers who were massively protective of her just added charm - she thinks she is strong and independent however, what she doesn't know is how protected she really is. Her brothers boast stories of her so often, she is made out to be a 'divinity' of a sort - a 'symbol' of what is good. The times are hard, goodness is hard to come by. Thus, Laird Bold decides she would make him the perfect wife - that she should lift the spirits of the people, get them excited again and waning to make things better. Make the people want to fight for what is right and good. He makes it so. But. The clan has unseen enemies. An enemy on the inside, who wants to take all that Bold has. Maggie does not fit into the plan and attempts at her life are made.
This is where "Bold" ends. Seriously. It was a great start but then just ends very abruptly. Fortunately, I have books 2 and 3 already on my kindle. I got them on the kindle free page at some time, so fortunately I did not have to go buy each one just to find out what happened. I have now read all three 'books' and can attest to the fact that each one is incredibly short. Why are they not put together into ONE book? The fact that one book was divided up into three and sold for $1.99/each - just eats at me. I don't like it. Honestly, the writing is great, I loved the story - but I must give three stars to an otherwise 5 star book - because of this crappy 'set up'. I mean, I can see the positives - better marketablilty, more sales....whatever. I just don't appreciate the way it looks - like greed city. I know it doesn't work that way and that authors make very little, going indie it's tough getting noticed...lalala. I hate that this is even an issue to discuss because really, the book itself is what deserves the attention...but the buyability of the book(s) are obviously crucial to their being available to enjoy them.
I wish I could give 5 stars to all three books as ONE whole, but as I am to write three reviews, they will each get an average rating. "Bold" and the next two in the series are GOOD reading. I totally enjoyed my time with the Clan in the Highlands. Rating in this way is a difficult thing for me, as I believe in giving appreciation where it is due - and considering the writing, it is due here. I just have a problem with the splitting. If reading three short books to achieve the content of one regular length book does not bother you, DEFINITELY read the series, particularly if you like historical romance.
February 22, 2015
This was such a challenging read for me. The author did a good job at showing what a woman went through with her h Maggie MacBede. She was 19 years old when her brothers return, all except her twin come back alive and the man she holds responsible for his death ends up coming to the keep with the intent of marrying her. I loved Talorc the Bold. Maggie is tricked into handfasting with the bold and that is when my trouble started.
Maggie is described by Talorc as brave and courageous. He makes it clear to her clan and his the admiration and respect he has for her. I mean my god the man was incredible with his silken tongue and all Maggie could do was flare her quills in preparation to attack. I have read other books where woman dealt with this in a more dignified manner but Maggie made no secret to Talorc the hatred she had for him. While I can respect the author for attempting her own approach to her story I just could not like Maggie.
It got worse when you meet her mother. A mother has to protect her young and yet this mother did not. Fiona asks Maggie if she knows what goes on between a man and a woman which Maggie did. The handfasting is to last a year and a day and her mother tells her as long as you don't give your heart you can return to the keep. Now I am limited in my knowledge of handfasting but Maggie is convinced she can give herself to Talorc and still return.
Maggie was so idiotic at this point because she tells her mother he makes her feel peculiar and when given the chance she is giving into passionate kisses and caresses without any attempt to stop him. She even tells him she will take any pleasure the handfasting has to offer. Which then lead me to believe the girl must not have had any clue how a child came to pass because why would hse risk having a child if she had no intentions of staying. This made me roll my eyes at her mother. How could a mother send her daughter with a strange man and not prepare her for what lies ahead?
Talorc continues throughout the book to gain her trust and prove their feelings to no prevail, but I never really felt the connection because of Maggie's stubbornness. I really hated her and found her spoiled. Along side this is a conspiracy to kill Maggie (me included, LOL). You get to enjoy some Pagan rituals and how fast her companions meant to add comfort to Maggie turn on her when she suffers a head trauma. But I have to say the ending got exciting and I did enjoy that but I'm not sure if some of that excitement came from knowing the book was almost over. I couldn't have dreamt of a better H, his loyality and devotion was everything you could want but the h carried on with her stubbornness almost to the end.
