Series: Lairds' Fiancées, #2
Traits & Tropes: Highlanders; captured bride; cranky hero; flighty heroine
Genre/Setting: Historical; Medieval; Scotland, 1119
Publication Date: 12.31.95
Heat Level: 3/5
Rating: 3/5
Narration Rating: 3.5/5
Lady Brenna has accepted that she must obey her father’s order for her to leave her sheltered English home and marry a Highlander. But when she’s captured on the journey by a band of savage-looking warriors, she has no qualms about agreeing to marry their leader, and her original intended’s enemy, Laird Connor MacAlister.
Brenna knows her new husband did not marry her for love, but she remembers meeting him when they were both much younger and that first impression gives her hope for their future together. She hopes to find that charming young man still alive beneath Connor’s stoic façade. As Brenna tries to fit into her new life in the Highlands and win the heart of the man she’s come to love, she finds herself caught up in the years old revenge struggle in which her husband is embroiled. With many forces working against them, the future for Connor and Brenna is far from secure.
I remember this not being a particular favorite when I first read it years ago back when I was just getting into historical romance and Julie Garwood’s books. It didn’t hold up any better on this audio revisit if I’m honest. Connor still comes off as highly arrogant and noncommunicative and though I did like his protectiveness, I still found him to be rather callous. Though he meant well, Connor was utterly clueless as to how to express himself. Thankfully he did improve in the end, but it was a bit too little too late for me. For her part, I just kept wanting Brenna to grow more of a backbone. She stood up to Connor with little issue but not to his stepmother and that was frustrating, though given Connor’s behavior toward her it’s not very surprising that she struggled to confide in him. Nonetheless, she martyred herself for no reason and that made it difficult to root for her. Scenes that were meant to be humorous with Brenna’s antics and banter just fell flat for me and made her seem unintelligent rather than sweet. Connor wasn’t any better, at least in terms of emotional intelligence, and every interaction between these two was like pulling teeth. I’m still not really sure how they actually managed to fall for each other. I quite liked Crispin and Quinlan as supporting characters and wish they had gotten their own stories. Overall, the ending here was satisfying, but I found the journey to get there tedious and I likely won’t reread this one again now that I’m actually writing reviews to remind myself how I felt about what I read.
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