Well, surprise surprise - Deirdre is still alive! Or at least her spirit is, almost like Voldemort in the Harry Potter series until he regains his body.This book is about Hayden, the blonde giant Warrior who hates all drough Druids, because the drough killed his family. Drough Druids undergo a ceremony at a certain age where they cut themselves and give themselves and the blood shed during the ceremony over to evil. The blood is usually bottled and hung around the drough's neck; it's called The Demon's Kiss. (Still not sure why this blood is so important, except that we do know that blood from The Demon's Kiss causes an almost unhealable wound when it is poured or somehow enters a Warrior through a wound.)Hayden is part of the MacLeod clan of Warriors and Druids, living in the MacLeod's old castle. The Warriors are rebuilding the castle and the village cottages surrounding the castle, expecting other Warriors and possibly Druids or normal folk to seek refuge. They *think* Deirdre is dead, killed by several of the Warriors when they stormed her evil fortress, Cairn Mountain. In the process, any Warrior who wouldn't join the MacLeod's fight against Deirdre was killed. We left with the mountain blowing up, and snow falling all around.In the beginning of this book, Fallon MacLeod and Hayden Campbell are sifting through the mountain's wreckage, looking for survivors. But all the Warriors they find are dead. And then Hayden finds Isla, the drough Druid that Deirdre has control over - the one she's been using and possessing to do her evil bidding. In the last book, we wondered if Isla was friend or foe - she seemed to do what she could to assist Quinn MacLeod and others against Deirdre without really assisting. And we saw Isla's sister and niece die in the fight against Deirdre; they were the reason that Deirdre held power over Isla - she thought she was saving their lives.When Hayden sees Isla, he doesn't know who she is, he just falls instantly for her. Not sure if the author tries to say that love-at-first-sight is possible or just that it's possible for one to recognize his or her soulmate with just one look. Regardless, we see Hayden fight to save Isla and bring her back to the MacLeod fortress. Of course, once there, Quinn, Broc, Ian, Duncan, and Marcail all recognize Isla, so it's not long before all know who she is. This causes big trouble for Hayden, whose black-and-white world is shattered. Hayden can't stay away from Isla, nor she from him, and it isn't long before they're passionately kissing... all leading to more.Isla is upfront with everyone about who and what she is. She answers each question truthfully, causing the clan to believe her and to be shocked by her frankness. This leads to them accepting her as one of their own, and trying to befriend Isla. But she's so used to being alone, it's difficult for her to trust or to allow her emotions to go free. She's fought every emotion, every pain, everything for so long so as not to show her fear or hurt to Deirdre, that Isla isn't sure that she can take being around the MacLeod clan much longer. She tells them that Deirdre can control her, and that she'll feel splitting pain in her head right before that happens; she makes all promise to kill her (take her head) before Deirdre can break through.Isla also uses her strong magic to put a shield around the MacLeod lands. She tells them that as long as she's with them, the shield will prevent Deirdre or other black magic from seeing, hearing, or hurting them. Problem is, Heyden is having a hard time dealing with Isla being a drough. He can't stay away from her, he doesn't want anyone else near her and runs instantly to protect her, but he can't stand the thought of her being a drough like the drough who killed his family and village.When Deirdre makes a literal deal with the Devil (another deal), all Hell breaks loose. Will Isla and Heyden be torn apart? Will Heyden be duty-bound to kill Isla to prevent Deirdre from using her?-----------------I thought the whole "Dierdre is dead" in the last book was anti-climatic. Now I know why: Deidre's not dead. And since we've run out of MacLeod brothers, to continue the tale, we must see it through another Warrior's eyes... and why not Heyden? Yeah, let's have Heyden fall in love with a drough!As the series progresses, there is less and less information about the main story... less and less about anything other than the lust/love between the Hero and Heroine of the story. And that's getting old...
