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Hiatus Book Review-The Hunter by Monica McCarty

by | Nov 5, 2021 | Book Reviews | 2 comments

Hiatus Book Review-The Hunter by Monica McCarty

Hiatus Book Review-The Hunter by Monica McCartyThe Hunter by Monica McCarty
Also in this series: The Raider, The Viper, The Saint, The Recruit, The Arrow
Series: Highland Guard #7
on June 25, 2013
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 391
Format: eBook
Source: Self Purchased
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four-stars

The war for Scotland’s freedom continues as King Robert the Bruce battles on. At his command is an elite army of trained warriors, soldiers dedicated to their king, their country—and to the remarkable women they love.   Prized for his unbeatable tracking skills, Ewen “Hunter” Lamont accepts a dangerous assignment: locate a missing undercover courier. But this is no ordinary target. Ewen has met his prey before as “Sister Genna,” a fiery, forbidden woman forever etched in his memory after one stolen, sinful kiss. Now that he knows her real identity, he’s more determined than ever to keep her safe. But without the protection of the veil between them, fighting the allure of the beautiful lass may be the toughest battle this extraordinary warrior has ever faced.   After her ill-fated attempt three years ago to rescue her twin sister, Janet of Mar has found salvation acting as a royal messenger—until she surrenders to a darkly handsome warrior whose rough, sensual kisses stir feelings the woman in her can’t deny. But when betrayal leads to danger, and a crucial communiqué is put in jeopardy, Janet has no choice but to put her faith in the hunter who can find anything—perhaps even her heart.

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

The Hunter is the seventh installment in the Highland Guard series and I absolutely had a blast with this book. This is one of those series that I always delight in these books that Monica McCarty has written and yes I know I am really behind on these books. After reading this one I realized why I had fallen in love with these books so much. I love the setting, the set up of the Highland Guard, the mystery surround King Robert the Bruce and the strong willed heroines that blends almost flawlessly with the stories.

She was looking at him, shaking her head. “You’d better not let my sister hear you say that. I don’t think she’d appreciate being called ‘round.’”

He frowned, perplexed. What was wrong with round?

Sutherland explained. “Women who’ve just had babies can be sensitive about their weight.”

“She didn’t just have a baby. William is seven months old already.”

There was a collective groan, the four of them giving him pitying looks, apparently having given up on explaining.

In The Hunter, our story begins with our hero, Ewen, who is part of the Highland Guard, but also determined to save his people and clan who don’t have the wealth and prestige to be vital in their living. He is faithful to his king and his brothers in arms. And when the king sends him on a mission to rescue a courier, the last person he would have suspected was a nun but who is also related to the king. And as such she is forbidden to Ewen. Ewen and Janet once had a moment and a kiss and it changed everything for them both. But now Ewen and Janet are back together and as such having to confront old wounds and the taste of the forbidden. But their lives are in danger from the English, but as they join forces, they find a love. But Ewen knows how impossible a relationship with Janet is, and while he feels the intensity of their connection, he can’t encourage it but attempts to push Janet away but sometimes true love has a way of finding its circle and one wonders if Janet and Ewen will be able to find their balance and the HEA they both deserve.

“Are we talking loud enough for you, wife? I wouldn’t want you to miss any of our private conversation.”, Robert said, looking up. His expression was chastising, but his eyes were soft as they fell upon his wife.

Margaret didn’t miss a beat. “That is quite considerate of you, Robert. I’m sure it is all beyond my poor woman’s, understanding, but if you could speak a little louder that might help.”

Her eyes danced as she leaned down and whispered to Janet, “Although I ‘d hardly qualify the exchange of a few words and the occasional grunt a conversation. I don’t know which one of them is worse.”

