In medieval Scotland, the illegitimate children of a notorious criminal vie to claim their birthrights, and find that love is an even greater prize… bastard son of a murdering baron…and evict the proud, impoverished Lady Glenna Douglas from her crumbling castle.
With her father ailing and her village devastated by illness, Glenna has lost almost everything except her home. Now a ruggedly handsome stranger intends to take that too. Until the king himself arrives to determine the rightful laird, Glenna and Tavish Cameron must share Tower Roscraig—resulting in a scandalous bargain.
But something deeper than passion ignites as they realize that Roscraig has been targeted by enemies. And only by uniting can they evade the traps set for them both…
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1427 Northumberland, England The beginning of this story had Thomas Annesley, barely alive, trying to get away from the man who killed his bethrothed and was trying to finish him off. This really grabbed my interest and I could not wait to read further.
Then the story jumps to 31 years later in Edinburgh, Scotland to Tavish Cameron, who owns his own merchant shop an successful with his mother working with him. Regardless he is still a working class man and much beneath a lady he is attracted to and she to him. But the most unusual thing happens and he finds out he inherits a property in Scotland and is a Laird!
But what he finds is Lady Glenna Douglas and her ill father living in the property and things turn terribly frustrating for both of them. Both claiming the property and I cannot say it was good how Tavish acted or Glenna.
It is a very long and trying journey to find their happiness but also full of surprises and suspense. I did enjoy this story and only want to find out more so looking forward to the next story in this series! I read this through NetGallery and the fabulous publisher!
The Laird’s Vow by Heather Grothaus is book One in the Sons of Scotland Series. This is the story of Tavish Cameron and Glenna Douglas.
Tavish has learned he has inherited the Tower Roscraig but of course it won’t go easy when he learns he has to solve a mystery and possible evict Glenna.
This was a enjoyable read
3.5 Stars
Edinburgh merchant Tavish Cameron has no choice but to pay outrageous tolls to the nobility, until fate gives him an unexpected opportunity for advancement. To claim Tower Roscraig, all he has to do is admit that he is the bastard son of a murdering baron…and evict the proud, impoverished Lady Glenna Douglas from her crumbling castle.
With her father ailing and her village devastated by illness, Glenna has lost almost everything except her home. Now a ruggedly handsome stranger intends to take that too. Until the king himself arrives to determine the rightful laird, Glenna and Tavish Cameron must share Tower Roscraig—resulting in a scandalous bargain.
I had conflicting feelings about this book on the one hand I really enjoyed the mystery surrounding Tommy & look forward to the next instalment, on the other hand I found it hard to believe the romance between Tavish & Glenna. I felt there was no spark between them & their feelings for each other seemed contrived. I didn’t like Glenna at all & found the way she looked down her nose at everyone annoying. I liked Tavish but didn’t love him. Whilst the book was well written I ploughed through the first half until the pace increased & by the final 10% the pages were really turning & was agreeably surprised by some of the revelations
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
2.5 rounded up
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.*
The first part of the book was very slow which made it hard for me to continue reading. It speeds up towards the middle of the book and was easier to read. Tavish Cameron has inherited a castle but to claim it he must get the lady living there to leave. Also, he must solve the mystery of who the castle should belong to, prove it to the king, and find a killer. The relationship between Tavish and Gleena seem to go from one extreme to another. They went from immediate enemies to being co-conspirators with nothing leading up to the change. There were lots of twists and turns, but I didn’t feel like the mystery was ever solved.
Tavish Cameron has acquired some wealth as a merchant in Edinburgh but is plagued by ridiculous taxes and tolls and harassment from the town burgess. Until he receives information that stands to change everything: he stands to inherit the lairdship of Roscraig and the castle there. He just has to admit to being the bastard son of a baron charged with murder and remove the impoverished and haughty Glenna Douglas from the castle that has always been her home.
Glenna has lost nearly everything. Her father is ailing and her village has been decimated by sickness and now a stranger has invaded her home. Until King James arrives to settle the issue once and for all, Glenna and Tavish share Tower Roscraig and their mutual hatred may manifest into a different kind of passion. But when it becomes clear that Roscraig is being undermined by someone and danger lurks all around, Tavish and Glenna are forced to develop a partnership beyond their fiery animosity.
What some may consider to be spoilers lie ahead.
Yet another another shrewish heroine masquerading as a “strong” woman. Of course her reaction to Tavish wouldn’t be positive, but he acted like a bear and she was a total banshee. I get she was in a terrible position but her haughty attitude and constant assertion of her highborn status over Tavish as being a commoner and illegitimate got very old very fast and was a total turn off for me, especially when she had no right to her snobbishness. Don’t worry that I’m harping on the heroine either because the hero was a right pompous a$$ as well, willing to hurt the heroine and the woman who presumed herself, albeit wrongly, to be his betrothed, by taking the heroine as his mistress.
Of course the hero and heroine both eventually came to their senses and I did enjoy the twists and turns the plot underwent towards the end, even if they were a bit predictable. What annoyed me, however, were all the loose ends left undone. Of course, I presume much of this is to tease the next book in the series, but some things that were very relevant to this story were left unaddressed and it made me feel like these characters weren’t really getting a true ending and for that reason I will likely continue with the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Although the first half of the story had a hard time keeping my interest, the second half was much better. Lots of intrigue and some twists and turns. I was a bit disappointed that there didn’t seem to be much connection between Tavish and Glenna, most of the book they hated each other and then bam, they were in love! I just didn’t feel the heat between them. Otherwise, the plot of the story was a good one and there are a couple of surprises at the end.
I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
It started with murder and a young man on the run.
A lot of twists and turns when the title of Laird of a holding is contested. Only the judgement of the King will be the final word. Be sure to keep up with this one, because the end will be a surprise.
Another wonderful discovery of a new to me author with one from a time gone by. Oh how delightful too it is set in Scotland one where the language is like music when spoken I think. In this one we are given quite the tale with Tavish and Glenna giving us one to delve into. What seems to be one thing begins to turn into something else with us reaping the benefits especially when we see who gets what. Oh and the passion that will do a slow boil steaming up the house while reading. Enjoyed this one from beginning to end would read another from this author.