Loki (The Highland Clan, book One) by Keira Montclair #review

Today I review Loki, by Keira Montclair, book One in The Highland Clan series.

Pages -  208 

Publisher -  Keira Montclair 

Published -  December 1, 2015

Sold by -  Amazon Digital Services LLC

Series -  Book One of Eleven in The Highland Clan

 Genre -  Historical Romance, Scottish Medieval

Language -  1/5

Sexual Content -  3/5

Narrative -  3rd P

A warrior with a haunted past and the lass who vows to love him forever.

Loki Grant’s first memories are of living in a crate behind an inn in Ayr, struggling to survive. Clan Grant saved him from his lonely existence and took him in as one of their own. But though the Highlands have become his home and he loves his adopted parents, Brodie and Celestina, Loki feels lost. Part of him is still that scrappy wee lad who relied on his wits to survive the streets, and he is not sure he belongs. The feistiest and most beautiful lass in the clan, Arabella, steals his heart, but when her father resists the match because Loki is not of clan blood, Loki decides to confront his past. He wishes to satisfy Bella’s father by discovering his parentage, but he also hopes his quest will help him understand his purpose.

As far as Arabella is concerned, Loki Grant is the wiliest, brawest, and most handsome warrior in existence. She is determined to have him as her husband regardless of what her father thinks. So when Loki’s search for his sire leads him into trouble, she rushes headlong after him.

Together, Loki and Arabella must discover the dark secrets of Loki’s origins, for only by confronting the past can they hope for a bright future together.

Okay read, but a bit more on the childish side than should be expected.

The writing wasn't polished, and some of the phrasing or word choices left much to be desired.

• Her face erupted in tears again and
• Bella hid her face again as her face turned pink, but
• he paused for long enough to see the delight
• an enticing pair of breasts that was presently level with his eyes.
• The door slammed open at the top of the stairs, and his sire came down the stairs,
• “Where have you been, Egan?” Clyde asked.
• “The lad who was here went to the tavern in Doongait.”
• He helped Bella to standing,
• “Here are the instructions for where she lives.”
• Your father said he found your body dead in the forest and buried your body with your baby sister.
• shortly after you rode to see your aunt,
• He’s a smart arse, and I’d like to whip his arse.”

Amateur and elementary in thought, word, and deed.

This is the First in a series of novels, but it is also a picks-up-where her last series left off, which just means unless you read that previous series, you may find yourself lost or confused at times with Loki's story.

And, apparently, Loki appears in a number of those previous-series novels as well.

We're told he's an orphan, adopted by a kind family in a powerful clan, and despite his being extremely useful to the clan, NO one outside of this powerful family will accept Loki because he is an orphan.

Including our heroine's stubborn father.

A worn-out plot device, yes, but I can't say the author didn't put a bit of her own twist on this one, which did kind of help to make the story flow.

What I struggled with was the fact that this occurs in 1200s Scotland, yet a majority of the story line, its people, and their customs gave off more of a Regency-type feel, including the "no one wants the orphan touching their daughters" trope.

To my mind, and especially with the Scots back in the day, if a clan proved to be this powerful, it meant their leader wasn't to be trifled with... by anyone within or without that clan.

Arabella's father had no authority to make the decisions he made, much less argue or go against the clan leader or his immediate family.

If anything, Arabella and her family would have been tossed out on their ear and not the other way around.

Sadly, I did not buy the clan's disliking Loki after all the years he'd spent with them in their service, helping them to grow and prosper, save countless lives, and bring a sense of honor to the clan through his work as a spy to the crown.

It didn't wash and likely wouldn't have been an issue in that time period (UNLESS, like I said, he intended to marry royalty, which he didn't).

Also, as cool and funky and popular as the name Loki is today, I highly doubt that a Scot, much less a Scot of Viking decent, would want to name their child after a Mad god.

A horse, yes.

A normal human, no.

When things went wrong, they blamed it on Loki because he was their god of mischief, calamity, spite, and foul play.

He didn't take on the 'cool' persona until Tom Hiddleston appeared in The Avengers movie and made it so.

I wanted to like Loki, to be honest.

His character had potential to be great, worthy, and lovable, but the author used the worn-out, modern-day twist that grates my last nerve.

He was beyond honorable, refused to take what was offered, and set out on his own to discover his true parentage while also serving the crown as a spy.

Great!

But, IF he was all that and then some, why were so many of his choices ass-backwards, juvenile, and just plain stupid?

How was he so blind and incapable of seeing what was right in front of him if he is also this amazing warrior AND a hired spy for the crown?

It just didn't compute, and the further along that I read, the less inclined I became to want to root for him and his plight.

Everyone can't be perfect while the antagonist is entirely Devil, either.

Cliche and childish way of thinking, and speaking of thinking, I believe this is where the author failed on numerous occasions.

Why medieval in time period and yet regency in every aspect of the story?

Why orphan and then powerful clan leader?

Why perfection personified and then too much hate within the clan?

And, why, for heaven's sake, would you include a ton of modern-day nonsense inside the mind of a medieval clan warrior working for the crown as a spy?

Like anyone living today would survive a single day as a Highland warrior!

The incongruity of the two worlds will never meet, much less make sense, so why do authors keep insisting that it must be that way in order to sell their work?

And, I'm not alone (anymore) in thinking this way as I've begun to see more and more negative reviews who remark on the same problem.

By making the hero read too much like a 21st century 'dude' is monotonous, boring, and stupid.

Which just means these types of novels will NOT stand the test of time and quickly go out of fashion, becoming laughable just a few years down the road.

(thus requiring some ditz at Amazon to have to 'rewrite' said novel in order to either 'again' keep up with the times, or to undo all of the damage in order for it to sell).

Loki's 'quest' in this tale is for him to discover his true lineage in order to worthily ask for Arabella's hand in marriage.

I hardly recall anything about Arabella after the opening chapter, where she walks up to a young Loki, kisses his cheek, and tells him she'll love him until the day she dies.

(thanks for the nod to It's a Wonderful Life!)


Every instance of turmoil is also neatly resolved within minutes or hours, with zero in the way of agony, demise, or consequence.

There is a HEA, and I would still recommend this to anyone interested in light-hearted fluff to pass a few hours of rainy day time.

You will not be educated about much in the way of historical accuracy or context, but if you can overlook the issues I brought up, you'll probably enjoy reading Loki's story.

This is also Book One in a series of Eleven (so far) and, no, I am not interested in reading any more in The Highland Clan series.