Highland Spies #1
Victoria Roberts
Historical Romance (ARC review)
Pub date: Sept 2, 2014
H/h - Laird Ruairi Sutherland/Lady Ravenna Walsingham
Setting: The Highlands, Scotland and England, 1609.
Read in August/Sept, 2014.
My rating: 
[spoiler alert]
My Highland Spy, book 1 of the Highland Spies series by
Victoria Roberts was an overall fun read of the fluffy kind, especially
if you harbor the love of all things Highland and Highlanders like me.
;) This is a completely new series which talks about a family of Spies,
who have been working for the Crown for some generations.
The
family in question is the Walsinghams. Even though Lord and Lady
Walsingham have passed away, their 4 daughters remain; the eldest
Ravenna, the next, Grace, then Elizabeth and Katherine. Lord Walsingham
was a spy for Queen Elizabeth, so is Ravenna’s Uncle Walter, Lord
Mildmay. Their mother initially didn’t know about this. She was proud
nonetheless when she had finally been told everything. Since Ravenna has
no brothers, she was chosen to follow her father’s footsteps by the
Queen’s people.
At somewhere in her mid 20s and without any
prospect of ever marrying due to her secret life, Ravenna considers
herself a spinster. She has been busy with her ‘job’ for a while now,
though, unsurprisingly, none of her sisters know anything. She’d like to
keep it that way as long as possible, fear of danger following from
such discussions. It also maybe the fact that her sister Grace, an 18 yr
old, is rather annoyingly nosy. She never takes the hint and doesn’t
know when to shut up, jumping into conclusions... wrong conclusions if I
might add. Personally, I didn’t care for her much. Ravenna loves all
her sisters and would do anything to protect them as the proverbial
‘mother hen’ but even she gets exasperated by Grace’s constant prodding
about her whereabouts, especially if she’s out late. Ravenna has to go
out at nights, often in disguise. Grace, who obviously has been spying
on her big sister, would go on a tirade because she wouldn’t get any
straight answer from her. *eyeroll*
All Ravenna’s missions are
brought to her by Lord Mildmay. He’s the one who gives her instructions
etc. on behalf of the Crown. So it was no wonder that one day, he drops
by with a new one; this time Ravenna has to travel to the Highlands of
Scotland to gather information. For that, she has to be ‘set up’ at a
particular Laird’s residence. These Highlanders, as he’d say, are
‘barbarians’ and the Crown would like to know what they’re plotting
inside. Besides, Laird Sutherland was summoned to the court by King
James, yet he has never made an appearance, citing his wife’s illness.
The King wants his son to learn English, and apparently, Laird
Sutherland is neither fond of the language, nor the people who call
themselves ‘English’ and has no intentions as of yet to comply with the
King’s wishes. So Ravenna will masquerade as a governess to his young
son, the best way to gain entry inside her ‘destination’.
Ravenna
is not that happy to be traveling so far away, leaving her sisters
behind for... not sure how long. Her uncle is all but adamant she has no
option but to do as it is commanded. When she imparts the news of her
impending journey to her sisters, Grace is unhappy and starts making
crazy assumptions as to where Ravenna is headed, which almost always
comes down to a secret lover and her being pregnant. Don’t even ask.
Ravenna can only shake her head at Grace’s antics. She knows their uncle
will have his hands full taking care of the girls, but she must be one
her way. And so, Ravenna finds herself on the way to the proverbial
‘unknown’ masquerading as Mistress Denny, governess to Laird
Sutherland’s son, Torquil.
Upon reaching the Sutherland keep,
despite her fear and other doubts, Ravenna can only think how beautiful
the Highlands look. Soon, she’d learn that everything she has heard
about these ‘barbarians’ are not true either. She meets the Laird upon
her arrival and immediately is struck down by his... er, manly beauty.
He’s tall, good looking, sporting that skirt-like thing she knows as
‘the kilt’... and he’s scowling at her as if he’d like nothing better
than to throw her out. Hmm, this certainly doesn’t bode well in an
unknown territory, for Ravenna knows no one here but her trustworthy
coachman, whom she brought with her as... what can you say, protection?
