ARC Review: Highland Conquest (Sons of Sinclair 1) by Heather McCollum

Title: Highland Conquest

Series: Sons of Sinclair 1

Author: Heather McCollum

Release Date: April 28, 2020 (ARC)

Published By: Entangled Amara

Category: Romance – Historical – Scottish

Type: Digital – Paperback

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Heather McCollum Website

Rating: 

Heat: 

Blurb: 

Cain Sinclair has a plan. In order to finally bring peace to his clan, he will wed the young female chief of their greatest enemy. Only problem: capturing her and forcing her back to Sinclair castle doesn’t exactly make her want to say yes. Ella Sutherland may be clever, passionate, and shockingly beautiful, but what she isn’t is willing.

Every attempt Cain makes to woo her seems to backfire on him. A gift? The kitten practically claws his eyes out. A competitive game of chess? Even when he wins, he loses. It seems the only time the two ever see eye to eye is when they’re heating up Cain’s bed. Still, the only thing Ella truly wants is the one thing he cannot offer her: freedom.

But when Cain discovers she’s been harboring a secret—one that could threaten both clans’ very existence—he’ll have to decide between peace for the Sinclairs or the woman who’s captured his heart.

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Favorite Lines:

“My scars are proof I survived living with a devil, one who is dead and hopefully burning in Hell.”  ~  Arabella

“I rather like trouble,” Cain said. In fact, the last day, thwarting the lass, was the most entertaining day that he could remember.  ~  Cain

“Love messes up things, turns logical men and women into fools, changes perfect strategies.”  ~  Merida

Conquest is about taking. Love is about giving.”  ~  Merida

Vocabulary Word:

Targe

noun Archaic.

a small, round shield; a target or buckler.

ORIGIN OF TARGE

before 1000; Middle English < Old French < Old Norse targa round shield; cognate with Old High German zarga rim, ring; replacing Old English targe, targa < Old Norse

Excerpt:

          Cain wiped the dampness of her kiss from his mouth with the back of his arm. She’d tricked him into letting go of her. He’d purposely given her a false means of escape in case he had not been able to grab her arm before she jumped, but the kiss had robbed him of his senses, something that had never happened to him before. 

          “Siuthad!” she repeated, not knowing what Cain knew. 

          “In his battle armor, my horse will not move for anyone but me,”he said, his words grinding out with suppressed fury over his foolish reaction. He’d bloody hell let a lass trick him, a virgin lass, her inexperienced kiss racing like wildfire to burn his renowned discipline to ash. 

          Staring down at her, his gaze locked with Ella’s for half a moment before the earlier look of hatred tightened her face. The kiss had been a complete farce, tearing through him while she remained unmoved. You stupid arse. One kiss and he was ready to forget she was the enemy. 

          “Ye cannot escape me.”His words ground out with wrath, propelling her from Seraph’s back. 

          She swooped down for her bow and quiver that she must have dropped while she kissed him. Obviously, her mind had been clear and unaffected while muddling his. Curse the siren. 

          Without a backward glance, she ran. Cain jumped down, his boots thudding against the earth, and took off after her. She sprinted ahead, leaping over branches, ducking and weaving around thin pines and white birches. Without his heavy armor to weigh him down, Cain gained on her easily. 

          Bloody, fiery hell. She’d tricked him, with a blasted kiss. He’d been kissed by dozens of lasses, and none of them had prompted him to abandon a lifetime of training and instincts. Ella Sutherland was the enemy and—she is mine. 

         The muscles in his thighs stretched as his legs pumped, propelling him through the forest, his stare intent on the swinging dark braid. He was closing in on his prey, his strong heart pounding as the air fed his perfectly conditioned lungs. He could sprint like this for hours without tiring, yet he wouldn’t need but one more minute to catch her. 

          He was close enough now to hear her huff as she leaped over a mushroom-covered log, and he reached out to graze her swinging braid. A surge in her speed meant she’d felt his touch. The slightest twitch of her head told him that she would veer to the right. Anticipating the direction, he reached out to grab her, yanking her into his chest as they fell together onto the mossy forest floor. 

          Taking the jarring impact, he rolled her over, pinning her under him. She twisted, trying to kick out, but his heavy legs caught hers. Damp leaves and twigs caught in her hair as she thrashed, trying to twist out from under him. Grabbing her wrists, he raised them over her head. She paused to glare up at him. Cain leaned forward, both of them breathing hard, until they were as close as they had been in the tree. 

