Review

A Scottish Laird is determined to get his nephews hitched, the old fashioned way…

The men: A penniless French Comte, a stuffy English Earl, and a high-browed English Duke

The women: A penniless Baron’s daughter, the most scandalous Scottish lady, her determined bonny younger sister, and the English heiress.

Who will fall in love and who will wed in this hilarious new book of 3 parts? I can’t tell you for certain because that would spoil the story, but these lovely author’s do not disappoint. There are caber tossing, snowball fights, Georgian Dresses that barely cover bosoms, and so much more. The story fits in plenty of crazy antics that had me in giggling fits. The premise is a Laird has kidnapped 4 3 women as potential brides for his nephews (the last one was a mistake), which is outlandish itself. There’s also a poor duke who got wrapped up in the kidnapping bit. I quickly got in the spirit that these short stories of love, found during a whopper of a snow storm, were good historical fun.

The characters are quirky: from Taran, the true Scotsman to the stuffy new Lord Oakley. Each of the men has their own internal quarrels to overcome, except for the Laird who believes he’s perfectly fine. The women also have a laundry list of internal quandaries, which through brief conversations in libraries, dining rooms, and stolen moments lead to the love. Of course factor in the basic social statures, plenty of familial issues (who doesn’t have those), and a longing for someone to relate too there’s bound to be some drama along the way.

The ever present theme of love at first sight is a big factor in these stories; something that appeals to the little girl in me longing for an HEA. The internal struggles leads to the external conflict as men are from mars and women are from Venus collide. There are assumptions and machinations galore, which create the hilarity.

Favorite lines: “Of Course,” Taran said, with great enthusiasm. “Where are my manners?”

“There are so many possible replies I can hardly bring myself to choose,” the duke said. 

The other wonderful piece is that Brockway, James, and Quinn all have different styles of writing, which was very apparent in their first collaboration. In this second work I found it more difficult to tell the difference between the writing styles. Cohesively the ladies have been able to blend the characters attitudes and dialogue throughout all three parts. This makes for a streamlined read, without feeling disjointed when moving from one couple to the next.

Overall, this will be a story I will read again. Even the moments of strong Scottish accents didn’t deter me, which is a feat of large proportions. The storytelling was top notch, believable and the love matches magical. This is one book worth every penny and a great read coming out of the Holiday season.

Reviewed by Landra