A close friend of mine lives in Vermont. I met her at a castle in the Berkshires while she and her family lived in New York. Many months after we became friends, the two of us discovered we have similar taste in books. Sometimes when I pass along what I consider a great discovery, she’s already discovered the author. Mostly, though, my friend is excited to discover my new discoveries. And since we are both Kindle fanatics, when I learned earlier this month that five of Ruth Langan’s Highland series were bundled on sale at Amazon for less than a ten spot, I emailed her in a flash, adding a link to a quick interview I’d done with the author back in the day that compared romances set in the Scottish Highlands to those set in the American West, and just as quickly she wrote back to say she’d read the interview and downloaded the bundle.
Of the five books in the Highland bundle, I’d read three, the MacAlpin Sisters trilogy—Highland Barbarian, Highland Heather, and Highland Fire—in the mid-1990s. More than 15 years and several dozen Scottish historicals later, the books remain memorable, particularly the first two.
Ruth Langan’s backlist is extensive, and includes quite a few historical series for Harlequin Historicals. The Highlands series was published between 1990 and 1995. Many years later she wrote a fantasy romance series called the Mystical Highlands series. I read the first and liked it; the other two remain TBR. In addition she’s written many category romances, including the Sullivan Sisters trilogy. I read and enjoyed books one and two in that series as well, but haven’t gotten to the third.
Her backlist also includes several single title historicals for Pocket and Berkley, at least one contemporary under the name Eve Lang, and more recently, as R.C. Langan she published the McCord trilogy for Grand Central/Forever. And, as a great friend of Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb, she’s contributed a short story to 11 anthologies also featuring Roberts/Robb.
All in all, that’s 12 series, 12 short stories, and 81 full-length books (both category and single title) dating back to 1981. Many of you may recognize her name solely from those Roberts/Robb anthologies, yet I’m going to guess many a romance reader has never even heard of her...or read her. I think she’s among the many authors to write for Harlequin Historicals in particular who remain more or less hidden treasures.
What makes the the MacAlpin sisters trilogy so memorable? It’s impossible to get into the specific books without talking about the Harlequin Historicals line just a little bit, particularly the length of the books. It’s true that Harlequin Historicals once featured larger word counts (somewhere around 1997 they were cut, for at least one author, from 110,000 words to 84,000) than they do now, but a good HH in the 1990s was a a small gem.
The books were short enough to read in an evening, but long enough to engross readers, in the case of the MacAlpin trilogy, in romantic, historical Scottish settings (Highland Fire moves the story to Ireland) filled with brawny heroes and brave lasses engaging in some road romance and a kidnapping or two, along the way.
Like most of my favorite HHs, the stories are more likely to enrobe you in a light misting of history rather than enveloping you in a cloud of it. There’s just enough there to satisfy the peasant reader in me. Langan’s MacAlpin Sisters trilogy offers that Calgon, take me away! feeling—nothing more, and nothing less.
More specifically, though, the draw of this series is in the strength of its heroines, women strong enough to lead their clan. First it’s Meredith, and when she marries and takes her place with her Highland Barbarian, Brenna assumes the role. She she marries the Queen’s Savage, a powerful English lord, in Highland Heather, and the duty of clan leader falls to her sister Megan. Although Highland Fire is the weakest of the books, Megan is the strongest heroine in the series, wielding her sword with cunning and finesse. Doncha love it when the heroine saves the hero, and his brother?
These powerful women do not yield to the men they love; indeed, each book ends with a MacAlpin woman choosing her mate because, as Brenna tells Morgan at the end of their story, that’s “the way of the MacAlpins.” In each of the three books, the hero believes the heroine will return to her family, her clan, her land...and leave him behind. Any HEA seems bleakly impossible until the final pages...
“Why have you come, Meredith?”
“To invite you to a wedding.”
“A wedding?” His heart tumbled. His brows drew together in a frown.
“Aye.”
“Whose wedding.”
“Mine.”
His frown became a scowl. She felt his battle for control as he dropped his hands to his sides, where they curled into fists. “You did not wait long to wed.”
“I have waited long enough.” When she saw the pool of pain that crossed his features she could no longer carry on. She reached up to touch him and the cape slid from her shoulders, revealing a white gossamer gown that skimmed her breasts and fell in soft folds to the tips of kid slippers.
His hands grasped her shoulders so tightly that she gasped. “You look,” he whispered, “as beautiful as you did on the morn when I first saw you in the cathedral.”
“This time,” she said, looking up at him with love shining in her eyes, “I dressed for you.”
“For me.” He allowed his gaze to travel slowly over her, devouring her.
And then he knew.
(From the end of Highland Barbarian)
And from the ending of Highland Heather:
“Morgan. The queen said you would come.”
“The queen.” A little frown touched his brow. “When did you see the queen?”
“She arrived only hours ago.”
“Here? She is here in Scotland?”
“Aye. She came for my wedding.”
His eyes narrowed. How could she speak so lightly of something that would tear out his heart? “You did not wait long, my lady.”
“I waited too long. But my lover was away, putting down some unrest.”
“He is a soldier?”
“Aye.” She stpped closer, and he watched the way the white gown fluttered about her ankles.
“I never knew you were such a cruel woman, Brenna.”
“If one is to lead her people, she must harden heart heart to many things. Your queen told me that.”
“Elizabeth is a remarkable woman. But I would not have her for a wife.”
“I would hope not, my lord.”
He glanced sharply at her. She was making no sense.
“A man can have but one wife. And you are already spoken for.”
“I? Nay, I have no wife.”
“But you shall very soon.”
He saw the curve of her lips as she gave a delighted laugh. And then he understood. Still, he had to make certain.
He slid from the saddle but did not make a move toward her. “What are you saying, Brenna?”
“It was important for me to return to my people a free woman. And it was equally important to be able to choose my own husband. It is the way of the MacAlpins.”
Brenna’s story, btw, is my favorite, for a variety of reasons. Generally I’m not a fan of casting historical personages in romance novels, but Langan makes it work here with Queen Elizabeth. Highland Heather also features a stand-out secondary romance between a Frenchwoman and the hero’s disabled brother. To this day I remember the wheeled chair fashioned for him by the hero, aided by a carriage maker. But it’s Meredith, Brenna, and Megan’s strength that really sells Langan’s trilogy, and considering that it’s heroes we most often remember long after closing a romance, that’s saying something.
I’m incredibly happy to have the digital version of this trilogy, along with the additional titles included in the bundle. None of the books is an all-time favorite for me, but taken as a whole, the heroine as clan leader premise made the MacAlpin Sisters a memorable series.
Not long ago I wrote for H&H about Girl Power in Urban Fantasy/Urban Fantasy Romance. I’m a strong woman, so it makes sense I’m drawn to them. What’s better than reading about a strong woman? Reading about a strong woman in love with a strong man who loves her strength.
Laurie Gold cannot stop reading and writing about romance—she’s been blabbing online for years. She remains a work in progress. Be one of the few who visits her at Toe in the Water or follow her may-be-too-political-for-you tweets at @laurie_gold.
