In the Scottish Highlands, two warriors are about to clash over a woman of passion…

They were the unlikeliest of friends debauching their way through London: The Earl of Camdonn, a nobleman of vast wealth and power, and Scottish laird Alan MacDonald, a respected Jacobite with ambitions of his own.
But their friendship is destroyed when Alan marries the beautiful Sorcha Stewart --only to witness Cam kidnap her from their bedroom. Then Alan learns the truth: his bride was not an innocent. She took a lover before him --his friend-- who taught her the ways of pleasure.
Now, Alan will do anything to get his wife back. Cam fights to redeem his honor, even as he refuses to give up his desire. Torn between love and duty, Sorcha must watch as the two men she desires go to war over her. And when the battle lines are drawn, all three lovers are lured into a triangle of forbidden passions.

When Dawn Halliday asked if there were reviewers interested in reviewing the upcoming anthology she contributed to, I didn’t hesitate. However, after some emails back and forth we decided I’d review HIGHLAND OBSESSION instead. This has to do with my reading-in-order obsession but I have bored you enough with that in other reviews so I’m not going there in this one. The scorching first chapter of HIGHLAND OBSESSION immediately set the tone for me and I knew I was in for a steamy and emotionally complicated read. My expectations were thoroughly met after that first chapter because Dawn Halliday delivered an emotional and heartbreaking love story against the backdrop of Highland political turmoil, a background that added to the already emotional tension between the main characters of the story.

As I don’t want to spoil the main storyline and important stuff of the book I will not say too much about it but for me it was a beautiful story with a good resolution. I’ve read my fair share of ménage and permanent threesome stories and some were good, some were of lesser quality, some were emotionally detached, some were very intense. HIGHLAND OBSESSION belongs to the good and intense ones. It is well written, fast-paced and engaging. The three main players are distinct personalities with their passionate and fiery nature in common. This makes for a story of passion, betrayal, trust, friendship and love with great chemistry and synergy and emotional, explosive interactions.

I totally fell for the way Alan fought for his wife and showed his resentment towards Cam. Alan is kind, honorable and humble, but that is to a certain extent. Cross him and you will suffer the consequences. He will fight for what he perceives as his with determination and charm. Cam on the other hand struck me as rough and unpolished at times. Dark, brooding and stubborn, he is used to getting what he wants and can be quite arrogant. There were times I actually didn’t like him in the way he was convinced Sorcha belonged with him. In the end, I did however sympathize as I saw why he hides his compassion and tenderness behind his hard-headedness and that he wasn’t out to hurt Alan and Sorcha intentionally. With the battle between Alan and Cam for Sorcha’s love and affection, at first I was afraid she was going to be overshadowed by the men. But my fear was unfounded, bit-by-bit her determination and strength came out and I admired her for standing her ground with both Alan and Cam and fighting for her happiness. When she accepted her feelings, she showed her true smart-mouthed, quick-witted and stubborn self.

This highly erotic historical romance is definitely not conventional and for me that sealed the deal. As I said I have read several stories with this topic, mostly in contemporary settings, but this one was brought in a wonderful combination of history, emotions and characters. Dawn Halliday has a way of enthralling with the imagery in her writing and combined with the strong emotional dilemmas, this book totally worked for me. I will definitely be on the lookout for the sequel, HIGHLAND SURRENDER (coming April 2010), because with HIGHLAND OBSESSION Dawn Halliday gave me an enticing read that has me wanting more.

Rating: 8.7 out of 10