DNF

Excellent Scottish Historical Romance! I cannot wait to read the rest in this series!

Despite having fallen in love with the previous series (the parents’ books) this one was extremely boring and I found myself skipping pages just to get to the end of it. Edmund was an adorable young boy in “Conquered by the Highlander” and I was excited to read his own story considering the previous books were done so well. I was extremely disappointed and felt that the main thing this book was missing compared to the others was that there were no underlying issue with their relationship other than Amelia being “honor bound” to her fathers wishes that she wed her fiancé. Edmund spewed his “loyalty” to Scotland and his quest to stop a bill from passing, but his plan didn’t hold ground for me and felt weak. If he was so set on changing the course of the bill he would have been more extreme than kidnapping her within the first three chapters of the book.

Edmund kidnaps Lady Amelia to prevent her father, fiance and uncle from voting for Scotland uniting with England. Amelia does not love her fiance, but has agreed to marry to support her father. A little angsty for me love of country and familial duty and love vs. personal attraction and love. Though I did think that the repetitive way we talk to children can influence them through life is fairly well depicted, for example dwelling and highlighting their mistakes.

Why have I never read a Paula Quinn before? That's what I was asking myself as I was reading this. I mean, I've read nearly every other Scottish Romance writer, so how has this one passed me by? Well, I have no idea, but she's on my radar now, and if this is any indication of the standard to expect, I have some fun times ahead making my way through her back catalogue!

Edmund MacGregor is the leader of a group of lethal Highland men. His mission is to prevent the signing of a treaty which will seal Scotland's fate. During the course of his mission he meets Lady Amelia, who aside from being the most beautiful woman he's ever seen, just happens to be the daughter of someone very important politically, and would therefore make an excellent bargaining chip were she to be, say...kidnapped and held for ransom!

Now, you'd think you'd be cross at Edmund's character for his kidnapping ways, but he and the rest of the guys were so blinking honourable, and treated her so well, you probably won't be able to maintain a scowl any longer than I did. I fell instantly in love with him, and loved it when the narrative would switch to his POV, because he was almost poetic in his flattering descriptions of heroine Amelia. It was just so cute! And who doesn't love a hero that knows his own heart? No one, that's who.

Amelia was a little firecracker as well. Her tendency to say exactly what she's thinking without first running it through a filter is a character flaw that has found her in hot water more times than she can count, but as a reader, her utterings are endlessly entertaining. She may have made an error in judgement here and there throughout the story, but overall I really enjoyed her.

The plot wasn't the fastest paced I've ever read, but the ending was certainly exciting. I also enjoyed the subplot with Amelia's maid and one of the other men. That was an added bonus for sure!

I'll definitely be coming back for more from this author, and recommend readers already familiar with her work, and particularly the characters from her previous series (who are the parents of this lot) check this one out, too!

4 Stars ★★★★
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

One Edmund is everything! Two I rolled off my couch reading it last night because it was so intense. Three I sat on the floor at work tonight after I finally finished it. Edmund was so smart and perfect. He gave me a case of the heart eyes through this whole book.

I am undone and need time to recover.
Will edit later.

3.75 stars