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Fairy Tale
Duncan MacElgin, of the devil's own reputation and sinful past, has been forced to return home to his crumbling Scottish castle -- only to be ambushed by a woman! Worse, the tartan-clad female is impertinent, unrepentant, and beautiful.
Convinced Duncan is the enemy, Marsali Hay orders her bedraggled clansmen to attack the powerful chieftain. She never dreams he is the infamous "Black Duncan," returning to bring his embarrassing clan of rebels under control. Determined to assert his authority, Duncan vows that Marsali will pay dearly for her mistake. But when she confronts menacing danger, Duncan realizes that in order to regain control of his castle, he might have to fight the battle of his life...and surrender his hardened warrior's heart.
Convinced Duncan is the enemy, Marsali Hay orders her bedraggled clansmen to attack the powerful chieftain. She never dreams he is the infamous "Black Duncan," returning to bring his embarrassing clan of rebels under control. Determined to assert his authority, Duncan vows that Marsali will pay dearly for her mistake. But when she confronts menacing danger, Duncan realizes that in order to regain control of his castle, he might have to fight the battle of his life...and surrender his hardened warrior's heart.
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1997
2 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
About the author
Jillian Hunter
51 books429 followersJillian Hunter is the bestselling author of over twenty historical romances. She lives with her husband, three daughters, a pug and a poodle in Southern California. She loves anyone who can make her laugh, which means she is in love with Mike Myers and Tyler Perry.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 26, 2019
I feel bad that I’ve been really disliking all the older Jillian Hunters I’ve been trying. They can be funny, although I didn’t find this one as funny as some of the others. I found it really boring and tedious and I just wanted it to be over. The heroine was unlikable, I didn’t feel any tension. Just not for me sadly. I do t even have the energy to write a true review. I just want to start something else. Lol
August 28, 2012
This is my first time reading a novel by Jillian Hunter. This is an older book within her collection that was given to me by a friend when I attended RomCon in 2010. It’s a relatively quick read for the size book that it is, and it’s historical, if that’s your pleasure. Plus, there are men in kilts, which is always a good thing.
Duncan MacElgin is a soldier returning to his home in Scotland after serving in the military for a number of years. He’s a reluctant chieftain for a bumbling clan in a crumbling castle. On his return to the castle, he gets abducted by a motley gang, who ends up being a led by Marsali Hay, the daughter of a man Duncan much admired in his youth. Marsali doesn’t realize who her gang has abducted, and the penance Duncan gives her is hilarious.
This book was fast moving and had a lot going on throughout, but overall it was pretty funny. The romance is a little secondary, which I wanted a little more of. Duncan’s character started out very serious, and through the shenanigans that was thrust upon him, his crusty outer shell slowly eroded. This author is definitely someone to check out if you like your romances historical, Scottish, and funny. The romance was pretty tame, too, so if you want something a little more PG, this is a good book to check out.
Duncan MacElgin is a soldier returning to his home in Scotland after serving in the military for a number of years. He’s a reluctant chieftain for a bumbling clan in a crumbling castle. On his return to the castle, he gets abducted by a motley gang, who ends up being a led by Marsali Hay, the daughter of a man Duncan much admired in his youth. Marsali doesn’t realize who her gang has abducted, and the penance Duncan gives her is hilarious.
This book was fast moving and had a lot going on throughout, but overall it was pretty funny. The romance is a little secondary, which I wanted a little more of. Duncan’s character started out very serious, and through the shenanigans that was thrust upon him, his crusty outer shell slowly eroded. This author is definitely someone to check out if you like your romances historical, Scottish, and funny. The romance was pretty tame, too, so if you want something a little more PG, this is a good book to check out.
May 26, 2017
This was like picking back up with an old friend. It's sat on my keeper shelves since '98 and kept begging me to pick it back up and revisit this story that touched my heart so many years ago. When I would think of this story over the years, one thing kept coming to mind and that was laughter... chickens...a woman who was such a free spirited lass and a man who was continually trying to keep up with her and keep his sanity in tact. HUGE smiles here.
Duncan has life long scars that haunt him each day and he has no interest in laying down roots. He has a job to do and plans on wrapping things up quickly but low and behold in walks Marsali, and her crowd, and his world is turned on it's side. Oh, what obstacles to work through but half the fun is in the doing. ;)
The characters come to life within Jillian Hunter's words and wrap themselves up in your heart. After eighteen years I felt the exact same way I felt the first time reading and as the old saying goes.... "The proof is in the pudding..." Do not let this story pass you by.
Duncan has life long scars that haunt him each day and he has no interest in laying down roots. He has a job to do and plans on wrapping things up quickly but low and behold in walks Marsali, and her crowd, and his world is turned on it's side. Oh, what obstacles to work through but half the fun is in the doing. ;)
The characters come to life within Jillian Hunter's words and wrap themselves up in your heart. After eighteen years I felt the exact same way I felt the first time reading and as the old saying goes.... "The proof is in the pudding..." Do not let this story pass you by.
