The Highlander’s Sin by Eliza Knight

Narrated by Corrie James

I’m not a great reader of or listener to romances set in medieval Scotland and, in fact, I chose this audio because I enjoy listening to this particular narrator rather than on the strength of the story or setting. I don’t really know why such stories don’t appeal to me, although I can say that the few I have read or listened to have seemed terribly formulaic, even more so than my usual diet of 19^th century historicals with their balls, musicales, and dangerously dark dukes. I know I’m generalising, but I’ve formed the impression that the stories are basically about big, brawny Scotsmen, oh-so-feisty, (and frequently flame-haired) heroines who are often TSTL; they usually come from clans who have hated each other’s guts for centuries and have to overcome their own preconceptions and prejudices, and then those of their clansmen in order to get their HEA.

When I write reviews, I don’t normally include the publisher’s synopsis, instead preferring to give my own take on what happens in the story – and what I’ve written above is pretty much what happens in The Highlander’s Sin, with a couple of minor variations. The hero, Duncan Mackay, is a kind of warrior-priest (but not really because it turns out he hasn’t taken his final vows) who has spent the last twenty years making his living as a mercenary while living with the guilt he cannot shed over the fact that he feels responsible for the slaughter of his clan when he was little more than a child.

Our heroine is –naturally – a member of the very clan that killed Duncan’s family, so when he is given the job of kidnapping her and delivering her into the evil clutches of the slightly deranged Lady Ross, he jumps at the chance. He discovers Lady Heather Sutherland at her prayers, although she is planning to run away from her family to join William Wallace, who she thinks, has lost focus and needs a good talking to. Because, clearly, a seasoned, battle-hardened warrior is going to get up off his arse and find some Englishmen to fight on the say so of a twenty-something slip of a girl.

Heather decides that going off with a mysterious – and rather handsome – kidnapper will at least give her a head start on her journey and, although Duncan is a little surprised at her eagerness to be away, he doesn’t question it and off they go.

The mental lusting starts more or less immediately, and doesn’t really stop.

There isn’t much more I can say about the plot without giving spoilers (and because there isn’t much plot) other than Duncan and Heather spend more time thinking about kissing, actually kissing, thinking about shagging, and actually shagging than they do evading capture and journeying to wherever they are headed.

They spend a couple of days on the run, during which time they fall in love and plight their troth, and Heather realises that Duncan is being less than honest about himself. He puts off telling her the truth because he’s afraid that once she knows it, she’ll want nothing further to do with him. But the listener already knows his deep, dark secret and his continual evasion of Heather’s questions got firmly on my nerves. Of course, once he confesses, Heather’s feistiness works in his favour when she gives him a verbal slap and tells him to man up and get on with reclaiming his birthright.

I was expecting an exciting showdown. Would Heather’s brothers eventually catch up with her and Duncan? Would they beat him to a pulp for daring to aspire to the hand of their sister? Would Lady Ross and her thugs carry out her blackmail threats against Duncan? Would the opposing Mackay and Sutherland brothers unite in the face of a mutual foe?

Would I ever stop being so optimistic?

To say the book’s ending was a damp squib is an insult to damp squibs everywhere. I was actually going to write that it was a tremendous anti-climax, but given the nature of the activities Duncan and Heather spend the final half an hour of the audio engaged in, I thought that would be a pun too far.

I listened to Corrie James narrating What the Duke Desires last year and really enjoyed her performance, so when another of her narrations came up on a list of audios available for review, I was keen to listen to her again. Unfortunately, however, while she did an excellent job with the material she was given, her contribution wasn’t enough to raise this audiobook above the mundane. Although she was responsible for raising it from “dire” to “mundane”. Her characterisations were very good, both hero and heroine were appropriately and distinctly voiced, and her Scottish accents were decent and consistently maintained. The secondary characters were similarly well-performed, and her narration was mellifluous and well-paced. She’s an excellent narrator, and I’m really looking forward to listening to her reading Sherry Thomas’ The Luckiest Lady in London. But I’m afraid The Highlander’s Sin was distinctly lacklustre and a waste of her talent.

Caz

Narration:  B+

Book Content:  D

Steam Factor:  Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence:  Minimal

Genre: Historical Romance – Medieval

Publisher:  Tantor Audio

The Highlander’s Sin was provided to AudioGals for review by Tantor Audio.