Peril and passion on enemy seas… Lottie Livingstone bears the weight of an island on her shoulders. Under threat of losing their home, she and her clan take to the seas to sell a shipload of illegal whiskey. When an attack leaves them vulnerable, she transforms from a maiden daughter to a clever warrior. For survival, she orchestrates the siege of a rival’s ship and now holds the devilish … devilish Scottish captain Aulay Mackenzie under her command.
Tied, captive and forced to watch a stunning siren commandeer the Mackenzie ship, Aulay burns with the desire to seize control–of the ship and Lottie. He has resigned himself to a life of solitude on the open seas, but her beauty tantalizes him like nothing has before. As authorities and enemies close in, he is torn between surrendering her to justice and defending her from assailants. He’ll lose her forever, unless he’s willing to sacrifice the unimaginable…
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Devil in Tartan had it all romance, chemistry, and adventure on the high seas!!! Lottie has found herself in a very precarious situation. Her father has yet again come up with a disastrous scheme. She agreed to sail to Denmark to sell illegal whiskey when they found themselves under attack. Now, she finds herself as a pirate when she takes control of a Scottish captain’s ship.
Aulay is finally back doing what he loves best….on the open sea. He and his crew are making a trip to Denmark when they see a boat in distress. Despite his doubts, he decides to help when he sees a beautiful woman aboard a sinking boat. Big mistake…Now, he finds himself captive to this siren, and he is torn. In his heart, he wants to help her, but his mind wants to bring her and her clan to justice. Which will win, his heart or his mind?
I loved Lottie! She was definitely not a woman of her time in the 1700’s. Even though her father was the chief of her clan, she really was. After spending his inheritance, he had to resort to schemes to pay his rents, thus landing his clan in trouble. Lottie bears the weight of her family on her shoulders, always putting her family’s needs in front of hers. Before her mother passed away, she warned Lottie to never forget herself. Yet, that is what she has done until Aulay enters her life. He comes to bear some of that weight for her. If she appeared cold and calculating in the beginning, she really did hate what she had to do in in order to survive. Thankfully, Aulay recognized that.
As much as I loved Lottie, I loved Aulay just as much. He, like Lottie, is somewhat lost. He never felt like he had a place within his family. They only place he felt at peace was when he was at sea. As he becomes closer to Lottie, he realizes that she makes him feel alive and a part of something. They really to complete one another.
I haven’t read the other books in the series, but if they are anything like this book, I can’t wait to read them. If you love wild, passionate heroines and sexy, loyal heroes, I highly suggest joining on this adventure with Lottie and Aulay!
For me, it took a little bit to get “into”. But it did start to get to good.
I did enjoy the book overall.
Lots of adventure.
*I received my copy from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
This is a twist on a pirate tale, as Lottie Livingstone and her family of misfits attempt to save their financially failing clan by selling their illegally made whiskey. Their efforts cause all kinds of havoc, including the loss of their ship and the capture of the ship owned by the Mackenzie clan, and captained by second son, Aulay. Lottie as her family’s leader is responsible for this chaos, and Aulay is determined she “ pay the price” for her actions. Except Aulay has a few wee little misgivings.
This is an action packed adventure filled with intrigue, humor, and plenty of heat between these two characters. It’s a page turner and thoroughly entertaining.
“Devil in Tartan” by Julia London 2018 (Highland Grooms Series Book #4
I was really excited to see this was Aulay Mackenzie’s story. If you have been reading The Highland Groom’s Series, this book comes after “The Hard-Hearted Highlander”. In that book Aulay, brother of Rabbie, was the love/infatuation object of Rabbie’s fiancee, Avaline. Although Aulay was only being kind to her, Avaline thought he was in love with her.
After Rabbie was settled in married bliss, Captain Aulay Mackenzie set sail carrying goods to trade for an English agent. He was to sail to Amsterdam and then on to Cadiz. This was the Mackenzie clan’s chance to change their future even if his father argued about the risk.
