ARC Review: Highland Vixen by Mary Wine

Series:	Highland Weddings #2
Pub. Date:	Feb. 7, 2017
Publisher:	Sourcebooks Casa.
Length:	320 pages
Source:	NetGalley

The rich colors in the covers of this series continually draw my eye and make it impossible for me to resist. I read the initial installment of this series, Highland Spitfire, last year and I remembered really liking Helen Grant as a secondary character. Unfortunately as soon as the book started, I found myself wishing for a prologue recapping what happened in that first book (at least with regards to Helen). It felt like the story was starting in the middle and I couldn't remember the back story for the life of me. So here's a little recap of how Helen came to be at the MacPherson keep. She was stolen! In recompense for her brothers thieving cattle from the clan, Helen was taken away and deposited at the keep as a hostage, where she was not made to feel welcome by the suspicious and sometimes haughty clan members.

Review: Highland Spitfire by Mary Wine

Highland Spitfire 
by Mary Wine
Series:  Highland Weddings #1
Pub. Date:  Feb. 2, 2016
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages:  320
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley


My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

In the throes of fierce clan wars, the Queen's Regent tricks the children of two feuding lairds into a desperate choice: marry or die. The union—however reluctant—of a MacPherson and a Robertson could end three generations of hostilities between the two families. 

Ailis Robertson wanted a husband, not a savage. But she is rocked by the intense passion she feels for Bhaic—who is likewise taken aback by the fierce jealousy he experiences when he sees Ailis speaking with other men. Is it possible for fierce enemies to become ardent lovers? 

Highland Spitfire is an enemies to lovers romance where our hero and heroine are forced to wed by the King's Regent to end a decades-old feud between the Robertson and MacPherson clans. While the Regent's intentions to end the feud were necessary, he definitely could have went about it better. The way the situation played out guaranteed a hostile situation between our couple and their clans.

Our heroine, Ailis Robertson, is the twenty-two year old laird's daughter who hasn't been in a particular rush to get married. Having the union thrust upon her to save the lives of her clan members provided a bleak overcast to what should have been a happy day for Ailis. I admired her courage for agreeing to wed her enemy - her altruism set a good example for both clans and showed that she was more mature than the thick-headed men determined to carry a grudge. But seriously - when aren't women the more mature ones??? I liked Ailis and had a decent emotional connection with her. Being forced into her enemy's territory where most looked on her with suspicion and misgiving was definitely hard for the girl, and those conflicts were where Mary Wine drew me into the story and made me sympathize with Ailis.

Our hero is Bhaic, is current Tanis of Clan MacPherson and heir to the laird. First of all, how the heck do you pronounce this name? Bake? Bike? Bach? It drove me a little batty. I really wish more books had a phonetic spelling the first time an uncommon or difficult name is introduced. Bhaic was a hard hero to love. Once he brings Ailis home to his clan, he doesn't do much to ease her transition or make her feel at home. In fact, he allows his brother Marcus to continually disregard Ailis' feelings and basically humiliate her and treat her like a spy. I wanted to kick both of the numpties in the shins repeatedly, and I would not have blamed Ailis if she would have run back home to her father.

While I enjoyed the story, there were just a couple things that didn't work for me. I didn't care for any of the MacPherson clan. At times, Ailis' attraction to Bhaic felt forced, particularly in the midst of arguments/spats. And along those same lines, the hot and cold aspect of the interactions were happening so rapidly that it left me feeling dizzy. They would be spitting at each other, then have a warm or amusing comment where you think things are turning around, but the next comment they are back to being spiteful. It got to be a little too much. And finally, once our couple finally consummates their marriage, the number of intimate scenes took over the story for a bit. While I always want a bit of sexytime in my romances, I found myself wanting to get back to the plot on this one.  But other than that, I liked Ailis - and I really liked Helen. I liked the friendship that formed between the girls - both hostages in an enemy's territory - and I liked the way they stuck together against the thickheaded men. I am guessing that Helen will be the heroine of the next book so I am looking forward to that.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

View all my reviews

Review: A Sword for His Lady by Mary Wine

A Sword for His Lady 
by Mary Wine
Series:  Courtly Love #1
Pub. Date:  July 7, 2015
Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca
Pages:  348
Format:  eARC
Source:  NetGalley
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

He'd defend her keep...

