ARC Review: The Devil of Dunakin Castle by Heather McCollum (Highland Isles)

Title: The Devil of Dunakin Castle

          (Highland Isles)

Author: Heather McCollum

Release Date: November 13, 2017 (ARC)

Publisher: Entangled - Scandalous

Category: Historical Romance

Type: Digital/Paperback

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Heather McCollum Website

Blurb:

Englishwoman, Grace Ellington, has made a home in Scotland, but to escape from the meddling people around her who seem to think she needs to wed right away—because women need saving, right? —she volunteers to journey north to aid a friend in childbirth.

Keir MacKinnon, the younger brother of the MacKinnon clan chief, has been raised to strike fear in people, on and off the battlefield. Trained to uphold MacKinnon law, he has hardened into a lethal warrior. Caught in a Highland blizzard with the feisty Grace, Keir realizes the beautiful woman who saved him can also save his nephew’s life.

Sparks fly when he takes her against her will to his home, and Grace’s courage is put to the ultimate test. Is Keir MacKinnon the passionate, kind man she saved in the Highland blizzard, or is he truly the cruel executioner who seeks to solve all issues by the sword?

Each book in the Highland Isles series is a STANDALONE story that can be enjoyed out of order.
* The Beast of Aros Castle
* The Rogue of Islay Isle
* The Wolf of Kisimul Castle
* The Devil of Dunakin Castle

By reading any further, you are stating that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are under the age of 18, please exit this site.

Favorite Line(s):

“Love grows courage out of fear.”  ~  Grace

Excerpt:

A sound in the wind made Keir turn in the saddle to look back the way they’d come through the woods. A scream? Or was it the shrieking wind? Again it came, a thin, highpitched scream. “I hear something,” Keir said.

“What?” Brodie called.

Keir cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled. “Go on. I’ll find ye in the village.”The reins gripped in his gloved hand, he turned Cogadh around. His war horse was used to discomfort, as was Keir, but he was glad he’d put the wool drape on Cogadh under his saddle. He guided them blindly through the white in the direction he’d heard the cry. His ears trained on the woods.

A shriek sliced through the wail of the wind, ahead to the right. “Siuthad!” he yelled, making Cogadh jump forward as Keir leaned low over the horse’s neck. His loyal beast churned the snow under his hooves, trusting Keir to guide him between the trees that appeared out of the white at the last second. They moved together, man and war horse, a single creature of power and perseverance.

Keir pulled back as they neared a stony cliff face. He and Brodie had ridden around it to avoid the caves cut underneath where animals likely slumbered. There, backed against a thick tree, was a cloaked woman. The cliff blocked some of the wind, and Keir could pick out three gray shapes in the snow, advancing toward her. Wolves. Hungry, no doubt.

He leaped down and drew his sword. The woman’s face jerked toward him, and she screamed again.

“Shite,” she yelled through the scarf, covering her mouth.

Keir could see only wide, lash-framed eyes staring at him, full of panic. “Stay back!” he yelled and stepped between her and the wolves. He swung his blade through the frost-filled air, and it sang with the wind.

“Don’t kill them,” the woman called from behind. “They have a cave on the backside of this rock, with babies in it. Cubs, pups, whatever they’re called.”

Bloody hell. The woman had walked into a den of wolves protecting their pups. He sheathed his sword and threw his arms out wide. He frightened grown warriors; perhaps he could frighten hungry wolves. He growled, showed his teeth and stomped forward. One of the wolves immediately withdrew, dodging to disappear around the corner, but the other two snapped back, apparently not impressed. While one growled at him, the other began to circle behind him, realizing that the woman was the weakest and easily culled.

Cogadh snorted and reared up on his hind legs, helping with intimidation. The wolves didn’t seem to care, but the woman screamed again. She grabbed onto Keir’s back, pressing against him, and a weaker man would have ended up face down in the snow. Backing slowly, Keir kept the advancing beasts before him. “Ye’re going in the tree,” he said over the wind.

“What?” the woman asked, but there wasn’t time to explain. With a swift glance over his shoulder, he turned and lifted the woman onto a branch above his head. Snow tumbled off the branch, momentarily blinding him as she scrambled. Her boots kicked, and fighting the slippery branches, she stood to balance on the thick extension.

A growl broke through the shrill of the tempest, and fire bit into Keir’s thigh. “Mo chreach!” He swung his fist backward, making contact with the wolf’s snout. It released his leg, shaking its massive head. It hunched down to spring at him. “Don’t make me kill ye,” he said low and slipped his sword free. The familiar feel of it, heavy in his hand, overrode the deep ache from the bite.

Cogadh, the smell of blood familiar to him, shrieked into the wind as he charged forward, his forelegs stomping down in force. The second wolf turned in time to gnash his teeth against the horse’s leg. Cogadh, a born warrior, raised his front legs, bringing them down on the wolf’s back end.

With a yelp, the animal rolled and sprung up, limping as he trotted in retreat around the corner of the cliff. Keir yelled and sliced the air with his sword before the remaining wolf’s face.