It wasn’t too long after they had set sail when they spied a ship on fire. The ship flew a royal flag. Then they saw a smaller boat which had damage to it’s main mast. Aulay decided to take a closer look. The smaller boat’s blundering crew made all the crew of Aulay’s ship, the Reulag Balhaire, laugh with glee. Then they saw a beautiful Lady waving a white flag. A smaller boat came over to the Reulag Balhaire and asked for help. Thinking the blundering crew could be no trouble and their ship was taking on water, Aulay decided to let them come over. He would take them to land. Aulay’s men were so busy looking at the beautiful Lady they were not even armed when the other crew came over. They brought over the beautiful Lady and every sailor was enamored with her. She asked the Captain to come forward so she could thank him. Aulay was bedeviled. Seeing blood on her dress they were concerned and Beaty, Aulay’s first mate, commented that it should be looked at. One of her men shouted it could turn to Gangrene. “Gangrene” she cried and lifted her skirt to see the cut. All Watched. “Can any of you see?” But before Aulay could answer, he was hit from behind and when he tried to get up she said ” I am so verry sorry” and kicked her knee squarely into his jaw. The next thing Aulay knew he was gagged, tied and shacked to his desk in his cabin. He was felled not by the sea, but by a woman. How humiliating! He would see them all hang.
Lady Larson is really Lottie Livingstone trying to save her clan. Her father injured, a load of whisky to sell and now she has stolen Captain Mackenzie’s ship. Will she be up to all of this responsibility. She tries to tell the Captain that she is only borrowing his ship.
Read on to see the story unfold. Happy Reading!
This is about the third Mackenzie brother, Aulay, who is a sea captain. He’s always felt inferior to his two brawnier brothers and his more socially adept sisters, and has never felt his father appreciated him. He’s always felt more comfortable at sea, and it’s on a voyage to Europe that he and his ship are basically kidnapped by a band of travelers from a small island in Scotland, who are ostensibly travelling to Denmark to sell their cargo of illegal whiskey. Their leader is a stunning white-blonde woman, and their interactions cause danger, loss, and a cause for introspection on Aulay’s part. A good addition to the series, I hope that the daughter’s are included soon.
I received an ARC for an honest review
I used to love reading historical romance, and this book reminded me why. It took me a little while to get into this book, but when it did it grabbed me and didn’t let go. I think every character had their high and low points, there were things I loved and hated about all of them, I think that’s what made them even more relate-able . I really didn’t think these characters were going to get their HEA and I can admit I was losing faith, but sticking with this book to the very end was so worth it. I spent a large part of this book with my heart in my throat and fighting back tears, again it was worth it! I haven’t read any of the other books in this series and now I have to!
I read the first 100 pages of this book and I have come to the decision that’s this book is dry. 80 pages of this book stayed stationary with the two lead characters staying in the captains cabin with her father discussing trying to save the whiskey. One word?! Boring! This is my honest review. Sorry Julia. I will still read your other books though.
I received an eARC at no cost from the author.
Devil in Tartan is the fourth book on the Highland Grooms series, by Julia London.
Having read the first three books, it’s impossible not to make comparisons between them. Sadly, for me, this was my least favourite book.
It had an interesting premise, and I liked Aulay, but I just couldn’t connect with Lottie.
Lottie is described as strong, courageous, fearsome woman, but even if she was trying to do her best to save the (illegal) family business, she just didn’t act nor did justice to her descriptions. She was, no doubt, intelligent enough to use her pretty face to fool men, but that didn’t make me like her more – it actually made me like her less.
And Aulay, although I did like him more than Lottie, he too was a bit of an empty character. He was a painter, which I liked, but felt it wasn’t explored enough. I liked that Julia London mentioned his role in the family, how he felt, because that made me connect with him more, but it just felt like it was lacking something.
I liked revisiting characters from the previous books, but it was for such a short while that it wasn’t enough to save the book from a simple 3 star rating.
I just couldn’t connect with the characters as much as in the previous books, and I felt that with both Lottie’s crew and Aulay’s crew always around it felt a bit too crowded and there were too many characters (and sometimes I even got confused with who was whom – and I read the book in just two days, and rarely get lost in these books, but with this one it was hard to remember all the minor characters).
Julia London’s writing isn’t being put in question here, she was as good as always, I just felt like she tried to put too much in one book and ended up not focusing enough on what was really necessary. Still, it was a different read, and I managed to enjoy parts of it.
