Highland Rebel: A tale of a rebellious lady and a traitorous lord

i loved her first book BROKEN WING, anyone who has not read this book please do so it is absolutely fabulous. i was waiting for HIGHLAND REBEL to be released and i was not disappointed it is great also. ah, what a character is jamie and also catherine (catherine, cat, hellcat) as he refers to her. the author gives her hero character and honor, once they are attached to the heroine they are steadfast and honorable, none of this hopping from one bed to another and mistresses in the high double didgets. i hope she continues to keep her hero/heroine honorable in her other books. i am ill with all of the bed hopping and unfaithfulness in the majority of the books today. i know it was the norm for earlier periods of time, but get a backbone you wives and a good heavy "frying pan". yes, jamie was with other women prior to catherines appearance in london, but his reasoning was somewhat valid. again a great book. keep giving us these great books judith.

What an intelligent, historically fascinating, romantic and moving book. Not to mention original. I adored the main characters. Jamie was precious, a wounded soul but pragmatic and fun loving and never mean or cold. But pretty fierce when it came down to it. Cat was very real, strong and brave and also fierce but still a woman. She was more than just a hoyden in breeches, I can say that much. This novel was a journey (there is lots of "road time" for those that enjoy that, which I do) in many ways. The characters grown realistically, fall in love unwillingly but are helpless to stop it. They are one of my top favorite pairs in this genre, no doubt. If you want some more solid story from a romance novel, read this. Oh and it's good and spicy too, btw.

The story opens on the battle field, seen through the eyes of Jamie Sinclair. Jamie is the sort of romantic hero that is fun to read about. "He'd shifted allegiance and religion so many times he sometimes forgot which side he was on. What with these mad Stuart kings - Protestant one day, Catholic the next - a fellow needed to be quick. Fortunately, he was: quick witted, quick with a sword, and more importantly, quick to recognize which way the wind was blowing. Possessed of a cynic's keen perception and willingness to shift with the political tide, he switched masters, mistresses religions whenever the need arose." Even with his political astuteness and cynicism, you can sense that Jamie has a deep sense of honor. He is careful when and how to display it. When he chooses to risk his person to protect Catherine Drummond, you can't help but root for him. Fortunately, Judith James isn't one to write a simple love story. There are twists, upsets and adventures - enough to make Highland Rebel much more than the usual historical romance. Many highland romances feature a strong highland warrior protecting his beguiling English wife and Judith James gives us something different yet again. Though set in a completely different place and time, Jamie Sinclair reminded me of Rafael Sabatini's Scaramouche, "He was born with a gift of laughter, and a sense that the world was mad." Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (September 1, 2009), 480 pages. Courtesy of SourceBooks and Judith James.

In her second book, Judith James has written another wonderful story. First off, anyone expecting this to be an ordinary romance may be disappointed. Highland Rebel is different. When I started reading, they didn't have the same kind of romance they do now. I grew up reading Daphne Du Maurier's King's General and Frenchman's Creek, Raphael Sabatini's Captain Blood and The Black Sway, Anya Seton's Katherine and Green Darkness as well as most of Mary Stewart and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I loved these books; their sense of adventure, their all encompasing stories and wiled away many an hour reading and rereading over and over again. But as much as I loved them, there was something missing. Although they are all very romantic, there just wasn't enough romance, even though they were romance. They have stayed with me for years And then the romance genre in it's present form came into being and I love it. But I really miss those sweeping sagas I used to read; the 'swashbucklingness' of many of the romances of yesteryear; the real sense of the times that is often missing in historical romances of today. There are very few historicals I read anymore that make me want to look further into the history of the times they were written in. I used to do that all the time in my beginning romance days. And then I read Highland Rebel and it is an incredible hybrid of both. Ms. James has created a story and time that is vivid in it's richness. Very seldom anymore am I pulled so deep into a different time. Highland Rebel is a sweeping epic that takes the readers from the Highlands of Scotland to the court of James II to the island of Ireland. The research is amazing and the author incorporates into the story of Catherine Drummond and Jamie Sinclair is a seemless and amazing way. Along with the wonderful setting, the characters of Cat and Jamie are so richly and lovingly created. We meet them both after a battle. Cat has been captured and Jamie decides on a lark to save her life by claiming her with marriage but she escapes shortly after that. Jamie follows and is captured by her clansmen. You see Cat just isn't any ordinary woman of the highlands. She has been raised to be the new clan leader. Intelligent, shrewd, beautiful, strong, she is a wonderful heroine; the kind you don't often seen in historicals - a person in her own right and not just the daughter of her father or the love interest of the hero. When I noticed that Wendy was also reading Highland Rebel, I emailed her, knowing that she's all about the strong heroine, but she wasn't far enough into it to offer an opinion. Athough, she did keep it with her when the late summer fires of California struck. She did the same thing with Broken Wing last year. And Jamie - what a truly fascinating character he is. Although he grew up abused by his father and deserted by his mother, he has retained a joie de vivre that makes him totally irresistable. After Catherine escapes, Jamie takes off after her a

There's nothing like a deliciously handsome bad boy and a wonderfully strong heroine to kick the day up a notch. For that matter, this pairing tends to kick the evening up a notch as well. HIGHLAND REBEL by Judith James was a wonderfully passionate and action filled romance that left me flipping back through the book, searching for more. Her writing flows nicely, her characters come alive and the story was so beautifully developed that the pages would just fly by without me even noticing. Jamie is the hero of this story and what a hero he is! He's definitely not your typical knight in shining armor. He can be polite and chivalrous, but typically his demeanor can be described as that of a rogue. Growing up in a tough environment, Jamie had to learn early how to detach himself from the world. He lives his life attempting to create something for himself out of nothing. Jumping back and forth between religions and political side, the only thing he cares about is his self and his own advancement. That is until the day he sees a helpless woman get captured by the band of bloodthirsty and cruel soldiers he is supposed to supervise. Catherine was her father's favorite child and often reminded that it was a shame she was born a female. Nevertheless, she spent her childhood in her father's footsteps and has grown up into something of a tomboy. She accompanies the men on fishing trips and raids, much to the disappointment of her brother and cousin. It's the latest mission, a mission to rescue one of her kind caught in a battle with the English that might spell Catherine's demise. Surrounded by men looking for a bit of entertainment, the only prayer in sight is the strange gentleman with the hard eyes and devious scheme. Before she knows it she's free of the men after her flesh yet she finds herself in the worst place of all: married. James has written a great story full of so many twists and turns that it was impossible to not stay engaged with the characters. The marriage between Jamie and Catherine occasionally flip flops between being beneficial and a nuisance between one party and the other. This adds a bit of humor to the book at times and suspense at others. The underlying political intrigue is wonderful as we watch Jamie attempt to make a life for himself and Catherine attempt to take back her lands from her overbearing male kin. With a pair so oddly matched, James has really created a great story in making the two rely on each for the solutions to the many problems that arise. HIGHLAND REBEL is quite the passionate romance and I think a large part of this is due to the fact that James's characters were so well developed. By the end of the second chapter, Jamie and Catherine already come to life and the reality that they create continues through to the very last page. It's not easy to create fictional characters with a feel of authenticity, but James has accomplished this in HIGHLAND REBEL and the story is better for it. Outside of great charact