The HighlanderRating: 5 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novella


At times, he felt, smelt, and tasted like fate. At others— my biggest mistake. 

Lochan is a half-breed elf and he knows what it means to fight. He has fought against prejudice and judgment and he has fought to earn his place as an assassin with The Order. Training and being ready for service is the only thing Lochan has ever known and his time has almost come.

Lochan is a loner by nature and he would rather perform the most mundane of tasks than have to interact with his peers. His training is the only place he forces himself to engage, that is until Ervyn. Ervyn is the fair-haired elf that has completely captured Lochan’s attention and imagination. Lochan almost can’t stand the fact that he is not only drawn to the Highlander, but he yields to him time and again. For the first time Lochan is struggling with his feelings, but he knows there can be no future for them when he is sent to meet up with his unit. Lochan may have underestimated Ervyn.

The Highlander brings us to the second story in The Order series and I am just a bit obsessed with this series and the elves and the author’s voice. This book directly follows the events of The Mutt and is not intended to be read as a standalone. The conclusion of The Mutt offered the most perfect ending line and this book shows Ervyn putting his plan into action.

The story is told through Lochan and what an intriguing and complex character he is. He comes off as cool and collected, but Ervyn is showing him things that he never knew about himself, mostly that he wants to submit and the only one he craves is Ervyn. But Lochan doesn’t know what to do with his feelings with Ervyn. Lochan is a little sarcastic and a lot closed off, but he has a softer center. He spends a lot of time in his head as he doesn’t like chatting with people and his observations and inner dialogue are highly entertaining.

We learn more about the background of both guys and where they came from, but mostly we learn that they are perfectly matched for each other. The men are in their late teens, but there is no doubt how well they fit together as they fall into a natural rhythm.

This is one short story that is perfectly balanced. Their histories are uncovered, their relationship is beginning to be explored, and their training, as they get ready to enter The Order, is shown. The author carefully places phrases that offer the maximum visuals and the effect is a well-crafted tale with so many quotable lines. She also manages to create a language for Ervyn that is used sparingly, but is both believable and intriguing while still allowing us to follow along.

It’s rare to feel that I can continue to go on about all of the intricacies of characters, but there is so much here and so much more to discover for any story and especially for a short story, but I will leave them for you discover for yourself. There will be one more short story for these guys and then a full length novel. While I certainly do not expect it to get any easier for them, I am fully invested in this world and their story. This is a story for all readers, whether fantasy is your preferred genre or not. Look for two intriguing elves, snarky dialogue, atmosphere, and an epic love story that will surely span a lifetime.

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