Series: The McTierneys, #9
Traits & Tropes: age gap (older hero); compromised; suspense
Publication Date: 01.25.22
Genre/Setting: Historical; Medieval; Scottish Lowlands, 1322
Heat Level: 3
Rating: 3/5
Brodie Dunstan left his position as one of the top commanders of the McTiernay clan to aid one of their allies. That assignment wound up taking eight years, and now that he’s returned to the McTiernays of Lochlen Castle, Brodie isn’t quite sure where he belongs anymore. When he encounters a freezing young woman on a stormy night outside the castle, he thinks he might have at last found some direction.
Shinae Mayboill’s quiet life as a nun has turned out to be anything but as attacks on her abbey have forced her to put her knife throwing skills to use. Now her mission is to ferret out a traitor for the Scottish king, which means finding her sister at Lochlen Castle. When she is found in a compromising position with her rescuer, Brodie, Shinae is given little choice but to agree to their hasty marriage, though she finds herself pleased with this turn of events. She feels a true connection with Brodie and that relationship only deepens rapidly, but things are rapidly complicated when Shinae finally reveals all the truths of her past to Brodie and their new relationship may not survive.
I’m still not quite sure what to make of this book on the whole. I enjoyed the romance between the main couple, Brodie and Shinae, mostly because of its fast pace and their obvious chemistry and attraction. Each was able to give the other a feeling of love and belonging they’d never experienced, and I always love that. What I was less enchanted by was the lack of communication between these two and the easy way serious issues were glossed over with physical attraction rather than being discussed and worked out. By the end, I was sure these two loved one another, but I think they definitely still had a way to go in terms of getting to know one another. Regardless, I still liked them as a couple. My greater annoyance here was the abundance of supporting characters getting in the way of the main couple. We also had a secondary romance going on with Shinae’s friend and a friend of Brodie’s, which was fine, it was just another distraction. These extra storylines combined with abrupt scene changes made some scenes and threads feel incomplete and I still felt this way by the end. The McTiernays weren’t always the kindest to Shinae or to Brodie and their children collectively were just awful and none of that ever really had a satisfactory resolution. In fact, sometimes I got so bogged down in the descriptions of the family and how everyone was related that I forgot that there was meant to be a dangerous threat to the clan, and I was supposed to be feeling suspenseful. The story started off very strong and engaging, but after Shinae and Brodie are married, things began to veer off course in too many different directions to do any of them justice. Ultimately, I think Shinae and Brodie were mostly ill-treated by the McTiernays and deserved at the least a better apology than they got, and this book really just made the clan seem not that likable. So, overall, though I liked Shinae and Brodie for the most part, the storyline as a whole didn’t do it for me quite so much, though it did keep me interested. I always love Highlanders and a Scottish setting so it's hard for me to truly dislike a Highlander book, I’ve just read ones I preferred more, but I think this is still worth the read.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3962111589
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3992509088
Comments
Post a Comment