          “Surrender,” he ordered. “Ye are mine.”He lifted slightly off her chest so as not to crush the breath from her. Without it, she could not admit that she had been conquered. 

          “Death before surrender,” she replied, breathless, her beautiful gray eyes narrowing to slits. Damn him for noticing the long, dark lashes encircling them. Och, she’d grown up into a fierce beauty full of fire. 

          Submission would be easier, but the challenge fit her better. Nay, Ella Sutherland wouldn’t beg for release unless it was another trick like the blasted kiss. He hardened his stare, bringing on the look that promised death. It had intimidated great warriors before; surely it would cow this young female chieftain. 

          “In truth, there are two outcomes,” he said. A new strategy formed rapidly in his mind. He waited for her question, but she just glared, showing her hatred. “Aye,” he continued. “Two choices. Death or…ye wed a Sinclair to join our clans peacefully under Sinclair rule.”

          Her eyes widened, lips falling open for the space of a heartbeat. “Which Sinclair?” she asked. 

          He frowned at her, feeling the ploy but answering anyway. “Me. With my father dead, I am the chief.”

          Her mouth relaxed, but it wasn’t a grin. Despite her sudden look of apathy, her cheeks bloomed red, and she wet her full lips. “Then I choose death.”

          His head ached from thirst and dirt. Sweat and blood caked his skin, yet his breath burst from him with one wry chuckle. Cain released her arms, and she yanked them back. He sat on his bent knees over her. What a perfect gift to give his da on the day of his death, the conquest of the Sutherland clan. 

          Ella dug her heels into the dirt, pushing backward, and scowled. She was like a cornered wildcat, ready to spit and scratch if he tried to grab her again. Smooth skin showed above the collar of her black tunic, the fabric in stark contrast to the paleness of the graceful column of her neck. They’d landed in what his aunt would call a fairy ring, a wide circle of purple wildflowers, and one had broken off to dangle in the dark hair framing her face. 

          “Ye will wed me, and I will rule over both clans.”Wedding the Sutherland chief would cement the joining of their clans without slaughter. The conquering of her clan would make his father’s sacrifice not in vain, earn him respect as the new chief, and it would appease his curiosity about the fire that had roared to life within him with her kiss. He could also discover and kill the bastard who’d burned her family crest into her skin. Aye, the union was the right choice. 

          “Did you not hear me, you big, crown-wearing ox?”She shoved her gloved fist into his chest, making him want to strip it naked to see her delicate hand in the flesh. “I choose death,” she said, her bottom lip protruding the smallest amount. “A quick death, befitting a chief.”

          He caught her hand, turning the palm up to slowly pull the glove off each finger as she tried to tug it away. “Apparently, ye choose very poorly,”he said, and tucked her empty glove in his belt. Her delicate fingers tapered to finely shaped nails, calluses built up where they rubbed on the bowstring, like the calluses on his own fingers. Her palm was bruised, the skin torn, likely from her grab onto the tree. 

          He let her snatch her hand back. “Poorly?” she asked. 

          “I have a poultice for the scrapes.”He pushed up, reaching under her arms to quickly lift her out of the clump of flowers before she could attack. 

          “I said death,” she said, jerking back from his hold once her feet were under her. She stood, her small hands fisted against her legs, teeth clenched. “I choose death.”

          She was furious. She was beautiful. There among the flowers and trees, he couldn’t imagine issuing the order to his brother, Bàs, to execute the brave woman. She was rare, like golden horses from the far east. The thought of her pale and still like his father made his hand itch for his short sword to protect her. A Sutherland. The enemy. Not if she wed him. He would force the clans to unite under his rule and be victorious. 

          Shooting his hand forward, he grabbed her wrist, his fingers becoming a manacle. “Let me go,”she demanded, and struggled as he began to walk them back toward the battle. 

          Aye, the wedding was a good strategy. 

          “Stop…” she continued, digging her boots into the soft earth, making him drag her. “You said I have a choice.”

          “I said there are two choices, not that they are your two choices.”He trudged through the forest, kindly walking around the thick brambles instead of dragging her through them. She didn’t seem to appreciate his kindness, as she tried to hold onto any tree she could reach to slow their progress. 

          “Mo chreach,” she yelled. “’Tis my capture, ’tis my life. It should be my choice if there are two.”

