This started out well, but by page 100 had descended into silliness, full of spitefully jealous women and hypermasculine, brutish men. I really don't find murderous jealousy and controlling possessiveness very sexy. But I do love the idea of the Glendruid witch/clan/curse. That was really a lot of fun.

I'm giving it 3 stars mostly out of nostalgia, and in homage to my younger self that enjoyed this book at a time when I was just discovering the Romance genre had a subcategory of supernatural/magical romance, and was not very particular about healthy relationships.

Paperback, very tattered, bought at a secondhand shop. ( )

Héroe de las Cruzadas, Dominic le Sabre ha regresado a Escocia colmado de gloria y triunfante para reclamar su recompensa: la hermosa novia sajona que le ha sido destinada por ser el conquistador del rey. Pero lady Margaret de Blackthorne no puede ceder ante el osado invasor normando. Amada hija de una tribu sagrada de los místicos celtas, teme a una antigua maldición que podría suscitar mayor confusión en su tierra ya asolada por la guerra... y tiene temor al lecho nupcial.
Con una palabra, una dama podría convertir su boda en una guerra. Pero en los brazos del nombre caballero le aguarda la promesa de una pasión arrolladora pasión... y un amor que ni la violencia ni la traición pueden desgarrar, un amor que es invencible e... indómito.

I really enjoyed this and was instantaneously drawn into the story. I think I would have given 4.5 stars, but Dominic was so incredibly untrusting almost to the end that I was pissed off on behalf of Meg. The abrupt ending after the dramatic conclusion didn’t help much either, but I still loved the world building here with the mystical elements (without the threat of witch burning). ( )

Solidly written medieval that holds up reasonably well for being 30 years old. Dominic le Sabre returns from the Crusades wanting land, heirs and peace. Meg is the green-eyed daughter of the Glendruid line of women promised by Henry I. ( )

Untamed
3 Stars

For his bravery during the Crusades, Dominic Le Sabre, a Norman Knight, is rewarded with a Saxon bride and the land that comes with her. Lady Margaret Blackthorne is willing to do her duty to keep the peace but fears that she will never have her husband’s love.

While the plot and romance have potential, both suffer from the writing tropes and norms typical of the 1990s. Lowell uses flowery descriptions and euphemisms, which put a damper on Meg and Dominic’s sexual chemistry and the falcon metaphor results in Dominic coming across as imperious and overbearing rather than sensual and seductive.

Dominic and Meg are engaging overall, although Dominic’s obsession with having a son grates on the nerves after a while and Meg is much too good and sweet to be a truly interesting heroine. Moreover, the identity of the Blackthorne traitor is obvious from the start.

Nevertheless, the secondary characters are fleshed out nicely and it is actually my interest in Duncan and Simon’s stories that had me re-reading this installment in lieu of continuing with the series. ( )