Paula QuinnCritiques

My Hair Went on Vacation is an inspiring story about a little girl named Rosie. Rosie suffers from a medical condition that prevents her hair from growing. A lovely story about loving yourself the way you are. The illustrations go with the story impeccably. This book is for both young and old. I enjoyed reading this book, as I know others will as well. This is appropriate for ages 1-6 in my opinion, my grandson is 6 and enjoyed it as much as I did.

I would like to thank Paula & Rosie for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Good book. I enjoyed this story very much. I have a weakness for highlanders

Conquered by a Highlander

Have you ever been reading a book or watching a movie where your anxiety is peaked because the characters take risks and you are afraid they are going to get caught? Well, that is how I felt throughout this book. First, because Colin MacGregor is a spy and second because he keeps taking risks with Gillian, the heroine of the story and I’m afraid they will be caught together.
Colin MacGregor has spent years away from Scotland serving King James and a cause he believes in. He has one last mission and then he can return to his beloved home Camlochlin, hidden in the mists and mountains on the Isle of Skye.

King James has sent him as a spy to Dartmouth castle where he has to become Colin Campbell from Breadalbane to gather intelligence on Geoffrey Dearly, Earl of Devon and the current lord of Dartmouth. Dearly has been corresponding with William of Orange, King James’ son in law who wants to overthrow his father in law to become the king himself. Colin’s job is to infiltrate the castle and learn where and when William will be landing his ships. It should be a simple job but things get difficult when he finds himself overwhelmingly attracted to the Earl of Devon’s cousin.
Lady Gillian Dearly has been cast out by her family for having a child out of wedlock. Her father sent her to live with her cousin, Geoffrey Dearly, Earl of Devon, who is cruel to her and her son. He desires her and wants her to marry him and thinks that she will be forced to marry him when William of Orange becomes king, but she is secretly corresponding with William in hopes that he will find favor with her for spying on Geoffrey and allow her to marry someone else. There are no other ladies or children at Dartmouth except for the servants so she is surrounded by crude soldiers every day.

Her father did do one thing right for her though; he sent her to Dartmouth with a personal body guard, Captain George Gates who is also the captain of the garrison at Dartmouth. His one priority is to keep Gillian safe. Nobody with half a mind would dare touch Gillian against her will with Captain Gates around but the captain can do little about the cruelty of Geoffrey. The earl may not touch Gillian but he makes her life hell by calling her a whore and making her serve him. He refuses to let her son sit with them at supper and controls Gillian’s every move.

Colin has a hard time watching how the earl treats Gillian and almost blows his cover a few times by helping her. Then when they start romancing each other, I kept thinking they were going to get caught…either by Gates or by Geoffrey.

Now, Colin has to figure out a way to get Gillian and her son away from Dartmouth before King James’ men overtake the castle.

I was on edge the whole time I was reading this book. I also wanted someone to stab Geoffrey with their sword. He was such a creep!

Except for a Christmas novella, this is the last book of the series. I’m still hoping for a spinoff. I’ll have to go to the author’s webpage to see what other books she has written so I can read more of her books because I like her writing.

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Finlay Grant is the bard for the MacGregors of Camlochlin, hidden in the mists and mountains on the Isle of Skye. He is gorgeous and all the ladies love him and he loves the ladies but ever since Leslie Harrison came to Camlochlin with her family to hide from persecution…from both the political and religious sects in England and Scotland, Finlay has only had eyes for her.

Finlay prefers to use his words over his sword but is perfectly capable of fighting if the need arises. When Leslie’s brother announces that he has betrothed Leslie to James Douglas, Marquess of Dumfriesshires, Fin hopes it won’t end in bloodshed. Leslie’s brother has been secretly writing to the Marquess to make a deal so his family can return to Dumfriesshires and have their land, titles and home returned to them…the price is that Leslie has to marry the Marquess.

Leslie and her family leave just before Christmas to meet up with the Marquess but Fin follows them. He wants to convince Leslie to marry him. He has a clever plan…but will it work?
The book was the last in the series. It was a nice way to end it.

