From his penthouse lair high above Manhattan, Dageus looks out over a glittering city that calls to the darkness within him. A 16th-century Scott trapped between worlds, he is fighting a losing battle with the 13 Druids who possess his soul, dooming him to an eternity of sexual pursuit. When Chloe Zanders, student of antiquities, is drawn into his world, she finds the insatiable alpha male an irresistible lure. Before long, she is caught up in an ancient prophecy that will sweep her back into time to medieval Scotland. Plunged into a world of timeless magic and dark seduction, she will soon face the challenge of a lifetime: fighting 13 evil spirits for the heart of one irresistible man.

Summary taken from the jacket leaf of the book itself. I figured that would summarize things better than I could.

A nice, "fluffy" read. It's a light read, good for when you just want to escape reality for a little bit. The writing style is easy to follow and the content is not challenging at all, but it's a nice way to pass a lazy afternoon.

The secondary characters in the book - particularly Dageus' twin, Drugan and their father, Silvan. Moning describes her secondary characters with just as much care as her primary characters, so that's definitely a strength of her writing style. I believe she's written a "prequel" to The Dark Highlander, titled Kiss of the Highlander; I would recommend readers to pick up the latter, first. I think it'll explain things in The Dark Highlander a little bit better. Though, she does a very good job of keeping confusion to a minimum. These are stand-alone stories, which is a good plus, if you can't read the series "in order" for one reason or another.

The "typical-alpha-male" descriptions of Dageus' character. I thought that his character was very "cookie-cutter", especially with the long black hair, perfect body, and he-man attitude. Thankfully, there is complexity to his character and you really can't help like how he tries to be honorable in the face of some pretty tough odds. But, for the most part, the hero and heroine of this story are very typical for a romance novel and can be a bit boring at times.

Read the other books in the series! For being simple reading fare, in the grand scheme of things, The Highlander series seems like a fun read. I look forward to picking up Kiss of the Highlander and carrying on with the series. I'm also curious about Moning's other series and plan to look into those as well.

Inspired, oddly enough. I write a lot of erotica and sometimes forget to include that element of romance. Reading Moning made me realize that I sometimes miss that mark - so reading The Dark Highlander has inspired me to try my hand at a little erotic series, that contains that element of romance to round the characters out.

Has a good imagination and the ability to take well-known facts and create something new. She's clearly well-read and educated and I enjoyed knowing that she included a reference of sources for her Celtic lore.

It's a fun read. Don't expect anything mind-boggling or world-defining out of it, but's a good book to curl up with on a fine autumn afternoon, when you just want to enjoy time well spent with a light, engaging read.

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Created Sep 29, 2008 at 4:30am • Submit your own review...