Spell of the Highlander

By Karen Marie Moning

Powerful. Sensual. Seductive. He is all that is shamelessly erotic in a man. In her sexiest Highlander novel yet, New York Times bestselling author Karen Moning stirs up a sizzling brew of ancient mystery and modern passion as she brings together a devilishly handsome Celtic warrior trapped in time . . . and the woman who’s about to pay the ultimate price for freeing him. Age-old secrets haunt them. Deadly danger and irresistible desire shadow their every move. It’s a relationship for the ages. And all that separates them is a mere thirteen hundred years. . . .

Jessi St. James has got to get a life. Too many hours studying ancient artifacts has given the hardworking archaeology student a bad case of sex on the brain. So she figures she must be dreaming when she spies a gorgeous half-naked man staring out at her from inside the silvery glass of an ancient mirror. But when a split-second decision saves her from a terrifying attempt on her life, Jessi suddenly finds herself confronting six and a half feet of smoldering, insatiable alpha male.

Heir to the arcane magic of his Druid ancestors, eleven centuries ago Cian MacKeltar was trapped inside the Dark Glass, one of four coveted Unseelie Hallows, objects of unspeakable power. When the Dark Glass is stolen, an ancient enemy will stop at nothing to reclaim it, destroying everything in his path–including the one woman who may just hold the key to breaking the ninth-century Highlander’s dark spell. For Jessi, the muscle-bound sex god in the mirror is not only tantalizingly real, he’s offering his protection–from exactly what, Jessi doesn’t know. And all he wants in exchange is the exquisite pleasure of sharing her bed.

Yet even as Cian’s insatiable hunger begins to work its dark magic on Jessi, his ancient enemy is about to obtain the final and most dangerous of the Unseelie Hallows–and the ninth-century Highlander must stop him from getting it. Nothing less than the very fabric of the universe and two passionately entwined lives are at stake–as Cian and Jessi fight to claim the kind of love that comes along but once in an ice age. . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Aug 30, 2005
• ISBN: 9780440335580

Karen Marie Moning

Karen Marie Moning is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Fever series, featuring MacKayla Lane, and the award-winning Highlander series. She has a bachelor’s degree in society and law from Purdue University.

Reviews for Spell of the Highlander

[myab-3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just finished reading this for the second time. There is a perfect blend of wit, humour and romance. The ending I'd forgotten about and it made me cry a second time. This still stands as one of my favourites.

[whitreidtan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

After I blazed through the Outlander quartet twenty years ago (and yes, I know there are 4 more than that now as well as another two planned), I added a lot of Scotland set books to my collection. In fact, I probably added Karen Marie Moning's The Kiss of the Highlander specifically because the jacket copy on my mass market paperback sounds an awful lot like Outlander. There's time travel and romance and danger, a more modern heroine and an historical hero. In fact, while these elements are all there, this is a significantly different book than Outlander, more firmly in the romance genre and with the addition of magic and druids.Gwen Cassidy's life is pretty dull. She works for an insurance company processing claims and she has no personal life to speak of. The tour around Scotland that she's signed up for is populated by senior citizens instead of potential love interests. She's never going to lose her virginity at this rate. When she heads into the Highland hills to have some time to be alone and think, she ends up falling into a hidden cave, landing smack dab on top of a braw, sleeping Highlander. When Drustan awakens, he tells her that he is The MacKeltar, that he's from 500 years in the past, and that he needs to get back to his own century to save his clan. She thinks it's possible he's a mental patient but she agrees to help him get back to his castle, thinking that she can then give over care of this strange but compelling man to his family. As she sees his reaction to the 20th century along the way to his castle, she starts to wonder if he is indeed telling the truth and, of course, to fall for him as he is falling for her in return. When she sees who he really is and what he is capable of, history, the present, and everything around them will change for the two of them.Gwen as the heroine is an interesting character. She is incredibly smart (a gifted physicist) but she's also rather pitiful and not great interpersonally thanks to her late, unfeeling parents who only valued her for her potential contributions to science. Drustan is very much a stereotypical sixteenth century hero. He's ridiculously chauvinistic, even when at the mercy of Gwen's time period and her continued goodwill. Of course, he is also chiseled and delicious looking so despite his overbearing high-handedness, Gwen's hormones cannot wait to tango with him. Her intelligence challenges him, something that he quickly learns to appreciate in the present day but that his past persona really struggles with, keeping them apart despite their white hot lust for each other. The plot is quite involved given the time travel aspect but everything is explained quite well and easily enough so that each part of the story is as believable as something predicated on magic and time travel can be. The ending was amazing and incredibly inventive and although there are more books in the series (and three prior to this one as well), this felt complete in its primary plot line. If you are a historical romance reader, a fan of sexy time travel, want to read an inversion of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, or just like the idea of a man in a plaid, this will absolutely be your guilty pleasure and I'm happy to say that although this was published in 2001, it holds up just fine in 2017.