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It always angers and saddens me when I read about what happened to the MacGregors in Scotland. In 1603, James VI proclaimed that the name MacGregor was abolished which meant anyone with that name had to change it or die. Alasdair MacGregor and sixteen of his chieftains were executed. MacGregors and anyone who sympathized or aided them were hunted down and killed. Women's faces were branded too. Charles II repealed the laws against the MacGregors in 1661 but William of Orange reinstated them in 1693. They weren't repealed again until 1774.

In this fictional story, Paula Quinn brings some of the horrors of being a MacGregor to life but gives them a champion named Callum MacGregor who puts fear into the hearts of those who persecuted his kin, namely the Campbells and the Earl of Argyll, Duncan Campbell.

Katherine Campbell was raised away from her uncle, the Earl of Argyll, in Glen Orchy because he never wanted much to do with she and her brother until she grew into a great beauty. Then her uncle had perverted interests towards her.

Her father was long dead at the hands of the Devil MacGregor according to her uncle and her mother had died giving birth to her yet Katherine lived a happy life. The two elderly warriors who had raised she and her brother had taught her to fight using a sword and other weapons and her brother had told her tales of gallant knights in King Arthur tales.

She liked her life in Glen Orchy until raiders came and almost killed her but she was saved by Callum MacGregor just to be abducted by him so that she could be traded for the life of her uncle. But she highly doubted her uncle would give his life for hers.

It was an eye opener for Katherine, who had been told horror stories about the heathen MacGregors, to see how the MacGregors were persecuted and hunted as she traveled through Scotland to the Highlands.

Luckily, this story wasn't all gloom and doom. There were a lot of lighthearted moments amongst the cast of characters.

I couldn't even finish. I wish authors would know the difference in making a female lead daring and stubborn instead of making her just a bitchy shrew.

The MacGregors and Fergussons are enemies. It all started over a childhood fight when Tristan MacGregor and Alex Fergusson fought but Alex cheated and broke Tristan’s nose, winning the battle. Alex’s father, after drinking way too much killed Tristan’s uncle, Robert Campbell, Eleventh Earl of Argyll, with his bow and arrow. Angered by this, Tristan’s father hunted down Archibald Fergusson, Alex’s father, and cut him down with his sword. It’s been almost eleven years and the clans still hate each other.

Tristan is womanizer who flirts with just about every woman and usually gets what he wants from them. His clan is wealthy and he is a second born so he doesn’t have all of the responsibilities of his older brother, Rob, who will one day become clan leader. Tristan uses his time seducing women and living for the moment. He is not like the rest of his clan who are quick to anger and solve problems with the sword. He prefers to use words to solve disputes. He wanted to be just like his uncle, chivalrous and gallant, but when his uncle was murdered, he stopped caring and became a playboy shirking his responsibilities.

Isobel has had to raise her six brothers since her father’s murder. Her mother had died before her father so she and her siblings were left orphans when the Devil MacGregor cut her father down outside their home while they watched from an upstairs window. The rest of the clan left them on their own and moved, fearing that the MacGregors would come back and kill all of them. Her life has been difficult and her family barely has the means to survive. What they do have, other clans raid and steal because they know the Fergussons have little protection and can’t fight against them. Because of this, Isobel’s hatred for the MacGregors has flourished.

Isobel Fergusson and Tristan MacGregor meet in the Privy Garden at Whitehall Palace while their clans are there for the coronation of King James II and start flirting with each other. Neither one knows who the other one is when they first meet. Tristan tries to seduce Isobel but she isn’t so easy to fool as other women. Just because he has a pretty face, doesn’t mean she will allow herself to be ensnared by his charms. Tristan is beguiled by Isobel’s sharp tongue and her wit and believes she is unlike any other woman he has ever met. But when Isobel finds out Tristan is a MacGregor, she tells him she wants nothing to do with him.

After returning home, Tristan can’t get Isobel out of his mind so he travels to where Isobel lives far from his home. When he gets there, he thinks her home has been abandoned but then hears her working in the barn. He tries to sneak towards her but gets ambushed by her brothers. One brother shoots him in the arm with an arrow while the other hits him in the head with a rock from his slingshot. Tristan ends up with one arm tied to the bed and Isobel taking care of his injuries, not because she cares but because she is afraid if he dies, her father will come and seek revenge on her brothers.

