This story is a great start to a time travel series set in Robert the Bruce's medieval Scotland. I loved Mariah Stone's Called by a Viking series and this story had all the same elements: a modern woman swept to the past, big, burly warriors, romance, heat, intrigue and action. Plus, the main characters have excellent backstories to account for their inability to accept the inevitability of their connection to one another. Amy gets to put her modern day search and rescue and first aid training to the test in a fourteenth century Scottish Highland environment and has her handfasted husband Craig to thank for vanquishing fears she's held since childhood. Craig captures a woman who's a member of the clan he hates most but he can't deny his attraction and her good points even while he suspects her treachery. They're perfect for each other, whether or not they can admit it! One element of the writing that I really thought made the story better: Stone introduced only a touch of Scottish brogue and that made the story so much easier to read. I also liked that she mentions real locations, some of which I've visited, so I could easily visualize the landscapes inhabited by Amy, Craig and Robert the Bruce. I read a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

This series is a no from me. I don't know if it's because it's written in third-person, or because it's so short and so I didn't get enough time to fall in love with the characters, but Highlander's Captive was one of those short books that feels incredibly long. I really liked the premise because it had major Outlander vibes, but with a promise to be a lot spicier. But what I ended up getting was a romance that didn't feel complete because neither Amy or Craig ever trusted each other. I thought this family name that kept them apart would be something they would get over quickly, but instead they just started sleeping together while both of them were sure that the relationship wouldn't last. For Amy, she spent the whole relationship thinking about going home, and for Craig he spent the whole relationship hating her family and blaming them for what happened to his sister. It's very hard to root for a relationship when they barely seem to be rooting for it themselves. There were also elements of the writing that really bothered me, like the overuse of the word "mayhap" and a lot of Scottish dialect that also felt overused. One thing I love about Outlander is that the Scottish dialect is scattered naturally throughout, whereas in this book it was just a bit much. I also think the book really didn't dive into the magic of the stone or the beauty of the Scottish landscape, and everything was just a bit too easy for Amy. I wasn't at all invested in the plot of who was betraying the Cambel's, because it was so small compared to the rest of the book and the final battle scene was the easiest win ever. I think there was really just a lot about this book that missed the mark for me, but I didn't actively hate it so that's why it gets two stars. I just felt entirely meh about it.