by Christy English
Series: Broadswords and Ballrooms
Pub. Date: Dec. 1, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
He's the terror of the ton...
The plan is simple:
1. Descend from the Highlands to face the aggravation of a London Season;
2. Foist his wild sister off on some gullible English lord;
3. Retreat before the ladies of the scandalized ton can get any ideas.
Determined to see his hellion of a sister wed, Highlander Alexander Waters is willing to face anything—even the English. He just didn't expect his own rough manners to cause such a riot...or for a blooming English rose to catch his eye.
Gently bred Catherine Middlebrook must find a respectable man to marry or her family will be ruined. She won't allow herself to be distracted by Highland barbarians...no matter how her body may thrill whenever Alex is near.
Catherine wasn't part of the plan, but as their battle of wills escalates, Alex comes to realize this "proper" English girl is as wild as the Highlands themselves...and nothing will stop him from having her.
This is the first installment in Christy English's new Broadswords and Ballrooms series, featuring a family of rough and tumble Highlanders and their spitfire sister. I believe the premise will be matching each spirited Highlander with a prim and proper English woman/man. I have been wanting to read this author for a while, and have been eyeing To Be Queen: A Novel of the Early Life of Eleanor of Aquitaine. So I was glad to see she has this new series on NetGalley so I could give her a shot.
In this first book, our hero is a proud braw Highlander who sticks out like a sore thumb among the English dandies. Alexander Waters is unapologetic about his size, his manliness, and his Scottish patriotism. He is drawn immediately to our heroine, Catherine, a country girl from Devon who is being ignored by all the other men in Almack's. While Alex was bonny and braw, he was also uber nice and honorable. I did like Alex, and his wondrous black leather gloves, but I wished he would have been a little more of a Highland caveman. I haven't read a good bride stealing book lately, and I was really hoping he was going to take matters in his own hands and steal Catherine away.
Catherine is a sweet and dutiful country girl who has fallen on hard times. After her father passed, her somewhat flighty mother has ruined their finances. In a last ditch effort, Catherine comes to London to have a one and only season to grab a husband who will take care of her and her family. Unfortunately her dutiful nature causes her to do things all wrong and she quite got on my nerves with it. I really lost a lot of respect for her towards the end when she was fouling things up with Alex.
This series has a lot of potential, and I am looking forward to the next book. Unfortunately this first installment didn't hold my attention all that well and I was not a huge fan of the heroine.
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Broadswords and Ballrooms
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