After proving himself on the field of battle, Ramon de Segrave is appointed to the Council of Barons by Richard the Lionheart. But instead of taking his most formidable warrior on his latest Crusade, the king assigns Ramon an even more dangerous task—woo and win the Lady of Thistle Keep.

If only she'd yield her heart...

Isabel of Camoys is a capable widow with no intention of surrendering her valuable estate. She's fought long and hard for her independence, and if the price is loneliness, then so be it. She will not yield... even if she does find the powerful knight's heated embrace impossible to ignore.

But when her land is threatened, Isabel reluctantly agrees to allow Ramon and his army to defend the keep—knowing that the price may very well be her heart.

This is a nice new release from Mary Wine, set during the time of the Crusades and the reign of Richard the Lionheart. I was pleasantly surprised by this book b/c just last week I DNF'd another book set during the Crusades because it did not stay true to the time period. Mary Wine did a good job of making the 12th century come to life in the marshes of the English/Welsh border.

Baron Ramon de Segraves has been campaigning with Richard I for the past 10 years, but has received a royal "suggestion" that he will now stay behind to marry a widow and secure the Welsh border. Ramon, who had a bad experience with his first marriage, is not eager to enter into another matrimonial union. That is, until he meets the headstrong Isabel of Camoys, the widow in question. Isabel has been managing her estate since the death of her brute of a husband, and prefers the life of a widow to living again as a man's chattel. But Ramon has never met a challenge he could not best, and he sees Isabel as a worthwhile opponent. This leads to a saucy seduction by Ramon, which is sometimes humorous and quite steamy at others.

The story had great secondary characters and villains. I particularly liked Ambrose and Isabel's nurse, who made me chuckle several times and provided my favorite quote for the book:

A member like that means only one thing,” Mildred continued in spite of Isabel’s displeasure with the topic. She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “The man will have a great appetite for the flesh. Every midwife will tell you a member that thick and long is a demanding one. He’ll need to spend once a night at least and likely twice with sacs such as those.

So this one had a little bit of everything from romance to comedy to drama, all wrapped up in a beautiful medieval setting. I will definitely be continuing on with the series. I believe the next book will feature Ambrose, a hulking blond giant of a man. ;)

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

View all my reviews

Audiobook Review: My Fair Highlander by Mary Wine

My Fair Highlander 
by Mary Wine
Series:  English Tudor #2
Pub. Date:  Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher:  Audible Studios
Narrator:  Ray Chase
Length:  9hrs 16min
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

Jemma Ramsden is a wild thing in a noblewoman’s body-so thinks Gordon Dwyre, Laird Barras, watching her galloping on horseback through her brother’s lands. Bold, headstrong, beautiful: the perfect bride for a lusty Scots warrior. He might be able to convince her, too, if she would hear his suit. But Barras doesn’t wait to be handed what he wants. When he’s forced to rescue her from English ruffians, he makes sure she stays safe-by locking her in his castle.

Jemma is hardly an eager captive. She has no horse and no freedom, and she is an Englishwoman in a hostile Scots keep: a stranger without work or friend. Barras seems determined to charm her-even tempt forbidden desires, a daring game that leaves Jemma desperate for more. But with passion, love, and a new life within her grasp, Jemma is in more danger than even she knows…

I got this book with the audible narration from Kindle Unlimited. I was skeptical about continuing this series in audio, as I did not care for the narrator when I listened to Improper Seduction. While I liked this book better than Improper Seduction, I still did not like the narrator. The performance here was a little better because he got to do a Scottish accent, however sometimes his Scottish slipped into Slavic or Russian, and all his female voices sound the same (like a bad high-pitched male imitation). I doubt I will continue the series in audio at this point, the voices in my head are better. ;)

This story continues with characters that we met in the first book, namely Gordon (Laird Barras) and Jemma (sister to Lord Ripon). We are still in the 16th Century at the end of Henry VIII's reign, though there was not much court intrigue in this book, so you only briefly hear about the king's declining health in the beginning.