July 30, 2008
Jillian Hunter creates very complex characters for the hero and heroine, accompanied by multiple secondary characters including a pair of ghosts. It is busier than a Shakespeare comedy with the minor characters providing diversions, creating scenes and generally carrying the lovers towards a satisfying ending. The heroine is a reluctant magician with a colorful family and clan connections. The dark brooding warrior finds love and happiness upon multiple confrontations with the heroine. Rather colorful and busy...
January 26, 2008
This book was hilarious! I laughed all through it. There is abit of paranormal in this Scottish historical, too.
Loved the falcon! Nice, gentle romance.
Loved the falcon! Nice, gentle romance.
May 12, 2022
A cute, magical love story. It's well written and wonderfully paced.
February 21, 2023
Duncan has returned to his title, his people and his land with great reluctance. The place where he grew up hold dark memories for him and the only reason he’s returning to it is on behalf of the English King who wants Duncan’s clan to play ball in the great scheme of the things. As soon as he puts things in order, he will leave his title as Chieftain behind and take his place in the English army. Of course, he greatly underestimates the chaos his clan has fallen under without a firm hand. Case in point, he is welcomed with an attack as he is stripped naked and feathered. Furious, he reveals himself as their laird and tries his best to look intimidating while standing in nothing but a plaid he stole from his attackers. Leading the charge of his group of vigilantes is a beautiful young woman who is by far the most frustrating person Duncan has ever encountered.
Marsali is equally as disgusted by this boorish, harsh and vindictive man she calls Laird. She does everything to try to put him in his place yet none of it seems to do anything besides put more punishments on her shoulders. Back and forth goes this game of stubbornness and cat and mouse, each realizing they are more and more fond of each other as the days go on. But despite their growing affections, Duncan has made it clear he has no plans to stay with her of the clan. And he even imagines he can just marry her off! All because she may be a bit free-spirited and reckless at times. But she will happily marry, just not to any of the men he puts before her. No, she wants Duncan for herself but it’ll take a near war with the English and a neighboring clan in order to make him see reason.
This novel had a lot to work with in terms of telling a really good story of forgiveness and what people do when confronted with duty and pleasure. However, I felt that in all aspects it fell short. When we’re first introduced to the main characters, I thought they were charming and very humorous. Yet, the author never truly took us deeper than that. There were times of true pain in Duncan and his struggles with his past and his feelings for Marsali but they were always glazed over and forgotten or worse, made a joke of. I wanted to see more true emotions between the characters and I didn’t get that. I also thought Marsali was extremely hard to like as a character because of her childish behavior and I thought all she really did was manage to bring Duncan down and cause trouble for him.
A missed opportunity in my opinion to make a grand Scottish story of star-crossed lovers and overcoming childhood pain.
Marsali is equally as disgusted by this boorish, harsh and vindictive man she calls Laird. She does everything to try to put him in his place yet none of it seems to do anything besides put more punishments on her shoulders. Back and forth goes this game of stubbornness and cat and mouse, each realizing they are more and more fond of each other as the days go on. But despite their growing affections, Duncan has made it clear he has no plans to stay with her of the clan. And he even imagines he can just marry her off! All because she may be a bit free-spirited and reckless at times. But she will happily marry, just not to any of the men he puts before her. No, she wants Duncan for herself but it’ll take a near war with the English and a neighboring clan in order to make him see reason.
This novel had a lot to work with in terms of telling a really good story of forgiveness and what people do when confronted with duty and pleasure. However, I felt that in all aspects it fell short. When we’re first introduced to the main characters, I thought they were charming and very humorous. Yet, the author never truly took us deeper than that. There were times of true pain in Duncan and his struggles with his past and his feelings for Marsali but they were always glazed over and forgotten or worse, made a joke of. I wanted to see more true emotions between the characters and I didn’t get that. I also thought Marsali was extremely hard to like as a character because of her childish behavior and I thought all she really did was manage to bring Duncan down and cause trouble for him.
A missed opportunity in my opinion to make a grand Scottish story of star-crossed lovers and overcoming childhood pain.
May 22, 2010
My sister bought this book for a thrift store. So my sister finish reading the book and about to throw away the book. I asked my sister if i can have the book. And I read the book and I just thought the book was ok but I will be reading it again because it have been a long time since I last read the book.
January 24, 2013
"Fairy Tale" by Jillian Hunter was a fairly enjoyable historical romance with comic and fantasy elements. It seemed to struggle with knowing what it was and the plot and characters kept taking rather strange turns. I've read other books by Jillian Hunter and I will probably read more, but I don't think I would recommend this book because there are so many other really great romance novels.
April 19, 2011
It was just... okay. I don't think it was written very well, there were a lot of spelling errors that took me out of the story. The story itself seemed to drag on and I found myself skimming through pages and skipping parts all together.
April 11, 2016
Her books usually only take me about a couple of hours to read but I had the hardest time getting into this one. I had to keep putting it down as it just felt boring to me. Also Jamie talking about himself in the third person was quite annoying.
March 21, 2015
I really did not like this. I read it because of a good newspaper review, but it was just a tiny virgin story with an especially dense hero.
Read
June 4, 2018I picked this up randomly at the library but I wasn't really engaged by the writing style. The story also seemed a bit OTT. This was a DNF for me.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews