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Triple Love Book Review-Frederick’s Queen, Ian’s Rose and The Bowie Bride by Susan Tisdale

by | Jun 8, 2018 | Book Reviews, Triple The Love Book Review | 0 comments

Triple Love Book Review-Frederick's Queen, Ian's Rose and The Bowie Bride by Susan Tisdale

Triple Love Book Review-Frederick’s Queen, Ian’s Rose and The Bowie Bride by Susan TisdaleFrederick's Queen (Clan Graham, #2) by Suzan Tisdale
Also in this series: Rowan's Lady
Series: Clan Graham #2
Published by CreateSpace on June 15, 2014
Genres: Historical Romance, Medieval Era, Scottish Highlands
Narrator: Brad Wills
Length: 17 Hours and 30 Mins
Pages: 540
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 1496112512
Goodreads
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five-stars

There can be no light without darkness, no hope without despair, no love without heartache

Some scars can’t be seen When the handsome Frederick Mackintosh offers to marry Aggie McLaren she is certain ‘tis greed or insanity that motivates him. Besides land and a chance at a chiefdom, she believes she has nothing else to offer. She soon learns nothing could be further from the truth. Hope she thought long lost, blooms with her husband’s kindness, his honor, and fierce determination to make their marriage and their clan a success.

Sometimes, perfection is imperfect Aggie McLaren is not Frederick Mackintosh’s image of the perfect wife. She isn’t well-read, vivacious or voluptuous. Wee, timid, and unable to speak, it is a glimpse of her smile and the chance to be chief of his own clan that propels him to offer for her hand. Frederick will do whatever he must in order to see her smile again and to help her find her voice.

Frederick’s Queen is the second book in the duo series of Clan Graham. This was my first introduction to this author. When I saw that one of my favorite narrators was the narrator and wanted to try some other books he had narrated I knew I had to try this book out here. And boy I am so glad that I did try this author….and for those curious this book is part of the Audible Romance Package, so if you are a member I can’t recommend this book enough to you.

I first want to mention the narrator Brad Wills. He is one of the most talented narrators I have EVER listened to. He can handle multiple voices of various characters so very well. His voice is so diverse and can handle different tones and accents. Its like listening to him is being in the middle of a crowd and I love how well he handles these medieval era romances, he just adds the right touch of emotion that is needed and the flow to the story is PERFECT. I honestly don’t think I could say enough good things about this man.

Frederick’s Queen is quite an emotional roller coaster of a story, and one I wasn’t expecting. Of course, I have never read this author before so I honestly didn’t know what to expect to be honest. But to be honest, I am wondering why I haven’t read her before now because WOWZERS!! I was totally impressed with this book and one of the best highlander romances I have read in a long while. I listened to this book in two days, which its a longer one, 17 Hours….or the ebook is over 500 pages. And I couldn’t put this book down folks. What I fell in love with was the storytelling of this author, its so engaging and just pulls you immediately into the story. The historical aspects of the story were so on cue, and I felt like I was swept back into the highlands.

Frederick’s Queen begins with our heroine Aggie McLaren. Aggie has suffered tremendous abuse from her father, and has brought her to a neighboring clan to find her a husband. Her father is the chief of the clan, and has no son, and claims that Aggie is unable to take over, so she must marry. And no man in their clan would be willing. But when he brings her to the Graham’s, she meets Frederick Mackintosh.

Frederick is a bit of a highland playboy, but has recently been having yearnings for a wife. And when he hears that this intriguing woman’s father wants a husband for her who would be the future laird of the clan, he knows that this is a great opportunity for him. He is a younger son and knows that he wouldn’t get another chance to be a laird of a clan. So Frederick comes with some of his men to the McLaren’s to marry and gain the trust of the members of the McLaren’s. Frederick has no idea of what Aggie has gone through, he just knows that she doesn’t speak. But he soon learns that she can speak she just has gone years without using her voice. But when a misunderstanding occurs on the wedding night, and Frederick and Aggie don’t spend their wedding night together, Aggies’ father is furious. And Frederick finds her being whipped to death by her father and is furious that a father could harm his daughter in such a way and nearly kills his new wife’s father.

But this is a turning point in their relationship, where Aggie begins to speak because Frederick although he has a temper, makes her feel safe for the first time in her life she feels safe around a man. She has been abused for so many years, that we see Aggie really struggle in the beginning. But with Frederick’s help, she becomes stronger and more independent and gets her fighting spirit back. Aggie has had a really rough upbringing. She suffered a horrible rape when she was thirteen years old, and then her mother died and her father was both physically and emotionally abusive to her and the little boy she and her mother “adopted” who was born a bastard. Frederick on the other hand, grew up in a loving family with many siblings and loving parents. Frederick is powerful and a warrior and a true leader, and Aggie soon wins his heart and he soon calls her his “queen”. Together they seek out to protect the clan and find a love worth fighting for.

I will warn you that this story isn’t for the faint of heart and it deals with some tough issues. We see some abusive scenes, and even a rape scene of the heroine when she is a teenager. These aren’t easy to see, and honestly I never knew if I was going to cry or laugh in this book. But what I did like, is that this author doesn’t sugarcoast anything. She shows the true consequences that come from rape and abuse and I know that this aspect may not be for everyone, however I truly adored seeing a realistic view on how women were treated back in this time period and sometimes there was no one to save them and sometimes they weren’t able to save themselves. Aggie is no doormat, I didn’t see her as such. But she is definitely sufferering from PTSD for sure. She is tiny and no one in the clan defends her when she is being abused by her father. Mostly because her father is HORRID. I mean anyone fights him and he uses his whips to fights him. Aggie however, doesn’t fight for a certain reason, because she is protecting her younger adopted brother. View Spoiler » We also see the beginings of the romance between Frederick’s brother Ian, and Aggie’s best friend Rose. And their antics are pretty entertaining. But we also see the true evil of Aggie’s father and how he doesn’t care about anyone but himself. And we see the true strength of Aggie when her father’s plot almost destroys everything she loves the most. And this is where we see the true test of Frederick and Aggie’s relationship, seeing what they go through in the beginning of their marriage and how it only cements the love they have for each other.

The steam level is pretty low in this book but we see the true honor in Frederick that at times I wanted to laugh and cry for Aggie because she just doesn’t understand why he won’t even kiss her in the beginning. Frederick knows what Aggie has gone through in her past including her rape, and wants to take it slow with her and doesn’t want her to ever fear him or the intimacy they share. But Aggie views Frederick as her safety net, he is the one person she knows would NEVER hurt her and wants to kiss him and make love to him but he keeps denying her and so we see them go through this dance of engage and retreat and was pretty funny at times. The humor that this author displays is quite wonderful, this book left me with a smile on my face pretty much all the way through despite all the tough challenges and circumstances that these two are faced with but what a STORY!! This is a full on provoking and emotionally filled romance that will leave you with happy tears and looking up more of this author’s work.

I would recommend reading certain books in order First Frederick’s Queen and then Ian’s Rose and then the Bowie Bride. They are connecting stories a bit, and it works better if you read them in order.


Triple Love Book Review-Frederick’s Queen, Ian’s Rose and The Bowie Bride by Susan TisdaleIan's Rose by Suzan Tisdale
Series: The Mackintoshes and McLarens #1
on August 26 2016
Genres: Historical Romance, Medieval Era, Scottish Highlands
Narrator: Brad Wills
Length: 9 Hours and 41 Mins
Pages: 320
Format: Audiobook
Source: Self Purchased
Goodreads
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four-stars

Ian's Rose picks up where Frederick's Queen left off.

They should never have stolen his wife.
Ian Mackintosh and his bride, Rose, return to McLaren Lands to rebuild all that was destroyed by the previous laird. Believing bad times and evil men are behind them, they've let their guard down. Ian's world is turned upside down one cold winter's night when Rose is kidnapped.
Desperate, he is willing to make a deal with the devil himself in order to ensure her safe return. And he may have done just that when he agrees to work with the brother of the man responsible for tearing his world apart.
Is there a price too high to save the woman you love?

