The Lady’s Proposal for the Laird

A betrothal bargain

With the Highlander from her past

When Susanna Cameron needs to thwart her brothers’ plan to marry her off, she turns to her childhood sweetheart, Laird Rowan Campbell, with a daring proposal—to be her pretend betrothed! In exchange, she’ll help the now-hardened Rowan get revenge on the man who killed his family. The only flaw in Susanna’s plan—their returning attraction!   

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Author Bio
Jeanine Englert’s love affair with mysteries and romance began with Nancy Drew, Murder She Wrote, and her Grandmother’s bookshelves full of romance novels. She is a VIVIAN® and Golden Heart® Finalist as well as a Silver Falchion, Maggie, and Daphne du Maurier Award Winner in historical romance and mystery. Her Scottish Highland historical and historical romantic suspense novels revolve around characters seeking self-acceptance and redemption. When she isn’t wrangling with her characters on the page, she can be found trying to convince her husband to watch her latest Masterpiece or BBC show obsession. She loves to talk about books, writing, her beloved rescue pups, as well as mysteries and romance with other readers.

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Giveaway

Giveaway – Escape to the Scottish Highlands with a Cuppa and a Cow (Open To UK/US/Canada)

Enjoy reading a signed print copy of The Lady’s Proposal for the Laird with a beautiful Scottish tea cup and the companionship of an adorable matching Highland Cow made by Tom of Loch Ness designs in Scotland! 

*Terms and Conditions –UK. US & Canada entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

Tracy’s Review

The Lady’s Proposal For The Laird (Secrets of Clan Cameron, Book 2) by Jeanine Englert

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: The Secrets of Clan Cameron, #2

Release Date: March 26, 2024

Susanna Cameron and Rowan Campbell once shared a youthful infatuation that ended badly when Rowan proposed, and Susanna rejected him at her father’s command. They both went on to find new loves, but once again her father refused to let her marry the man of her heart, he even went as far as to send her love, Jeremiah on a suicide mission, which lead to his death, and crushing Susanna’s heart. Always volatile, Susanna became cold, and calculated, refusing to ever wed or forgive her father. After her father’s death, her brother Royce became laird and began to look into his father’s dealings and made a discovery that changed their lives forever and gained him a wife. But secrets were discovered, secrets that Royce fear will destroy his family and to protect them, he is demanding that Susanna wed. She demands answers and when none are forthcoming, she enlists the aid of her first love, the now widowed Rowan Campbell. She wants him to pretend to court her so they can learn what Royce is hiding and in exchange, she will help him gain vengeance on the man who murdered his wife and son. It is the perfect arrangement, because she knows she will never love again and is sure Rowan feels the same, so they will both get what they want and part ways. What could go wrong?

Rowan Campbell loved Susanna with the whole of his young heart, but she rejected him and then fell in love with one of her father’s soldiers, leaving him brokenhearted. It was over a year later before he met Anna and fell in love again, this time with a passion that he had never experienced, they wed and had two children, happiness seemed to be a given. But tragedy struck when a neighboring laird attacked and killed Anna and their son Keir, leaving Rowan devastated. Their loss was more than he could bear, his grief was all consuming and he lost himself to madness. His clan stripped him of the Lairdship and his young daughter was cared for by his sister. It was two years before he finally regained his position, but even now four years after their deaths, the grief and anger are festering and he doesn’t believe he will ever find peace until the MacDonald is dead, he goes through the motions of life for the sake of his daughter, Rosa, the only light in his bleak life, but otherwise, he has no desire to move on with his life. When Susanna approaches him with her scheme, he is surprised that he still feels desire for her, which makes him wary of spending time with her, but the temptation of killing Audric MacDonald is too great and he agrees. Maybe once he has vanquished Audric, he will finally be able to move on and be content.

This book is not what I thought it was going to be, it is a very heavy, emotional read and I was not really prepared for that, so this review might seem as if I didn’t like the book, but I did, I just didn’t love it. The writing is great, and I really believed that Susanna loved Jeremiah with all her heart, just like I believed that Rowan loved Anna the same way – I would even say that Susanna and Jereimah as well as, Anna and Rowan were soulmates – that said, a I felt that a lot of the book focused on the love that the primary characters had for other people, with a depth that seemed to make both of them emotionally unavailable, which made it hard for me to really believe that they fell in love with each other. My heart broke for both of them and I was happy that they both found a way to move on from the past and their crippling grief, but I just didn’t feel the romance between them. I am sure it doesn’t help that I am more of a “soulmate” type romance lover – I know that love after love is possible, and that there are different types of romantic love, but for me, when I am reading a romance, I want that “you are the love of my life, my other half, my soulmate” type of love. So that’s on me, not the author. This is the second book in the series, but I think it could be read as a standalone title with no problem, but if you can, read the books in order.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*