The Hunter is a story that I had such an easy time reading and so easy to immerse myself into this fascinating world of medieval Scotland. I actually adore this era in Scotland, its one of my favorites to read. And Monica McCarty just makes this period of time come alive in so many respects. Its a story that brings together a strong alpha warrior with an unconventional heroine. I wasn’t sure at first how I felt about this pairing and most particularly the heroine. She could be selfish, secretive at times, and the beginning scene, I didn’t like how she used her hidden identity to create shame in the hero. But Janet eventually grew on me, I did feel that she could be consumed by her job as a secret courier with little remorse of the people she harmed in her wake. Janet in the end didn’t impress me all that much, however, I did feel that we saw character growth from her and that is what truly one me over in the end with her character. Now our hero, Ewen, was a delight to read. I adored his character so much and I couldn’t seem to get enough of it. He was an alpha, he is a natural protector, has a sense of honor and duty, but also is crafty and creative.

Tears swelled in her eyes when he dropped to his knee at her feet. He took her hand and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry for lying to you. I should have told you the truth. I’m sorry for not holding you in my arms after we made love and telling you how much I loved you. I’m sorry for not having enough courage to fight for us, for not doing whatever it took to make you my wife.

Overall I found The Hunter to be a romance that is rich in its history, deep in its chemistry and vivid in emotion. An adventure of a read you will love the journey in.

About Monica McCarty

What do you get when you mix a legal career, a baseball career, motherhood, and a love of history with a voracious reader? In my case, a Historical Romance Author.

Like most writers, I’ve always loved to read. Growing up in California there was always plenty to do outside, but all too often I could be found inside curled up with a book (or two or three). I started with the usual fare: The Little House on the Prairie series, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, Watership Down, Nancy Drew, and everything by Judy Blume. Once I cleared off my bookshelf, I started swiping books from my mom. Some, like Sidney Sheldon’s The Other Side of Midnight, probably weren’t the most appropriate choice for a pre-adolescent—although they were definitely illuminating. I can still remember the look of abject horror on my mom’s Catholic-girl-face when I asked her what a virgin was. After that rather brief conversation, she paid a little closer attention to what had disappeared off her book shelf, and steered me in the direction of Harlequin and Barbara Cartland romances. I was hooked. I quickly read through the inventory of the local library and was soon buying bags of romances at garage sales.

In high school, with the encouragement of my father (who I think was a little concerned about the steady diet of romances), I read over eighty of the Franklin Library’s One Hundred Greatest Books ever written—including Tolstoy, Confucius, Plato, and the entire works of Shakespeare. Some of them were tough going for a teenager, but the experience would prove an invaluable foundation for college. After reading War and Peace, I wasn’t easily intimidated.

For some reason Monica decided to go into writing and not fashion.

After graduation, I loaded up the VW (Jetta not Bus) and trekked down I-5 to attend the University of Southern California, majoring in Political Science and minoring in English (see why all that reading helped!). I joined the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, and when I wasn’t studying or at football games, did my best to support the local bartending industry. Ah, the good old days.

With that kind of fun, four years of college wasn’t quite enough. So leaving Tommy Trojan behind, I traveled back up north to Palo Alto for three more years of study at Stanford Law School. Once I survived the stress of the first semester, law school proved to be one of the best times of my life—garnering me a JD, life-long friends, a husband, and an unexpectedly intimate knowledge of baseball. (See “The Baseball Odyssey” below).

Law School was also where I fell in love with Scotland. In my third year, I took a Comparative Legal History class, and wrote a paper on the Scottish Clan System and Feudalism. So I immediately dropped out of law school and went on to write Scottish Historical Romances…well no, not quite. You see, I always knew I wanted to be a lawyer. My father was a lawyer, I was a “poet” (i.e., not into math), and I love to argue. It seemed natural.

So I finished law school, got married, passed the CA bar, moved to Minnesota (with a few stops along the way), waived into the MN bar, worked as a litigator for a few satisfying years, moved back to CA, had a couple of kids, realized that a legal career and being a single parent for most of the year (due to husband's career) would be extremely difficult, and THEN decided to sit down and write.

And how did I end up writing romance? It’s not as divergent as it seems. What I loved about being a lawyer are the same things I love about being a writer—research and writing. The only thing missing is the arguing, but that’s what a husband and kids are for, right?

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2 Comments

  1. Nadene

    The other I was thinking I need to get back into the groove of reading historical romances and was wondering which author to start with. Well now I have my answer. This series sounds awesome.

    Reply
  2. Mary Kirkland

    I haven’t read this author but that sounds good.

    Reply

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