I love Isobel’s brothers, especially the youngest, Tamas, who was wild and out of control. Tamas likes to play practical jokes on people. While Tristan is in bed, Tamas puts honey on his chest and sets hornets loose to sting him. Tristan tells him that he will get him back because he is the master of trickery and terrorized his brothers when he was a kid.

Tristan ends up having to stay a while to heal and all of Isobel’s brothers, besides Tamas, start to really like him as he helps out on their farm and even fights some men who came to burn their crops. Tristan believes there can be peace between the Fergussons and MacGregors if only Isobel would allow it. But Isobel and her brothers have a secret. It wasn’t her father who shot Tristan’s favorite uncle but one of them. It was an accident and her father took the blame to protect them.

What will Tristan and his family do to them when they find out?
I have to say, I enjoyed this book tremendously but at times tired of Isobel’s hatred towards Tristan. I thought she was a bit rude and cruel at times too and I think it went on for way too long. Other than that, I am really enjoying getting to know the characters in this series.

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Mairi MacGregor (a name I had trouble with throughout the book because I wasn’t sure if I should pronounce it Mary, Mawri or use a long sounding ‘I’ for the ai) has loved Connor Grant since she was a toddler. They grew up together at Camlochlin, their home hidden in the mists and mountains on the Isle of Skye, and he promised to love her forever but he left her to fight for a Protestant king in England. It didn’t matter that the king was his cousin or that he promised to return to her or send for her in England because he knew how she felt about Protestants or Cameronians and how she loved her home in the Highlands. The day he left, she vowed to stop loving him but she never quite got over him and it has been seven years.

In those years, she took up her sword and along with her brother, Colin, hunts down and kills radical Cameronians. They are part of a secret alliance of men or mostly men who want Scotland to return to Catholicism.

Connor Grant was sent for by his cousin, King Charles, to fight for him. He couldn’t very well ignore an order from his King. He tried for many years after he left Camlochlin to convince Mairi that he loved her but when she refused to answer his letters, he had to face reality and go on with his life. Now, King Charles is dead and his brother, James, is king. King James is Catholic so many Highlanders are gathered in Whitehall Palace for his coronation celebration and Mairi is amongst them.

I had a hard time with how Mairi acted towards Connor. The author clearly states that Connor did everything he could to save their relationship but Mairi but she was the one who broke it off. She is mad because she has heard rumors about his many lovers over the years but how can she be mad at him for going on with his life after she refused to continue their relationship? I also had a hard time stomaching her hatred for Protestants. She claimed it was because of their persecution of Catholics yet the Catholics did the same thing to Protestants when they were in power. She was stubborn and kind of blind to her own faults.

Connor and Mairi go through quite a bit of fighting before they realize that they still care for each other but now they will have to fight for each other. There are a sister and brother who are hell bent on marrying Connor and Mairi. Lord Henry de Vere, the Earl of Oxford’s son is in love with Mairi. She has been the only woman who has been kind to him since he received the horrible scar on his face. His sister Lady Elizabeth de Vere has her eye on Connor, not only because he is handsome but because he is the king’s cousin which would help her social standing and please her father greatly. What Mairi doesn’t know is that Henry overheard her talking to Connor about her secret of how she hunts down radical Cameronians who are plotting against the new king. He’s figured out that she was the one who gave him his disfiguring scar on his face and if she rebukes his love, he will have to kill her. Henry and Elizabeth have a plan to get what they want that would mean the end of Connor and Mairi’s rekindled love.

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I was quite amazed at the historical accuracy of this book and the imagination of the author of how she took history and embellished it. Of course, King James II didn’t have an older Catholic daughter who he hid away without telling anyone about but he could have and that is what I loved about this story.

Davina Montgomery is really King James’ eldest daughter who he had with his first wife. He secreted her away to St. Christopher’s Abby in Scotland to be raised by the nuns there. He sent a small garrison of 30 soldiers to guard her but only the captain, Edward Asher, knows who she really is.
As always, the tension between Catholics and Protestants in England and Scotland is high. King Charles, a Protestant king, has just died and James Stuart, a Catholic, will be crowned in 9 days. To ease tensions, King Charles forced James’ two other daughters to marry Protestants. It is one of the reasons James hid Davina away, so he could have a Catholic heir.

