Review: "The Dark Highlander" by Karen Marie Moning

The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Another great book by KMM! :) It wasn't as funny as the previous books in the series, but that was expected - the title 'The Dark Highlander' was a dead giveaway.

As many readers before me - and many others after, I'm sure -, I'm in love with Dageus! How could I not fall for a hero whose fault is "to love too much"? I confess I was a bit turned off by his firt appearance, because I don't like seeing "my" heroes having sex with anyone else but the heroine, but KMM made me forget that pretty fast. As the story progressed, Dageus proved to be one of the best heroes I've met, always placing the ones he loved above himself, and I could really feel how much he loved Chloe.

I loved Chloe too, in a different way. Her curiosity and love for ancient artifacts proved to be a good thing, since that got her in Dageus's arms, or better, bed. :) She tried to be very nononsense about everything she got to see and experience around him (like when she first woke up in the 16th century) but, at the same time, she could act rather impulsively (like when she decided to go to Scotland with Dageus - not that he would've had it any other way, but she didn't know that). She was responsible for one of the funniest and sweetest scenes I've ever read, when she decided to practice her ILY in front of a "mirror". I loved it! :)

As for the story, Dageus's quest for a way to get rid of the 13 "black" Druids who possess his soul kept me trying to guess his next move all the time. When Drustan and Gwen's proposed "solution" turned out to be ineffective, the only way out I could see was his dying - and that wouldn't be acceptable! Obviously, KMM came up with a valid way to save Dageus in the end, but the events that led to it had some "not so smart" moves by Dageus and Chloe. I won't say they ran into "TSTL territory", but it was a close call. I mean, one should never try to run alone to face an unknown enemy, right? When Dageus decided to ditch the careful plans he and Drustan had made, I actually paused and sighed... Then, I gave it some thought and realized it was OK for him to act like that. That behavior was actually consistent with his character: he just loved his brother "too much" to risk his life. Now, Chloe following Dageus alone wasn't so easy to excuse, but I guess I could blame it on the fact that she had just woken up in the middle of the night and wasn't thinking clearly.

Another thing that bothered me was Silvan saying that Dageus was his favorite son. And Nellie loved him better too, even though she was "polite" enough not to say it out loud. What was the point of that?!? It only made me want to scream "I love Drustan!", LOL.

All things considered, I really loved this book and will keep reading the series.

Note: I had a hard time pondering how to rate this book. As soon as I finished it, I decided I was going to give it a 5-star rating, but was it worth a DIK status? It all came to the question whether I'd be able to overcome Chloe's "reckless" behavior and Silvan's remark, and I just can't.



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