The Scot Beds His Wife is the next lush, captivating Victorian romance in the Victorian Rebels series by Kerrigan Byrne. They’re rebels, scoundrels, and blackguards–dark, dashing men on the wrong side of the law. But for the women who love them, a hint of danger only makes the heart beat faster. Gavin St. James, Earl of Thorne, is a notorious Highlander and an unrelenting Lothario who uses his … Highlander and an unrelenting Lothario who uses his slightly menacing charm to get what he wants–including too many women married to other men. But now, Gavin wants to put his shady past behind him…more or less. When a fiery lass who is the heiress to the land he wishes to possess drops into his lap, he sees a perfectly delicious opportunity…
A marriage most convenient
Samantha Masters has come back to Scotland, in a pair of trousers, and with a whole world of dangerous secrets from her time spent in the Wild West trailing behind her. Her only hope of protection is to marry–and to do so quickly. Gavin is only too willing to provide that service for someone he finds so disturbingly irresistible. But even as danger approaches, what begins as a scandalous proposition slowly turns into an all-consuming passion. And Gavin discovers that he will do whatever is necessary to keep the woman he has claimed as his own…
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Samantha is looking for a place to hide, and fate comes her way. She has had a harsh life and gets a taste of something better, one that makes her happy. Her love of horses and caring for others had me interested in how her story would end. Gavin also had a rough upbringing and dreamed of his one way to break away. As the truth from their pasts and the present comes out, Sam and Gavin forge a strong bond. I enjoyed also the return of previous characters.
I received a copy of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.
From the American Wild West, Samantha Masters has
taken on the identity of Scottish heiress Alison Ross.
They met during a train robbery when Samantha’s
husband was going to murder Alison. Sam shoots and
kills her husband. Now both the gang members and
law will be on her trail. But Alison thankful for Sam’s
intervention and saving her life has a solution. Alison
has a property in Scotland that she will have to forfeit
until she lives on the property for one year. Alison
persuades Sam to take on her identity and live on the
property.
Gavin St. James is the Earl of Thorne. He wants to
break away of his notoriously, cruel family. A player with
a reputation, he needs the Ross land to raise cattle and
farm to be able to change his living style. He never
expected Alison (Samantha) to return to her property.
Now she is back and he is totally unprepared for the
woman who returns. There is immediate undeniable
chemistry between the two but stubbornness seems
to prevail.
An interesting historical Victorian fictional story with
deeply filled characters filled with childhood horrors
trying to break free of the past to be able to walk
without baggage into unknown future. They both want
to be loved for themselves but will they be able to
overcome the deceitful set back life has thrown their way.
A well created plot with sexual tension and a cast of
well developed, colorful secondary characters.
This is book # in the Victorian Rebels series. It was the
first one I read. I had no trouble following the characters
as the author wove the past and present together
effortlessly.
I volunteered to read The Scot Beds His Wife. Thanks
to St Martin’s Press via NetGalley for the opportunity.
My opinion is my own.
I enjoyed the book a lot. It has suspense, travel, romance and all the points in between.
When Sam must get away from her husband because he was a robber. She saves Alison from him and his band by shooting him dead.
Gavin has been abused by his father and makes his way on his own.
They find each other and it is a trial for both that brings them together.
A very nice story.
Brash, bold and beautiful but is the heroine believable…not in the beginning but perhaps a bit more toward the end of the book…maybe. I wanted to put this book down in the first pages and even at the halfway point because no matter how untamed the United States Wild West might have been in 1880 the heroine did not ring true to me. Raised as a Mormon would her language, attire and behavior be as they were described? At times I felt like this was the story of Annie Oakley (with a bit of Bonnie from Bonnie & Clyde) going to the Scottish Highlands incognito. I persisted in reading because I looked back and realized that the three other books I have read in this series all rated highly and my comments reminded me that I had loved the stories. So…I continued to read…and glad that I did. I never really found the story believable but did find it entertaining. AND since this is fiction first and not necessarily based on fact…I let those niggling thoughts go by the side and immersed myself in the story.
The book begins with a horrific scene from Gavin’s childhood in which he is forced to watch something then experience something no child should ever encounter. His story picks up nearly a quarter of a century later. He is gorgeous, hates his family name, works part-time in a distillery, dislikes his brother, wants independence and sees his future as owner of a piece of land he will raise cattle on…land that belongs to someone else.
Samantha “Sam” Masters’ story begins on a train. She saves a woman’s life by killing a man but then her life is in danger for other reasons and Alison Ross, the woman she saved, offers her identity to Sam in exchange for living on land in Scotland for a year to keep it from returning to the MacKenzie family. Needing a place to hide she takes Alison’s offer and heads to Scotland where the first persons she meets and falls into the arms of (literally) is Gavin. He wants “her” land and she won’t sell it.
With two people both wanting the same land and both willing to do what it takes to keep it the tussle begins. Sam and Gavin have secrets and scars and are damaged souls but they also are more than they appear to be upon first introduction. As the reader gets to know them both better and they get to know one another more intimately the story begins to heat up. When the past arrives to interfere with what seems to be a happily ever after in the making all bets are off and the future less secure – for everyone.
Ultimately I came away glad I had persevered with reading this story. I was satisfied with the ending. I still found this book, in many ways, to be unbelievable. BUT…I enjoyed it thoroughly. And, I would love to know more about Allison, Callum and…The Rook!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.
4 Stars