Author: Tracy

Avid reader (and reviewer) of historical romance.

The Laird’s Vow by Heather Grothaus

On By TracyIn Medieval (1066-1540), Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's Reviews2 Comments

The Laird's Vow (Sons of Scotland, #1)The Laird’s Vow by Heather Grothaus

Tracy’s rating: 2.5/3 of 5 stars

Series: Sons of Scotland #1

Release Date” September 17, 2019

The story opens with Thomas Annesley, Baron Annesley, Lord of Darlyrede wounded and fleeing his home. His beloved Cordelia is dead and her father, Lord Hargrove is trying to kill him. He comes upon travelers who offer to help him, but when he learns they are going to Darlyrede, he takes off into the night.

30 years later, Tavish Cameron is a merchant in Edinburgh, he has done well for himself and his mother, but is still not as successful as he would like. When a man enters his shop and locks the door, Tavish has no idea how much his life is going to change. Turns out, Thomas Annesley fled and was saved by Tav’s mother, Harriet. Thomas is Tavish’s father and has been captured and condemned to die – before that happened, he bequeathed an unentailed property – Roscraig Tower – to Tavish. Tavish is floored and can’t wait to claim his inheritance and the title of laird, so he notifies King James and sets off.

Glenna Douglas has lived at Roscraig all her life and believes her father is the rightful laird. So when Tavish comes claiming he is the laird, they are immediately at odds. Glenna’s father Iain is not well and the castle and the village are in disrepair, not to mention most of the inhabitants have died from a sickness that seems to target their lands, as a result, the fields are barren and there is no food. Glenna is almost starved, her clothes threadbare and living alone in the keep with her dying father. But none of this stops Glenna from acting like Tavish is a peasant beneath her notice and she refuses to even look at the papers Tavish has. She says she will wait for the king to come and uphold her father’s claim.

Tavish wastes no time improving the property and his mother Harriet is a sweetheart and takes over the care of Iain, who seems to improve under her care. When Tavish’s friend Audrey Keane arrives with the intention of marrying Tavish, things start to get interesting at Roscraig and Tav offers to let Glenna stay, as his mistress.

I have to say, of all the characters in this book, the only one I really liked was Harriet – Tavish was unlikable for a good portion of the book, but even he can’t compare to Glenna for the title of total jerk of the book – she was a snob, acted completely entitled and was unforgivably mean to Harriet. There was an ongoing misconception that the title of Laird elevates the holder to nobility (it doesn’t) and the title of Miss was not used until the 17th century – and while this is promoted as a medieval, it reads more like a regency. In addition to all that, I have no idea when (or why for that matter) they fell in love and the first half of the book was slow and repetitive, it does pick up a little around the 2/3 mark and the last 10% of the book is one non-stop surprise after another. The ending was jaw-dropping and saved the book from being a 2 star read. This is the first book in the series while I didn’t love it, I will most likely read the next book because of revelations in this book that have pulled me into the mystery of what happen to Thomas Annesley!

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*

To Wed a Wild Scot by Anna Bradley

On By TracyIn Georgian Era (1714-1837), Regency Era (1811-1820), Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's Reviews3 Comments

To Wed a Wild Scot (Besotted Scots, #2)To Wed a Wild Scot by Anna Bradley

Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Besotted Scots, #2

Release Date: September 17, 2019

Lady Juliana Bernard is in a bind, he father is dying and thanks to the interference of a spurned suitor, has changed his will, Juliana will only retain custody of her orphaned niece Grace if she is married, if not Grace’s guardianship will be given to Lord Cowden. Having let her betrothed go so he could marry for love and desperate to make sure Cowden doesn’t get custody, Juliana writes to her dearest friend and former betrothed, Fitzwilliam “Fitz” Vaugh, the Duke of Blackmore. When her letters go unanswered, Juliana sets out to find him in Scotland.

After days of travel, they finally make it to the Scottish border in Gretna Green, weary and filthy Juliana is stunned to see Fitz at the inn – but closer examination reveals that it is not Fitz and when the man asks if she is alright, it is clear he is Scottish, but he looks exactly like Fitz and she decides he must be related and follows him. 3 days later, she is sure she is right when he stops at the inn that she sends her letters to Fitz – and watches in horror as the man reads her letter and then burns it! Then as he is leaving she hears him telling the innkeeper that if an English lady shows up, to send her back to England. Furious, Juliana follows him to the castle. He realizes he is being followed and is shocked to learn she is the woman who has been writing to Fitz.

Logan Blair is Fitzwilliam’s younger twin brother, when their mother died giving birth, their uncle claimed Fitz as his heir and returned to England – Logan did no see his brother for 28 years, but once his uncle died, Fitz made his way to Scotland to be reunited. Logan has acted as Laird for years since their father died and is worried that Fitz will do what so many English landowner have done and “clear’ the lands – for years Logan has been working to protect his people, by relocating them. And when Fitz came to the castle, Logan encouraged him to become betrothed to a local girl, Emilia – thinking that he would be less inclined to evict people if he was married to a Scottish girl – so he has been burning Fitz’s letters from Juliana, he wants nothing to interfere with his plans. But when she shows up he has no choice but to take her to see Fitz.

Fitz is appalled when he learns what Logan has done and offers to marry Juliana. But Logan tells Juliana that Fitz is already betrothed and his future wife is pregnant – leading Juliana to inform Logan that she will have to marry him instead, a solution that Logan is vehemently opposed to – leading Fitz to have to get involved.

This was a well written, fast read, but I can’t say that I loved it, it was OK, but I really didn’t like Logan at the beginning, I understood his motivation, but his refusal to marry her after interfering and burning their letters was a complete jerk move and then later jumping to conclusions and seemingly forced misunderstandings just really dimished my enjoyment in the story. This is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand-alone title.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*