Then
there is another man with him, obviously someone close to the Laird. He
introduces himself as Fagan, Laird’s right-hand man and the head of his
army. Fagan seems friendlier, with a perpetual smile that promises all
sorts of deviltry. He’s handsome too in his own way. As he warmly
welcomes her in the Sutherland keep, in English, Ravenna thinks she has
found a friend here already. Too bad that the Laird himself doesn’t
speak English. How is she going to gather any information if she can’t
understand what they’re saying?
This led to a funny scene with
Ravenna and Ruairi, when he decides to show her around the keep, a bit
reluctantly admitting that she’s staying after all. It’s obvious he
doesn’t want trouble with his King, however much he despises the idea of
an English governess for his son. At one point of the tour, Ravenna
couldn’t help her horny thoughts on his sexy, kilt-clad body. The Laird
answers her in perfect English, laced with that sexy accent, that leaves
her embarrassed as hell. Lord, I was laughing so hard, imagining
Ravenna’s face at that time. :p
So, the truth was out! Ruairi
didn’t want the governess to know that he can understand her perfectly
but after hearing her ‘thoughts’ on him, he had to. It was imperative
that she knew he appreciates that she finds him so appealing, for
Ruariri has been having the same kinds of thoughts about her. Mistress
Denny, though English, is a beauty. Ruairi can’t help but be attracted
to her grace and charm, and her quick wit. Also, the fact that he made
her blush like a young girl with his reply. He’s still weary of her
arrival though, not knowing what to think of his King’s intentions but
she has to stay for the time being and teach Torquil English.
Ruairi
also doesn’t tell Ravenna that his wife, Anne, has been dead for over
two years, when he finds that she’s under the impression that it’s more
of a recent incident. Her sympathy burns him for he didn’t mourn her
loss. Anne was the daughter of the power hungry Laird of Gordon. I still
don’t know why Ruairi married her in the first place but that woman,
who has always taken her father’s side in everything, nothing short of
ruined his life. Gordon is an idiot, and as empty as they come, as we
see soon enough. He wanted the Sutherland forces joined with his for
more power over the Highlands. But Ruairi wants peace and prosper for
his people, not blood and gore. Obviously, both father and daughter were
very disappointed not being able to manipulate him in any way.
Moreover, Gordon never shed a tear for his daughter, always blaming
Ruairi for Anne’s demise, which is simply out of spite and not based on
fact.
Ruairi’s marriage was rather a sham too. After Torquil was
born soon after their marriage, he stopped sharing his wife’s bed. But I
think he was true to his marriage vows. Not sure if he has been with
anyone after Anne’s death but it was obvious that Ruairi is rather
disappointed and heartbroken. The women in his life, apparently, always
caused him grief, rather than love and peace. It was also becoming
rather clear that he’s essentially a good man who wanted to have a
family of his own. Right now, Torquil is his world and would be his heir
once he passes away. Before that, through right plans and
determination, he’d see that his clan prospers without a war or wars to
destroy it all. Now, this new governess might pose a threat to what
little peace of mind he has as Ruairi would like to get to know her
better, no doubt!
Ravenna’s best moment had to be her meeting
with Torquil. The motherless boy takes to her instantly. Though he
doesn’t like to study as any kid who’d rather run around and play, he
otherwise loves spending time with her. There was another of Ravenna’s
‘fans’, if you can say so, that she could do without. Torquil’s, or
rather the clan’s pet wolf Angus. When she first ‘met’ the wolf, she
thought he was attacking Torquil. Though that confusion was cleared up
later by the Laird himself, Ravenna doesn’t want the
special attention from that creature. Because of a
childhood trauma, Ravenna doesn’t like anything that resembles a dog...
or a wolf. But Angus has decided to become her ‘Unwanted Protector’ and
there’s no stopping the beast. It was kinda funny to see Ravenna trying
to shoo it off when it’s near her or waiting to catch her, more often
than not unawares.
It doesn’t take long for Ruairi to become
smitten with Ravenna and work on their mutual attraction. The outings
with or without Torquil brings them even closer. It was Ruairi who
begins to open up to Ravenna because he was already beginning to trust
her. On the other hand, though Ravenna feels attracted to him, she’s
pretty much determined to finish her duty here and return to England.
For a long time, it didn’t feel that she has any genuine feelings for
Ruairi, even knowing what a splendid Laird and father he was. Her
thoughts were always on her ‘duty to the Crown’. For some reason, I
didn’t like it much. I knew heartbreak was ahead, probably for Ruairi,
when her secrets are finally revealed.