But one of King James’ enemies has found out about Davina and sent Admiral Peter Gilles to assassinate her. He attacks the Abby, killing all the soldiers and burned the chapel with the nuns in it. During the fighting, Robert MacGregor and a small group appear on the scene. Captain Edward Asher tells Rob that the men who are fighting and winning them were sent to kill Davina and he pleads with Rob to save her. Rob gets hit in the shoulder with an arrow but saves Davina without any of the attacking soldiers noticing and whisks her away.

Davina doesn’t tell Rob and his group, made up of some of his family and clan, who she really is but he knows she is someone of importance. Rob had been on his way to meet with his father, the chief of his clan, at Whitehall Palace for the coronation of King James but decides to take Davina to safety at another nearby Abby and then continue on the Whitehall. He drops her off at the Abby and then leaves, despite his growing attraction and feelings for Davina but when they come across a group of Admiral Gilles’ men who are on their way to the Abby to search for Davina, they fight and kill the men and Rob returns to the Abby to rescue Davina. He decides to take her to his home, hidden away in the mists and mountains of Skye. He sends his brother to tell his father where he is and what he is doing. By this time, they all have figured out who Davina really is. Also Edward Asher who lived meets up with them and travels with them to Rob’s home.

I liked the way the author, Paula Quinn, used the history of the MacGregors which if you know anything about Scotland, the MacGregors angered King James I so he abolished the name of MacGregor. He actually made them all take different surnames or become outlaws. The law stood for over sixty years. I personally have a huge dislike for King James I and how he treated the Scottish people, especially Highlanders but I won’t go into it here. This branch of MacGregors hid away on the Island of Skye in the mists and mountains. Their home and castle is called Camlochlin. I looked it up and it is not a real place in Scotland but I did find a beautiful painting by James Lyman of Camlochlin Castle. For copyright infringement, I can’t include it but you can look it up if you want to see it. There are two ways to get there, through the forests and mountains or through a dangerous mountain pass.

Rob MacGregor loves Davina and he loves her but to marry could bring the wrath of the king down upon him and his clan. Also, Admiral Gilles is still after her.
I can tell this is going to be a good series. This book introduced many characters and started stories that made me interested in learning more about these characters. I’m behind on my reviews so I’ve already read two more books in the series and look forward to reading them all.

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I quite enjoyed this. It has both road trip, and forbidden love tropes, and there isn't a lot of mystery or intrigue to distract from their relationship. The characters spend a lot of time together on page getting to know one another and learning about their pasts and things. They come from very different backgrounds, but their strengths compliment each other, and they both look out for others by nature, so they're well suited. I really enjoyed their love for each other, the hero especially, is ready to take on the whole world in order to be together, and it was so sweet.

(I will say, the narrator on the audiobook has a fine reading voice, but her accents are generally terrible).

The whole premise is based on such a weak case for something that it's really kind of a stretch to go along with. And the heroine is mostly ruled by her impulses and lacking anything near wisdom, that it made it hard for me to enjoy her. Overall just a miss for me.

On kindof the low end of 3 stars. There wasn't anything terrible about it, but I just didn't emotionally connect with like 90% of it. It took me a long time to get through, and felt quite tedious at times. I don't regret reading it, but I'm glad it's over.

This had some weak parts but was probably above average, so I might round up to 3.5 stars, but not 4. It seemed much longer than it needed to be, so that it dragged a bit, but it did a decent job of showing two people from opposing sides brought together, and then through forced proximity and overcoming challenges during a long journey, come to admire and care for each other. (I feel kind of like I missed the step where their fondness developed into deep love though, it felt like it was just suddenly much more serious than it had been a moment before. But that's not entirely uncommon in HR). I hadn't enjoyed the two books before this, (I like this one better than both combined), so I'm hopeful those were flukes rather than a developing trend. I liked the book about this heroine's parents a lot, and I enjoyed seeing her father play a small role in this story.

