Highland Spy

Mercenary Maidens, Book 1

By: Madeline Martin

Narrated by: Dave Gillies

Ariana Fitzroy has lost her family and her fortune. The fight for survival leads her to the shadowed card games of court, where she discovers she has quite a talent for slipping cards into her favor. While the winnings are enough to sustain her at present, they will not last forever....

Connor Grant, trainer of the fallen women from the English court and personal assassin to the king, is just as broken as the women he trains. After losing his own land and all his people in a brutal attack from a trusted friend, he has no choice but to rebuild any way he sees possible - even if it means going against everything he's ever believed in.

After catching Ariana cheating at cards, Connor has a new trainee to instruct at one of the king's many confiscated castles. In the dilapidated ruins, he discovers Ariana is more than she appears and falls in love with her incredible tenacity and dedication - a love that is challenged by Connor's chance at reclaiming the inheritance he once lost and has sought so desperately to regain.

©2017 Madeline Martin (P)2017 Tantor

Intrigue and Suspense with a Good Dose of Romance

As I finished listening to Highland Spy, I just had to write a review to encourage anyone interested to listen to Dave Gillies narrate a wonderful romantic story of court intrigue and suspense.
Madeline Martin has written a fantastic story delivered by the incredible Dave Gillies!
All I can say is "I loved it" and would give it more than 5 stars if possible!

romance historical fiction

I listened to a book by this author with the name 'book' init. I liked it enough that I wanted to try a book by her to determine if I wanted to pursue more of her books. I came across this book in the Plus catalog and it fit the bill I was looking for.

Set in 1605 Scotland, it's about a Scot and the lady he meets and falls for and how their lives are all tangled up in varied issues of the time, the royal family, Scots versus English, the poor versus the rich, etc. They navigate their way trying to survive and get their lives on somewhat solid footing.

The seating in 165 Scotland was fun, hearing about the varied aspects of life the author tells us about.

The romance part was always there, they two main characters had a sexual attraction from the very start. If anything, it was overdone.

It was a fun listen.

Absolutely a must read

You said you hope Id like it!. Thank you Madeline , it was an awesome book you created a life in my mind of Scotsmen’s who can love even in those harsh time ! What an amazing novel !! 100 + for me!!!

Wonderful!

A really great story which I enjoyed so much. I loved both hero and heroin as well as all the secondary characters involved. Madeline Martin will certainly be on my favorite author list from now on. I heartily recommend this listen. A great storyline, full rounded character development, a tender romance with steam to add spice, as well as action and adventure. As I said - a truly great book. Last but definitely not least is the performance of Dave Gillies which was very, very good. Well done all! 5*****

Great Start to a Series

Ariana and Connor make a good pair. The story is about two people whose family and life-style has been destroyed by others. The intrigue is how it happened, who was responsible, can it be fixed and how do they fix it? There are a number of supporting characters who are interesting within themselves. You will enjoy this book.

Connor and Ariana are my new power couple!

I don't think there was anything about this book I didn't like. I read Highland Ruse before this book so, of course I already knew and loved Delilah's character, but then you add in Ariana and Connor (and the way they skirt around their growing attraction for each other) and I couldn't put this book down.

I received this book from the author in exchange for my review and then downloaded the Audible companion to it. I am so glad I did because I always wondered how to pronounce some of the words and the narration (read by Dave Gillies) was fantastic! He really brought Connor and Ariana to life!

Of all, though, I think Percy quickly became my favorite. She was quiet and sweet and always so kind. She made me smile each time she showed up in this story, but I also loved her strength. And, how the others respected her.

And wow, if that wasn't the most romantic game of strip poker I ever heard of! Each book I read by Madeline Martin surpasses the one before it, leaving me eager for more!

rating only

I only want to l leave a rating. and audible is making me leave a review.

Is this a joke??!! The narrarator is so terrible!

This has to be a joke. I cannot even listen because the narrarator is beyond terrible, I cannot even listen. Had to stop in the first chapter.

If you liked Sean Connery as James Bond…

Then you will love listening to this book. Mr. Gillies does a very good job on all the voices but his voice for Conner reminds me of Mr. Connery. Mr. Gillies’ own brogue is not as pronounced but is delightful to listen to. The only problem is that I needed to increase the speed to 1.2 initially and then back to 1.1. Otherwise it was too slow. As for the story…. I found the story to be very good. Good character development, the women strong and Connor to be a sensitive and thinking man. He was forced into a situation in which he was not always happy with but which he felt honor bound to continue because he worked for King James VI. In actual history, James was not the strongest sovereign who ever ruled England and Scotland and his fictional behavior (which you find out about at the end of the story) is really not that far from something the real James might have done. James became James I of England upon the death of Elizabeth I because she died without issue. He was already James VI of Scotland when he took over the English throne. After he was crowned king of England he very rarely if at all went back to Scotland but preferred to keep his court in London. Remember, this is still within the time of the Reformation and there were still bad feelings between the newly formed Protestant churches and the Catholic Church. Feelings still ran high. James was baptized Catholic, brought up Presbyterian (which became identified with Scotland) but leaned toward the Anglican Church (formed by Henry VIII when he split with Rome over his divorce from Kathrine so he could marry Anne Boleyn) during his reign. It was quite a balancing act and feelings ran high over religion at that time. Also, the people of Scotland felt somewhat abandoned over not having a king of their own to watch over their specific needs and the needs of there country. Ariana was a very strong woman because she had to be with what had happened to her when she was younger. It was great watching the relationship between the two protagonists develop which is why I liked the story.

Did Not Like

I made it to chapter twenty-five. Too much violence. The heroine is annoying, she's a horrible spy.