Jennifer Ashley - The Stolen MacKenzie Bride

The eighth book in the Mackenzies / Highland Pleasures series, published September 29, 2015.
Genre: historical romance
Cover: I like the naked chest, but not the half head. Off with it!



Scotland, 1745: The youngest son of the scandalous Mackenzie family, Malcolm is considered too wild to tame...until he meets a woman who is too unattainable to resist.
Lady Mary Lennox is English, her father highly loyal to the king, and promised to another Englishman. But despite it being forbidden to speak to Malcolm, Lady Mary is fascinated by the Scotsman, and stolen moments together lead to a passion greater than she'd ever dreamed of finding.
When fighting breaks out between the Highlanders and the king's army, their plans to elope are thwarted, and it will take all of Malcolm's daring as a Scottish warrior to survive the battle and steal a wife out from under the noses of the English.


I am a big Jennifer Ashley fan, and I have been looking forward to a new MacKenzie book. However, this one is of an earlier era, and I am not a big fan of the era of Culloden and Bonnie Prince Charlie. Where families are torn apart, brothers are fighting their brothers and fathers, and so many brave Scottish men die. As is the case in this book.
Malcolm's oldest brother is a staunch supporter of the Prince, while their father and the rest of them just want peace, and don't believe in his promises. To keep their brother safe, the others will do a lot to see to it.

But against this background, there is this amazing lovestory. Lady Mary Lennox is prepared to do her duty for her family, make her father proud of her, and marry a man she doesn't love, or even like. Until she meets Malcolm, and the instant connection between them makes her question everything. Will she just meekly give up any chance of happiness, and marry the powerful man her father wants her to marry, or will she choose for her own life? Especially when Malcolm helps her beloved younger sister to elope with the man she loves, but whom their father denied her?
When her fiancé shows some of his true nature, and he repulses her by doing so, Mary chooses for Malcolm. But it is not easy, with both their families against them. Still, Mary loves the freedom and the beauty of the Highlands and she even tames their wild father a bit, making their manor a home. And when the English troops burn it down around them, she does whatever she can.


Yes, I cried while reading this book, and it sure has sad moments, but I absolutely loved the strong woman Mary became, and I fell hard for Malcolm, the one who kept them all together. They were amazing. And they survived so much hardship. Their love story is very much worth reading, so don't get turned off by the time period and the fighting. This story will surprise you at times.

9 stars.

© 2015 Reviews by Aurian