Gordon is a big gruff Scot with lots of alpha male tendencies, and I absolutely loved him. He was charming, funny, and firm in all the right places. However, this is where I take issue with the title - My Fair Highlander - where's the highlander??? Gordon is a lowlander and Jemma is English. Something similar happened with Improper Seduction as well, the cover was misleading. This is aggravating when you are looking for one thing and end up with something else. At least this was a Scottish historical romance, whereas the first book was not.

As for Jemma, she was okay, but there was nothing really remarkable about her. I liked that she did not fight against Gordon as hard as Bridget did against Curan in Improper Seduction. There is not much focus on secondary characters in this book, though Gordon's former mistress made a good villain. There was a big plot twist toward the end that I did not see coming, which is always nice. This book was not quite as steamy as the first one, but you still got a good amount of descriptive smexytime. I recommend it to readers who like steamy historicals and gruff Scots.

View all my reviews

English Tudor Series

My Review	My Review	TBR

Audiobook Review: Improper Seduction by Mary Wine

Improper Seduction 
by Mary Wine
Series:  English Tudor #1
Pub. Date:  Nov. 5, 2013
Publisher:  Audible Studios
Length:  9hrs 46min
Narrator:  Ray Chase
Format:  Audiobook
Source:  Kindle Unlimited
   

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

A Rearranged Marriage

Lord Curan Ramsden is home from war, and eager to claim his betrothed. And he arrives just in time--his bride's father has summoned her to London, to wed another man. But Bridget's father promised her to Curan, and Curan means to have her. Especially now that he sees the luscious young woman she has blossomed into. He'll just have to convince Bridget, somehow, that her heart is more important than her duty. . .

Bridget Newbury has always done her duty--to her parents, to the church, to the man they selected as her betrothed. She knows what could happen if she disobeys her father. The king has put nobler women to death for lesser trespasses. But she was promised to Curan first, and his kisses are very tempting. . .

I picked this title from the Kindle Unlimited selection as it had the audible narration included, and I like to listen while I am out working in the yard on the weekend. Unfortunately, the narrator absolutely killed the book for me. I am finding that I do not like male narrators because their readings just do not seem as dynamic as those of female narrators. Of the ones I have listened to so far, the male narrators just do not have the voice range of females, so all the characters sound the same to me. They either sound male, or like a really bad male impersonation of a female voice. And those high pitched imitations grate on my nerves. Plus, this narrator was so dramatic that I felt like he should have been reading Shakespeare. It just did not work.

This story took place toward the end of the reign of Henry VIII, when Henry Tudor was married to Catherine Parr. Our hero, Curan, was a knight (turned baron) that was close to the king and fought with Henry in France. Curan comes back from France to retrieve his bride, to whom he was betrothed 3 years past, and finds that she is departing for London under another marriage contract. Curan was very much anticipating this marriage and is not going to stand for this bride being stolen from him. The bride in question, Bridget, is the dutiful daughter and somewhat of a dishwater miss (at first). I didn't care for Bridget all that much. I am a little tired of females that don't have faith in their husbands and decide to go off on some cockamamie trip instead of just communicating with the poor sod. Luckily Bridget got with the plan (eventually) and she was somewhat redeemed by the end of the book.

Favorite Quote: "Ride me wife! Hold on tight or I shall throw ye!"

This book was all about sex, which is very odd for a historical romance. I would say that for at least 75% of the book the characters are either learning about sex, watching sex, listening to sex, or engaged in some type of sexual activity. There was also an overuse of the word clitoris. It sounded very odd coming from this male narrator so much. Also I have a bit of an issue with the cover of this book - I thought I was getting a Scottish historical romance, but I got an English lord instead. An English border lord, but still, that's not a Scot. What's the deal with that?

View all my reviews

English Tudor Series