From New York Times bestselling author Hannah Howell comes a spellbinding tale set in the majestic Highlands, where an arranged marriage becomes a true joining of hearts. . .The vivid scar that spans Sir Iain MacLagan’s cheek is a daily reminder of the wife he lost—and of the enemy that still stalks him. Commanded by Scotland’s king to remarry in order to unite two powerful border clans, Iain … border clans, Iain reluctantly weds Islaen MacRoth, a woman whose delicate appearance belies a playful, seductive nature that proves dangerously attractive to a man who has vowed never to jeopardize his heart, or his loved ones, again. . .
Raised with eleven boisterous brothers, Islaen has little time for foolish romantic notions. Even so, she hoped for more than a forced marriage to a man who shares her bed, but not her life. Step by step, Islaen sets out to wear down Iain’s defenses. But can her ruggedly handsome husband learn to give her his love as freely as he bestows his passion?
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Overall:
Plot/Storyline:
Feels:
Emotional Depth:
Tension:
Romance:
Sensuality:
Intimate Scene Length:
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): +
Humor: Yes
Should I read in order?
I didn’t and this book was fine. Book 1 is about Storm and Tavis, who do appear on page here. It wasn’t anything that I felt like I was missing out.
Basic plot:
Islaen is finally ready to search for a husband at 19. Still quite small, her family was hoping she would grow more before her come out. Once she meets Iain, she shows she wants him and with the aid of the king and her father, an arranged marriage is settled between them.
Give this a try if you want:
– Scottish Highlands setting – I don’t know the year for this but another one in the series is listed as 1375 so around there
– Lower steam – there are a shocking NINE scenes in this book, but none of them were too explicit. Most were super short – like a few sentences to a few paragraphs. Blink and you miss it.
– A bit of an age gap – the hero is 34, heroine is 19
– Arranged marriage trope
– Heroine is spunky but sweet, hero is a widower
– Scarred hero – not a huge plot point, but he’s scarred from his eye to his mouth
– Lots of danger throughout the plot
My thoughts:
I started off enjoying this book. It had quite a bit of good banter and humor in the beginning. The heroine is quite tiny and has been told her huge breasts are ugly and she needs to bind them so no one knows how hideous she is. Once the marriage is arranged, she cannot live with this lie and goes to tell Iain her sin. He is so overcome by her glorious huge boobs, he can only say “Oh, God” and grab them repeatedly. This part was fun. I quite liked the beginning.
Then it kind of spiraled off into everything I don’t love in a romance. The intimacy is popping up kind of out of nowhere – I didn’t really have the tension building I wanted. And the scenes are only a couple sentences. Lots and lots of drama and danger starts interrupting frequently through the story and for me, the romance got lost.
There is also a conflict they are having about having children. The hero doesn’t want them but the heroine does. Some deception goes on here that I was not in love with, not at all. Content warnings abound, so please check those if you are sensitive!
Content Warnings:
Death of a spouse
Stillborn/death of a child
Difficult childbirth resulting in death
There’s quite a bit of OM/OW drama that results in ‘whore’ and ‘slut’ being thrown about.
Infidelity – hero admits to thinking of taking a lover after he is married to and intimate with the heroine and kisses someone else
Violent on page attempted sexual assault of heroine
Kidnapping by villain
Scenes of torture
Very brief mention of abortion
By and1515
Iain was a loyal subject to his Scottish king and when he’s commanded to marry he does just that even though it’s the very last thing he really wanted.
She was from a good family and when she faces the same command she’ll make sure he’ll have a chance to say nah before he discovers her deceit.
However things that a far different course and in the morning things start off downright cold.
While dealing with enemies at every turn it’ll take a miracle for them to survive while she starts to understand what makes him tick the way he does and she’ll have to try and tear down the walls he’s built to protect himself from further pain.