The Lover [Mass Market Paperback]

I'd love a sequel, a whole series of books about them, in fact, taking us through the rest of their lives ... but no doubt I'm in the minority, wanting to see more about the same couple. One can always hope!

Niall McLaren, a Highland laird (who holds depths you'd not imagine; he's far from a stereotype) and Sabrina Duncan, the granddaughter of a neighboring friendly clan (but raised in Edinburgh, not in the wilds) are for the most part forced into marriage. It's a political arrangement, one neither of them wanted, brought on by the impending death of her grandfather, the head of the Duncan clan. She's the only heir, the only one able to represent the clan. Set in 1739, the backdrop of warring, vengeful Highlander clans is well-drawn, giving readers what they need to know about these times, and this place, but always woven within the context of the love story, so that you learn as you go... painless for non-history buffs, and fascinating for history-lovers such as myself.

Niall and Sabrina have fiery tempers, and the fact that their marriage was arranged exacerbates this aspect of their personalities. She's inexperienced and unsure of herself, having been jilted by a former suitor, and finds it impossible to believe that Niall, "the Lover" of the title and a man of vast experience and countless dalliances, could ever truly be attracted to her. She despairs of ever knowing real love, now that she's married to a man who openly admits he has no intention of denying himself the charms of other women, vows or no vows. When he DOES take her to the marriage bed (the only true sealing of a marriage in those days, after all), he IS the consummate lover, very considerate, and very generous... not because he loves her, but because he is a gentleman; again, he's not your typical Highland savage. She definitely learns, in a most beautiful way, that there's another Sabrina within her, one she never knew existed. MOST satisfying, indeed...

But a series of events involving the warring clans almost undoes their already-tense marriage. His desire for revenge, and her disbelief in her own charms, as well as a truly surprising twist in the plot (I was SURE the trouble was coming from somewhere else!) , create some pretty palpable tension... you WANT Niall and Sabrina together, and in love, and cannot imagine how it can ever work out. How can love even take root, much less thrive, under these conditions? I didn't like Niall in the first few chapters, but I knew Ms. Jordan would take care of that, and she did; again, in very satisfying ways.
When they finally really spark, the couple SPARKS... whew!!
A bonafide page-turner. I could not put it down.
Kudos, praise, thanks. I'm still reeling from the love scenes, both from the incredible physical descriptions ( Ms. Jordan should get special awards for these scenes ! ) and from the vivid and very real love the
characters find. Romance novels only 'work' for me if the love in them is believable. It is. Boy, is it ever. And the love makes sense; what amazes me is HOW she gets the lovers to that point where the love DOES make sense, and how real it feels. But Ms. Jordan always succeeds at this; I've enjoyed all the books in her NOTORIOUS series, and the new 'Master of Temptation' so much that I can hardly pick a favorite!

Well done, well done... I will ALWAYS read Ms. Jordan's books. I hope she'll be writing for many, many years to come!

In this version, Niall is a bit gentler and more caring of a person than he was before -- this makes him more likeable.