Review: In Bed With a Highlander by Maya Banks

In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks
Genre: Historical Romance
Series: Highlander #1

Bestselling author Maya Banks’s beguiling new trilogy features three unforgettable brothers risking everything to save their clan and their legacy—and to surrender their hearts to love.

Ewan McCabe, the eldest, is a warrior determined to vanquish his enemy. Now, with the time ripe for battle, his men are ready and Ewan is poised to take back what is his—until a blue-eyed, raven-haired temptress is thrust upon him. Mairin may be the salvation of Ewan’s clan, but for a man who dreams only of revenge, matters of the heart are strange territory to conquer.

The illegitimate daughter of the king, Mairin possesses prized property that has made her a pawn—and wary of love. Her worst fears are realized when she is rescued from peril only to be forced into marriage by her charismatic and commanding savior, Ewan McCabe. But her attraction to her ruggedly powerful new husband makes her crave his surprisingly tender touch; her body comes alive under his sensual mastery. And as war draws near, Mairin’s strength, spirit, and passion challenge Ewan to conquer his demons—and embrace a love that means more than revenge and land.

I love books to do with the Highlands and Scot history and all that. Men in kilts, um, YUM. So I had high hopes for this book because really, how can you go wrong when a book is written about sexy highlanders in kilts?

It was great, it met my expectations though it fell a little short in some places. I loved the beginning when boy meets girl and they dance around each other for a while before falling for each other. The nookie scenes were okay, could've been better. The pace was good in the beginning, but towards the middle, it started fizzing. Obviously, it's one of those HEA ending books which I enjoy tremendously because they brighten up my day. Mind-blasting nookie + Happy ending = Nice and easy read. *shrugs* But like I said, towards the middle, the pace and the story line fizzled a bit. There were places in which it got sort of cheesy and I just skimmed through. Obviously there's some type of drama or villain that prevents the character from falling in love with one another right away. In this story there's this evil male character, Duncan, who tries to force Mairin, lead female character, into marriage so he can claim her dowry (lots of money and prime piece of land in Scotland adding to his power). He's power hungry and just plain greedy and evil! So he really does come off as someone you hate in the book; you despise him and you understand Mairin's feelings towards him and you totally root for Ewan. Well, let's just say this book is anti-climatic for me. It builds up so great in the beginning, starts to level out in the middle, and then pbbbt towards the end.

This is the first book in the series so I can see the continuation from this point on, but I still think it should've wrapped up a bit better and more climatic or so. But with all that said, I enjoyed the series. I wished the storyline was a bit different towards the end but still... I will continue on. I think it's worth reading and I do recommend it to those who are into this type of story. I wouldn't say it's up to par with Karen Marie Moning's Highlanders (ooh, those are great), but it's a good read.