Julia London
Loved it I couldn’t put it down when I started it
I had so much fun with this book. I loved the heroine, Lottie. Her spirit and courage are unstoppable and so refreshing. She is the epitome of what I expect a Highland Lass to be, or at least the one that I would hope I would have been. When you are the only hope to save your family, your clans fortunes then wouldn’t you go to any lengths? This is exactly what Lottie does when faced with challenges, quick thinking and a desire only to keep those she loves safe may send Lottie down a path she never expected and into the ‘clutches’ of a righteous man, but those choices also lead her down a path she could have never expected and her family and clan into a content and happy future. I loved watching Aulay’s little safe bubble of the sea explode around him as he comes to terms with his self imposed solitude and his true desires.
I really enjoyed this couple. I loved the give and take between the two of them. I loved Aulay’s indignation in the beginning, his disbelief that he let himself be broadsided by Lottie, and finally the knowledge that his righteousness is nothing in the face of his attraction to Lottie. I loved Lottie’s courage, her refusal to back down, and her acceptance of the future she believes is before her. One of my favorite things and that I found most enjoyable is the ‘fighting’ between these two. The storyline itself;f could actually be pretty heavy and tense if it wasn’t for these moments of levity brought about by the bickering between these two.
This book is one adventure after another, each one flowing easily into the other. This is one of those books that in my mind I can watch play out as if it was on a movie screen as I read. Julia does a beautiful job of setting the scene and making the story flow easily from one page to the next. I even loved that while this is a romance it isn’t all about the romance. This is a story of finding your place in the world and being lucky enough to find it with some one you love.
This is the first book I have read from Ms. London and I throughly enjoyed it. This is also the 4th book in this series but as you can see it can clearly be read as a standalone within the series. I will most assuredly be going back and reading the first three and I am quiet eager to get the stories that belong to secondary characters in Devil in Tartan.
~ HAPPY READING ~
I love all of Julia London’s books. I have read every one that I can get my hands on and have never been disappointed in a book and this one did not disappoint either. Julia’s books are full on action, attraction, powerful, independent characters, and they have a great story line. In Julia London’s 4th book in The Highlands Grooms is a great book. Don’t be fooled by the first couple of chapters, the whole book is a great read. It starts out a little slow in the first couple of chapters but after that it gets a lot better. It has a great story-line about Aulay and Lottie. I love how the story took place mostly at sea and all the action aboard the boat. I loved reading how they fought the attraction and how they came together in the end to make a powerful couple. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series.
When I was younger, I read historical romances all the time. But now, my tastes are a more contemporary romances. When I saw the opportunity to read Devil in Tartan, I was intrigued by the blurb. So, I read my first Julia London book. I was not disappointed. It’s a great story with powerful characters. Aulay and Lottie make an interesting duo, of course it takes a while for them to get there.
Highland Grooms Book Four.
Aulay Mackenzie is back at sea when his crew comes across a small, bedraggled ship with a pathetic looking crew. When he offers the men passage onboard his ship, Aulay is surprised by the beauty of a young woman among the group. However, the small ship’s inhabitants shock the Mackenzies when they take over the ship. Lottie Livingstone insists that she is only borrowing his ship until she can make it to Denmark and sell her whiskey to save her people. Despite her actions, Aulay begins to feel for Lottie and struggles with his need for justice.
If you’ve been looking for a kidnapping role-reversal romance, this is the one for you!
I struggled with Devil in Tartan by Julia London, book four in her Highland Grooms series. Lottie is a strong, courageous, fearsome woman, who was trying to do her best to save the family business, albeit illegal. I’m not sure she lived up to or did justice to her descriptions. She appeared to be intelligent enough to use her pretty face to fool men, but that didn’t make me like her more, it actually made me like her less. Aulay is a ship captain trying new adventures despite his father’s lack of belief that it would be successful. In addition he was a painter which I thought was great but it wasn’t explored enough. I liked that Julia London mentioned his role in the family and how he felt as that gave me some information so I could connect with him more, but it just felt like it was not enough. Lottie starts off hating Aulay or rather what he represents which turns into distrust of him. Unfortunately Aulay can’t wait to string Lottie up for pirating his ship.
I think the scenes where they are bickering are some of the best in the book, I liked how they seem to bounce off each other, how their personalities were conflicting and yet they are quite sensual.
Julia London’s writing isn’t being put in question, this story just didn’t have that renowned London shine that I am so used to in her books. It felt like she tried to put too much in one book and ended up not focusing enough on what was really necessary.
I still recommend this ‘Enemies to Lovers’ Historical Romance to other readers who might have better luck.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book