          “First of all, prisoners get no choices,” he said, glancing back at her. The purple flower still tossed about, tangled in the hair that had come free from her long braid. “And secondly, I have decided there is only one choice.”He paused, holding back a low limb so it wouldn’t smack her in the face, not that she noticed. “Ye will wed me, and the union will join both our clans under my rule.”

          She shook her head as she stared directly into his eyes. He watched annoyance pinch her lips, lips that were soft and so incredibly expressive. “I do not care if I am a prisoner or not,” she said. “You said there were two choices.”Her free hand swung up to show two fingers in a V. “When did the first choice disappear?”

          Cain leaned in close so that they stared straight into each other’s eyes. He let the coldness settle back into his gaze. “The moment ye fooled me with a kiss.”

Highlight:

          “Speak the devil’s name and ye summon him,” Gideon said under his breath as Joshua strode briskly into the great hall, saw them, and came directly over. 

          He smiled and nodded to Gideon before meeting Cain’s angry gaze. “Have ye seen the Sutherland lass yet today?”Joshua asked. “She is looking quite lovely in that blue gown Merida found for her. Although I still prefer those tight trousers.”

          Cain stood, his chair scraping back across the stone floor. Gideon leaped up, ready to break up what was about to escalate. “Ye were told not to go up to her chamber,” Cain said. He did not need Joshua interfering in his strategy to gain Ella’s trust. 

          “I have not gone up to her chamber. In fact, I just returned from giving your wedding banns to Vicar John.”Joshua made a show of stepping around Cain to flop down into the chair he’d vacated. 

          Cain spun on his heel. “And yet ye saw Ella this morn? She has not yet come down.”

          “Ho, she is right now, stuck in the process of coming down,” Joshua said, making Cain and Gideon look to the steps. “Not that way.”Joshua pointed toward the entryway. “She is climbing down from her window.”

          “What?”Cain didn’t wait for further explanation but ran toward the entryway. He heard Gideon curse as he followed. 

          “I thought to assist, but ye told me to keep away from her,” Joshua yelled from his seat. 

          Cain grabbed the rough stone of the broad doorway as he rounded the corner, surging out into the morning air and turning immediately to the right where the tower rose four stories straight up. There were a half dozen soldiers underneath staring up, their arms out as if preparing to work together to catch the lass. “Let me through,” Cain commanded. 

          “Joshua said he would tell ye,” Keenan said, the men parting. 

          He looked up the smooth curve of the tower. Ella was halfway down, with what looked like strips from a blanket braided together and wrapped in a crossed hold around her back while her booted feet stepped down the curved granite. The blue gown was tucked around each leg, but part of it still hung down. Meow. The kitten was somewhere on her person and quite vexed. 

          “What the bloody hell are ye doing?” he yelled. 

          She stopped, one hand at her back where she held the rope as easily as if she sat on a swing. She frowned down at him. “Coming to breakfast.”

          He stood below her with the rest of the onlookers, heart pounding in his chest. One slip and she could drop to the hard dirt of the bailey below. “We have stairs inside.”

          She took another step down the wall, and his arms rose as if to catch her. “Stairs that are guarded.”

          “Merida was about to bring something up.”

          “I was hungry.”She yelled the words succinctly as if rebuking the wall. With a big inhale, she continued to step down while leaning back, letting out the long rope she’d braided as she went. She’d been busy last night. 

          Each step down seemed to take forever as he waited, his own arms out and ready. But she continued without fault, stubbornly lowering herself until the tips of Cain’s fingers could reach her. 

          Meow, the kitten called, but he still didn’t see it. “I will catch ye,” he said, his thick arms out and ready. 

          “I am fine on my own.”

          He caught her around the waist anyway, pulling her into his arms, her back against his chest. “God’s teeth, Ella,” he cursed, guiding her feet to the earth and turning her toward him. “What the hell were ye doing?”

          Ella’s face was flushed with exertion, and mutiny shone in her eyes as she shoved away from him. “Dawn came up faster than I anticipated,”she said, her words almost like a snarl, and she yanked her braided hair around to her shoulder. The front of her bodice moved, and the kitten’s head popped out the top. 

          Cain looked up at the open window above and then to her. “Ye wished to escape while it was still dark.”

