It is finally summer and my goal is to read – at least for the first couple of weeks.

The Highland Magic Series by Helen Harper includes all four books: Gifted Thief, Honour Bound, Veiled Threat and Last Wish. The series stars Integrity Taylor Adair a thief reluctantly pulled back into the politics of the Sidhe courts. Over the course of the four books Integrity is going to have to learn the truth about her parents, the motivations of the Fomori across the veil and her own inner strength.

Highland Magic is an urban fantasy set in the highlands of Scotland. This northern section of Scotland has been separated from the lowlands by a magical barrier originally designed to separate the Sidhe clans from the barbarous Fomori. While Sidhe might claim to be the honourable group, their racist, bickering, manipulative and violent actions really call into question who the true demons are.

Joining Integrity on her journey are her adopted father (human) and close friends (merman, pixie, and wizard). Oh, and then there is Ben, the jinni of the letter opener whose wishes all come with unwanted consequences. The motley crew makes for some entertaining hijinks and discussions of what family means – is it blood or those you choose to be around?

The distinctly Scottish setting is filled with obvious landmarks – Aberdeen, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Obin. At least these are the names of places that jumped out at me. The collection of magical creatures felt more Scottish than American, with a greater emphasis on the Sidhe, Trolls, Pixies and several species I am not familiar with. There were no vampires or werewolves in this story.

But the thing I liked most about this series was Integrity’s perspective on violence – she is a pacifists. This is not an excuse for our heroine to be a damsel in distress. Integrity is very much the type of character to charge, well sneak, forward to get things done. She does question her own non-violence policy throughout the series but in the end she is able to find a way around the various problems in a non-violent manner. I like that we are given a strong female lead whose strength does not rely on her ability to fist punch the problem into submission.

With quick, witty writing and a distinctly Scottish setting I really enjoyed this atypical urban fantasy. I thought it was another successful series by Helen Harper – who also wrote The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Magic series (and many other things I haven’t yet read).

A solid 4.5 stars out of 5!