Sigh!!! This was magnificent!!! I hadn't done a highlander book in a long while. The story was adorable. The writing was funny and the characters were endearing. Lovely!!!

HOW HAVE I NOT READ JULIE GARWOOD UNTIL NOW?!?! Seriously, I am a huge highlander romance fan and this book was everything. First, I loved how close Frances Catherine and Judith were. The first chapter where they met as children was so adorable and I loved their close bond. Because of that, Judith has to go to the highlands when Frances Catherine is pregnant to be by her side. However, during this time, the Scottish hate the English and they are not at all welcoming to them to come into their la...

*** 4 ***A very sweet and pleasant Highlander Historical Romance! I enjoyed it exactly for what it was - a romance in a very difficult for women time. I know most of my GR friends get upset over the almost none existing female rights of those times and want all heroines to be strong, bold and independent, which would be absolutely absurd for their environment. Although I like the historical accurate portrayal of that, this book manages to successfully combine a close proximity to Historical accu...

Reread #2 (3/20/2021) This book still has the best female friendship ever! The wedding scene was hilarious. Iain and Judith are the best and I love them so much. The plot is perfect and I enjoyed the underlying feminism subplot in it. It was all just so good and so entertaining and I’m pretty sure I’ll reread it and enjoy it many times again! Definitely one of my all time favourite HRs!!5 starsNow there’s something worth mentioning about this book, male heroes in HRs have some kind of reputation...

Absolutely brilliant!! I can see why everyone adores this book so much and considers it a classic of historical romance. I truly loved everything about this book: Judith and her headstrong ways, Iain and his tenderness with Judith, the powerful, hilarious friendship between Judith and her best friend Frances, the feminist themes, the ridiculous wedding. Everything was PERFECT!

There was a lot to love about this book, but I think my favorite thing was the friendship between our heroine and her bestie. They grew up seeing each other once a year and had that kind of loyalty that only comes with being best girlfriends.When our heroine's bestie, Frances Catherine, becomes pregnant, she calls upon our girl, Judith, to fulfill a promise she made to be there when the baby is born. This may seem like no big deal, but Judith is English and Frances Catherine is Scottish and in a...

Delightful 4 starsThe Secret was a delight to read. I was easily swept into Julie Garwood’s world of witty dialogue, enchanting characters, and feel good romance.I did, however, find it difficult to feel the connection and chemistry between Iain's and Judith's characters during the first half of the book. In fact, at times I felt there was more chemistry between Judith and Brodick than between Judith and Iain. Fortunately, by the end of the story I was a firm believer in Judith's and Iain's rela...

3.5 StarsOverall Opinion: This wasn't quite as good as I had hoped it would be. I didn't dislike it, but I just didn't love it either. The prologue sucked me in right from the start! The girls' friendship was too cute and I was so excited to continue on the story. It has to be one of the best prologues I've read in a while! The friendship amongst the women (and a few of the elders) was definitely the highlight of the story for me. I felt like the romance was off to great start, but then quickly

*2.5 STARS*I loved how the main character stood up for women's rights and everything, but there was literally no plot and it was hella boring :(

The Secret, the 1st book in the Highlands' Lairds series, is now tied as my favorite Julie Garwood book with The Bride. I loved this one so much. It starts out so cute with two little girls, one Scottish, on English becoming friends. Judith and Frances Catherine were just so damn cute. Their friendship was like icing on the cake for me. I loved Iain. He was perfect. He just had so much more charm than other JG heroes I have read. I also really loved Judith. I loved that she was sassy, outspoken

Left me with a big goofy grin...I feel like I would be repeating myself if I wrote a review for The Secret. This is by far one of my very favourite historical romances, and definitely, one of my top Julie Garwood reads/listens. The characters are awesome and I absolutely loved the friendship between two little girls who had no idea they should be enemies.Ian is one of the best highlander heroes and I loved revisiting with him and his clan.I'm sure I'll be back again next year.**********This one

This is my first book by Julie Garwood and it may be my last. Yes, I enjoyed this book but I found it too cutesy and simplistic. I think that if it had been either a funny book or a dark book I would have enjoyed it more, but this mix of funny banter with very dark topics didn’t do it for me.On one hand, you have very serious topics: dangers and fear of pregnancy (which is the first time I have read in a historical so I give the author kudos for that), battles between clans in Scotland, the hatr...

This book was amazing!I loved how possessive the hero was towards the heroine. He would not let he ride with anyone else during their trip to the keep. Omg he was just so sweet and he was loving. Their chemistry was off the charts and the whole birthing rights and rituals was just great to read. I had to look up everything. Wow have we come a long way from these dark days.The whole sin of eve thing was pissing me off. It was those times I guess. Still loved it.

4.5 StarsI've caught on to the Julie Garwood secret. Her books are familiar comfort food-esq romances. Like a hearty broth, you change a few ingredients here and there, but you always get a delicious result. The beauty of simplicity... - An engagingly written story- An alpha warrior hero who is very sweet with the heroine- A quirky heroine with the weirdest of idiosyncracies- A charming romance- A feudal subplot- Grand displays of loyalty- Wonderful side characters*it's no Honour's Splendour (...

4.5 STARS "There will be flowers..." Loved it. Which was not a surprise to me. I have read Garwood before, and loved her other books as well. The heroine did start out a little immature in her behavior but the character developed nicely as the story progressed. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️All the stars! I cannot remember the last time I smiled and swooned so much while reading a book and I’m now convinced that no one writes swoony, feel-good historical romance like Julie Garwood 😍 This is definitely my favorite JG so far. There was just so much to love about this book, I simply didn’t want it to end…Some of my favorite quotes:(Judith and Frances Catherine when they were little girls who had just met)Because Judith was so determined to impress her new f...

This book grabbed from the Prologue, filled with both endearing and funny moments. In a few pages, Ms. Garwood had me loving Judith, the heroine, and her friend Frances Catherine. By the end of Chapter 2, I was also in love with Iain, the hero, and smiling like a silly girl. What a nice way to start a book!Judith and Frances Catherine met as children and formed an unlikely friendship. Judith was English and Frances Catherine was Scottish, and everyone knew that English and Scottish hated each ot...

I wanted to read a Highlander romance 💗 you know, to help me get through Monday, so I decided to read this 😗. I prefer The Ransom, by Julie Garwood (which I read first, years ago)--I had no idea this was a series. 🤔This was a fun read, albeit sometimes annoying the way the men act, but that's historical romance at times 😅 Still, despite possessive men, and archaic views the romance between the two main characters was fun. I enjoyed the relationship between Judith and Frances Catherine the most,

5 bloody brilliant, hot Highland Laird stars! Audio/Kindle/Paperback ReviewVery rarely do I have the opportunity to read a book that isn't a review required read, but I needed something familiar, something comforting this past week, and so I chose to re-read/listen to this story. I am so, so very glad I did!I had read The Secret (paperback) years ago and never reviewed because I was on a Julie Garwood binge. Book after book, I didn't have time to stop and write down my thoughts because I coul

The Secret takes us back into time to the Scottish Highlands, medieval time period. Where we have Judith Hampton who is English, but never knew her father, except for his ring, and her mother not caring one whit about her welfare. Having gone from different relatives homes, and now a grown up woman, has studies childbirth for her closest and best friend Frances Catherine, who is married to the brother of Laird Maclean. So when the Iain's goes to retrieve Judith on behalf of his brother and his w...