Series: Four Horsemen of the Highlands, #4
Traits & Tropes: class difference; forced proximity; road trip; forbidden; bodyguard
Publication Date: 11.16.23
Genre/Setting: Historical; Medieval; Scottish Lowlands
Heat Level: 2
Rating: 5 stars!
Artair MacKinnon’s purpose in life has boiled down to ousting the Usurper King Balliol and seeing justice for his younger brother’s death. Artair’s mission is to scout the faux king’s castle for weaknesses in hopes of planning an attack, but that means disguising his true mission as a diplomatic visit. Accompanying him to keep up appearances is Lady Sybil Douglas, to whom he’ll act as bodyguard while she claims to bring terms of a truce.
Though her companionship is meant to provide him a cover, Artair finds Sybil dangerously distracting and he soon finds himself falling for a woman he knows to be off limits. As daughter of the Guardian of Scotland, Sybil has a duty to make a political marriage, but she can’t help but be drawn to Artair’s gruff charm. With danger closing in on them both, it is possible their love will be lost along with Scotland’s last chance at freedom.
If you’re at all familiar with my reviews, you’ll know that recently I have been in the slump to end all slumps. I didn’t even finish a single book for the entire month of December. I’m happy to have finally finished this one and even happier to report that the action really ramped up near the end and I couldn’t put it down. This one is a bit of an anxiety-inducing nail-biter with our hero and heroine finding themselves in quite a sticky situation in the middle of enemy territory. Before that, Artair and Sybil definitely give big enemies to lovers energy, but it’s mostly because they don’t know one another well and each have formed erroneous preconceived notions about the other. I enjoyed seeing them get to know one another through the forced proximity of a road trip and the tension between them was at times very palpable. I was nervous that this series couldn’t really have a satisfying ending, just because of the turbulent time in which it is set, but it was actually such a perfect way to end this quartet that I was left wholly satisfied by it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Comments
Post a Comment