Review: Lyon's Bride (The Chattan Curse #1) by Cathy Maxwell

Title: Lyon's Bride (The Chattan Curse #1)

Author: Cathy Maxwell
Source: Self Purchased
Genre: Historical - Regency
Length: Novel
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 2
Sexual - 3

"When a Chattan male falls in love, strike his heart with fire from above..."

They call him Lord Lyon, proud, determined— and cursed. He is in need of a bride, but if he falls in love, he dies. His fervent hope is that by marrying— and having a son—without love, perhaps he can break the curse's chains forever.

Enter beautiful Thea Martin—a duke's headstrong, errant daughter and society's most brilliant matchmaker. Years ago, she and Lyon were inseparable, until he disappeared from her life without a word. Now she is charged with finding Lyon's bride—a woman he cannot love for a man Thea could love too well.

Book Two Review: The Scottish Witch 
Book Three Review: The Devil's Heart

The final book of a series I read completely backward just didn't live up to what I had come to expect from reading books two and three.  I'm glad that I had read them out of order, or I don't know if I would have continued the series.

The Chattan family line has been cursed - and this generation is determined to be the last.  They will not fall in love, they will not have children, and the curse will die with them.  But Lord Lyon has to go and change his mind - right before Thea re-enters his life.  He has hired a match maker to find him a wife he doesn't like (that was a little bit funny) only to discover she's the one that he just may fall in love with.

Thea thinks the curse is a load of rubbish and nothing Lyon can say will change her mind.  Their book was a little too tame and predictable for me.  I found myself knowing what was going to happen before I turned the page (and not because I had read the rest of the series).  It just didn't have the little extra unique-ness I like in a relationship and relied too heavily on the curse to make the story seem different.

Thea's two children were a lot of fun though.  I can imagine them running around all over the place and getting into trouble while trying to stay out of it.  They were quite the charmers and their relationship with both Thea and Lyon was very nice.

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Review: The Scottish Witch by Cathy Maxwell

Title: The Scottish Witch (The Chattan Curse #2)
Author: Cathy Maxwell
Source: Self-Purchased
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: October 30, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 2

New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell continues her most powerful series with
the latest novel about the Chattan Curse.

Every woman has her dreams.
Portia Maclean believes she is beyond love and marriage. Then one moonlit night, while attempting a daring masquerade in a desperate bid to protect her family, she finds herself swept off her feet by a powerful stranger. His very touch makes her long for much more. But what will he do once he discovers she has betrayed him?

Every man has his demons.
Harry Chattan is fighting for his family-their honor and their lives. For two hundred years the Chattan men have been destroyed by love and now he's come to Scotland on the hunt for a witch who can break the legend's curse. Instead he finds himself bewitched by the tantalizing Portia. Determined to right legendary wrongs, Harry has vowed to fight the demons that torture him. But will that battle destroy her as well?

My review of book three:  The Devil's Heart

Yes, you are seeing this right.  I seem to be reading this series backwards.  There is a little confusion at times when they refer to things from previous books, but overall I haven't really seen any negative impacts for the book because of it.

Harry is off to try and find the witch that cast a curse on his family - and it leands him to Glenfinnan and Portia.  Portia's family is quickly running out of money and she sees his quest for a witch as a way for quick money to pay the rent.  When Portia and her cat , Owl, decide to trick him in his quest to find a witch - she pretends to be Fenella - not realizing that it is the same witch to cast the curse.

Their romance is very quick - almost wham bam thank ya mam the first time.  The relationship and romance didn't come until after, and that isn't always my favorite.  Portia finds herself falling in love with him and is terrified of the curse landing on his shoulders - so she runs and distances herself from him for his own good.  The big questions is will the curse still strike, or will they be able to find a way to reverse it and have their HEA.

While Portia was a great character - a very opinionated and honest woman for those times - Harry was a bit of a pompous ass (which he even admits to on occassion).  I love how they fit together - their personalities played off of each other very well.  Portia's mother and her suitor were a bit of comical relief through the whole thing without going too far as well.  I have the first book and hope to start it soon.

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Review: The Devil's Heart by Cathy Maxwell

Title: The Devil's Heart (The Chattan Curse #3)
Author: Cathy Maxwell
Sourse: FirstReads
Genre: Historical Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: April 30, 2013
Reviewer: Jasmyn

They call her the Unattainable. Lady Margaret Chattan spurned every suitor for her hand, vowing never to marry. The only way to break the curse plaguing her family for two centuries is this ultimate sacrifice. But now her brothers' lives are in danger. Determined to save them, she risks her very soul by traveling into the heart of the highlands to battle a force that has transcended time.

Heath Macnachtan is not superstitious. Laird of the most independent, nonconforming, madly infuriating clan ever to grace Scotland, he believes he has his hands full. And then, a woman lauded as one of the most beautiful in England, arrives on his doorstep with wild accusations and a mystical quest . . . one that just might help him discover who murdered his own brother.

But the real danger for Heath and Margaret is not a supernatural foe, but a very real love that could destroy them both.

The Devil's Heart was a fun quick read, but it did leave something a little lacking.  I couldn't seem to connect to the main characters very well.  Lady Margaret Chattan has earned the name Unattainable by snubbing her nose at all potential suitors.  But she often complains about how alone she is.  While I very much  look up to her for decision to hunt down the sourse of the curse on her family, I wondered throughout the whole story why it took the family so long to try and fix it?

Heath Macnachtan is a somewhat typcial Scottish Laird.  He cares for his family, his people, his land, and the rest can be damned.  Until he meets Margaret.  One of my absolute favorite scenes (and recurring joke throughout the story) was the scene where the met outside his house and "argued" for the first time.  It was very memorable and unique and I wish the rest of the story had kept that feeling.

As a lover of paranormal, I would have liked to see a little more of the witch and the curse manifested along the way.  At times I was almost able to forget that it was "real" as it disappeared from the forefront of the storyline.  This was a very well-written and thought out story - I think I was just expecting something a little different and something a little more paranormal.