Sister to the laird of one of the three rival clans bound to peace by the king, the heroine has loved the barbaric laird of the McIntosh clan from afar for so long. She loves his Viking heritage, his pride and his strength and in a bid to make him love her, she sneaks across the forest and into his lands on the night of a festival. There, under the moon and possessed by the fever of the rituals, the hero takes the hero. But their union is cut short when he realizes she was virgin. And worse when he realizes who she is. He immediately send her away and there begins a less than stellar game of cat and mouse between the two characters. The hero is honor bound to contribute to the monument which signifies the three clans peace treaty but he wants absolutely nothing to do with it. All he cares about is fighting and war so he has no desire to spare his enemies. He is beyond stubborn and is completely oblivious in how to be nice. The heroine has so much pride that though she loves the hero more than anything, she vows to never let him know of her feelings until he loves her back. It was a boring and anticlimactic story which I felt went nowhere. It had no tension, no conflict. The romance was dull and lifeless. I hated the heroine who was portrayed as being so strong and intelligent but really did nothing but whine and sulk the entire book. The second the hero doesn't show her all the attention, she becomes insulted and gets angry. The hero becomes obsessed with the heroine after seeing her breasts and I had to roll my eyes. A man like the hero can have everyone in the world and it's totally unbelievable that a man of his times would be forced against his will to marry a woman just because he finds her attractive. I understand the force of desire that plagues a male but love it does not make and I couldn't believe their love. This is the 2nd of a trilogy and after reading bits of the previous book, the lack of chemistry between the two characters in that story makes me hesitate to read the two other additions. It's sad because I normally love this author but she fell flat with this one. ( )

Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel is book two in the Highland Warriors series by Sue-Ellen Welfonder.

After been ordered by their King Robert III three different clans, the Mackintoshes, the Camerons and the MacDonalds are sharing the land of the Glen of Many Legends in peace. If they fail to maintain the peace they will be banished from their lands by king’s decree.
Each lord has a sister and between the women they make a pact. They will marry with a Chieftain of a different clan to help maintain the good inter-clan relationships.

In book one (Sins of a Highland Devil) keeping her part in the deal Lady Catriona MacDonald married Lord James Cameron, affirming the peace relationship between the Macdonalds and the Camerons and in Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel is Lady Isabel Cameron’s turn to marry Kendrew Mackintosh.

Lady Isabel has been attracted to Kendrew since she can remember but the Lord barely knows she exists. Isabel takes advantage of this and infiltrates the Mid-Summer celebration in the Mackintosh’s Land, a celebration of excesses in honor to Odin, the Norse God. In this celebration Kendrew sees Isabel not knowing who she is and feels attracted to her, Kendrew thinks she is one of the women for a neighboring town that comes every year to participate in the indulgent celebration.
When Kendrew approaches Lady Isabel she sure knows what he wants, and even though she doesn’t have any experience in the matter she won’t say no to him. Kendrew is fascinated by Isabel and doesn’t think twice before taking her just to have the surprise of his life when he realizes she was not one of the neighboring town women, she was a virgin and not any virgin, but the sister of his “not too dear” neighbor, Lord James Cameron.
Kendrew’s reaction is to send her back immediately to her land, telling her she tricked him and he doesn’t want to know anything about her.
She does as he said, but now more than ever Isabel is determined to have him again and again and forever, not just because of the pact, but because she really wants to be with him.
With the passing of the days, for more than he tries Kendrew cannot stop thinking about Isabel, she has bewitched him, but the last thing he wants is to have a Lady by his side, his land is a harsh one, not good for any lady, he knows this better than anyone.

I really like Isabel and her determination, she was smart and witty and I love how she played Kendrew. Kendrew is a tough man with a soft side he doesn’t show in public. He is clever, resourceful and fun. I enjoyed their “courtship” is we could call it that. I was always thinking and expecting, “What are they going to do now”.

The secondary characters were also very entertaining; I loved Kendrew’s sister Marjory and her plotting behind her brother’s back. I also loved Kendrew’s captain of the guard, Grim; he was funny, kind and caring, a nice contrast with his brute exterior. I would love to learn more about him, maybe a little HEA for him too.

My final thought: Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel is a fun and sexy read. It’s not necessary to read the first book (I haven’t read it, don’t tell anyone) to read this one, it could be read as a stand-alone without problem.
There was a parallel story about ghost of dragons that really didn’t contribute much to the plot, also the bad guys motives were kind of unidentified. Maybe we’ll now more about them in Marjory Mackintosh and Andrew MacDonald’s book, Seduction of a Highland Warrior. ( )

Rating: 3.75/5

I love the premise of Sue-Ellen Welfonder's Highland Warriors series. To avoid being banished from The Glen of Many Legends by the king, the three lairds sharing the glen agree to a shaky truce ending hundreds of years of feuding. Their sisters, Catriona, Isobel and Marjory, make a pact of their own to secure the peace - each one will marry a laird from a rival clan.

Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel is Lady Isobel Cameron and Laird Kendrew Macintosh's story. Isobel was smitten with Kendrew from the moment she laid eyes on him. Kendrew has resigned himself to bachelorhood, believing that no lady could survive life in the cold, treacherous part of the glen he calls home. Isobel believes otherwise, and she is determined to convince Kendrew they were meant to be together.

The passion between Kendrew and Isobel ignites quickly. Isobel is a clever young woman. She knows how to get Kendrew's attention from the start. Kendrew was stubborn and determined to push her away, but she will not be swayed. She must get them together for the sake of the glen and for her own heart.

Like the first book in the series (Sins of a Highland Devil), there is also a ghostly paranormal element to the story. The ghost also wanted peace in the glen, and he did some meddling to push Isobel and Kendrew together. While I enjoyed the mischievous ghost, there was also another storyline involving the ghost and the legendary dragons that live underneath the memorial stones surrounding Castle Nought. It was interesting to read about, but it just didn't fit in with Isobel and Kendrew's story.

While the ghost wanted to see Isobel and Kendrew together, there were other dark forces - human ones - trying to keep them apart. I felt like the villains were too underdeveloped. After finishing the book, I'm still not sure who they are. I would have liked the villain's history explored more.

Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel picks up where the first book Sins of a Highand Devil ends. I would recommend reading the books in order, because if not you'll be missing a lot of important backstory, both with the characters and events. Temptation is an enjoyable story that fans of sexy, brutish Highlanders and cunning, feisty heroines are sure to love. ( )

Reviewed by Jen
Book received from NetGalley

I think I may have enjoyed this book a little more if I had read the first book in the series, Sins of a Highland Devil (Highland Warriors 1). Ms Welfonder does a decent enough job of making this book stand alone, but there are enough references to the prior book, that I would have benefited to having read it first.

Let's start with what I liked. I enjoyed the characters. Isobel is a strong woman and knows exactly what she wants--Kendrew--and she'll do anything to make him realize that they are fated to be together. Kendrew was a little harder for me to like, but he grew on me and I was rooting (ok, who are we kidding, it's a romance, we know how it's going to end) for them to get their HEA. I also liked the setting, as I'm a sucker for medieval romances. This one is set in a remote valley in the Scottish Highlands, with three warring clans. The three sisters of the chiefs take it upon themselves to try to make peace by marrying one of the rival chiefs. Solid series plot.

What I didn't like so much... the paranormal elements woven into the story. I could have done with out the ghost story that was woven throughout the book. In fact, I don't think it really added anything and I found myself skimming past them to get back to the main plot.

I can't say I'll be searching out the other books in the series, but this one wasn't bad. I'd suggest reading in order for a more enjoyable read. ( )

TEMPTATION OF A HIGHLAND SCOUNDREL by Sue-Ellen WElfonder is an exciting historical romance set in 1397 The Glen of Many Legends,Scotland. It is Book 2 in the Highland Warriors Trilogy,but can be read as a stand alone. See "Sins of a Highland Devil".Three clans,three warriors,The MacDonalds,Camerons,and Mackintoshes and their three strong-willed women.It is well written with depth and details. It has romance,Highlanders,proud warriors,love,sweet sensuality,magic,myths,Scottish lore,legends,Scottish warriors, dreagans,chieftains,destiny,passion,conflicts between neighboring clans of the glen and a fight for survival. One of the three warriors of the Glen of Many Legends,Kendrew Mackintosh,who is the chieftain of his clan,sexy,hot-blooded,fearless,is said to be a sensual lover,with no intentions of settling down until....Lady Isobel Cameron,the sister of one of the clans of the Glen,is Highborn,beautiful,sexy while comely,strong-willed,determined,fearless,charismatic and has a secret pack with the other two sisters of the Glen leaders to bring the clan together once and for all by marrying.Each sister will marry one of the three proud warriors of the Glen and restore peace and happiness to the Glen of Many Legends. So begins Lady Isobel quest to have Kendrew love her,marry her and cherish.But unrest is in the Glen,while dreagans from long ago try to find peace also a dark and deadly evil in waiting in the background. This is a wonderful story of magic,love,Scottish myths and lores,while Lady Isobel not only wishes to marry Kendrew she also wants his heart and his love. Kendrew while has sworn never to marry he is soon attracted to Lady Isobel butcan he really loss his heart to her.Some buried secrets will be revealed while desire,passion,evil and love blooms in the Glen of Many Legends.Temptation of a Highland Scoundrel is a must read for any and all Scottish,Highland,Warrior,romance,magic,myths and historical readers.This series is a keeper.It is fast paced and action packed from the first page to the last.This author has done it again with a great historical romance.This book was received for the purpose of review from the publisher.Details can be found at Forever,an imprint of Grand Central Publishing and My Book Addiction Reviews. ( )