DemonessTenebrae

"Jillian, please." His voice was so low, it was almost inaudible.
 
"Please what?" she whispered.
 
Swiftly he flicked his wrist and she was standing before him, captured between his thighs. His eyes were fixed in the vicinity of her navel, as if he couldn't summon the strength to raise them. "Kiss me, Jillian. Touch me. Show me I'm alive," he whispered back.

This book is definitely better than the first book of this series. The progress is evident. The story is more fluent, the characters are displayed in more depth and the well-known style of writing by this dear author is showing its true colours. 

And I know for a fact that the next book called "The Highlander's Touch" of the "Highlander" series is even better than this one. So I'm hoping that the fourth book in this series will reach the ultimate five stars. 

But back to the present matter.

"To Tame A Highland Warrior" is a book which is a strict middle. On one hand, it elated me, on the other frustrated. 

Unlike the first book of the series where we were dealing with the time-travel heroine, here there are no "supernatural" elements such as that but the hero is a character from the old Scottish legends so let's say we are still dealing with the unusual historical romance.

The hero is none other than Grimm Roderick, best friend of a hero from the first book. Grimm was an often mentioned character from the first book so his character in this (second) book is already well established. Grimm is serious, composed, well-behaved, grim, sarcastic and utmost loyal friend. He is also a proud undefeated warrior with many emotional wounds and none physical. 

Namely, Grimm is a Berserker. A line of warriors reaching far back who worshipped Odin and had supernatural strength and healing abilities. They were known for their intensely blue eyes. They also shifted in something more than a man when they were in their Berserker state. Blood was usually what set them off but rage was their companion all the time and they made good use of it.

Grimm suffered the death of his mother and many of his friends and companions when he was only fourteen which triggered his inner Berserker. Since he had some misconceptions regarding his mothers death, he disappeared from his home and lived alone in the wilderness until a fair looking young girl didn't "tame" him and took him in. Since that moment he became a part of her family. Until one day when he was past twenty years of age and his legacy endangered his new family. So he abruptly left them without any explanation. 

Now, years after, he received a letter from the father of that girl stating that he needs to go back and take his little girl Jillian. Since he swore he would always protect her and with that mysterious letter in tow he set off to see her.

Jillian St.Clair is a young lady who is well past her marrying age. So her father decided that it's time to speed things up. He ordered three men to come to his estate while he's away and look after Jillian. She knew nothing about it. The men learned what exactly was happening only after they arrived. One of the men was Jillian's childhood friend, the other a person who owed Jillian's father a debt and the third was - Grimm. He was Jillian's friend, her first (and only) love and also a person who hurt her the most and whom she sworn never to see again.

Three men competing for Jillian's hand in marriage while the parents are away and she is left with no supervision except for one of her father's friends and her maid. And the men couldn't be more different from one another. But the one thing they have in common is their fearlessness and their thick-headedness. None of them will back away. And they are betting all in. Let the games begin !

I got to hand it to the author, she certainly knows how to entertain.  

Jillian is courted by three men at the same time. Despite her heart belonging to one man alone, she still had other choices. Because that man is stubborn as they come and he thinks himself not good enough for her. So he tried everything to push her away into the arms of her childhood friend Quinn. If only love worked that way...

Jillian is a strong female character. And that is what I like about her. She knows she is only human and a woman not trained in fighting so she could never compete with these men strength wise but she also knows that she is intelligent and that she has advantage on that field. I like realistic characters. And Jillian was realistic when it counted. Many times she looked at things logically rather than swooning over every little obstacle she encountered. She fought for her man, and that is what counts in the end.

His gaze mocked her. "What would you know about man-made hells?"
 
"A woman lives most of her life in a man-made world," Jillian replied. "First her father's world, then her husband's, finally her son's, by whose grace she continues on in one of their households should her husband die before her. And in Scotland, the husbands always seem to die before the women in one war or another. Sometimes merely watching the hells men design for each other-that's horror enough for any woman. We feel things differently than you men do." 

Grimm is one of those characters you want to have in bed whilst kneeing him in the stomach (repeatedly) at the same time. He is dangerous, dark, menacing... deliciously sexy to cut it short. But he is also unbelievably set in his ways and doesn't want to see things as they truly are. - That. Is. Frustrating. 

He is a berserker, a warrior from legends. Instead of being proud of his heritage, he hides it and blames everything on it. He thinks himself a danger to everyone who comes close so he isolates himself from the world. Also, he is tortured by the events that transpired when he was fourteen. He is a misunderstood troubled soul.

Thanks to Jillian, though, we get to see the real Grimm. The one named Gavrael McIllioch. A man, a berserker, a lover, a devoted friend, son and husband. Everything one hero should be.

Truly a step up from the confusion of the first book in the series. Although we don't get to see any of the Fae world in this book, we do get to learn a lot about Scotland and its legends. In the next book, though, Adam Black is back (sigh). 

All in all, a very good read but it would be much better if any of the other men proposing to Jillian had even a slither of hope. We knew from the beginning that Grimm was the one. And of course he should be, but it should have been more vague until the end. That suspense would be - to die for.

Looking forward to the next book, I know it's even better than this one. Hooray :)