Review + Giveaway: When a Scot Ties the Knot

WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT
Castles Ever After #3
Tessa Dare
Historical Romance
384 pages
Avon
Available Now
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shyly pretty and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart.

A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.

Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.

MY THOUGHTS
When a Scot Ties the Knot charmingly reminds us of all the reasons we love a Tessa Dare historical romance, giving us a sweet, self-aware heroine to show our gruff, slightly damaged hero that there’s more to life than duty and loneliness. A fanciful teenage attempt at self-preservation irrevocably alters the course of both their lives, taking all of us on a journey full of laughter and heat without weighing us down with unnecessary drama and conflict.

Maddie is nothing short of adorable, inventing a fantasy suitor in order to keep her family from pushing her to attend all the social events of her first Season out, something that makes her break out in a cold sweat thanks to a traumatic crowd-related incident in her youth. Years later when he suddenly shows up at her door, she meets him head-on with humor and self-deprecation, repeatedly reprimanding herself for bathing him in a romantic light when he’s clearly not there to sweep her off her feet, and begging him to share any number of faults to aid her in her quest to keep her heart from skipping a beat in his presence. What results is a relationship that’s utterly endearing, the two of them fighting their growing affection in a way that manages to be cute rather than frustrating.

Logan has the perfect amount of alpha in him; big, imposing, and completely loyal to the men under his command, but he also undeniably has what Maddie refers to–much to his chagrin–as “squish”. She’s not put off by his attempts at intimidation, instead choosing to see the positive over the negative at every turn regardless of both their efforts to yank her rose-colored glasses from her eyes. Despite a hasty marriage of convenience and necessity, the romance is definitely of the slow burn variety, the sexual tension between them taut as a bowstring for much of the book until Ms. Dare puts all of us out of our delicious misery.

Overall, When a Scot Ties the Knot is as sweet as can be, supporting fluff with plenty of substance and a strong set of secondary characters (here’s hoping we see some Logan’s men get books of their own!) to keep us engaged on every level.

Rating: 4/5
 

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Review: Say Yes to the Marquess

SAY YES TO THE MARQUESS
Castles Ever After #2
Tessa Dare
Historical Romance
384 pages
Avon
Available December 30th
Source: eARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
After eight years of waiting for Piers Brandon, the wandering Marquess of Granville, to set a wedding date, Clio Whitmore has had enough. She's inherited a castle, scraped together some pride, and made plans to break her engagement.

Not if Rafe Brandon can help it. A ruthless prizefighter and notorious rake, Rafe is determined that Clio will marry his brother—even if he has to plan the dratted wedding himself.

So how does a hardened fighter cure a reluctant bride's cold feet?

● He starts with flowers. A wedding can't have too many flowers. Or harps. Or cakes.

● He lets her know she'll make a beautiful, desirable bride—and tries not to picture her as his.

● He doesn't kiss her.

● If he kisses her, he definitely doesn't kiss her again.

● When all else fails, he puts her in a stunning gown. And vows not to be nearby when the gown comes off.

● And no matter what—he doesn't fall in disastrous, hopeless love with the one woman he can never call his own.

MY THOUGHTS
Say Yes to the Marquess is yet another winner from Ms. Dare, her sense of humor one of the main reasons we rush to crack the spine, knowing we’ll find ourselves laughing at the antics and banter between perfectly imperfect individuals. While Ms. Dare’s romances are undoubtedly full of substance–richly nuanced characters giving the explorer in us plenty to sift through–they’re also light and fluffy (in the best possible way), leaving us free of worry that we’re going to reach a point where one or two of the characters make the mistake that’s going to bring their world crashing down around them. Instead, we read cocooned in the warmth of a safety blanket known as communication, reveling in our lead couple's ability to talk things out with one another rather than keep everything bottled up.

Though light and fluffy is an accurate description of the overall tone of this romance, it’s not without tension, things between Rafe and Clio ripe with that very thing given her engagement to his older brother. Majority of this tale is build-up, the beautiful dance between them moving a few steps forward before the swell of the music turns, shifting them with it and forcing them several steps back. Both are battling severe self-esteem issues thanks to the fact that they’ve only ever seen themselves through the lens of their families’ distorted perception, but we as readers have the pleasure of seeing each of them through the eyes of the other, and we can’t help but smile at what we find there. So very slowly over the course of the book the weight of expectation on each of them drops away, removed as a result of fierce determination and a desire to see the other person find the happiness they so rightly deserve.

Overall, Say Yes to the Marquess is everything there is to love about the romance genre, darker moments tempered by humor to ensure we have a giddy smile on our faces the entire way through. Ms. Dare is a go-to author for me, someone who never fails to delight and entertain, and who writes stories that end up on the shelf of favorites waiting to be read again and again.

Rating: 4/5

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.