Helpful Score: 1
MCCLAIREN'S ISLE: THE RAVISHING ONE is the stunning conclusion to Connie Brockway's dark saga of the Merrick family. In this final installment, Lady Fia Merrick takes center stage. She has spent years under the thumb of her evil and domineering father, Ronald Carr. Over time, she has discovered many things about the sire she previously worshipped, including the insinuation that he murdered her mother, Janet. As the story opens, Fia, recently widowed, is desperately plotting to regain her late husband's estate from Carr's clutches and to gain her freedom from Carr's manipulations at last.
The only other man who has held as much, if not more, sway over Fia's outlook on life is Thomas Donne. She worshipped him from afar as a child, right up until she overheard a vicious and unfortunate conversation in which Donne expressed his loathing of Fia as "Carr's whore." But, whether she likes it or not, Thomas is back in her life.
Thomas McClairen, youngest and only surviving heir of the McClairen laird betrayed by Carr, has been infiltrating the Merrick camp for years under the name of Thomas Donne. When Carr deserts Wanton's Blush for greener pastures, Thomas obtains the property and begins to restore Maiden's Blush to her former glory. But all his plans will be for naught if the one woman he has never been able to forget, Fia Merrick, succeeds in her plans to corrupt his business partner. He does the only thing he thinks he can in the circumstances: he kidnaps Fia and takes her to McClairen's Isle to foil her schemes and save his partner. Little did he know that he would fall under her spell and become more captive than captor...
The ending of this trilogy is nothing short of magnificent. All the loose ends are tied up, and Carr gets his due in a most unusual plot twist. The epilogue allows readers a tiny peek into the futures of the Merricks and McClairens; at last, these tortured souls have the chance at their own happily-ever-after, not to mention a real shot at being part of a functional family.
I would recommend this thrilling trilogy to all Brockway fans, first-time Brockway readers, and anyone who likes Scottish tales with a little passion, recklessness, and ravishment thrown in. Brockway's well-written prose conveys the tales of these characters with wit and talent. The MCCLAIREN'S ISLE trilogy is a truly satisfying read.
The only other man who has held as much, if not more, sway over Fia's outlook on life is Thomas Donne. She worshipped him from afar as a child, right up until she overheard a vicious and unfortunate conversation in which Donne expressed his loathing of Fia as "Carr's whore." But, whether she likes it or not, Thomas is back in her life.
Thomas McClairen, youngest and only surviving heir of the McClairen laird betrayed by Carr, has been infiltrating the Merrick camp for years under the name of Thomas Donne. When Carr deserts Wanton's Blush for greener pastures, Thomas obtains the property and begins to restore Maiden's Blush to her former glory. But all his plans will be for naught if the one woman he has never been able to forget, Fia Merrick, succeeds in her plans to corrupt his business partner. He does the only thing he thinks he can in the circumstances: he kidnaps Fia and takes her to McClairen's Isle to foil her schemes and save his partner. Little did he know that he would fall under her spell and become more captive than captor...
The ending of this trilogy is nothing short of magnificent. All the loose ends are tied up, and Carr gets his due in a most unusual plot twist. The epilogue allows readers a tiny peek into the futures of the Merricks and McClairens; at last, these tortured souls have the chance at their own happily-ever-after, not to mention a real shot at being part of a functional family.
I would recommend this thrilling trilogy to all Brockway fans, first-time Brockway readers, and anyone who likes Scottish tales with a little passion, recklessness, and ravishment thrown in. Brockway's well-written prose conveys the tales of these characters with wit and talent. The MCCLAIREN'S ISLE trilogy is a truly satisfying read.
