The Highland Groom [Mass Market Paperback]

This book was a little different from other Highland Romances that I've read. For a start, it wasn't about sword-fights and reiving but instead about whisky distilling and smuggling. The author has clearly researched the making of whisky and infodumped quite a lot of detail at times throughout the book.

It is also, of course, a romantic story. Fiona MacCarran needs to marry a wealthy highlander (a request in her grandmother's will) and so travels to Glen Kinloch to teach at the school there and hope that a rich highlander happens across her. Dougal MacGregor, laird of Kinloch, does happen across her and he is a highlander - but unfortunately not wealthy. In fact he's heavily involved in smuggling whisky in order to try to earn enough money to buy his land back from the Crown. When the schoolteacher arrives he is instantly attracted to her but her brother works for the excisemen and so he tries to persuade her to leave. But Fiona isn't willing to be persuaded; she wants to find out more about highland fairies and she likes the village. Can they have a future together?

This book was a bit of an oddity in terms of pacing. The initial chapter consists of Fiona and her brother Patrick explaining their situation to each other (to inform the reader) and felt a most unnatural conversation. After that great tranche of information is given the book slowed down considerably and meandered around as Dougal and Fiona met each other, kissed each other and Dougal tried to persuade her to leave. Fiona meets various MacGregor people, all of whom are involved in smuggling and seem pretty brazen about it. With various mentions of fairies and fossils the story trudges on until the rather unlikely final scene where Fiona is in some danger.

The setting of the book was interesting and the information about the whisky distilling was unusual. However other aspects were a bit dodgy, including American speech patterns in highlanders of the 17th century ('fall' for autumn, 'likely' in place of probably, etc). There was no tension in the romance which meant it wasn't particularly memorable and neither main character rang particularly true to me. I also struggled with the author's intent with regard to honour and integrity - are the lies that the characters tell each other acceptable? What about the illegality of the smuggling? Was it fair to set Fiona against her brother and his duty as a gauger? These questions were never satisfactorily answered for me.

This wasn't a bad book although the fairy aspect didn't work for me and the over-emphasis on all things whisky got a bit tiresome. However it wasn't a very memorable book and I felt it was a little too uneven in its execution to make it class as a good read.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2009

I appreciate that this was a different highland story. I like the whole whiskey smuggling angle. I found it a little chaste and the requirements of the will a little silly, but overall thought that the book was okay. It seemed that there were a lot of subtext unexplored, but I thought that the book was written nicely.

Ok this book has some great elements that I enjoyed. It made me want to travel to Scotland to view the landscape , hear that wonderful accent and check out the cute highlander. I like the characaters but - - in the end I just didn't have a strong connection to them. The concept is that Fiona MacCarran must marry a wealthy Highlander and draw a picture of real 'fairy' help fullfil her Grandmother's will. She goes to the Highland to teach and finds herself attacted Dougal MacGregor a whiskey smuggler... It was a good enough read, that I finished it and but something was missing...

If you are looking for a novel with a Scotlish theme , I would suggest any of the books by these authors; How to Abduct a Highland Lord, The Runaway McBride,MacGowan's Ghost

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