True to her ‘duty’,
Ravenna begins to eavesdrop and follow Ruairi secretly, sometimes
getting nothing, something coming up with useful, if a bit hazy,
information. Even though she loves here in the Highlands, the Clan and
Torquil, she doesn’t think her life is here. Then again, I couldn’t
blame her entirely. She had 3 orphaned younger sisters to think of after
all. But that doesn’t mean she can’t indulge herself in an affair with
the Laird in the meantime, right? She’s no virgin (no clarification on
that), so they end up in bed soon. Ruairi is only too happy to have the
beautiful Ravenna in his bed, and I was thinking, Poor Guy, will have
another shock when he learns of her true motivation, because Ravenna
sure wasn’t gonna talk about it herself. *sigh*
The Gordon stops
by, again, to pinch poor Ruairi about a new revolution around the
Highlands, where he and his so-called allies mean to rule. As usual, he
wants Ruairi to join forces with them. They plan an upheaval but Ruairi
has no interest in blood and gore, definitely not when Gordon and his
cronies are involved in that. He knows better than to trust that creep.
Ruairi already suspected that the dead cows from his land and that of
Ian Munro’s that were turning up were Gordon’s ploy to force them to
join. Killing of the valuable livestock seemed to be the right kind of
‘push’. Rest assured, neither Ruairi nor Munro is happy about any of
this.
Ian is Ruiari and Fagan’s childhood friend. When he stops
by, he zooms in on Ravenna for a flirtation but soon gets the hint from
his friend that she’s off limits. Then the friends talk and Ian is none
too happy about the developments. Besides, they catch two men who
confessed that it was the Gordon that paid them to dress in Munro’s
color, then kill the cattle, obviously to create trouble between the two
allies. But the idiot should’ve known better, for Ruairi would never
believe that Ian was trying to harm him, just as Ian wouldn’t.
This
time, after the Gordon and his vengeful younger daughter’s latest
visit, when Ravenna snoops around, she finds the interesting information
she has been looking for. She gets an idea of the upheaval and what the
Gordon has been planning. Maybe this was what her uncle asked her to
look for here! Though Ravenna was happy about her success, I was rather
unhappy that she didn’t seem to feel any remorse for doing what she was
doing (or about to do); playing with Ruairi’s trust, for he was still in
the dark about her ‘secret’. When he asked of her life, Ravenna would
become vague, not giving him any real answer. Ruairi also didn’t force
her, though he has, by now, opened up a lot about himself.
When
it seemed that the war between him and the Gordon’s are apparent, Ruairi
asks Ravenna to leave for her own safety. He wouldn’t want her harmed
in a feud that has nothing to do with her. Ravenna’ doesn’t want to, but
she has no other choice. She sends word at home and asks Grace to be in
Edinburgh soon, so that they can journey together towards England.
Unfortunately,
at the same time, Torquil is gravely injured in an accident. The boy
remains unconscious for long. This breaks Ruairi’s heart. No... that’s
not even close to what he was feeling I gather. It’s like his world was
coming apart, as we find him thinking to himself, would he never have a
little peace in his life? He tries to stay calm and strong as the Laird
of his clan, but in secrecy of Torquil’s chamber, Ruairi can’t hold back
his tears. This time though, Ravenna seems much affected by the
developments. She instantly cancels her journey to be with him and
Torquil, and for that, Ruairi is grateful to her. Ravenna feels helpless
just as anyone, not knowing how to help the boy regain his
consciousness, because the more days passed, the less likely he’d ever
wake up. So sad and depressing! I really felt sad for Ruairi. Not only
he had this happening to his son, but also he had to suffer through
Gordon and his loony daughter’s ravings in trying to avoid any
bloodshed. :( To make matters worse, Ravenna goes to snoop in on the
daughter in search of some blasted information, against Ruairi’s wishes
if I might add, a step she later regrets. She finds that the woman is
crazy and mean to harm the Sutherlands. I would give her a point for
backing away in time and relaying whatever she got from that woman to
Ruairi.
At last, after torturing his father and the whole clan
for a while, when Torquil opens his eyes, it felt that the heaviness was
lifted off the environment! Everybody is exuberated, happy to have the
little guy back. At the same time, Angus, who was doing poor, starts
getting better too. Later it was found that he was poisoned by the
Gordon men. Damn those creeps!