“Watch out,” the woman called and—

Crack! Something hit the back of Keir’s head. “Sard!” he cursed and looked down to see a dagger in the snow, a throbbing in his head now joining with the throbbing in his thigh. Luckily, the wolf was losing its courage as Keir’s horse continued to stamp and paw the ground next to him. With one last glance, the beast dodged out into the continuing blizzard, hopefully to burrow back into its cozy den.

Keir turned to the tree. The branch creaked overhead with the woman balanced on it, clinging to the trunk. “I’m sorry. I meant to hit the wolf.” Wind gusted against them, blowing the woman’s skirts about her legs as the branch swayed, creaking. “You were bit,” she yelled down. “I’m a healer.”

A healer? Was she from Kilchoan or Aros? He wouldn’t have left her stranded in a tree regardless, but if she could be of help to his nephew, he wasn’t going anywhere without her. Keir stood below. Perhaps good fortune had called him to her. “Sit on the branch and lower down.” The woman continued to cling to the tree. “Let go,” he said.

“I will. I am,” she said. “I’m just…I hate this. Cold, wolves, being up in a tree.”

“Sit, woman,” he said.

With painstakingly slow movements, she bent down, still gripping the thick trunk, until she sat on the limb. “I’m…I think I’ll fall,” she said as the limb shook and cracked in the wind.

He moved under her. “I’ll catch ye.”

A gust blew up over the rock wall, slicing down to hit the tree as the woman slid out farther away from the trunk, preparing to drop down.

“Good Lord,” she yelled as the branch let out a snap and crack, breaking. Pain shattered the white scene before Keir as the heavy limb slammed the side of his head. His last thought of the woman with large, blue eyes was that good fortune had absolutely nothing to do with her. Then all went black.

Dialogue Highlight:

Grace dozed on the hay-filled pallet that Keir had dragged to lay beside Lachlan’s bed. When he’d come back with freshly boiled water and weak ale from a newly tapped barrel, he’d sent both his sister and grandmother to their beds. He’d helped Grace wash his nephew down and drizzle untainted ale into his mouth. He barely stirred but managed to swallow. Now Keir sat near the fire, staring into the flames.

“You should sleep, too,” Grace said, her words thick with exhaustion.

“I will sleep when I’m dead,” he said.

Grace rolled her eyes, although she knew he couldn’t see her. “That is such a foolish male thing to say.”

“I am male,” he answered. “And the fact that someone has been poisoning my nephew and brother, right before me without notice, certainly paints me the fool.”

She pushed up on an elbow, watching him poke the fire. “Small amounts of arsenic imitate a long, drawn-out illness. It’s very difficult to detect until the later stages when the spots appear.” She sighed when he didn’t respond. “You won’t be good to anyone if you’re falling asleep in your pottage tomorrow. If there’s an assassin about, I need you alert.”

His face turned, his dark eyes meeting her. “We should keep the treason a secret. I’ve warned Rab not to say anything. I’m to spread about that he has a mild illness. The assassin will know what it truly is and will try to complete his evil deed.”

“Come sit with me,” Grace said and sat with her back against the rock wall. He set another square of peat into the flames and walked over, lowering his large frame slowly as if he might ache. He leaned next to her, his shoulder brushing her arm.

She kept her voice low. “That is why I told Dara and Fiona that it was called Spotting Sickness. We must watch anyone who comes close to either Lachlan’s or Rab’s food or drink.” Grace could see Keir’s jaw clenching. “You are worried it is Dara?” she asked in a whisper.

“She’s had access to both, especially Lachlan. Or perhaps Seanmhair.”

“Your grandmother? ”Grace tried to keep the disbelief from her hushed tone. “I don’t see it in her, Keir.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and raised one hand to rake through his hair. “She’s Aonghus Mackinnon’s mother. Madness runs in the family.” He stared out at the side of Lachlan’s bed.

“Aonghus was mad?” she asked, feeling the brittleness of Keir’s underlying pain in the way he held himself.

“Aye, he was mad when…he died. Seanmhair raised him.”

“He died ten years ago?”

“Aye,” he answered.

Grace thought back to the concerned elderly woman and shook her head. “She is too worried about Lachlan. My instincts tell me her fear for him is genuine, Keir.” She patted his leg under the blanket. “I have very good instincts when it comes to people.”

He looked down at his lap where her hand rested beneath. Grace yanked it back to her side. Blasted. With the treason and worry, and for her, the horror of a ring of heads around the bloody castle, she was having a difficult time remembering her anger. Sitting so close, the threads of their passion drew her. Maybe it was her fear that eroded her fury at Keir. He was the only one at Dunakin whom she somewhat trusted.

She looked toward the bed, her pulse picking up when she felt his leg shift against hers. “What do your instincts say about me?” he asked, his voice a soft burble of Scots accent, pulling her gaze back. Question and doubt filled the deep shadows and lines of his face. “Am I mad, too? Brutal and cruel as the Devil of Dunakin?”

“Mad, brutal, and cruel? No,” she answered without hesitation.

A wry smile touched his lips, lips she knew tasted like wild passion and heat. “Then I’m sorry to say, Grace Ellington, I don’t believe your instincts.”