I'm not at all surprised that many people enjoy this book. But I could hardly stand it. It's awful. lol. The heroine is stunningly reckless, and is supposed to be a really talented fighter, but hardly ever actually accomplishes anything with her skills and is always needing to be saved. And when she does occasionally display skills it feels inconsistent and unlikely. And the hero isn't all that likable. I suppose he improves some, but he's still largely unappealing to me. There are gaps in plot and reason. It's long and meandering, maybe I would have enjoyed the plot if I had cared about any of it more. There's a whole battle of wills thing between the H & h, which, granted, isn't usually my thing anyway. But even the love scenes are eye-roll inducing. **And I've liked some of the previous MacGregor stories, so it's not that I hate this sort of story or this author's writing.** These last two (the first two in Highland Heirs) have just been nearly painful though. I hope this isn't her new normal!

I have enjoyed previous books by Quinn. Thankfully, or else I might be hesitant to pick up another. lol. I really dislike giving books 1 star, but I disliked this more and more as it went along. And there wasn't really any aspect of it that I enjoyed. The characters were all daft. Triply so for the heroine, she was TSTL (too stupid to live) Worse, her idiocy got a loyal DOG killed! Ugh. Like I needed any more reasons to dislike her by then! She's so terrible. lol. . An absolute disaster. The plot was weak, shallow, unlikely, it dragged. Parts of it were like watching a slow moving car crash. The dialogue was stilted. Also a giant portion of the book was just the characters whining on and on about the tragedy of their circumstances keeping them from having a future together. It was just... awful.

2.5 stars rounded up. I didn't like this heroine. She was unreasonable and cast aspersions on the hero loooong after he had already proven himself to be an honorable man. More than that, she continued to treat him like he was her enemy. It's a Romeo and Juliet sort of family scenario, so obviously conflict is built into it, but neither of these two are responsible for their families grudges, and both would benefit from a truce. She gets in her own way over and over though, and it took away from the sympathy I would otherwise have had for her. Not only has the hero only ever been kind to her, but he also saves her from sexual assault by two men, and resists trouncing her brother even when the brother had been goading him and the hero would have been pretty justified. And later the hero is injured and in her care and *still* she goes out of her way to treat him poorly! Even if he hadn't already saved them both by this point, picking on an invalid who hasn't done anything to you is super lame AND endangers her entire family by stoking the feud! They already believe his clan is a bunch of cold blooded killers, so unless they plan on killing him and hiding the body, there's nothing at all to stop him from reporting back to his family that he was abused when he was an injured guest in their home. And her family doesn't have a chance in Hell of fighting them off if they're ever angered enough to attack. So it's ridiculously reckless and stupid and mean, lol, both to provoke a dangerous foe, and to mistreat someone who has done nothing to deserve it. She basically poisons him and uses his inherent kindness to her feelings to manipulate him into eating all of it! Wtf? That's seriously despicable behaviour actually, to do to even someone who has personally wronged you, much less someone who saved you from being gang raped! ?? (They also make her out to be a maternal figure amongst her siblings, but two of them are bullies, and she coddles them from experiencing any consequences anyway, so she's not even very good at raising them). So there's a lot to dislike her for, and not all that much left to offset it. She's a hard worker I suppose. The effort in their relationship felt like it was 95-5, which doesn't particularly interest me either. Besides her though, I liked the hero and how sympathetically they showed both sides of the grudge. So three stars, but just barely, because of the horrid heroine.

First off, the concept of conquering or taming the heroine was mentioned like 20 times, which is at least 18 more than I’d care for. It’s not the end of the world, but rein it in a little. (As one might do a heroine... =D just kidding). This is a second chance love story, with a bit of childhood sweethearts and enemies to lovers tropes mixed in. The heroine was a tad more immature than I would like, but she wasn’t a total brat and was otherwise generally likable. Their separation ultimately felt kind of unnecessary and a waste, but, that sort of thing does happen sometimes, so it might just depend on how much you typically enjoy second chance romances. The hero was decent, and there were some creative aspects, so overall 3 stars.