All these incidents had Ravenna
thinking about ‘confessing’ but then, she’d be change her mind. I’m not
sure what she would’ve done or if she’d ever tell Ruiari, if Grace, the
airhead, didn’t bumble in to ‘rescue her sister’ from the barbarians. Oh
the drama of her entrance, had me rolling my eyes all the way! And it
doesn’t end there. Because of her, Fagan, who accosts her before anyone
else, realizes that Ravenna is not who she made everyone think. I was so
annoyed at Grace that I wanted to slap her real hard. This shouldn’t
have been how Ravenna’s cover would’ve blown. Ruairi, IMO, deserved the
confession from her mouth without these added ‘incentives’.
After that, there was only one thing left for Ravenna to do, to tell Grace and Ruairi about her secret life.
Grace,
well, at first, shows some signs of remorse, maybe for the first time
in her life, for mucking things up for her big sister. Then she’s
determined she’s also going to follow Ravenna’s footstep (about which I
shudder to think of, just as Ravenna). And when Grace makes up her
mind... let’s say, it’s difficult to sway her from her decision. Ravenna
certainly doesn’t want her sister in the spy business, as this was one
of the reasons why she kept her life secret from Grace even though she
was old enough to know the ‘family tradition’. Fagan, on the other hand,
is clearly feeling betrayed because everybody in this keep liked
Ravenna and welcomed her with open arms. While I could understand the
anger coming off of Fagan, I was more concerned about Ruairi’s reaction.
Ruairi,
have to say, fared better than I thought. He is mad and disappointed,
asking Ravenna to leave this place right away, which she does. Before
that, she promises never to speak about any information she gathered
from here. I wonder how Ruairi even trusted her to let her go. But it
was more because he couldn’t stand her to be near him anymore. Poor guy
is heartbroken. Right after Torquil recovered, Ruairi expressed his love
to Ravenna, who thought it was better to nip it in the bud because she
was very sure that they had no future together. So you can say that
Ruairi was hurt all over again, by another woman. What a mess! To
surmise, when Ravenna leaves, she leaves behind a tail of broken hearts,
which not only includes Ruairi’s but also Torquil and Angus’s. I must
say that though I expected this outcome, it still made me unhappy. To
me, trust can only be gained with trust and Ravenna betrayed Ruairi’s.
The
last few chapters were kinda dragging. There is a war of sort with the
Gordons, where Ruairi is able to ‘deliver’ his message to them; that
he’d never make any kind of deal with the Gordons.
After months
of a rather downcast existence, Ruairi finally has had enough. He
decides to find Ravenna, and if possible, win her back because for good
or for bad, his heart is hers. To him, it’s worth a try. So when Ruairi
goes to London, he didn’t journey with a lot of expectations.
Thankfully, Ravenna, in the space of these few months, has come to
realize that she has fallen for the Laird too. But because of the way
things were when she left, she figured she won’t be welcomed back. It
felt like she rather gave up on Ruairi ever coming for her, which was
disappointing IMO. I thought she’d fight for her love, if she, indeed,
loved him. It was probably a good thing that she didn’t have to wait for
long, right? Imagine her surprise when her uncle brings in a stranger
to meet her, alone, in the garden, who turns out to be the man she has
been thinking of constantly, day and night! The rest was rather easy,
for I knew if Ravenna possessed an ounce of common sense, this time
she’d not turn him away. And she didn’t. 4 stars.
My Highland Spy has me intrigued enough to look forward to the
next installment. I’m pretty sure Grace and Fagan would be paired off,
which is most unfortunate (or can be fun, depending on how Fagan
‘handles’ that idiot) because I like him. When I last saw them together,
they were facing off, literally. Grace was determined to show off that
she can ‘defend herself against a barbarian’, while Fagan was praying
for patience so that he doesn’t end up beating her for being so
annoying. You get the picture. I wish Fagan all the luck in the world on
that one.
PS: I never knew why
everyone seems to be ‘smirking’ so much throughout the story. Believe
me, someone or the other was smirking in each paragraph, so much so that
I actually begin to notice the word. Pretty weird, considering all the
drama and the heartbreaks. Hmmm.
This ARC was provided
to me by Sourcebooks Casablanca via netgalley which
didn’t influence my review and rating in any way. 
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