He didn’t move, yet his rigid posture softened, the firelight behind him making the details of his expression difficult to read in the shadow. “Ye must sleep,” he said.

Grace’s skin tingled at his nearness. She wet her lips and watched as his gaze dropped to them.

“I…”she started and swallowed. “Yes, we must sleep, in order to work together to find this fiend.”

He looked away. “Lie back. I will watch the night.”

“God’s teeth, Keir. The night will watch itself.” She pinched her lips tight to give him a glare.“ The door is barred, and if anyone tries to enter, you will no doubt jump directly out of sleep to slice them to bits and claim their heads to decorate your hall for next Christmastide.”

His rigid jaw relaxed enough to allow a thin smile. “Ye have a way with words, lass.”

He’d said the same thing over her passion-evoked rambling in the cabin. Grace felt her cheeks warm but kept his gaze. “Words are powerful,” she said. “Spoken with passion and truth, they can bend hearts and persuade others to act.”

Keir pulled the covers up slightly and pressed against her shoulder until she tumbled over, her head meeting the pillow. “I’m speaking with truth when I say ye must sleep,” he said.

She snorted and pulled his arm until he followed her to lie between her back and the wall. She yawned. “If I wake to find you up and black-eyed from exhaustion, you’ll hear some powerful, loud words from me.”

“I am warned,” he said.

Review:

Grace Ellington is an English woman from the ton, but has left and moved to Scotland to be closer to her sister. She has been taught quite a lot in healing and now helps others with the skills she has learned. On her way to help a friend with her upcoming birth, she becomes lost in a blizzard and is rescued by Keir. She nurses him back to health following their ordeal, and decides to accompany him to try and improve his nephew’s failing health, but is annoyed when he absconds with her before she even has a chance to reveal her plan to him. Keir holds a fearful reputation, but she sees much more than that within him. While he is indeed in possession of some frightening skills, she can’t help but see all the good in him; having cast judgement prior to discovering his identity. When a dastardly plot is uncovered surrounding the mysterious illness within Dunakin castle, she vows to stay until the traitor is exposed. But another evil exists within the castle and only Grace has the power to save Keir from it. She’s going to save him, or die trying.

Keir MacKinnon (Devil of Dunakin Castle) has been bred for evil. The enforcer of Dunakin, his legend spreads far and wide, full of all of the nefarious deeds and deaths he is responsible for. Duty above all else. He used to believe that, but lately he has been questioning the motives behind the wicked actions he is ordered to carry out. He knows there is a better way, but he is torn with what he knows versus what he has done his entire life. Grace is something he never bargained for and sees him in a way no one has ever dared before. She also doesn’t fear him the way others do and they connect on a level he never imagined possible. The Devil doesn’t live happily ever after – a family would be a weakness. After determining the traitor within their walls, he has another punishment to deliver that is causing a war within himself. He knows his orders, but carrying out this particular command will destroy the man inside … Grace is his only hope – and even Keir doesn’t realize just how true that is.

This is my first book by Ms. McCollum and it definitely won’t be my last. I absolutely loved this book and the world within. Ms. McCollum took a somewhat familiar plot and then jumbled it all up to give it her own unique spin. I really enjoyed Grace and her uncommon departure from England; choosing instead to remain in Scotland with her sister and take up the craft of healing others. She’s a walking contradiction displaying fear in several instances, but strength in others. I don’t think even at the end, she realized just how strong she truly was. Keir is one of the most endearing characters I have come across in a while. He is the personification of strength – protector of all people and things Dunakin – enforcer of punishments handed down from their leader – a man who understand right and wrong versus necessity and survival – at war with his inner self, knowing his recent punishments have been unjust. He’s pretty much everything an alpha male should be. But his life isn’t his own; ruled by obligation and the decisions handed down from his older brother, Rabbie. Grace walking in to his life was exactly what he needed, having been questioning his role for some time, she helped him see things in a new light. Hard versus soft, They are seemingly opposite in every way, but for them, it works perfectly.

This book does a fabulous job of combining two people from different worlds with a bit of mystery and a crazy amount of sexual tension. Grace knows what she wants despite her lack of experience. She’s got a foul mouth on her and every deliciously dirty thing that spills from her lips only makes Keir want her more. She is truly one of a kind with her wanton desires and she isn’t afraid to act on them. Neither is Keir opposed to showing her more about them. Probably my only complaint was the lack of knowledge surrounding Grace’s decision to leave England. There is a bit mentioned about abuse from her brother, but it is never really discussed at length about what happened, or why she didn’t return following his death. Her fear of water is a direct result from him, but she never even discusses that with Keir besides a casual mention about staying away from it. I did quite enjoy watching each character grow and morph into the person they wanted to be. And Keir’s cousin, Brodie is also a brilliant addition to the cast of characters. I’d very much like to see him with his own story; especially given his new responsibilities. Overall, this is a wonderful historical romance with charming characters and an engaging plot that I am thrilled to have been able to read. If all of Ms. Mcollum’s stories are this delightful, then I just might have a new go-to author on my hands. Lovers of HR with a Highland twist are sure to be pleased by this tale of a brooding hero in desperate need of rescuing by his one true match.

Kindle version provided by Entangled/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.