2.5 stars rounded up. This heroine is an even more skilled warrior than the one in the previous book. And I was so interested and hopeful when she was introduced as being very brave and capable. But she ended up being kind of a ninny. She's a hothead who is uninterested, apparently, in coming up with a plan of attack given a challenge, but just charges off in whatever direction the mood strikes her. And she has a terrible understanding of human behavior, and is a trial for anyone who spends time around her. It was very disappointing. The hero on the other hand is *also* a great fighter, but on top of that is also clever and charming. There's a lot of 'battle of the wills' sort of thing, but it just felt so uneven to me. I guess perhaps it's more oldschool or something. She's loyal I suppose. But mostly I didn't find her very interesting and she irritated me. The hero was okay, though he didn't strongly appeal to me. If it had been edited down a bit more it might not have felt like it dragged out so much, but it could just appeal more to a different audience. I liked the first in the series, so I will continue on with the books that follow the next generation, and see how they go.

This is my first from Paula Quinn, and I'm already looking forward to reading the next. This was engaging and enjoyable. A couple small complaints, the heroine was daft sometimes, not TSTL, and she had enough redeeming qualities that I still ended up liking her, but there were definitely some facepalm moments. And several times a character's martial prowess fluctuated wildly. A great fighter with quick reflexes will suddenly be caught off guard by a punch from an opponent that just threatened to punch them, lol. Or someone without great skill somehow takes out a half dozen soldiers as if they all just stood there waiting to be cut down in turn. ? A small detail thrown in can help it seem more reasonable, like the good fighter dodging the punch but having their foot get caught on a rock or something. The end result is the same, but the execution is a little more buyable and consistent. Still, I had fun reading it, and look forward to more.

This has secret identity, mother and child, and spy elements. The heroine was a bit unreasonable here and there, but was otherwise decent. The story didn't grab me as much as I'd like, but I was still entertained.

The premise is a bit faulty, and there was a thing here or there that was inconsistent or in error, but the characters were likable, so it was otherwise fine.

'I woke up one morning, quick out of bed, to find curls on my pillow instead of my head. I felt so confused by this weird situation. My hair wasn't in its usual location!'

Children who suffer from hair loss will feel so special to have a book written especially for them. Author Paula Quinn and illustrator Chiara Civati have perfectly captured the emotions of a special little girl named Rosie who has lost her hair because of an autoimmune disease called Alopecia. The easy-to-read rhyming text and the captivating illustrations make it fun to read and it also educates about the effects of this disease. This cheerful and positive little girl teaches children that they need to love themselves and take pride in themselves, even if their hair is gone and their head is bald.

Parents and teachers will appreciate the vocabulary page and teacher's guide with activities and questions and this is also a book that needs to be in every school and public library. My Hair Went on Vacation is a valuable resource that definitely deserves a 5-Star rating!

I received a copy of this book via iRead Book Tours but a favorable review was never required and no monetary compensation was given. These are my own thoughts.

What an adorable book. My Hair Went on Vacation is an upbeat and positive story of a young girl’s explanation and acceptance of her alopecia. She accepts her condition as a way to stand out and shine and celebrates her baldness.

The colorful cover art and the full-page illustrations are adorable and enhance the story nicely.

When my kids were young, one of their classmates had alopecia. At the beginning of the school year she wore a wig, but when warmer weather came, she decided not to wear it anymore. I was so pleased how accepting her classmates were. What a wonderful resource this book would have been during this time.

This is not only an entertaining children’s book, but it presents a meaningful learning opportunity for the importance of acceptance and empathy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through the iRead Book Tours.

Full review at Little Book Jockey. I liked this one for the most part. It’s certainly not a period that’s often featured in historical romance, and it’s one I’d like to read more about. I found some of the characterization (like the king’s) to be a bit stilted and forced. I don’t know if I’ll continue the series.

This novel was like a cup of hot chocolate on a snowy night. Despite the book's being relatively short, Quinn was able to bring the characters together very well. I think that is the reason the conflict (read: noble idiocy on Callum's part) was shorter than it might have been in a longer book. I enjoyed all of the supporting characters, and, even though the mystery (if you can call it that) was pretty easy to solve, the plot remained engaging throughout the story.