After a harsh betrayal, Magnus “Strath” Sutherland, Laird of Dornoch, accepts a commission from the king to squelch an English lord’s siege at the Scottish border. What better way to torment his new English enemy than to defeat his army and steal his beautiful bride? At first, Strath plans to toss the Sassenach lass into a dark cell and forget about her, but there is something about the way she defies him that he finds alluring, not to mention how very much he’d like to kiss her.
Eva de Clare, youngest daughter of the Earl of Northwyck, is pledged in matrimony to a cruel lord blackmailing her family. Her salvation comes in the form of a terrifying Highlander who interrupts
the ceremony. But salvation turns to horror when she’s plucked from where she stands and whisked
across the Scottish border. Eva isn’t about to be made a prisoner of war, and once she sees the
kindness beneath her captor’s hard exterior she decides she won’t be sent back to England to be wed either. In fact, she just might be the woman to warm the Highland warrior’s hardened heart.
Review:
Eva loves her father, even though he is draining their Earldom dry at the behest of the odious Lord Belfinch. Things become untenable, however, when he offers her hand in marriage. She sees no way out - until a band of Scots invade the keep and rescue her from the altar. They are led by the handsome and honourable laird Strath, who has orders of his own.
I enjoyed the character of Eva, as she reached out to help people despite her own circumstances. I can't say she was always the most sensible but she meant well and that counts for a lot. The growing bond between her and Strath was nice - they didn't fall in love immediately, though it was a close thing, but you do get to see them bicker and tease each other. Strath has his own problems and tended to overreact, and I wish someone had called him out on that.
I do feel like the ending came rather abruptly, for the number of plot lines that were hanging. I have no problem with the content of the end, but it seemed to be a deus ex (or three) and leaned a bit heavily on telling rather than showing.
While a quick Google lets me know this is second in a series that is a spinoff of another series, I thought it stood well on its own and was not overwhelmed by past characters. This was a solid Scottish romance where everyone got what they deserved, but while I liked it, I didn't love it.
Three stolen stars.
I received an ARC from Barclay Publicity
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