RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDER

Author: Sara Mackenzie ISBN: 0060795409 8/2006 PARANORMAL Publisher: AVON

What is this world he has awoken into—where metal "monsters" roar down smooth stone paths and people parade in unfamiliar costumes? Where is the home that once stood on this pile of ancient rubble? And who is this woman who sees him when no one else can...and who stirs the fire in his soul? Her research into the legend of a notorious 18th-century Highland chieftain has brought Arabella Ryan to Scotland's storm-swept Loch Fasail. And now the Black Maclean himself has invaded her dreams. The sensuous caress of her mysterious "ghost lover" is no mere fantasy, lifting Bella to heights of ecstasy she never imagined existed. Btu fate has a reason for bringing them together across the centuries—a perilous mission that could change history as it tests the power of their desire and their love.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDER is the first book of the Immortal Warriors trilogy from author Sara Mackenzie. It's an ingenious mix of romance and the paranormal, featuring a present day heroine and a two hundred and fifty year-old Highlander.

Arabella (Bella) Ryan and her boyfriend, Brian, have taken up residence at an old cottage in the Highlands of Scotland. While there, Bella is preparing to write her next book and her sights are set on the story of The Black Maclean, Chief of the Macleans of Fasail.

All is not going well with Bella. First, she and her boyfriend had a huge fight and he has left her; secondly, she's beginning to become obsessed with Maclean. Not that being obsessed with a deceased Highlander is a bad thing, but she thinks that perhaps he's haunting her.

The Black Maclean. Now there's a hunky hero I could fall in love with! He's been given a second chance to right a horrible wrong in his past. After being awakened from his two hundred and fifty year slumber by a Fiosaiche—a Gaelic sorceress—he is stumbling through lands that were once familiar to him and comes upon Bella, standing in what was once his Castle Drumaird. Maclean decides to follow her back to the cottage, and it's there that he learns that she's writing a book about him. Hopefully, she'll be able to help him remember his past and then he can begin to make it right. Now... if only he could communicate with her!

Ms. Mackenzie's RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDER is rich in Scottish history and lore. Not only is it a romantic story between Bella and Maclean (once, of course, he's able to be seen and felt), but it's also a story about being true to yourself and having the courage to change.

Aye, I enjoyed reading RETURN OF THE HIGHLANDER and I can't wait to read Sara Mackenzie's next book in the Immortal Warriors trilogy.

Julie Kornhausl