Overall: 3.5 rounded ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖 
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋 
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔 
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡ 
Romance: 💞💞💞 
Sensuality: 💋💋💋 
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥 if you’re generous 
Humor: Yes, there is, though it’s not a light hearted book 

Should I read in order?
This one is all right as a stand alone but I think you’ll get more enjoyment reading the series in order. The Clan lives and works together, so the characters from book 1 are here and referenced to a number of times

Basic plot:
A bargain is struck between the McCurdys and MacKinlays – marriage to Dorie McCurdy by Bryce Campbell will gain their clan access to an important seaport. Bryce lost his wife and child to illness ten years ago and is not interested in marrying again – he does it at the order of his laird but knows he will never love her. 

Give this a try if you want:
- Medium steam – there are a handful of scenes but I found them on the short side (I listened to audio so it’s harder for me to tell length)
- Older hero/younger heroine
- Arranged marriage
- Highlanders!
- Disability featured – heroine has selective mutism due to trauma when she was 9 years old
- You have to be okay with some heavy content warnings (at end under spoiler warning)
- Hero nurses heroine back to health
- Stuart era Scotland – 1662 (There is some brief time of the book in London)

Ages:
- Heroine is 18, hero is 31


My thoughts:
I am conflicted about this book. It did tug on my heart a big, especially in the beginning with learning about Dorie’s background. But as it went on I got frustrated with a number of things. Ultimately I can’t say I loved the story and I don’t think ever reread this. But I do find it memorable so I decided to round my rating up.

Hero:
Bryce is drowning in grief. It still consumes his life after ten years – he has guilt over what happened to his family and has never found closure. He shuts himself off from everyone to keep the pain inside and this is a major plot point of the story. He is war chief of the clan that has adopted him in after his father basically gave him up after the death of his mother. Basically this guy desperately needs some therapy to work through his emotional trauma. I struggled with a lot of his behavior throughout the book – but I had guilt for feeling this way. The man had been through a lot, it just made it difficult to like him. Though I did love that he was willing to repeatedly look at his behavior and apologize soon after. He realizes when he hurts and makes amends. I don’t see this often in romance unless it’s a grand gesture at the end of the book (or nothing at all :P)

Heroine:
Dorie was an absolute delight to me. I loved her, so much. She had been through extreme abuse and seclusion. My heart really attached to her in the beginning and I was rooting for her to be able to heal and find happiness. She is repeatedly let down by Bryce but has a forgiving and understand heart. She helps heal him and eventually he helps heal her too, though in the end I just really wanted a bit more from Bryce.

The story had some things I enjoyed – a bit of humor, rich back story for the characters, supporting side characters that brought the story to life. Overall though I wanted more from the hero and got a bit bogged down with the non stop attempts on the heroine's life in the beginning, somewhat boring plot aspects (hero and heroine spent quite a bit of time apart, and I got to read about the heroine burning food, etc - and they also had a long separation towards the end of the story)

I think if you’ve liked Maya Banks you should definitely give this series a try. This was my first read of this author's work. I would try her again.

Here’s a few random parts that I wanted to note from the book

Faked consummation happens in this book – heroine’s brother demands the marriage is consummated in front of him – hero takes the heroine away to the river and cuts his thigh. Blood on the sheets and blood on her thighs which they check for before leaving.

Content Warnings:

Thoughts of suicide
Death of wife and child (remembered)
Severe illness resulting in death
Severe grief
On page and remembered physical, verbal, emotional abuse
Imprisonment
Poisoning
Arson and having to escape a fire while closed inside
Violence – heroine is shot in the chest with an arrow
Death on page from wounds/battle

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

21% - kiss
34% - 🔥 kisses, light breast play, fingering, missionary with lots of slow explanations and time taken
44% - 🔥kisses, fingering, missionary
47% - 🔥her on top
51% - skipped over sex scene
55% - 🔥blow job and missionary – on the short side
87%- kisses then fade to black