Suzan Tisdale

http://www.amazon.com/Fredericks-Queen-Clan-Graham-Series-ebook/dp/B00IN78608/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QANMAZT61SDKWXD2KN3

Book Two of the Clan Graham Series

Frederick's Queen

Lover of Romance 

Frederick's Queen is the second book in the duo series of Clan Graham. This was my first introduction to this author. When I saw that one of my favorite narrators was the narrator and wanted to try some other books he had narrated I knew I had to try this book out here. And boy I am so glad that I did try this author....and for those curious this book is part of the Audible Romance Package, so if you are a member I can't recommend this book enough to you.

I first want to mention the narrator Brad Wills. He is one of the most talented narrators I have EVER listened to. He can handle multiple voices of various characters so very well. His voice is so diverse and can handle different tones and accents. Its like listening to him is being in the middle of a crowd and I love how well he handles these medieval era romances, he just adds the right touch of emotion that is needed and the flow to the story is PERFECT. I honestly don't think I could say enough good things about this man.

Frederick's Queen is quite an emotional roller coaster of a story, and one I wasn't expecting. Of course, I have never read this author before so I honestly didn't know what to expect to be honest. But to be honest, I am wondering why I haven't read her before now because WOWZERS!! I was totally impressed with this book and one of the best highlander romances I have read in a long while. I listened to this book in two days, which its a longer one, 17 Hours....or the ebook is over 500 pages. And I couldn't put this book down folks. What I fell in love with was the storytelling of this author, its so engaging and just pulls you immediately into the story. The historical aspects of the story were so on cue, and I felt like I was swept back into the highlands.

Frederick's Queen begins with our heroine Aggie McLaren. Aggie has suffered tremendous abuse from her father, and has brought her to a neighboring clan to find her a husband. Her father is the chief of the clan, and has no son, and claims that Aggie is unable to take over, so she must marry. And no man in their clan would be willing. But when he brings her to the Graham's, she meets Frederick Mackintosh.

Frederick is a bit of a highland playboy, but has recently been having yearnings for a wife. And when he hears that this intriguing woman's father wants a husband for her who would be the future laird of the clan, he knows that this is a great opportunity for him. He is a younger son and knows that he wouldn't get another chance to be a laird of a clan. So Frederick comes with some of his men to the McLaren's to marry and gain the trust of the members of the McLaren's. Frederick has no idea of what Aggie has gone through, he just knows that she doesn't speak. But he soon learns that she can speak she just has gone years without using her voice. But when a misunderstanding occurs on the wedding night, and Frederick and Aggie don't spend their wedding night together, Aggies' father is furious. And Frederick finds her being whipped to death by her father and is furious that a father could harm his daughter in such a way and nearly kills his new wife's father.

But this is a turning point in their relationship, where Aggie begins to speak because Frederick although he has a temper, makes her feel safe for the first time in her life she feels safe around a man. She has been abused for so many years, that we see Aggie really struggle in the beginning. But with Frederick's help, she becomes stronger and more independent and gets her fighting spirit back. Aggie has had a really rough upbringing. She suffered a horrible rape when she was thirteen years old, and then her mother died and her father was both physically and emotionally abusive to her and the little boy she and her mother "adopted" who was born a bastard. Frederick on the other hand, grew up in a loving family with many siblings and loving parents. Frederick is powerful and a warrior and a true leader, and Aggie soon wins his heart and he soon calls her his "queen". Together they seek out to protect the clan and find a love worth fighting for.

I will warn you that this story isn't for the faint of heart and it deals with some tough issues. We see some abusive scenes, and even a rape scene of the heroine when she is a teenager. These aren't easy to see, and honestly I never knew if I was going to cry or laugh in this book. But what I did like, is that this author doesn't sugarcoast anything. She shows the true consequences that come from rape and abuse and I know that this aspect may not be for everyone, however I truly adored seeing a realistic view on how women were treated back in this time period and sometimes there was no one to save them and sometimes they weren't able to save themselves. Aggie is no doormat, I didn't see her as such. But she is definitely sufferering from PTSD for sure. She is tiny and no one in the clan defends her when she is being abused by her father. Mostly because her father is HORRID. I mean anyone fights him and he uses his whips to fights him. Aggie however, doesn't fight for a certain reason, because she is protecting her younger adopted brother. [spoiler]Now I will say that there is more to Aggie. She becomes pregnant when she is raped, and the "brother" that she protects, is in actuality her son. So you see what she will do to protect her child no matter the cost to herself. [/spoiler] We also see the beginings of the romance between Frederick's brother Ian, and Aggie's best friend Rose. And their antics are pretty entertaining. But we also see the true evil of Aggie's father and how he doesn't care about anyone but himself. And we see the true strength of Aggie when her father's plot almost destroys everything she loves the most. And this is where we see the true test of Frederick and Aggie's relationship, seeing what they go through in the beginning of their marriage and how it only cements the love they have for each other.

The steam level is pretty low in this book but we see the true honor in Frederick that at times I wanted to laugh and cry for Aggie because she just doesn't understand why he won't even kiss her in the beginning. Frederick knows what Aggie has gone through in her past including her rape, and wants to take it slow with her and doesn't want her to ever fear him or the intimacy they share. But Aggie views Frederick as her safety net, he is the one person she knows would NEVER hurt her and wants to kiss him and make love to him but he keeps denying her and so we see them go through this dance of engage and retreat and was pretty funny at times. The humor that this author displays is quite wonderful, this book left me with a smile on my face pretty much all the way through despite all the tough challenges and circumstances that these two are faced with but what a STORY!! This is a full on provoking and emotionally filled romance that will leave you with happy tears and looking up more of this author's work.

I would recommend reading certain books in order First Frederick's Queen and then Ian's Rose and then the Bowie Bride. They are connecting stories a bit, and it works better if you read them in order.

Frederick's Queen Book Two of the Clan Graham Series

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