HIGHLAND BEAST

Author: Hannah Howell, Heather Grothaus, Victoria Dahl ISBN: 9780758235091 9/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: KENSINGTON
Time Period: Scotland 1513, 1104, 1595

“The Beast Within” by Hannah Howell Gybbon MacNachton spends his days searching for the Lost Ones—demons with the powerful MacNachton bloodline who are being hunted by those who want to destroy them. When he stumbles upon Alice Boyd, living like a wild animal in the forest, she stirs a primitive lust deep within him—a lust that can only be sated by their explosive union… “Laird of Midnight” by Victoria Dahl For fifty years, Finlay Maclain has hunted the clan of vampires who murdered his family and turned him into one of them. Now, he's at the end of his quest, sitting at a tavern, waiting for the last vampire he must kill. But the tavern's beautiful wench is distracting him beyond reason—and all he can think of is teasing her until she begs him to take her again and again… “The Vampire Hunter” by Heather Grothaus As the last surviving member of her family of witches, Beatrix Levenach must protect the townspeople from the vampires who stalk the land. But when her life is placed in danger, she receives help from Alder the White—a vampire from the clan responsible for wiping out her ancestors over a century ago. With no other choice, Beatrix accepts Alder's help. And when they discover an all-consuming passion, they must make the ultimate sacrifice for an eternal love…

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Let me preface this review by saying that separately, all of these authors are fabulous. When picking up a book written by any of these women, I always know that I am going to spend hours falling in love with new characters. In HIGHLAND BEAST, these authors come together to tell three amazing stories of paranormal romance set in historical Scotland. Suffice it to say that together, these authors are phenomenal!

In The Beast Within, Hannah Howell starts out the trilogy strong, with her story about a lost clan of vampires and a single mother trying desperately to save the lives of the children that she loves. Gybbon MacNachton and Alice Boyd make a beautiful, strong couple who will stop at nothing to save the people that they love and change the future for their families.

Most exciting to me is The Vampire Hunter by Heather Grothaus. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that this is her first foray into this genre. I am hoping and crossing my fingers that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Ms. Grothaus and vampires! Beatrix and Alder are an unstoppable team protecting Beatrix's neighbors from raging vampires. The Vampire Hunter is a fabulous story, told with unforgettable characters and a fast paced, flowing storyline. It is also a most interesting take on angels and demons that I found myself wishing would never end!

Victoria Dahl never fails. Ever. She could write a story on a piece of toilet paper and photocopy it, and I'm pretty sure the story would be a bestseller. This story is about Finlay Maclain—a vampire who has no family and no clan at all to call his own—and Kenna Graham, a serving wench at a bar whose family uses her just to make a dollar. When Finlay saves Kenna from the hands of a terrible murdering vampire, he must take her with him and protect her as only he can do.

All three of these stories are wonderful. I have not one bad thing to say about any of them, except that I wish they were longer, possibly full-length books! As novellas they are wonderfully well written, giving the reader a complete "picture" into the character's lives. There is a lot of juice to each story, and I wasn't left with the impression that I had missed anything, as is often the case with a novella. HIGHLAND BEAST shined for me, and I’m sure all lovers of paranormals and of the authors in this collection will say the exact same thing!

Kristal Gorman