Review

Generally, I do love me a good highland story. The brutish and raw way they live intrigues me. The uber-alpha males and strong, feisty and opinionated women appeals to me but this book did little to nothing for me.

The story starts off with Raelynd Schellden hiding in her father’s stable. She encounters one of the McTiernay twins, Crevan, who engages her in conversation. It starts off well enough because there the chemistry between them comes across as genuine. However, flash forward some time later and Raelynd and her sister are in stable when the McTiernay twins enter. Raelynd is desperate to get a real kiss and imagines herself doing so with Craig, which I found confusing since she initially had sparks with Crevan.

They are caught by Raelynd’s father, who demands  the twins become engaged to his daughters to save his clan from a distant relative. Raelynd is paired up with Craig and her polar opposite sister, Meriel, is paired up with the quiet twin, Crevan. Why? I have no clue. The twins need to return to their home and take the women with them.

It is on the journey home that Crevan realizes there is a lot more to Raelynd than her beauty and he finds her hard to resist. The two constantly bicker and the banter leads to some passionate and heated conversation and kisses. While trying to deceive Crevan’s family is hard enough as is, the two find it even harder to keep their mutual attraction undercover.

Meanwhile, Raelynd’s sister and Craig become really good friends, finding common ground. When Craig is next in line to be chief, he feels guilty that he doesn’t want the job but he doesn’t want to burden Crevan with his fears and doubts. The two barely notice the brewing romance developing between Crevan and Raelynd, which I found absurd since they are always alone.

The humor and the realism of the story fell short. The plot is contrived and the development of the story went nowhere. There is no real angst except the deceit and no one really sees what is in front of them. It is Crevan’s niece, at the end, who simple states the obvious and all is right in their world.

The characters leave little to be desired and their repetitive behavior with no substance got old. The writing is not good and there is not much to be said about this book. I didn’t enjoy the unnecessary pairing of Raelynd and Craig.

Overall, I’m slightly disappointed with how this medieval turned out.

Reviewed by Samantha