Tempest in the Highlands by May McGoldrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tempest in the Highlands is a great book that I received a free copy of from St. Martin's via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I have never been a pirate story reader. This actually might be my first. Technically, Hawk is not a pirate, but, to the eyes of those in the world he appears to be a pirate, but, he is so much more. He reads like a tough, great-looking, ethical man who secretly works for the King of England, who is up to his neck in fighting wars on all fronts. One of his commanders has gone rogue and the King has sent Hawk to bring him down, permanently. Hawk is following Evers' trail and lands in Scotland where Evers has just left a village in death and destruction, including killing the laird of the village. He is searching for the daughter of the laird, Miranda, who is missing.

Miranda has managed to stay a couple of steps ahead of Evers, however, Evers has a skill that is leading him right to Miranda who has managed to escape by stowing away on Hawk's ship disguised as a boy. Hawk is following the one person who is a lot closer than he thought. The weather changes and after the ship is damaged Hawk and Miranda are castaways on a deserted island. Evers is closing in and now has the one thing that Miranda wants more than anything and he will force her to choose. It turns out that there is more to the island they have landed on and more than Evers will be present since something has drawn everyone to the island. My favorite part of this story were the conversations between Miranda and Hawk when she was not aware he had determined she was not a boy. Miranda comes up with some hilarious answers to questions she couldn't possibly know the answer to since she is really not a boy. The story was written with rich characters and a great plot. I was not aware of the first two books and I was glad to see that I could jump right in and still understand everything without having read the first two books. I do plan to go back and take a look at those because this is a great story.