Sunday, December 30, 2018

Review - The Scot's Bride

Title:   The Scot's Bride
Author:  Paula Quinn
Series:  Highland Heirs #2
Genre:   Historical Romance
Publisher:   Forever
Format:  Kindle
No. of Pages:  384
Date of Publication:  October 31, 2017
My Rating:  5 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

AN IRRESISTIBLE SCOUNDREL

Highlander Patrick MacGregor likes his life just the way it is. Fighting for his coin, enjoying a woman's charms, and bearing no responsibility at all. Aye, that's the life for him. That is, until Patrick sees her-a raven-haired beauty with eyes as dark as midnight. Patrick swore never to fall in love. Not even with a lass as wild as he...especially when she's from a rival clan.

AN UNDENIABLE DESIRE

Charlotte Cunningham knows Patrick is trouble the moment she sets eyes on him. Her only goal is to escape the possibility of marriage. Any marriage. But as the summer days turn into sultry nights, enticing her beyond reason, Charlie is forced to choose between the freedom she craves and the reckless rogue she can't forget.

In the New York Times bestselling tradition of Lynsay Sands, Hannah Howell, and Karen Hawkins comes a new book in Paula Quinn's new sinfully sexy Scottish romance series.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

This might just be one of my favorite historical romance stories. For one thing, I absolutely adored Patrick MacGregor, who is a Highlander. He is extremely powerful. He can fell a man - or several men - without a sword. What's more is he is extremely sensitive. For example, one of my favorite lines from this story was, "He smiled as his pitiful heart melted all over his ribs." Well, my heart melted as I read that line.

Charlotte Cunningham wields a slingshot like young David in the Bible. That is who I thought of. When Charlie spotted this huge highlander, and certainly couldn't guess his motives, she hit him with it and completely knocked him out. This allowed her brothers to tie him up and capture him. Even from the very beginning, she could sense that he was Trouble.

Both Patrick and Charlie have made their niches in life. Patrick is quite comfortable living a life free of responsibility. Conversely, Charlie is imbued with responsibility, for her sister Elsie, and for others she has taken it upon herself to defend and protect. Marriage is something that she will avoid to any extent, even though her time with Patrick raises that possibility more than once. For one thing, Charlie is grieving the loss of her first love.

So how does a pair of complete and utter opposites find love? Freedom of responsibility vs. an overload of responsibility. As much as I enjoyed both of these characters, there were other characters nearly as compelling. There is Elsie, Charlie's younger sister. There is a family in town that Charlie has come close two. All of there trials were dealt with so well that this story flowed together seamlessly. As if Patrick and Charlie, and their struggle to find love isn't enough of a challenge. Their are clan feuds going on and Patrick is forced to hid his true identity.

For a captivating story rich with warmth, love, passion, a bit of intrigue, and certainly, angst and hatred, The Scot's Bride is just the perfect read. This delectable book grabbed my attention from the very beginning and I could not put it down until I read it completely through. It is a brilliant read and makes me long for the highlands of Scotland.

The Scot's Bride is the second book in the Highland Heirs series. The following books that have been released are Highlander’s Christmas Kiss, Laird of the Black Isle and Highlander Ever After. There were previous stories in a related series, The MacGregors: Highland Heirs, that is connected to this one.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I made it! I'm finally here! My first book, Lord Of Desire, will hit the bookshelves August, 2005.

It's been a long road.

I've always loved stories. I was fortunate to have a mother who not only read to me, but made up tales of her own. My luck continued as I grew up. Fourth grade was one of my favorite years as a student. Some things you just never forget, like Sister Joseph Anne and her original stories about the adventures of Jane and Fifi at Avocado Green. I could have sat at my desk for the next ten years and listened to her.

When I was eleven I had the supreme audacity (and confidence) to submit my own masterpiece, a short story, to a science fiction house. To my disbelief and dismay, my story was rejected. Not one to be disillusioned by a mere, We're sorry, but this is CRAP, I submitted yet another manuscript, this one a full length paranormal. Rejected again. What did they know, anyway?

It didn't stop me from writing. I wrote poems, plays, and short stories. But I never submitted any of them again. They were the children of my loins! (Sure I thrived on the dramatic, but doesn't every pre-teen?) I couldn't bear having someone critique them.

An avid reader, I read The Exorcist and Jaws before the movies came out. After all, what could a producer show me on screen that could compare with my imagination?)

My favorite genre in reading was science fiction, but something was always missing. Enter my other first love. When I was fourteen I met the boy who would become my husband. By then, I was already a hopeless romantic, (I just didn't know it yet) so the poor guy didn't stand a chance. Then one day he kissed me. Aha! That's what had been missing from my library! A knee-melting, heart-accelerating kiss! I bought myself a black and white composition notebook and poured my heart out into sonnets, which I read to my sweetheart while he yawned. But who cares if I brought him close to unconsciousness? I had found my niche! Romance, ah, sweet, scintillating romance! Life made sense. I finally understood why I always had to have a Ken doll to go along with my Barbie.

Happiness. Bliss.

Then reality came a' knocking. I wrote because I loved writing. The thought of making it my career hadn't crossed my mind. (And those rejection letters tucked deep beneath my stack of journals, calling out, remember me? Remember me? Well, they didn't help either.) I had to get a job. One that paid real money. My life took a different turn, one that I affectionately call, The Joys And Why Can't You Just Put The Toilet Paper On The Roll Thingie Of Motherhood. Yes, I married my knee-melting kisser of a boyfriend and had three beautiful children and a zoo, complete with a Lhasa Apso, a Chihuahua, a brand new beautiful Cockatoo named Marley, and lots of finches, keets, and fish.

I still wrote. I happily clicked away at my keyboard, page after page, content to share my stories with my mom and my best friend before sealing each manuscript in a colorful plastic envelope and retiring it to my file cabinet. Fortunately, I took them out every so often and read them to my husband late at night, after the kids went to sleep. He never yawned, but he did fall asleep on several occasions.

But he was always my champion. (Would a romance writer marry anything less?) And he convinced me to submit my work.



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