Highland Brides #7, Lynsay Sands is a great author in whatever she writes and her books are fun to read; at one point the Buchanan brothers were standing around joking that the same stuff keeps happening to them that it's always money or madness that goes after them. Her women are strong willed and in this case with Evina MacLean, who has lead the family and the clan ever since her mother died and her father distanced himself from everything and even trains the younger soldiers, she's more than just emotionally strong. She's not afraid to take charge and get what needs to be done done. So when her father falls ill and nothing is working she seeks out the healer Rory Buchanan.

Conran Buchanan is the middle child and he has always been there for his brothers and sister when they need him, he is a jack of all trade but master of none. After a long day of collecting herbs for Rory one day he takes the time to wash away the day in a nearby waterfall when he's attacked and knocked unconscious. When he wakes up he's still naked and on MacLean land they are also calling him Rory, to save his brother from the same fate he plays along good thing he knows just enough to help the Laird MacLean.

Maclean as soon as he's better manipulates a situation in which Conran is caught compromising Evi. Sadly, Evi is shot with an arrow and his plan doesn't go as smoothly as he wanted. Conran's brother show up and the truth comes out and while everyone around is pushing for their marriage Conran is willing to go through the wedding because he genuinely like Evi he'll only go through it if that's what she wants too. So he has a couple of weeks before all his brothers arrive to woo Evi. Unfortunately the arrow to Evi's chest isn't the only attempt on her life and the Buchanans go on high alert to protect Evi and try and capture the culprit.

Overall, this was a fun and exciting read from a master at her trade. Her historicals and her paranormals always exceed my expectations. The characters are all loveable and easy to sympathize with. She creates situations that are humorous and intense with a great narrative and a picturesque setting.         

Task 1:  Share a picture of your favorite light display. ~ I might be reaching here, but no man-made display has ever captivated me as much as the night sky (though lantern festivals come close).

Task 2:  Cleaning is a big part of this holiday; choose one of your shelves, real or virtual, and tidy / organise it.  Give us the before and after photos.  OR Tidy up 5 of the books on your BookLikes shelves by adding the CORRECT cover, and/or any other missing information.

Well, since I can never help myself, while searching for the girl with flowers covers I ended up merging one of my books into it's proper author, and I bet I'll end up doing some more, lol.

As for my physical library, I plan on an overhaul around Christmas, so I'll post pictures then.

Task 3: Eating sweets is also a big part of Diwali. Either select a recipe for a traditional sweet, or make a family favorite and share a picture with us.

Dulce de Leche!!

This is not an easy one to make, actually. I think we only attempted it once, it took a looooong time, and the consistence was not that firm (plus, I think we got a bit enthusiastic with the sodium bicarbonate)

Task 4: During Diwali, people pray to the goddess Lakhshmi, who is typically depicted as a beautiful young woman holding a lotus flower. Find 5 books on your shelves (either physical or virtual) whose covers show a young woman holding a flower and share their cover images.

I'm among those having a lot less difficulty finding women brandishing weapons than carying flowers among my covers, but children and classic books came to my rescue. Clearly, I might want to "make love not war" more reading-wise. If only I could find more romances that treaded better the line between crazy drama and blandness.

Book: Read a book with candles on the cover or the word “candle” or “light” in the title; OR a book that is the latest in a series; OR set in India; OR any non-fiction book that is ‘illuminating’ (Diwali is Sanskrit for light/knowledge and row, line or series)

I'd read one Crosby before, the first o this series actually, and I remembered it as one of those rare romances that have alpha males that I did not hate, very sweet, a bit sad, and with some awesome bits of humor.

This was hilarious. Short, fast, and by a third in I couldn't stop laughing. Because of Cat's self-assurance and free approach to sex mostly, like this bit of her thinking:

He had been such a grouse at first but now his mood had lightened considerably. No longer did he brood, and she concluded that he must have needed to appease his willy. It made sense to her. A man could simply not go his entire life without a little love—and he had, she was certain because he’d had that pinched look about him of a man whose bollocks were petrified from lack of use.

Or Piers insistence on complimenting the roof. Or... well, you get the drift.

I had fun, and I'm glad. I was looking for something to clean my palate from The Sun Also Rises cynicism (I'm starting to feel stuck), and this was perfect.

The Protector (Highland Brides Book 1) -...

Duff is twenty six and was on his horse Duncan. He had to give up all hope of finding out who he was. It was very hard on him as he never failed. He was still an orphan with no family name. Duff saw six men who were ready to jump four strangers even though he should stay out of it he decided to even up the odds. One of the travelers was Laird Allister Gordan. Then another person is close her hood falls off and it is a woman her father is the Laird and she recognizes him. Duff doesn’t know any of this but he does help her also. Mairi the woman had came to welcome her father home. Laird Gordon lets  Mairi know they are indebted to Duff results may have been different if he hadn’t helped. Mairi’s guard had been badly hurt and the Laird asked Duff to protect Maira for a week til her guard was better. Laird Gordon is the leader of their clan and has three suitors and Mairi would have to chose one. She has to carry on for the clan. Mairi and Duff fall in love yet he has to be there while she dates other men during the day. So it is hard for him to see Mairi with another man.

I didn’t love this but I also didn’t hate it, The story just didn’t WOW me . The story dragged a little for me. I also don’t believe you fall in love in a week. Mairi was so stubborn with Duff yet very submissive to her dad and this is really important it is the rest of her but also Duffs life. I loved the way Duff was willing to help strangers. With no thought of any kind of gain just to help. I did like the ins and outs of the story.

I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

For a star rating and full review please visit InD'tale magazine online, Jul/Aug 2016 issue.

http://www.indtale.com/reviews/historical/mad-about-marquess%C2%A0highland-brides-1