Ian’s Rose pretty much takes off where book one ended. Frederick and Aggie have just given birth to a son, Aggie meets her birth father and the man that loved her mother for the first time (and yes so sweet). Ian and Rose have known each other for over a year and love each other and Ian proposes and Rose accepts. But then Rose reveals a secret that she is unable to carry a child to term, and Ian is a younger son and is worried that he isn’t good enough for Rose and breaks their engagement.

Rose is a young woman that is a widow, she was married to a wonderful man but she had three miscarriages and doesn’t know if she could go through with losing another child. She knows that Ian has quite the reputation with the ladies, but when he convinces her that he loves her and wants to marry her she takes a risk to trust him and then he breaks her heart. But when he ends up being drunk and they “almost” marry, meaning Ian collapses from drink right before he says his vows but later realizes his mistake and Rose forces him to see that he needs to fight for them just like he is fights in battles…with all his strength and with his heart and soul. And now once they are married for good, Frederick and Aggie ask that they rebuild the McLaren keep and the clan so that one day their son can take over when he is ready.

But things aren’t as easy as they expected to rebuild the keep, the old one having been burned by Aggie’s father in the book one. But they have funds that Ian and Rose found to rebuild the keep to its former glory and strengthen the clan. And just when Rose and Ian have their life in order, keeping order in the clan, building a new keep and having a united clan, and Rose is pregnant with their child and is past her third month giving them hope that they may have a child. But they have an enemy, an enemy they thought was dead, that seeks the money they found. And while Ian was gone out hunting, their clan was betrayed by one of their own, some of their people slaughtered and Ian’s Rose has been kidnapped for ransom by the Bowie Clan.

This wasn’t quite as good as book one, however I fell in love with this story. Now this is where I recommend reading “Frederick’s Queen” first, because this book takes off right after Frederick and Aggie’s story. Where we have already seen Ian and Rose’s romance blossom a bit, but this is the story where their love is truly tested. I actually loved the way that this story flowed. The events that follow are engaging and keeps you on the edge of your seat. Its a normal length story, so not quite as long as book one. But I found it to be so wonderful to read for sure. We also see these two work through their differences and become united even when they are seperated and they gain a new ally, one they don’t expect. And we get some more fun times with Frederick and Aggie and their 9 year old son (who honestly is my favorite secondary character other than Frederick and Ian’s father who is a hoot)

Also currently this book is free on Amazon, so go GRAB it!!


Triple Love Book Review-Frederick’s Queen, Ian’s Rose and The Bowie Bride by Susan TisdaleThe Bowie Bride by Suzan Tisdale
Series: The Mackintoshes and McLarens #2
on April 18 2017
Genres: Historical Romance, Medieval Era, Scottish Highlands
Narrator: Brad Wills
Length: 14 Hours and 7 Mins
Pages: 300
Format: Audiobook
Source: Self Purchased
Goodreads
AmazonLibrary ThingLibrary ThingLibrary Thing
four-stars

Alec Bowie never wanted a wife. He never wanted a hearth and home. And he most assuredly never wanted to be chief of his clan. But much to his vexation, he finds himself in possession of all three.
His desire for peace and to protect his clan are stronger than his desire to remain free and untethered. He agrees to the marriage in the hopes his wife will bed him only long enough get with child then leave him the bloody hell alone.

Leona MacDowall -- or Leona ‘Odd Eyes’, Leona the Witch, or Leona ‘The Devil’s Spawn’ depending on to whom you speak -- is all too happy to volunteer to marry the Bowie Chief. Though the clan Bowie's reputation as murderers and thieves precedes them, she believes life with Alec more palatable than living the rest of her life untouched, unmarried, and under the hateful rule of her spiteful father.

But nothing turns out the way they expect. Alec doesn't know if he can keep to his original plan of leaving his wife alone after he gets her with child. Leona is beginning to suspect she might not get the happy home she's always wanted. And worst of all, someone's set on murdering Leona — and might just succeed before anyone's dreams can come true.

