Ransom

Highlands' Lairds, Book 2

By: Julie Garwood

Narrated by: Susan Duerden

Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Overflowing with all of the majesty and intrigue of medieval glory days, this magnificent New York Times best seller is a captivating story of passion and loyalty, justice and honor. Beloved storyteller Julie Garwood steps back to the silver-shrouded Highlands of her classic tale The Secret - and hails the return of two unforgettable warriors: Ramsey Sinclair and Brodick Buchanan.

In the dark days after the death of Richard the Lionhearted, lives and lands would fall into upheaval at the hands of a power-hungry British ruler and his violent minions. One victim of the scourge is innocent Gillian, who is a mere child when the cruel and ambitious Baron Alford slaughters her father and tears her family apart. Alford, determined to recover a jeweled box for the despotic King John, is furious when the precious treasure slips through his fingers - only to be lost for more than a decade.

Now a beautiful young woman, Gillian finds the key to resolving her past in handsome Scottish chieftains Ramsey Sinclair and Brodick Buchanan. With the cunning and courage of the daring Scotsmen, and with the friendship of a new ally, Bridgid KirkConnell, Gillian at last fights the unscrupulous Baron Alford, laying claim to her home, her family, and her father's reputation. But in the presence of the mighty warriors, Gillian and Bridgid discover that desire can be a weapon of conquest...betrayal can slay trust in a heartbeat...and the greatest risk of all is surrender - to the deep emotions of unexpected love.

©2010 Julie Garwood (P)2013 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Love the Highlands' Lairds

This book was romantic, funny, adventurous, and unpredictable. It was a joy to listen to. I liked the first book "The Secret" but thought this second book was even better.

Gillian and Brodrick are definitely two opposites that attract. They are two strong willed people that have some very funny conversations. I absolutely loved one of the conversations after the marriage. I don't want to give anything away but after they marry and she gets mad and says "I was married on a horse" I couldn't breathe - I was laughing too hard!

The narrator did an excellent job. As with the first book there are some people who didn't like the narration but I thought it was great. She did each character with a different voice and that's not easy. Some people complained she whispered a lot. As far as I heard she only whispered when the book said "he/she whispered"

I'm glad I listened to this one.....I loved it!!

A HIGHLAND FLING WITH A STING, A KING & A WOOING

Well, if you want to be mentally transported by a gifted author to Medieval Scotland where you'll find some drool-worthy brooding hunky handsome Highlanders who are demanding yes but they're also brave, loyal and true when it comes to helping a damsel in distress - then look no further because this is your book.

This epic adventure captures your imagination from the very start and continues to do so as you picture all the amazing characters and then the plot throws in greed, kidnapping, deception, defiance, danger and couples it with romance, passion, tenderness, compassion and sacrifice. Add some very humorous dialogue and finally finish it all off with the talented narration of SD and you get this exciting romantic tale which will share with you the amusing romantic downfall of two Scottish Lairds as their hearts are forever captured.

Worth a credit? Well, for any historical romance lover it's a definite YES, YES and YES - yes to the credit, yes to the 16 hours of creative listening pleasure and yes to the overflowing storyline of yet another brilliant book by Ms Garwood.

Instantly captivating!!

Instantly captivating is no exaggeration. Rare is it that a book absolutely grabs me right off the bat, it usually takes a couple chapters, but this one... This one genuinely grabbed me right away, and kept me through the entire thing. I love Julie Garwood but this is my favorite of all of her books thus far.

There were so many facets to the story and the attention to detail was absolutely wonderful. The way she wrote it was at a pace where we could enjoy life with the characters, not just rush through the story. I loved getting to know the secondary characters and the stories that went along with them. There were a couple things in the book that were fairly predictable, but there were actually a few really good surprises. And oh my gosh, little Alec... loved that kid! Lol

The narrator did a decent job, though there were a few characters voices that we’re pretty funny. I guess a person can only come up with so many different voice variations for people and some of them are just super silly. For the most part, though, she did a fine job.

This was, for me, absolutely without question, worth the credit.

Another perfect installment in this trilogy

What other book might you compare Ransom to and why?

The secret

Which scene was your favorite?

The end - I don't want to give it away but the entire end scene was so cute and romantic.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed and it definitely hit my heart strings

Any additional comments?

Narration is better than in the Secret but men's voices are still odd at first. Susan does such a great job with all the other narration you forget the slightly less perfect voices. Her portrayal of Alec is genius. The author does an outstanding job creating a 5 yr old that you can't help but love.

I was slightly disappointed with some aspects of the story and felt there needed to be more with Bridget and Ramsey.....needs forth book in series!

Wonderful Scotish Romance

Enjoyed both the story and the narration. Characters created so that you had a picture in your mind of each character.

WOW! !

Love the book, I love all of Julie Garwood books, I would love for her to write a story about Ramsey and his life. I have read this book about 10 times and listen to it about 6 times. I never get tired of this story. Anyone who live romance book this is a must listen to story.

Robbie

Love all these books. The characters and stories have so much love and fun to them. great job.

Jillian and the mystery of the jeweled box

Christine and Jillian are sisters. They love one another very much and have a secret passageway between their rooms. Bad things happen in the night. Their mother died, their brother died, and infidels attacked their castle during the nigh - killing their father. During their escape from the castle a jeweled box filled with treasures is lost and Christine is hurt. Christine and Jillian are separated. Christine is in hiding in the highlands. Everyone thinks she still has the jeweled box. Jillian was raised by her Uncle Morgan, whom she loves.

Fourteen years later - Jillian has evil enemies. They are Englishmen who killed her father and are now looking for the jeweled box. They capture Jillian and threaten to kill her Uncle Morgan unless she finds Christine and brings them the jeweled box. Jillian escapes along with a little boy who has also been kidnapped by the Englishmen. The boy, Alex, is a relative of Brodrick's and son of a powerful Laird. While Jillian and the boy are on the run Jillian tells soldiers that she is Brodrick's 's wife in order to be saved. Brodick is mystified and wants to go get her. On their journey back to his home, Brodick was impressed with Jillian's bravery. The inevitable happens - they truly get involved.

Throughout the book Jillian is looking for her sister and is also looking at all the highland soldiers in order to find the traitor who kidnapped Alex. She doesn't know his name, but she saw him and knows she will recognize him if she sees him. Broderick and Alec's father are determined to find the Englishmen and get revenge for their evil deeds. Then there is the question of "where is the box?"

Favorites

"You know what?" I love most of Garwood stories, and her Scottish historicals are those I listen to over and over to throughout the years. And the narration is perfect! No jarring pitches and plenty of laugh out loud moments...enjoy!

Excellent

This book has it all! Adventures 2 great love stories, loyalty, treachery and comedy! I loved this book. The characters are very well done and the story line just keeps moving. I could not stop listening to this book!