Tag: Heather Grothaus

The Highlander’s Promise by Heather Grothaus

On By TracyIn Medieval (1066-1540), Scottish/Highlander, Tracy's ReviewsLeave a comment

The Highlander's Promise (Sons of Scotland, #2)The Highlander’s Promise by Heather Grothaus
Tracy’s rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: Sons of Scotland, #2

Release Date: March 3, 2020

Thomas Annesley, Baron Annesley and Lord of Darlyrede is on the run, his betrothed Cordelia was murdered and her father, Vaughn Hargrave believes he killed her and is hunting him, he was shot and left for dead, but rescued by Harriet. She nursed him back to health and comforted him, but when Hargrave gets close, he has to leave her and the baby she is carrying. He sets off to Tower Roscraig – his mother’s dowry property and from there sets off to Carson Town to take refuge with his Mother’s clan. But as he approaches, he is taken prisoner by the Carson’s enemy – the Blairs. He is held prisoner and is taken care of by the chief’s daughter, Enda. But when Hargrave comes for him, he fakes his death to save Enda and runs. Unaware that he has left another babe…

Lachlan Blair is heir to the chief of the Blairs, he has been groomed his entire life to lead the people, he is betrothed to Searrach and is secure in his place in the clan. But when Sir Lucan Montague arrives from London bearing news of Thomas Annesley, everything Lachlan has ever known will change in a heartbeat. Lachlan’s grandfather Archibald is furious and disowns Lachlan. His foster father Marcas believes Archibald will calm down and reinstate Lachlan, but he dies overnight and Marcas claim’s his position. Lachlan is further betrayed when Searrach’s father calls off their betrothal and she goes along with it. And if all that was not enough, when the Carson’s come calling and are ready to declare war, Marcas agrees to marry Lachlan to Finley Carson as part of a new treaty.

Finley Carson has been wooed by every unmarried man in her town – all three of them – and has refused them all. She is a spitfire with no desire to marry, so when she is forced to marry Lachlan, she is just as unhappy as he is. Lachlan vows to find the truth about his father and reclaim his position as chief and Finley agrees to help him. By mutual consent, they do not consummate the marriage and he takes up residence in the “old house” the former chief’s burned out dwelling.
Together they uncover long held secrets and grow closer in the process, but when the truth finally comes out, will Lachlan hold the vow he made to reclaim his heritage or will he choose Finley?

I thought this installment was better than the previous book, but it was still not the best work I have read by this author. The story is fascinating, the writing is good and the story is paced well with A LOT of very interesting characters, a lot of secrets, deception, revelations, surprises, betrayal and villains galore. But as a romance I found it sadly lacking, I felt no real connection between Lachlan and Finley, it felt like the author was trying to incorporate a “Taming of the Shrew” vibe into the story, but didn’t quite make it work, Finley is most definitely a shrew at times, but she is not unlikable. I really can’t understand why they fell in love or even when, the love scenes are bland, basically a couple of kisses and one very vague love scene at the end. So overall, I thought this was a very interesting and intriguing historical fiction story, but wouldn’t call it a romance – which is what I wanted to read. I will read the next book because I have a burning need to know what is happening with Thomas Annesley and the epilogue in this book has Vaughn planning something heinous – I am sure I will enjoy the mystery of Thomas and cringe at the villainy of Vaughn Hargrave, but I will not be expect to be wowed by the love story. This is the second book in the series, but the author does provide ample backstory about Thomas, so the books can be read quite easily as stand-alone titles.

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

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.*