Highland Conquest

Highland Conquest by Heather McCollum Sons of Sinclair #1 The Sinclair brothers, four of them, have been raised to believe they are the four horsemen of the apocalypse found in Revelation. They appear at battle fields dressed as messengers from god and are dressed appropriately. Each has a job that allows them lethal abilities while instilling fear while fighting foes. These brothers are, n order of birth: * Cain brings conquest on a white horse * Joshua brings war on a bay horsemen * Gideon brings justice on a black horse * Bás brings death on a pale horse Each brother will have a book of his own and perhaps their sister Hannah will, too. This, the first book in the series, is the story of Cain and how his plan to bring peace rather than war begins. It is also a story with a HEA...eventually. Beginning on a battlefield we meet the brothers, they lose their father and Cain chases down Arabella “Ella” Sinclair, captures her and declares they will marry to cement an alliance through marriage. Needless to say, she is not thrilled with the idea. For three weeks they face off in his castle, get to know one another, play chess, escapes are attempted, kidnappings are dealt with, have a bonfire social event and eventually secrets are revealed. The two seem meant for one another but prickly Ella and hollow Cain have to realize some truths before they can see what their future together can be. What I liked: * Ella – strong, a survivor, puts family and clan first. * Cain – raised to conquer, has a plan, has much to learn, falls for Ella. * The other three brothers – eager to see how their books will unfold * The concept for the series, the writing and pacing * Merida – a strong woman who survived much * Hannah – a young woman kept hidden who needs to find herself * Ethan – a good man there for Ella and her family * James – young but potentially a good leader – perhaps he will get a book of his own, too * Being eager to find out what Joshua’s story will be in book two. What I did not like: * The fathers of both Ella and the brothers * The baddies – there was more than one to hate in this book * Not a dislike but a note that to read this book you have to leave reality behind and open your mind to a not so historically correct historical romance. Did I enjoy this book? Yes Do I want to read more in this series? Yes Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled-Amara for the ARC ~ This is my honest review. 3-4 Stars

Full review appeared at Reader's Edyn on 05/06/20 Arabella, Chief of the Sutherlands, is now a prisoner of her enemy, the Sinclairs. She prefers death but instead finds herself forced to marry the new Chief, Cain Sinclair, to form an alliance. Cain intends on taking over the Sutherlands and creating a stronger army and so a stronger Scotland. But Ella has secrets she must protect and she cannot allow Cain to take over her clan. Since he is the enemy, he cannot be trusted. But the more time she spends with Cain, the more her mind wars internally. The brute displays a façade of a battle-hardened destroyer to the outside, but inside she finds comfort and tenderness for her alone. Her heart longs for the glimpses of the true man that she is slowly coming to understand. Her body, a trembling mass of desire when he is near. For all their differences, there is even more that seems to be the same. She has been raised to believe one way and crushing through that belief when it has been ingrained for so long is nigh impossible to do. Before too long she and Cain are working together to find solutions to issues as they arise. And when Ella is suddenly handed back her power to make a choice, will her time with Cain have been enough to persuade her to choose love? Cain Sinclair has just taken over as Chief of his clan; a role he has been groomed for since birth. When the clever, tempting, intriguing Chief of the Sutherlands succeeds in killing his father, he really has no choice but to retaliate. Wars are won and lost, but Cain has yet to lose. And suddenly he refuses to lose Ella, taking her hostage and forcing her into marriage with him. The plan makes sense, but Cain also longs for Ella to come to him of her own volition and sets out to woo the woman who has captured his heart. Much has occurred since their first meeting so many years ago, but he never forgot her. Now that his father’s brutal reign has come to an end, Cain is free to rule as he desires. Firm, yet fair. He only hopes he can convince Ella to rule at his side. The beauty has survived a horrific childhood at the hands of her father and now having attained her own level of freedom, capitulating in deference to Cain will be a hard-fought battle. But just as Ella has to make her own mind up and rectify what she has been brought up to believe versus what she has discovered to be the truth while inside the inner sanctum of the Sinclairs, so does Cain have much to learn and implement if he is to ever have the slightest chance of possessing Ella’s heart. Her love, freely given, is his greatest desire. Am I ever a sucker for Scottish HR! Not to say that I am guaranteed to love every one I come across, but what a beautifully told story of two fierce hearts in their journey to realizing that their strength is in one another; survivors who refuse to fail for fear of losing everything they hold dear. Both of them almost too intelligent for their own good, shrouded in secrecy and legend, neither understanding that at checkmate their end games are one and the same. Cain is a planner, never making a move in any aspect of life without carefully considering each move. He is also crazy insightful and picks up on the smallest of details to easily deduce the truth of what others might attempt to keep hidden. Ella may have not been born a male heir and incurred the wrath of her father on many occasions, but she also learned to survive. Taught and trained by her mother and trusted friend, when it came time for her to prove her worth and ability in leading her people, she flourished further into the strong, capable, confident woman that she is. As you can imagine, for a leader giving orders to protect his people, especially those he cared for, his dictates to Ella continually went unheeded. A Chief herself, taking orders wasn’t exactly a strength. There was a whole lot of push and pull with Cain ultimately allowing a lot more lead when dealing with Ella while she continued to balk at every turn...

When the Laird's wife passes away from birthing their fourth son, his grief is beyond normal. He becomes full of blood lust and feels his four sons are from God to be the four horsemen of the book in the bible Revelations. Each son grows up trained to perfection for each of their assigned duties. His father wants to conquer all that are weak and consolidate them into the Sinclair Clan. This is the eldest son's story: Cain. He was responsible for victory in battle and the ultimate conquest of all. During a fierce battle with Clan Sutherland, it looked like they were winning. Then the tide turned just a bit and a group of arrows aimed at his father came down. Before the Laird died, he repeated each son's duty. Cain was now the new Laird and the fifth Earl of Caithness. He eyed his enemy in charge of killing his father and gave chase. It was the Sutherland daughter Arabella Sutherland. Well, when he thought he had really caught her she pulled a fast one and kissed him. That began a hurricane of events into motion. I liked Cain's character. He was thought of by his enemies as a fierce, no mercy conqueror. But being around Ella gave him pause to reconsider that there was more than one way to win and he always won no matter what. Ella on the other hand seemed to be built of steel. She was not just a professional horseman but the ultimate extreme professional. She was a determined no hold bar type of woman yet she could love another and she did. Now that Cain claimed her, he would wed and bed her to take over her clan. But when things seemed to be progressing with Cain, her secrets were vulnerable. And she had quite a few. There is plenty of drama, action and adventure; plenty of romance and the threat of war around every corner. An excellent book. A must read. I highly recommend it. Reasons I enjoyed this book: Action-packed Page-turner Romantic Realistic Steamy Tragic Unpredictable Wonderful characters