Highlander Most Wanted: The Montgomerys and Armstrongs (Montgomerys and Armstrongs, #2)

by Maya Banks

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Maya Banks, the bestselling author of romance and romantic suspense has captivated readers with her steamy Scottish historical novels, perfect for fans of Julie Garwood. In Highlander Most Wanted, a reclusive woman content to live in the shadows shows a Highland warrior the true meaning of love.

Genevieve McInnis is locked behind the fortified walls of McHugh Keep, captive of a cruel laird who takes great pleasure in ruining her for any other man. Yet when Bowen Montgomery storms the gates on a mission of clan warfare, Genevieve finds that her spirit is bent but not broken. Still, her path toward freedom remains uncertain. Unable to bear the shame of returning to a family that believes her dead or to abandon others at the keep to an imposing new laird, Genevieve opts for the peaceful life of an abbess. But Bowen’s rugged sensuality stirs something deep inside her that longs to be awakened by his patient, gentle caress—something warm, wicked, and tempting.

Bowen seizes his enemy’s keep, unprepared for the brooding and reclusive woman who captures his heart. He’s enchanted by her fierce determination, her unusual beauty, and her quiet, unfailing strength. But wooing her will take more than a seasoned seducer’s skill. For loving Genevieve, he discovers, means giving her back the freedom that was stolen from her—even if it means losing her forever.

“[Maya] Banks has written an emotionally taut Highlands romance. . . . Lush emotionalism, compelling characters and a moving story line will win romance fans.”—Kirkus Reviews

• ISBN10: 0345533240
• ISBN13: 9780345533241
• Publish Date: 19 March 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Ballantine Books Inc.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780345533241

Reviews

[Amanda]

Maya Banks never fails to elicit extreme emotion from me. And then you get conversations like this:

Amanda: *flails* MAYA BANKS, WHAT YOU DO TO ME!
Kelly: YESSSSS!
Amanda: I NEED MOAR HIGHLANDERS *FLAILS*
Kelly: Don't you LOVE them????
Amanda: THEY MAKE ME WANT TO WEEP WITH JOY.
Kelly: LOL! Did you finish the book?
Amanda: Yes. Just did. I WANT MOAR.
Kelly: The 3rd book doesn't come out until MARCH! WOE WOE WOE.
Amanda: Noooooooo. But it's Brodie and Taliesan. AND THAT'S WHAT I WANT.
Kelly: I knooooooow.
Amanda: But I also want a story for ALL THE BROTHERS. And Rorie. ALL THE SIBLINGS.
Kelly: I AGREE!
Amanda: Gah. I NEED ALL THE MAYA BANKS HIGHLANDERS NOW.

ALL THE MAYA BANKS HIGHLANDERS. Is it March yet? No? Dammit. I suppose I'll have to actually write a review then.

I picked up Highlander Most Wanted on my birthday bookstore trip. I've found that Maya Banks's Highlander books cut through any reading apathy or afternoon with ease. They're perfect escape books, and Highlander Most Wanted was no exception.

Maya Banks has a formula, to be sure. But each couple is so carefully nuanced that it never feels like a formula. Genevieve has had a shitty year. Captured by a bastard, she's given up hope. UNTIL BOWEN SHOWS UP. Watching the fierce warrior fall under her spell never gets old. NEVER. And I want more.

The Montgomery and the Armstrong siblings are the perfect companions to spend an afternoon with. Whenever I need an escape read, they deliver. (Yeah. They deliciously deliver.) And sometimes, we need the escape reads--the ones that have us reading cover to cover without little pause because we can't tear ourselves away. And Maya Banks hasn't failed me yet.

[nitzan_schwarz]

For this review and more, pop by my blog - Drugs Called Books

Received a Copy from Ballantine Books via Netgalley. Thank you!

Another stunning historical romance from Maya Banks. If you haven't yet read the first book in the series, Never Seduce a Scot, do yourself a favor and go read it (or my review of it ;-]) before reading this. It'll sort the names out in your heads, plus... well, it's a series... And there will be spoilers for the first book in this review.

Anyway, this time, the darkness level is up, but with it the sweetness. We have a heartbreaking story that brings hope to my heart that they'll all end well.

We're back with the Montgomerys and Armstrongs, right after the last book ended. Graeme's brothers and Eveline's brothers go to seize the McHugh keep and kill their Laird after what they've attempted to do to Eveline. What they find there is a bunch of sorry people and a woman who's been imprisoned by Ian McHugh when he was alive and suffered a lot of abuse from him.

This woman is Genevieve McInne. She is a strong and fierce woman, who somehow survived horrible abuse without having her spirit broken. That's not to say that she wasn't badly wounded emotionally, but she was not without her fight. This woman will earn your respect and admiration throughout the story, if she doesn't have it from the beginning.

If Ian hadn't proved to be a complete and utter scum from the first book in the series, Never Seduce a Scot, he's definitely earned the title with this one. I am disgusted by this man and find myself wishing, together with about 90% of the characters, that he was alive again so I could inflict horrifying torture on the man before killing him again. The things he did *shudder*

Then there is Bowen Montgomery, brother of Graeme, and Genevieve's love interest. He's a big, strong warrior who says the most beautiful things once he figures out he's in love with Genevieve. There is just something about big muscular males reciting poetry and giving you the most beautiful compliments (that man from our time would never dare say out loud) that make me all tingly inside. He's as good a man as Graeme, his brother, and I believe you'll all love him.

My heart ached for all the misunderstandings going around. I wished Genevieve just told him the truth, and all of the truth, from the beginning, though I understood why she didn't.
It was most frustrating for me because I had a strong suspicion I knew what she was hiding, especially in light of what Ian had told Eveline when he kidnapped her in Never Seduce a Scot.
It was beautifully tied together from the first book, which I loved. It made sense, showing us that nothing Banks writes is without thought.

But, really, Genevieve and Bowen were a really cute couple. The ending was extremely adorable and I couldn't help but grin!

This book also laid the ground for one of the next couple in the series; Brodie, Eveline's brother, and Taliesan, the only friend Genevieve made on the McHugh keep. I already think this is going to be a sweet couple and I can't wait to read it! Too bad I'm going to have to wait a year... minimum. *sniff*

After reading this book, I have a feeling I now understand a bit about this series. This series deals with imperfections. Be it a disability or a visual blemish, the females in this series are not perfect. I think Banks chose the females to highlight their strength despite those imperfection. Whereas her other series dealt with beautiful women, here are beautiful women who are forced to deal with something the hinders them, and even if said things mars their beauty, they become even prettier to us and their literature partners because of them. It is a beautiful thing to behold.