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Set in the 13th century Scottish Isles, Highland Princess takes us into the royal court of the Lord if the Isles and the conflicts that arise when duty is faced with personal desires.
Lady Mairi Macdonald is daughter of the Lord of the Isles, King of the Hebrides. As a Highland Princess, her position demands certain protocols which she has grown to abide by obediently. But as an intelligent woman in her times, her father affords her certain liberties that women of her time are rarely afforded, giving her knowledge of politics and a strong will, while still maintaining respect and reverence to her father, the ruler of the Isles.
Lachlan (the Wily) Lubanach has come to the Council of the Isles in search of power and wealth. While loyal to the King of the Hebrides, he determines to better his position and finds marriage to Mairi as not only a logical means to advance his ambitions, but also a desirable proposition. With his fierce twin brother by his side, the two establish their position as politicians within the council, finding disfavor with only one formidable opponent in their goals to better their position within the hierarchy of the court.
While Lachlan’s seduction of Mairi is meant to further his ambitions, he finds himself enamored of her. While trying to ingratiate himself into her father’s good graces and dissuade the King from marrying Mairi to another to preserve royal lineage, Lachlan struggles to maintain discretion in his carefully laid political plans. But within the court, there is another man with similar intentions, a man whose loyalty to the king becomes suspect. A seemingly irrelevant death (which opens the story) points clearly to the villain who would overthrow the Lord of the Isles and steal Mairi to wrest power of the Scottish Isles.
A well spun tale that speaks to the impulsiveness of physical attraction and the doubts that lead to second guessing those actions. The story shows us Mairi who is both dutiful and obedient while still strong willed and unable to control her own desires paired with Lachlan who is ambitious and wily, using every means at his disposal to achieve his ends and yet unable to discount his own feelings, opening him to danger he might otherwise have avoided. A wonderful history of the Scottish Isles that carries through with its promises to the very end.
Reviewed by Karla Brandenburg
for The Road to Romance
October 25, 2004
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