The Chieftain's Curse (Chieftain)

by Frances Housden

2014 RWA RITA Award finalist for Best Historical Romance and 2014 Romance Writers of New Zealand (RWNZ) KORU Readers' Choice Award winner!

Euan McArthur is a chieftain in need of an heir.

While still a young a warrior, Euan incites the fury of a witch. She retaliates with a curse that no wife will ever bear him an heir. As he buries his third wife and yet another bonnie stillborn son, Euan can no longer cast her words aside.

Morag Farquhar is a woman in need of sanctuary. With a young relative in tow, Morag flees the only home she has ever known to escape her brother, Baron of Wolfsdale, and find sanctuary in the MacArthur stronghold. Pronounced barren by a midwife, Morag is of little value to her family, but a Godsend to Euan, a lover he can't kill by getting with child.

Years ago, chance drew them together, and tangled their lives in ways they could never have imagined. This time their destiny lies in their own hands, but it will take courage and strong hearts to see it through to the end.

 

• ISBN10: 0857990241
• ISBN13: 9780857990242
• Publish Date: 1 February 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: Escape Publishing
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 274
• Language: English

Reviews

[journalingirl]

This book had so much potential and if it wasn't for a few key things, I could've enjoyed it. I think it was a shame that instead of using the diversity of her characters (specifically a British gay man and an Islamic African gay man), the author decided to make these men the villains. While I understand the view of homosexuality at this time as unnatural, it is sad that the author further enforced this idea in the present by making these characters evil and having one of them be a pedophile.
My other big complaint is that the whole purpose of the story felt fake. Why did Morag have to keep the fact that Euan was Rob's father a secret? If she had just outright told him, none of these problems would have occurred.
Also the sex scenes were pretty bad. I have a hard time imaging a well-born lady in this time period yelling "fill me now" - that sounds more like something out of a porno, not a romance novel.