When darkness falls… Only true love can save them… Beiste is tempted by the lass, the secrets she holds, and the chance at retribution she brings.
Lady Elle Cam’béal is desperate to save her brother and her clan from the vile clutches of her Viking enemies. But there is only one man who can help her, a handsome, provocative laird with a beastly temper. When he locks her in a chamber, she is visited by an apparition, and left with a secret that changes her destiny. Elle must figure out a way to accept her fate, but also forge a future of her own choosing.
As battles and treachery rain down upon them, Beiste and Elle find unlikely allies in each other, and a few stolen moments of passion that bring light from the shadows…
A much smaller, novella-length version of this story appeared originally in the Once Upon a Haunted Castle anthology. This extended version is twice the original size!
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You can’t go wrong with anything by Eliza Knight. Great book!
The lady in this book was everything she should be smart, pretty and ingenious. But, the hero was dopey and dumb. The hero could not recognise what he wanted or needed and didn’t have a clue half the time what was even going on. Kinda a miss match twosome.
Loved everything about this is book, I really enjoyed the characters.
Danger, Viking raiders, a lady in need of his strong arm and army to save her brother. Beast has suffered the loss of his father, thrown into the mix add a ghost and a revealed bit of information. Most unexpected and enjoyable.
Rating: 3 – 3.5 stars
Here’s a note to myself, folks. I finally got around to reading this book nearly three years after it was released. If I’m not mistaken, the original version was a much shorter novella published with some other similar reads, and this version has been stretched to a whopping 244 pages. Yeah, still not overly lengthy, IMHO.
As much as I’m a huge fan of this author, it pains me to have to admit there were some things that kept this book from really wowing me over, which is a shame since I liked how sweet, caring, and repentant the hero became after their rough start the first night they met. The hero hits himself over the head for how rude he was to her. He verra quickly found his manners, folks. Unfortunately, I just didn’t find the whole thing overly original like I’m used to from this writer.
Here’s some examples: “Beiste” as this huge, hunk of mountain of muscle hero’s name just seemed rather kiddish and foolish. The twist at the end regarding someone’s parents was blurted out like it was meant to explain everything and the rushed “all’s well that now ends well” ending felt thrown in to quickly wrap this up.
The hero himself I mentally pictured as The Witcher type character. Because, hey, that works for me and any excuse there, am I right? Yeah, I see you nodding your head, too. Maybe it was because I saw a picture of him today geared up like a warrior in that upcoming new season. My, oh, my! Mmm…Mmm…Mmmh…Lol So I let myself some loose reign here and pictured the heroine being the sweet, soft spot for that battered and bruised warrior weary soul to rest and move on to a HEA.
Btw, the job she was told the Fae had picked her for, if she so chose to accept that mission, was an “OK, if you say so..I guess” kind of thing. It felt random and rather nonsensical to include.
Avid romance safe fans may note the same contradiction I sensed regarding his deceased wife. A couple of times it is referenced he deeply loved her and misses her, can’t even move on, yet I distinctly remember at one point he thought of that former wife in a negative light because she was cold towards him. That was a misstep in consistency. Since I prefer he love this heroine more, it was like a lifeline I choose to grab and save myself from thinking this lass would ever play second fiddle to someone else. That’s just how I roll, folks.
So overall, it was just okay…with some good points, too. I’m glad I can notch my historical romance belt one more notch and take this book off my to read list. No doubt I’ll be back for more though from this author and series. She is one of my top ten Scottish romance authors, after all.
(I voluntarily read and reviewed a purchased copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this review. There is no affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/PR firm.)
Interesting , very good
A nice easy read. Good entertainment for an afternoon.
Boring
I really enjoyed this story.