Bowie’s Bride is the second book in the Mackintoshes and McLaren’s series. This book follows a couple months after Ian’s Rose ends. Alec Bowie is the young of the brothers and the most honorable of them all. The Bowie clan has been known as thieves, but Alec has spent much of his life away from the clan fighting in France. Now he has returned home, and along with the few men he trusts, he was forced to kill his brother, who kidnapped an innocent woman for his greed. And now Alec is the laird of the Bowie clan, a responsibility he didn’t want but is best for the job. Alec wants peace with other clans and he knows that the one way to secure allies and peace, is for him to marry outside the clan. So he goes to his one friend outside the clan….Ian, the laird of the McLaren’s. When he comes to the clan looking for a woman to marry, there is one woman that volunteers, a woman he knows and trusts. A woman that aided him in helping Rose escape from his late brother who had kidnapped her for ransom.

Leona MacDowall, has never known love except from her mother who died when she was very young. Her father treats her like she is a “witch” and treats her horribly. She knows that this is one chance for a decent life, because her clan doesn’t accept her and believes the lies that her father tells them about her. But this is her chance for a fresh start and a chance to be a chatelain over a keep and a clan and to be a wife to an honorable man and to have children to love. All Leona has wanted is to be loved and accepted. So she and Alec come to an agreement, Leona knows that she may never have love from her husband, but as long as she has respect and affection and friendship she can be content with that. Leona works hard to be accepted by the clan, and while many of the men accept her and her willingness to help and be a part of them….the women scorn her. Except for two women, two sisters that both treat her as a friend. But there is an enemy, that despises Alec and doesn’t want “peace” and plan on murdering Leona. At first you have no clue who the true villain is, but as clues start to fall into place, you catch on to who it really is and honestly I didn’t want it to be who you suspect because at first this person is so kind to Leona but we see how insane and conniving this person really is.

We see how Alec at first, doesn’t want a cozy home at ALL!! He just wants to train with his men, build up his clan and have alliances with neighboring clans and children…that that is it. However Leona wants a true home, and is determined to make it happen. She works her fingers to the bone for Alec and honestly Alec is a bit oblivious to everything that Leona does for him and his clan. And I truly wanted to hate the women in the Bowie Clan because they treat Leona so horribly. It just about broke my heart, because Leona is hardworking and kind and generous and has such a sweet spirit.

I truly had a fun time with this story, especially with the murder plot that develops and seeing Alec and Leona’s relationship grow. This is a slow burn romance, even though its a marriage of convenience, we see the change in their relationship build into something deeper. Now I will say that I never did understand why Ian was so oblivious to Leone or why Leona doesn’t tell him the truth at first. (although he does find out later what she goes through and heads roll in the clan and boy his protect alpha male side….*SWOON*)

Seeing the villain be revealed (and yes it was who I was expecting but I am not sure all readers will guess, it just depends on how you see certain characters) and seeing Alec and Leona’s relationiship develop into a sweet but tough as steel love story makes you year for more. What I am finding with Suzan Tisdale is how ADDICTIVE her books are, I just can’t seem to stop reading her.

About Suzan Tisdale

USA Today Bestselling Author, storyteller and cheeky wench, SUZAN TISDALE lives in the Midwest with her verra handsome carpenter husband. All but one of her children have left the nest. Her pets consist of dust bunnies and a dozen poodle-sized, backyard-dwelling groundhogs – all of which run as free and unrestrained as the voices in her head. And she doesn’t own a single pair of yoga pants, much to the shock and horror of her fellow authors. She prefers to write in her pajamas.

Suzan writes Scottish historical romance/fiction, with honorable and perfectly imperfect heroes and strong, feisty heroines. And bad guys she kills off in delightfully wicked ways.

She published her first novel, Laiden’s Daughter, in December, 2011, as a gift for her mother. That one book started a journey which has led to fifteen published titles, with two more being released in the spring of 2017. To date, she has sold more than 350,000 copies of her books around the world. They have been translated into four foreign languages (Italian, French, German, and Spanish.)

You will find her books in digital, paperback, and audiobook formats.

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