A #review of Highland Hellion by B.J. Scott (Blades of Honor, Book One)

My Review of B.J. Scott's Highland Hellion, Book One in her Blades of Honor Historical Romance series.

Pages -  240 

Publisher -  Soul Mate Publishing

Published -  March 30, 2016

Sold by -  Amazon Digital Services LLC

Genre -  Historical Romance, Scottish

Series -  Blades of Honor 1 of 3

Language -  2/5

Sexual Content -  1/5

Narrative -  3rd P

Arya MacEachan’s beloved father taught her to hunt, ride, to handle a sword, and shoot an arrow straighter than most men, things a proper lady did not usually learn. When he is killed at the Battle of Bannockburn, their holdings taken by Robert the Bruce, the spirited lass is left alone to care for her invalid mother, a task she does not take lightly.
Garrett MacDougall, leader of his displaced clan and their related septs, struggles to provide for his people on barren land where hunting is forbidden, forcing him to steal from the new Lord of Argyll in order to survive. When Arya, the woman he loves and wishes to marry, insists on accompanying the men on a raid, he knows better than to forbid her from joining them, so he reluctantly agrees.
But when a traitor betrays them, and Arya is captured, then sentence to death, Garrett is forced to accept help from his sworn enemy, the Fraser brothers, summoned by Arya’s dying mother to rescue her daughter, the sister they did not know they had until now.

Too bad the cover is so nice, because it has absolutely nothing to do with the two leads in this hellish tale.

I'll sum this one up with a few passages from the novel.

Her da trained her well,” ... she is good with a bow," ... pity any man fool enough to face her with a sword.” ... she was as skilled in battle as any of her kinsmen." ... My da groomed me for such an event," ... She has more skills than many of the men who accompanied us," ... She can outride, outshoot, and wield a sword better than most men." ... She’d prefer a sturdy pair of boots, any day." ... Her father taught her to be prepared," ... My father taught me how to track and to survive in the forest,"

And on, and on, and on it went.

Arya is one tough bitch and insists we readers and everyone she encounters in this story know it.

She was rude, arrogant, and even a snob!

Can you imagine meeting kind people, having them take you in, offer you their food, warmth, and friendship, and you respond by snapping at them, judging them, and asking them to “Hold your wheesht."

Rudely interrupting one of the women with “Please, Cailin, let him finish.” and then boldly adding, Arya nodded at Connor (to expressly imply that Connor now has PERMISSION to speak).

Also, arguing with them about the way they raise their children, “You should be teaching them how to protect themselves and how to survive if ever lost in the forest again,” which was just "Something they should have done a long time ago,”

... because they are girls, you see. Daughters being raised by apparent dolts who are too stupid to know any better, I guess.

Forced morality of the modern sort that just rubbed me the wrong way throughout and kept me from becoming fully immersed in an otherwise interesting story.

Garrett, the Hero, read like a bumbling idiot half the time, and obviously because the author chose to make the heroine, Arya, a ballsy, modern super hero action figurine instead of a real, living woman of that time period.

Which is stupid.

There was nothing romantic about this story, either.

The stubborn shrew angry with the world and having to take care of her ailing mother in a hovel when she once lived in the lap of luxury.

Garrett having any feelings or interest in Arya went against all the mental grain of what true romance speaks.

She was a bitch, plain and simple, and he was written specifically as a dolt with no skill or training or brains in order to solidify Arya's bitch.

Without Arya, everyone would just die because they'd probably forget how to breathe... or something.

It starts out with Garrett arguing with Arya and Arya stubbornly refusing to listen.

Garrett goes on a raid and gets caught by the enemy, but then so does Arya, whom Garrett feels obliged to rescue.

The rescue occurs with the help of some of Garrett's friends, they take her to the friend's castle, where she proceeds to bitch, behave absolutely ungrateful the whole time, and boldly insist her ways, her thoughts, her lifestyle, and her upbringing far surpass anything she's seen inside this castle.

Garrett sees nothing wrong with being pussy-whipped and insists she's the one for him, and his friends don't bat a lash, either, at the incongruous nature of Arya for that time period.

Arya wants to go back to her ailing mother, but the man she attempted to steal from has sent scouts to watch the hovel for her return.

Of course, Garrett and his friends know this and try to talk some sense into Arya, but she isn't having it because, remember, she's twice as smart as all of them combined.

She learns a key secret about her lineage and refuses to believe that as well, even if it is her dear mother telling the tale.

Arya just didn't give a damn about anyone but herself, and that is probably why I didn't enjoy this story at all.

I know a lot of you out there are into this kind of thing and eat it up like candy, so I gave it 3 1/2 because while I did come across a fair amount of type-o's and weirdly worded sentences, it is published through Soul Mate, so those types of issues come as no surprise whatsoever.

On the whole, it wasn't so badly written as to be deplorable.

It just wasn't something I found to be of interest or worth my time.

There are Three novels total in the Blades of Honor series: this one, Highland Resurrection, and Highland Deliverance, if you are so inclined.

I am not.

And, for the record, if I ever come across another so-called Romance novel that is author-morality driven, which just means stuffed with modern bullshit yet set in an Historical context, I will simply pass and move on to the next in line for reading material.

I can't take this anymore, I swear.

Whoever decided that hopping on the feminist bandwagon and thinking it is a great idea to inject a lot of Social Justice Warrior bullshit into a Romance novel needs to have their head examined.

How can a grown adult writing for a living NOT realize that this nonsensical thinking will never stand the test of time?

Isn't that what we aim for? To write stories with lasting qualities to them so that hundreds of years from now, Romance lovers will pick up your novel, read it, and come away feeling good?

And, just because you are hard-headed in your beliefs does NOT mean the rest of the world is in line with your way of thinking!

It just seems like a great way to shoo away potential fans.