At age eleven, Alex Sinclair pledges an oath to the Duke of Chatham promising to serve and protect his illegitimate daughter, Lucy FitzHarris. Nine years later, the duke unexpectedly takes Alex up on his vow, offering the future Laird of Balforss his daughter’s hand in marriage. Now a man, hotheaded Alex has difficulty convincing Lucy–who would rather starve to death than marry a vulgar … vulgar Scot–to go through with the arranged marriage. Once Lucy arrives in Scotland, she cannot resist the magic of Balforss or the allure of her handsome Highland warrior. But when Alex seemingly betrays Lucy right before their wedding, she is tricked into running away. Alex must rein in his temper to rescue his lady from unforeseen danger and Lucy must swallow her pride if she hopes to wed the Highlander she has come to love.
Each book in The Highlanders of Balforss series is STANDALONE:
* Tying the Scot
* Betting the Scot
* Forgetting the Scot
* Saving the Scot
more
3.5 stars
As a young boy Alex Sinclair pledged an oath to the Duke of Chatham promising to serve and protect his illegitimate daughter, Lucy FitzHarris. Nine years later, the duke unexpectedly takes Alex up on his vow, offering the future Laird of Balforss his daughter’s hand in marriage. After Lucy is rejected by a young lord. However Lucy doesn’t want to marry a Highlander.
An easy reading book with misunderstandings galore, most are simple misunderstandings but an event before the wedding results in Lucy playing into the hands of the villains. I usually prefer a more mature hero so felt both Alex & Lucy were a little naïve but both were young & both annoyed me at times. This is the first book I’ve read by the author & I’ll certainly be reading more. The characters are fairly well developed but I didn’t totally connect with them, the plot was well paced & kept my interest throughout but felt not all of the sub plots were resolved so I was left wanting more – maybe there will be another book to follow
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read
Alex Sinclair makes a young boy’s promise to protect his father’s friend. He will be his daughter Lucy’s protector. Now they are grown and the two fathers want their children wed. Both have other plans but reluctantly agree. As they travel to Alex’s home their come across some atrocities. Families being burned out of their homes and left to starve. Some are even still in their cottages. Alex makes it known his clan do not approve and will do whatever they can to bring the corrupt agent to justice. He makes a powerful enemy and now must actually become Lucy’s protector. Lucy still doubting if Alex really wants her lets one foolish mistake after another come between them. When betrayal and danger strikes, Lucy realizes just what she had. Alex must prove once and for all that he truly is her protector and saves the day!
Alex Sinclair and Lucy FitzHarris met as children, Alex was smitten with her and acted in her defense when her brother threw her ball in the pond. Alex retrieved her ball and punched her brother. Lucy’s father asked 11 year old Alex to swear an oath to be 9 year old Lucy’s protector.
Fast forward nine years, Lucy learns that the man she hoped to marry, the man with a title that would make the ton overlook her illegitimate birth, has gone and gotten engaged to another woman. And to make matters worse, her father has betrothed her to a Scotsman! She begs, she whines, she cries, she throws a tantrum and spends the next few weeks trying to have her father call off the wedding.
Alex has agreed to the wedding, he knows it will benefit his clan and he wants to show his father that he has matured. Alex is a little heart sore, he asked a woman to marry him and she rejected him, so he hopes he will be able to have a happy marriage with Lucy, he remembers her as a little girl, but wants to know what kind of woman she has become. He concocts a rather stupid plan to pretend to be part of her escort so he can observe her without her knowing who he is.
All is going well until Lucy learns the truth and flips out. I personally thought her reaction was over the top and painted her as a vindictive, spoiled, immature brat. And she cannot let it go – for almost half the book, she is mad at him and plotting her “revenge”. They finally make up and it seems like she is maturing a bit. She finally agrees to marry him and then she misunderstand something she sees Alex doing. Again, she flat out refuses to listen to his explanation and ends up putting herself in peril.
Alex is a hot head and a bit immature himself, but he really cares for Lucy and when he learns she left, he takes off after her.
This is a new author to me and I thought the writing was good, the story did move right along and stayed on point. There was action, betrayal, kidnappings, multiple villains, interesting secondary characters, a couple of mild love scenes and a lot of frustrating misunderstandings before these two get a HEA.
This was new author to me and while I didn’t love this story, I would be willing to read her future work.
*ARC provided by NetGalley and the Publisher*
I really enjoyed the backstory/meeting of the two main characters. It was cute to watch Alex defend Lucy. Although they have a few heated moments together, it wasn’t a book dripping with sex or sexual intent. I think there could have been a bit more for me.
A slight love triangle. Lucy really prefers to marry an English man rather than a horrible Scot, but her English man doesn’t seem interested in proposing to her. The connections between all the characters kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering what they would do.
Overall, fantastic read!
Lily S. Thomas – Author of the Ice Age Alphas series
This is a story of two people Alex and Lucy who meet as children. with Alex vowing to always to protect Lucy. Nine years later, when they have not seen each other, a match is made between their fathers for them to be married. Lucy Fitzharris, the illegitimate daughter of a Duke is furious to be forced to marry. Scottish Alex has had his share of disappointments and wants to meet Lucy again without her knowing who he is yet. Traveling the long journey to Scotland, they face all kind of danger and adventure. Lucy is so spoiled and during the story you just want to shake her!! But she has also had it hard being shunned at times for not being a legitimate daughter to the duke. So when Lucy arrives at Alex’s home she is taken in by his family and begins to have feelings for Alex once she finds out it is really him. The author brings the characters to life and makes you want things to work out with the two. But to find out what happens along the way, read this story and prepare to be entertained!! This is a new author to me but I will be reading more by her in the future!