Monday, October 2, 2023

Review: Highland Surrender by Heather McCollum

Highland Surrender by Heather McCollum
Series: Sons of Sinclair, Book 5
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Genre: Historical Romance 
Highland Surrender cover
ISBN: 9781649374950
Release Date: October 24, 2023
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Entangled
Heather McCollum Reading Order

With his family’s honor on the line, Norse warrior Erik Halverson has no choice but to follow the orders of the royal house of Denmark. Now he must follow his destiny—and royal command—to sail to Scotland, find his enemy’s weakest link, and abduct her. Their mistake, of course, was thinking the Sinclair lass wouldn’t fight back.

From the moment her four brothers took control of their clan, Hannah Sinclair has learned to stand tall and defend herself. So when a big, brawny, and admittedly handsome warrior tries to abduct her, she isn’t about to give in. And the more he tries, the more she’s determined to make it as hard as possible...and enjoy it all the while.

Now Norway’s greatest warrior has a Highland hellcat on his hands, and Odin help him, he can’t resist her. But with the brutal Sinclair brothers coming after them, Erik is out of options. War is inevitable. And when a man is forced to choose between duty and passion, only one will win…

The sister of the infamous Sinclair Horsemen finally steps out of the shadows in Highland Surrender. I’ve been oh-so-hopeful that Heather McCollum would give Hannah Sinclair a chance to shine and she definitely does in this book.

Hannah is happy for her brothers and their wives and loves her nieces and nephews, but she’s lonely in the crowd. She wants a baby of her own but none of the men of her clan tempt her – not even the ones who may not be frightened of her legendary brothers. Enter silver trader Erik Halverson. The brawny Norseman is awfully fearsome for a supposed trader but Hannah isn’t going to let that stop her. She sets out to seduce him…only to find herself kidnapped.

Erik has been sent on a mission by Dowager Queen Sophie: he’s to kidnap Hannah and thus keep the Sinclair Horsemen under Sophie’s control. He doesn’t expect a strong and stubborn lass to fight back and knock him off his feet. Erik isn’t a bad person and his reason for doing Sophie’s bidding is understandable. He’s caught between a rock and a hard place and is trying to justify to himself why he’s doing something he knows is wrong.

The attraction between Erik and Hannah burns bright and hot and I liked how they went toe-to-toe with each other. Hannah has learned alongside each of her brothers and is just as brave and true as any of them. She’s Erik’s equal in every way and teaches him a thing or two along the way. If political machinations weren’t in their path, I imagine it would be mostly smooth sailing for this love story. But villains, politics, threats, and fears all make the road to happily ever after a rocky one for Hannah and Erik.

Highland Surrender is the fifth book in McCollum’s Sons of Sinclair series but you can jump in here if you haven’t read the others. There is a large supporting cast including Hannah’s brothers, sisters-in-law, a couple of mischievous children, and Erik’s brothers-in-arms who all have roles to play in the story. To her credit, McCollum never lets the supporting characters overshadow the main ones; not an easy feat with so many strong personalities. I liked all the different relationships and how each one shined and impacted the story.

Highland Surrender has passion, family drama, political intrigue, and romance. It’s an engaging story and a fitting end to the Sons of Sinclair series.



FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.