[emigre_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful, vivid, haunting.

[carol420 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Drustan MacKeltar has been taking a long rest, 500 years worth of long, and is thrilled when he awakens to having a wee lass sitting directly over his...Well you'll have to read that for yourself. Really he has more important things to do like getting back to his own century than worrying about this stange girl or trying to figure out what she is saying. She certainly is not speaking any English that he's ever heard!

Together they get Drustan back to his home or where his home should be only to find out it didn't survive, and now they have to go back in time. Problem is Gwen still thinks he's insane (time travel... oh yeah, right all the time!) so she is dumbfounded when she arrives naked and wet in Scotland 500 years earlier.

Problem is the new Drustan does not know who Gwen is and has serious doubts about her sanity.

There's enough humor and heartache to satisfy every reader. The setting is very romantic and the time travel and "magical/mystical" elements adds to the intensity of the love story. The ending was surprising.

[msralways · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was fantastic! I just loved Gwen and Drustan so very, very much. This book was somewhat different than the other first three, which made it even better. The plot was original and intriguing and it didn't give anything away until the very last chapter. I was already pretty angry with all the stuff that had happened up until the second to last chapter that my poor Kindle almost paid the price. LOL. Silvan and Nell were a joy to read and I can't stress enough how much I want to know what happened to Dageus, because that was what I like to call a plot twist. This was incredible!

[bookjunkie777 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this highlander love story. Gwen & Dresden are lovable, strong, & endearing characters. Love can endure!

[lydia_perversius · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"I love you. I adore you. I will cherish you all the days of my life. I knew even back in your century that you were the one for me, the one I'd longed for all my life." - Drustan MacKeltarIf there's one thing that any respectable Highlander romance reader would feel nice about, it would be finding and reading a really awesome book of this genre. With a hot, hot, hot Highlander hunk making her swoon, and all the gist. So, wanna know what would sweeten the deal even more? IF THAT HIGHLANDER HUNK HAD A TWIN BROTHER!!!!As expected from KMM, Drustan MacKeltar, the fourth Highlander of her series, fits the category I just described perfectly. Hot, with the tall and muscular body covered only by the kilt - for most of the book - and that freaking accent that makes us all lose our minds and forget our names! You know, the one that turns smart girls into blabbering idiots? And guess what, he has a TWIN! (more of that later)So, yeah, that "smart to idiot" feature? It apparently works, because Gwen Cassidy is surely a female genius, and yet the poor girl had to catch herself for the majority of this story before she all but climbed up on that man like he was the sacred apple tree! The good thing is, despite how much and fast she fell in love with the guy, she kept her level-headedness and smarts as much as she could, and she succeeded in such a way, she made me proud to call myself a woman!See, Gwen went to Scotland to find herself a man to be her first - love the way you're thinking, girl - and ended up accidentally finding a Highlander laird who had been sleeping for five hundred years. She wakes him up, and the infuriatingly hot man wants her to help him get back to his time. At first she doesn't believe him, but when she ends up in his place back in his century, oh, she believes alright! But by now she's already in love with him, which is good, except his "future" memories are not with him, so he thinks she's trying to trick him into marriage, he believes her to be crazy, and, oh, yeah, he's engaged to a fifteen-year-old! I already love KMM and her amazing hunks - and stories, obviously (Hawk's book shall forever be excepted, sorry). Did she have to put the "twin factor" in there, too?! Now I'm even more hooked! Plus, a heroine with a ridiculouly high IQ, who knows what she wants and chases after it brutally, and a stubborn man who's delicious in his denial and his hilarious effort to keep control over his need - what more could a gal ask for? Except, this is Moning we're talking about, so of course she makes it even better - because, what kind of awesome story would it be, without the magic and the lore and the suspense?Want my advice? Start reading the series if you haven't already, you don't know what you're missing! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go drool over Dageus - I think I found my IT man of this series!!!