What they suffered at the end and all the blood was sad and it did give me pause for her but overall she just wasn't my type of heroin. I would have gave it one star but the ending and the Bold made me give an extra star!
Maggie is described by Talorc as brave and courageous. He makes it clear to her clan and his the admiration and respect he has for her. I mean my god the man was incredible with his silken tongue and all Maggie could do was flare her quills in preparation to attack. I have read other books where woman dealt with this in a more dignified manner but Maggie made no secret to Talorc the hatred she had for him. While I can respect the author for attempting her own approach to her story I just could not like Maggie.
It got worse when you meet her mother. A mother has to protect her young and yet this mother did not. Fiona asks Maggie if she knows what goes on between a man and a woman which Maggie did. The handfasting is to last a year and a day and her mother tells her as long as you don't give your heart you can return to the keep. Now I am limited in my knowledge of handfasting but Maggie is convinced she can give herself to Talorc and still return.
Maggie was so idiotic at this point because she tells her mother he makes her feel peculiar and when given the chance she is giving into passionate kisses and caresses without any attempt to stop him. She even tells him she will take any pleasure the handfasting has to offer. Which then lead me to believe the girl must not have had any clue how a child came to pass because why would hse risk having a child if she had no intentions of staying. This made me roll my eyes at her mother. How could a mother send her daughter with a strange man and not prepare her for what lies ahead?
Talorc continues throughout the book to gain her trust and prove their feelings to no prevail, but I never really felt the connection because of Maggie's stubbornness. I really hated her and found her spoiled. Along side this is a conspiracy to kill Maggie (me included, LOL). You get to enjoy some Pagan rituals and how fast her companions meant to add comfort to Maggie turn on her when she suffers a head trauma. But I have to say the ending got exciting and I did enjoy that but I'm not sure if some of that excitement came from knowing the book was almost over. I couldn't have dreamt of a better H, his loyality and devotion was everything you could want but the h carried on with her stubbornness almost to the end.
What they suffered at the end and all the blood was sad and it did give me pause for her but overall she just wasn't my type of heroin. I would have gave it one star but the ending and the Bold made me give an extra star!
March 22, 2013
Could not finish it. First part of a three part book to begin with. Poor spelling, punctuation, and characterization to finish it up. And since I'm not a historian, I hesitate to comment on inaccuracies of period appropriate thoughts and language used. I got the feeling of a more modern time based on some of the words and phrases used.
This listing, this review, is here to remind me not to follow on.
This listing, this review, is here to remind me not to follow on.
January 20, 2014
I hate to write a review of a book I didn't finish. But I have never not finished a book. Ever. I could not force myself to do it. I didn't like Maggie but I REALLY didn't like the brute of a man the Hero was. I couldn't get past that. Anything after that point was just too forced for me. If everything else was different, I might have been able to like Maggie.
May 3, 2016
I wasn't so sure about this book...thought the chapters too short just from skimming through. I was so wrong! This book is filled with passionate love and an ever present evil that you have a few glimpses of and the whole time your mind is reeling trying to figure out who the evil players are. Truly a great read and I highly recommend!
June 6, 2013
Awesome book upset 1st book in a trilogy and had to wait for the next books also she is a new author, no other books to read, lol.
The cliff-hanger at the end of this book left me waiting and growling for the next book lol
The cliff-hanger at the end of this book left me waiting and growling for the next book lol
August 9, 2014
I'm rating it for what it could be. It is more of an introduction/prequel but it is an intriguing idea and well written. It does just stop though, with no resolutions and it can barely be considered a cliff hanger.
July 21, 2013
a bit disappointed with the length and ending. But I do love a Highlander!
October 19, 2013
Part one .... seems more of a novella that is told in three parts.
May 20, 2015
the writing was very unclear at some parts. I liked the story, but had trouble relating to the characters. it was obvious that this might be the first boom the author wrote. she has a good potential
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January 10, 2017Bold, Tangled and Torn have been compiled as The Handfasting, Book 1 of the Handfasting series. The individual books are no longer available.
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