The Pretender (Highland Heroes, Book 1)

by Jaclyn Reding

Book Overview

When the 9th Duke of Sudeleigh discovers that his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, is the clandestine author of a scandalous editorial, he hatches a plan to bring the feisty young woman to heel. He will... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0739423762
• ISBN13: 9780739423769
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Signet
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Don't miss this book -- you'll kick yourself

I loved this book. Elizabeth is a free-thinking heroine with spunk and spirit and Douglas is her perfect match. The setting of mid 1700's Scotland is splashed across every page in a way that makes you feel as if you're really, truly there, particularly the descriptions of the Isle of Skye. I read this book shortly before traveling to the U.K. last year and was delighted to see the ruins of the very castle used in the story still standing above the same harbor I had read about. It was like having a travelogue and a terrific story in one book. When I returned home, I reread the book just to revisit the places I'd seen.The story itself is a great adventure with an English duke's daughter and a Highlander. Lots of tension and spark between these two as they are thrown together, literally, and come to terms with it. The love story that comes from it is filled with fire and tenderness, too, in the vulnerability of the heroine, which she tried to hide -- and the hero's sensitivity.I also recommend the second book in this series, THE ADVENTURER, which I just read and LOVED! Don't miss either of them.

A very enjoyable book !

This was a lovely book to read ! I had so enjoyed Jaclyn Reding's "White Heather" series, that I eagerly ordered this book. It was a great story, full of dynamic characters.My only complaint about the book (and why I didn't give it five stars) was that it ended VERY abruptly. It seemed as if the story "turned out" in the last few pages and things seemed to fall together much too easily, after so much conflict. It isn't that I had wanted the conflict to continue, of course, I just wish more time had been taken wrapping up the story neatly.All in all, however, it's a fun book and I do look forward to the other books in this series as they come out.

A Keeper

It was by chance that I purchased "The Pretender" by Jaclyn Reding. I was in a bookstore and was glancing over the books on a table by the door. I picked up "The Pretender" and read the back. It sounded interesting, so I bought it. I can't believe it, but I read that book three times in a row. I managed since to find "White Knight" by Reding and now am in my second reading of that one. Oh, Well. You would think that I don't have anything else to do, but I do. I am taking 9 units at the local community college including C++ which requires a little time to study. And in the process of looking for books by Reding in the bookstores, I had recommended to me "The Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. Boy if you like Reding's books you will like this one. Another can't put it down book. And now I have discovered there is a series of books based on the characters in "The Outlander." Well, once finals are over guess what I am reading. I can blame it all on Jane Aiken Hodges. Her books are the ones that started me on this kind of reading.

entertaining Scottish historical romance

In 1746 England, Duke Alaric Drayton becomes upset to learn that his oldest daughter Elizabeth wrote the infamous "A Letter in Favor of Women's Equality to Man". Alaric feels that Elizabeth broke convention even if she anonymously sent her letter to the Female Spectator. He informs her that she will visit her aunt in Scotland until he calms down. In actuality, Alaric is sending Elizabeth to marry a family friend. On the trek to Scotland, the carriage becomes stuck in mud. Douglas MacKinnon helps pull the carriage free. Elizabeth, learning she is to marry, concocts a plan to pretend that Douglas is her fiancé. However, a few drinks later and by morning her sister Isabella catches the duo in bed together. Though both insist nothing happened, Bella insures they marry. Alaric learns that Douglas is a noble seeking the return of his family lands taken because his father participated with the Jaocbites at Culloden. Alaric blackmails Douglas into remaining as Elizabeth's husband for two months. The couple falls in love, but what will happen to their relationship once Elizabeth learns the intricacies of the deal between her beloved and her father. THE PRETENDER is an entertaining Scottish historical romance that provides a vigorous look at the too often written post Culloden English-Scottish relationship. The lead couple is a delight with their own agenda that love ravages. The story line is loaded with plots and counterplots that feel like an espionage tale, but instead provides a robust historical romance. Sub-genre fans will relish this novel while looking forward to Jaclyn Reding's tales starring Elizabeth's four younger siblings.Harriet Klausner

What a wonderful story! Starts this new series with a bang!

Lady Elizabeth Drayton is my idea of what a historical romance heroine should be. She has fire, but she also has a softer side that the hero immediately senses, despite her attempts to hide it. Though she starts out the story as the headstrong daughter of an English duke, through the magic of falling in love, she becomes a woman of great strength, true honor and unbending commitment. This is definitely a case of opposites attracting. Douglas Dubh MacKinnon is a rugged fierce Highlander with a secret to hide. This isn't a man who lets many people get to him, but Elizabeth is not just any other lass. After a one night stand that neither can actually recall, they end up married and their adventure begins, taking them all the way to the Isle of Skye, a hotbed of danger and intrigue as Bonnie Prince Charlie is on the loose after the failed Jacobite rebellion of 1745. Unlike other Jacobite historicals, in this one, the rebellion only takes a background part, a part against which these two people fall in love despite the differences in their backgrounds. There are scenes which are hilarious and scenes which are touching, all leading to a final conflict with danger. The Author's Note inside indicates this is the first book in a new series, all featuring the daughters of an English duke and handsome Highland Heroes. I highly recommend this first story ...