[sisuzisu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Drustan McKeltar, brother to Daegus, finds that true love falls into his lap, quite litterally. Fantastic story, its enough to make you buy walking shoes and go exploring (!)

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This one is best if you have a sense of humor, because at times the plot and devices can make you laugh out loud. I was delighted with the ending, which I didn't expect, and which left a few tantalizing hints at what the next book in the series might contain. Fun reading for romance fans!

[bookiemom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have never read a book with this type of story line before. My girlfriend picked one up at the bookstore while looking for a new series to start. She raved about it and passed it on to me. I loved it! This is a great series. You can't put them down. The characters and story lines are terrific. You will really enjoy these books. We didn't read them in order because we were passing them between the three of us. Some characters are introduced from one book to the other but we didn't think it was at all confussing reading them out of order.Karen Moning has definately got me hooded on time travel romances.This a lesson to me to be open minded and try reading something out of your confort zone. haha

[deep220_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Karen Marie Moning is one of my favorite romance writers. This series is what opened me up to time travel and the idea of paranormal romance. It's probably because of this that is holds such a special place in my heart. I have read and reread this series countless times and still am never disappointed.

[risadabomb_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To tell you the truth I avoided these time travel romances but then I came across The Highlander Series and now I am hooked. These books are hot, romantic, spell binding and the men are gorgeous. The story lines are so creative and enthralling you just want to keep reading.

[blingtastic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a not-to-be-missed book by Karen Moning; a great travel time romance; Both characters are strong. Dialogue was flavorful.....and funny. There's enough humor and heartache to satisfy every reader. The setting is very romantic and the time travel and "magical/mystical" elements adds to the intensity of the love story.

[lauren2013_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kiss of the Highlander
4 Stars

Synopsis
Enchanted into sleeping for 500 years, Drustan MacKeltar awakens to the touch of a outspoken modern woman who ignites a passion unlike any he has ever known. Gwen Cassidy has traveled to Scotland to escape her humdrum life and finds herself thrown into the past in order to help a sexy highlander save his clan from an unknown threat.

Review
A worthy addition to the series with some hilarious moments alongside some heartbreaking ones.

The basic plot premise is good - some druid lore thrown in with magic and megaliths - but is nevertheless lacking in execution, particularly the first 1/3 which is slow going and contrived. The action does pick up around the time Gwen arrives in the 16th century and it is full speed ahead from there.

The romance is truly delightful. Drustan is one hawt highlander (why can't I find one lying around in a cave somewhere?). He is also intelligent and sharp witted, and after being rejected, longs for a woman who will accept him for who he is. Gwen is tenacious and spunky (although I could have done without the "cherry picker analogy"), and never gives up on Drustan. The scenes where his memory returns are poignantly sweet and spicy.

While time travel is not my preferred sub-genre, it is handled well with no inexplicable paradoxes and the resolution is original and satisfying. In contrast, the suspense plot is weak as the villain (if she can be called that) is more pathetic than dangerous despite her actions.

The intro into Daegus's book is compelling and I look forward to finding out what happened to him in the next book.

[sbshepherd · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this highlander love story. Gwen & Dresden are lovable, strong, & endearing characters. Love can endure!

[bryndahlquis · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

SHE FINALLY GOT TIME TRAVEL RIGHT.I was wary at first because a friend had told me that this was the best Highlander book, and the beginning wasn't really enthralling to me. There seemed nothing special about Gwen. It kept going on about how she was smart and a scientist and all this, but I saw very little evidence of that. All I saw was a very horny woman. I was surprised when the romance accelerated so fast. Normally they aren't admitting their love until the end, but it happened pretty early. But then all become clear when the true time travel hijinks came into play. And that's when it got awesome.I love time travel. Highlander books have always been hit or miss for me because they're generally about time travel, and sometimes Moning doesn't get it right. But the paradoxes and time travel and stuff in this one were excellently done.At first I wasn't totally sure how I felt about the ending. It made me a little sad, honestly. But then I read the funny little epilogue, and it was all awesome again. Awesome.