          Her hands propped onto the curves of her hips. “I wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble of climbing out if I knew everyone was going to see me. I might be a slow climber, and apparently unable to judge the sky, but I am not an idiot,” she murmured, her cheeks flushed from exertion or embarrassment. She glanced away. “Well, maybe I am,” she added under her breath. 

          The kitten, its small head popped out of the valley between Ella’s breasts, reached a paw out to bat at a stray curl that lay along the curve of her cheek. “I must have fallen asleep for much longer than I thought,” she said, not looking at him. “I swore it was closer to three in the morning when I first climbed out. The blasted clouds were blocking the start of the sunrise in the east.”

          The woman was brave, clever, and strong. She was also used to berating herself. Cain glanced at the men who were still gathered, their expressions somewhere between amused and shocked. 

          Keenan looked…damn interested. “She is certainly not frightened of high climbs.”

          “Go on,”Cain ordered, and they turned away reluctantly, walking toward the morning training session that Bàs would begin once he returned from the Sutherland chapel. 

          Cain ignored Gideon and Joshua, who stood at the keep doors, anger at her risk still strumming through his veins. “Ella,” he said and waited until she lifted her gaze to meet his. He wanted to curse at her for risking her life, to demand she promise to not try to escape by insane means, and to threaten that he’d tie her to her bed tonight. The look in her eyes said she expected all of that. 

          He glanced at the windows way up the tower and then back at her. “Ye are a clever and brave prisoner.”He scratched his bristled chin and slid his gaze along the height again. “Most of my men would not have even attempted that climb, let alone with Puss stuffed down their tunic.”

          “Boudica,” she said. 

          “Boudica?”As dawn flooded the courtyard with misty light, he could see the darker flecks in Ella’s gray eyes. 

          “The puss,” she said. “I call her Boo, short for Boudica, the great Celtic warrior woman.”She gently pulled the small kitten from her bodice, its round eyes wide as if it knew how lucky it was to still be alive. Ella set her down, and the kitten immediately started stalking a cricket, apparently forgetting its fear. 

          Damn, if the cat had made her lose her focus, Ella could have fallen. He made himself take another deep breath before speaking again. “I will be nailing the tower windows shut today.”

          She shrugged. “I am very good at finding ways to escape.”

          Cain’s face tightened as his eyes moved to her circular scar. “Is that why ye were branded on your face with the Sutherland crest? So, if ye escaped, someone would return ye?”

          Ella turned on her boot, traipsing back to the great hall. She looked like she would crash right through Gideon and Joshua, but they parted quickly to let her enter. Cain stopped with them, watching her walk through into the great hall where Merida greeted her. 

          “Have a guard posted below the tower,” Cain said. 

          Gideon crossed his arms. “I thought ye were nailing the windows shut.”

          “Aye, but she probably has a way to work nails out.”

          “Blast, brother,” Joshua said. “Ye aren’t nearly as furious as I thought ye would be.”

          He was right. Cain let a grin bend the side of his mouth upward as he looked again at the height. Ella had known nearly as soon as she climbed out that she had miscalculated the timing of dawn. She hadn’t the strength to climb back into the room, but she could probably have lifted the kitten over the windowsill. Doing so would have left her dangling four stories up, all alone, knowing that she would be recaptured. If she had let go, she would have died from the fall. 

          “I just learned something very important about Ella Southerland.”

          “That she cannot tell the time,” Gideon said, making Joshua chuckle. 

          Cain rubbed the knot in his chest that was starting to relax with Ella safely on the ground again. “Aye, but also…Ella Sutherland wants to live.”

Review: 

Arabella, Chief of the Sutherlands, is now a prisoner of her enemy, the Sinclairs. She prefers death but instead finds herself forced to marry the new Chief, Cain Sinclair, to form an alliance. Cain intends on taking over the Sutherlands and creating a stronger army and so a stronger Scotland. But Ella has secrets she must protect and she cannot allow Cain to take over her clan. Since he is the enemy, he cannot be trusted. But the more time she spends with Cain, the more her mind wars internally. The brute displays a façade of a battle-hardened destroyer to the outside, but inside she finds comfort and tenderness for her alone. Her heart longs for the glimpses of the true man that she is slowly coming to understand. Her body, a trembling mass of desire when he is near. For all their differences, there is even more that seems to be the same. She has been raised to believe one way and crushing through that belief when it has been ingrained for so long is nigh impossible to do. Before too long she and Cain are working together to find solutions to issues as they arise. And when Ella is suddenly handed back her power to make a choice, will her time with Cain have been enough to persuade her to choose love?

