The Stolen Mackenzie Bride

The Stolen Mackenzie Bride is book eight in the Mackenzies Series by Jennifer Ashley. This is my first time to read Ms. Ashley’s work and I probably should have started with the first book in the series. Overall the story was alright. It started off strong and intriguing. Malcolm Mackenzie is the youngest son of the Duke of Kilmorgan. He is a dashing Highlander who only has loyalties to his clan. When he sees Lady Mary Lennox at a gathering in Edinburgh, he is instantly smitten. Mary is betrothed to Lord Halsey but it is only a political and business arrangement. When Mary meets Malcolm her world is turned upside down. “A tall man stepped out of the shadows and into her path. Moonlight fell on a light-colored frock coat that topped a kilt of blue plaid. He was one of the Highlanders from below, the younger one, who’d caught and held her with the heat in his eyes.” When war comes to Edinburgh and the Jacobite rebellion explodes into their lives, Malcolm and Mary are forever changed. Mary’s loyalty is challenged. Which side will she choose? Somewhere in the middle, it felt like the author was just narrating events. Battle after battle was mentioned. I thought unnecessarily. Then towards the end, the characters came back to life and it became a story again. “In spite of their bluster, the ear-splitting loudness of their voices, they were vulnerable. Broken if struck the wrong way. They needed someone to love them, to care for them, to keep them whole”. The addition of Mary into the Mackenzie clan changes even their family dynamics. Overall, I enjoyed the book. There are a number of sex scenes in the story. If that bothers you, I recommend just reading the dialogue at those parts. I will probably go back and begin at the beginning of this series.

Oh my heart, this book, it just tugged at all my feels! From the very beginning, the pull between Mal and Mary, to the very end, the connection between Mal and Mary, their love story, epic, sweeping, history making and historically tragic. Then there are the MacKenzie brothers, the Duke, Mary's sister, father, aunt. The things that happen around, to, and for them had me enthralled, intrigued, and breathless. The roots of the MacKenzie's we read about now are well rooted in these characters, and the pain that underlies and sweeps over them, is also present here. A love story, absolutely, an amazing story of love and commitment, but also, the history and the lives lived by those who endured to have that love.

I have truly enjoyed reading this whole series waiting on the next book to be available, I can not imagine how the Scots got through life after Culloden it fills me with such sadness.