[capnrandm · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Ok, ok, much better than the first one, in my opinion, thank you all for the recommendations. It was entertaining to start reading and realize that I've already read this one at some point in the past, but luckily, I'd forgotten enough to make it just like "reading for the first time."

Moning had totally upped her game, in so far as character back story and motivations. While I did have some snarky things to say about a physicist that invents a "death theory" who runs away and works at Allstate, I did love how the two main characters were so turned on by each others' smarts. I also love how Moning plays with the space time continuum, more or less successfully.

[fairydragonstar · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is one of the best ones yet very funny and to the point

[ridley_ · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a fun book! I really had no idea how they would get an HEA, and just when thought I did, I got a smack to the forehead and a "Wait for it..." I loved Drustan to bits and thought Gwen a formidable partner for him. The time travel was handled well, not an afterthought or a flimsy excuse for a costume party. Can't wait to finish the series.

[megan_harnett_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This story was awesome! I loved how this was the first one where the time travel went back and forth. I am really enjoying this series.

[imagesfromapoet · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not into romances, but I am into science fiction (especially time travel). The plot actually handled it in a cool way and I'm interested in reading the next one in the series, even though I'm not a romance reader.

[jmaloney17 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is about Drustan MacKelter. An upstanding Druid. There is time travel and curses. This one is pretty good.

[chandra9of9red · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

AUTHOR: Moning's style presents a great plot with a hidden mystery. From the start of the adventure, a hidden mystery crescendos until you get to the end to discover the answer. That is what keeps me glued to her books.SYNOPSISDrustan MacKeltar is a Druid from the 15th century. Someone has paid gyptcies to thrust Drustan into a deep sleep by hide his body in a cavern where he should never be discovered. Gwen Cassidy is an American physics genius living a boring life in the 21st century. She is also a virgin in her mid 20's hoping to find someone to pick her cherry while she tours Scotland with a busload of elderly people. During one of her village stops she stumbles upon and accidentally awakens the sleeping body of Drustan. He has been sleep for 500 years. Drustan's Druid magic sends Gwen into his time. They end up together in the 15th century and take measures to avoid a few catastrophes that would affect Drustan's life. Those measures change the timeline and send Gwen back to the 21st century separating her from Drustan. Will they finally end up together and if so, in which century.SEX SCALE: Of the following five options: 1) NOT very descriptive and requires imagination' 2) WILL make you wiggle a little) 3) WISH it was me; 4) OH boy, do not have to use my imagination at all; 5) EROTICA and well over the top******THIS BOOK GETS A FOUR for "OH BOY I WISH IT WAS ME". There were times when the touching and passion heated my body*****FAVORITE PART: Gwen reviving Drustan as he slept on a slab of rock.LEAST FAVORITE PART: The author seemed to babble. I had to scan quite a number of pages in order to get to the point. Was Moining chattering in order to have books fillers (lengthen the book)?YOU WILL LIKE THIS BOOK IF YOU LIKE: Time Travel. Science and Magic working together. Learning what family love truly should be. Cherry picking. A man with a sock (lol)This book gets FOUR STARS because great plot, great adventure but could do without the chitter chatter that may have been to lengthen the book.

[loyet_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I decided to read the Highlander series because I loved KMM's Fever series so much. This book is enjoyable, but nothing compared to the Fever books. I've never really been into the whole Highlander thing that much. And this book does suffer from a common romance novel problem: the heroine is always a virgin! At 25? Really? Of course the hero never is. (This is why feminists shouldn't read romance novels I suppose! lol) I do like that Gwen is quite intelligent.On the whole, this book is enjoyable but nothing amazing.