Cain Sinclair has just taken over as Chief of his clan; a role he has been groomed for since birth. When the clever, tempting, intriguing Chief of the Sutherlands succeeds in killing his father, he really has no choice but to retaliate. Wars are won and lost, but Cain has yet to lose. And suddenly he refuses to lose Ella, taking her hostage and forcing her into marriage with him. The plan makes sense, but Cain also longs for Ella to come to him of her own volition and sets out to woo the woman who has captured his heart. Much has occurred since their first meeting so many years ago, but he never forgot her. Now that his father’s brutal reign has come to an end, Cain is free to rule as he desires. Firm, yet fair. He only hopes he can convince Ella to rule at his side. The beauty has survived a horrific childhood at the hands of her father and now having attained her own level of freedom, capitulating in deference to Cain will be a hard-fought battle. But just as Ella has to make her own mind up and rectify what she has been brought up to believe versus what she has discovered to be the truth while inside the inner sanctum of the Sinclairs, so does Cain have much to learn and implement if he is to ever have the slightest chance of possessing Ella’s heart. Her love, freely given, is his greatest desire.

Am I ever a sucker for Scottish HR! Not to say that I am guaranteed to love every one I come across, but what a beautifully told story of two fierce hearts in their journey to realizing that their strength is in one another; survivors who refuse to fail for fear of losing everything they hold dear. Both of them almost too intelligent for their own good, shrouded in secrecy and legend, neither understanding that at checkmate their end games are one and the same. Cain is a planner, never making a move in any aspect of life without carefully considering each move. He is also crazy insightful and picks up on the smallest of details to easily deduce the truth of what others might attempt to keep hidden. Ella may have not been born a male heir and incurred the wrath of her father on many occasions, but she also learned to survive. Taught and trained by her mother and trusted friend, when it came time for her to prove her worth and ability in leading her people, she flourished further into the strong, capable, confident woman that she is. As you can imagine, for a leader giving orders to protect his people, especially those he cared for, his dictates to Ella continually went unheeded. A Chief herself, taking orders wasn’t exactly a strength. There was a whole lot of push and pull with Cain ultimately allowing a lot more lead when dealing with Ella while she continued to balk at every turn. Fervently wishing for Cain to seek her counsel and simply listen to her ideas, she also has an extremely difficult time reconciling Cain the horseman with Cain the man. Given their harsh upbringings, it isn’t difficult to understand the internal struggle that almost immediately ensues. But Ella and Cain have a shared love for animals and ultimately it is that shared passion that initially begins to chink away at the armor of protection.

There is also another example of just how different two people can be raised and how it ultimately affects their ability to cope in life. Ella’s mother had ensured she would be prepared for success even though she was a female and never even considered to rule her people in her father’s eyes. He was cruel and abusive toward her. In glaring contrast was Hannah, Cain’s sister. Also born a female and labeled useless by their father, she was basically ignored as if she never existed. Never given a purpose or even a job to do, she was ill-prepared for life. So when she is faced with having to make some decisions for herself, she makes serious mistakes. With Cain’s sire obsessed with the legend he spewed, identifying his four sons as the Four Horsemen from Revelations, a female child held no place in his plans. But things are not always as they seem and while the myth of retribution suits this family well, each brother holds his own feelings regarding their roles within the lore. Additionally, each of the two families has their own closely guarded secrets. It isn’t until they begin to trust one another that they begin the path toward healing.

The final scene in this book is nothing short of spectacular. Although it was reminiscent of the Crocodile Dundee subway scene. LOL Regardless, the entire thing played out like a movie in my head. The entire book did, in fact. From the initial battle scene, all the way through until the end. I could easily see this book made into a movie. The best thing about this book is that it is far from over as the first in a series. Cain has three other brothers who are just as intriguing. They are very similar and yet couldn’t be more dissimilar from one another. I sincerely look forward to seeing how all of their stories play out. As for this book, it is a wonderful beginning to a promising new series. Enemies to lovers – extremely well written – action-packed – scorching passion – captivating from start to finish! This may have been merely my second foray into the work of Ms. McCollum, but I am determined to devour many more reads by this fabulous author! Any fan of Scottish HR is sure to be pleased by this enchanting tale!

Kindle version provided by NetGalley/St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.