[cynara_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Being a fan of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series and curious to read more romances, last year I'd taken a stab at her Highlander series, which starts with 'Beyond the Highland Mist'; I wasn't very impressed. It was unobjectionable-but-not-very-interesting. Now that the Fever series is complete, I was driven back to it, and decided to confine myself to the uncles - or, as I've learned "uncles" - of the young druid Christian from the Fever series.'Kiss of the Highlander' landed on my lap (through interlibrary loan, may-it-thrive-forever) as I was coming down with a sinus cold. It was just what the doctor ordered.I laughed, I cried (oh, go away, I also cry at yogurt commercials), I described aspects of the plot in an outraged tone to my better half, and I even forgot that I couldn't breathe very well. Drustan MacKeltar is indeed the Sultriest Scotsman. If he isn't, I fear for the sanity of any females adjacent to the titleholder. I suppose I'll find out in the next book.It isn't the Best Romance Ever, but it made a damp, wheezy day pass quickly and pleasurably.

[spazp · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. So far my favorite in the series. Can't wait to move on to Dageus :D

[annalund2011 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

You know how you feel when you've erroneously entered the wrong ride on the fairground, and you're strapped in tight, heart beating a desperate tattoo... You realize that you are way out of your league, and just want to get off the ride?

Yeah, that one. I've been on that ride all day today, and boy what a ride it was! I cannot fathom a better way to spend a Sunday than in the company of Drustan and Gwen. I have screamed with laughter when she locked him in the garderobe? Who does a thing like that? *giggles* and cried bitter tears when suddenly Gwen turns around and is back on the stone slab in the sunshine above Loch Ness.. that broke my heart.

And with all the paradoxes up in the air, Ms Moning suddenly catches each and every one of them, and prettily folds them into reasonable little pieces of loving fluff. And it just worked, even for me, even though I despise time travel paradoxes. She just made them all pretteh.

And then she goes on to crash some hard shit on us at the end, oh Dageus, you noble soul, to make sure we'd run as fast as we possibly can toward the next book in the series.

Well now. Here's me running!------------------

****
Reading from a borrowed copy.

[dukefn99 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I've completely read this series out of order (which I hate to do). But, it doesn't matter. This book stands all on its own...and quite nicely. The heroine takes a vacation in Scotland to shake up her life (and hopefully to lose her virginity). While hiking, she stumbles across the hero who has been in a magical sleep for 500 years. There are several humorous moments as the hero adjusts to modern times and the time travel aspect is well written and feels believable. Highly recommend reading before "The Dark Highlander" as its hero is introduced in this book.

[lynnm_71 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book finished much stronger than it began.Synopsis: On a pleasure trip to Scotland, Gwen Cassidy inadvertantly awakens a man who claims he is from the sixteenth century. While she believes him to be a little more than insane, she agrees to help him return to his ancestral home, where, he claims, he'll be able to prove he is telling the truth. For his part, Laird Drustan MacKeltar cannot figure out how he lost the past 500 years. When he arrives to find his home in ruins and his family line obliterated, he determines to return to the past to alter the course of the future.One thing leads to the another, and after spending a glorious night making love, Drustan attempts his journey back to his century. Due to the finicky nature of time travel, Gwen ends up back in the past instead. She finds herself saddled with the task of preventing Drustan's brother's death, saving the MacKeltar clan, and convincing the sixteenth century Drustan that he's indeed the man she loves and who loves her in return.In the beginning, I didn't care much for the heroine, Gwen. She was obsessed with losing her virginity, something she referred to far too often as "finding her cherry picker". That phrase got old very quickly. When she awakens Drustan, he at first comes across as the stereotypical romance hero.Once the Gwen is sent back to the past, however, the story becomes more interesting. At least, Gwen ceased to annoy me and Drustan's personality seemed more appropriate. A twist in the plot due to the complexities of time travel actually gave me the one and only obstacle between the couple that I believed might not be easily overcome.This book falls into the classic romance novel trap of having the two characters fall into love with little to no evidence of why they love each other. It happens so quickly - within 48 hours of meeting her, Drustan is pledging his soul for all eternity to her - and so deeply, you have a hard time believing it. But I was curious to see what happened, so for that I consider it a C read.

[kaetrin_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Phil Gigante does an excellent Scot's accent and his female characters were actually not bad. The trope of the 25 year old virgin is a little old but otherwise I did like this one.