To Marry a Scottish Laird

4 1/2 starsLove me some smutty highlander historical romances with a twist of mystery, and Lynsay Sands delivers every time! I inhaled this book within one day because I was just unable to put it down!"To Marry a Scottish Laird" is the second book in the Highland Brides series, and it begins about 20 years after book 1, which was a bit of a surprise to me, but it made it all the more enjoyable to revisit the main characters from book 1 ("An English Bride in Scotland") and see how things turned out with the long-term HEA.Campbell ("Cam") Sinclair is the first-born son of the Sinclair laird who was once married but lost both his wife and unborn infant in childbirth; thus, he has decided marriage is not for him, despite his mother's desperate attempts to persuade him otherwise by inviting every eligible female in Scotland to their home. Weary of the non-stop female bombardments, Cam decides to roam the lands with a couple of his cousins as hired swords for various allies in the area. His quest takes him to the lowlands and into England where he comes across a lad being pummeled by a giant of a man attempting to steal the boy's pouch. Cam comes to the lad's aid and saves him, but he fails to notice that there are 3 other men with this ogre, and one stabs him in the back. After fending off the other two, he collapses, and is left to the mercy of the lad and/or the fates.Joan is the daughter of the healer who served an English abbey for many years until her recent passing. On her deathbed, her mother begs her one last request: she is to deliver a message to the Laird and Lady McKay (the MCs from book 1) in the Scottish highlands. Her instructions included ways that Joan can defend herself on the potentially perilous and lengthy journey; one of these ideas involves binding her breasts, hiding her long blonde hair under a cap, and posing as a young man on a mission to deliver a message. When Cam comes to her defense, she feels obligated to care for him as he was injured in an effort to save her from a beating death. When he awakens, he sees the lad he saved, but cannot discern any facial features as he was beaten so severely, yet he stumbles upon the "boy" bathing in the lake and realizes "he" is actually a very appealing female.Cam and Joan must try to fight not only their magnetic attraction to one another but also their growing feelings as a commoner can never marry a laird.... right?What I liked:--- Both MCs were imminently likeable from the get-go--- The "dressed as a lad ruse" has been played often before as an HR story line, but this one worked better because her face was not a factor as it was beaten, so he wouldn't have been as much of a dolt as many of the male MCs are when they run around the countryside with a "boy" and not realize he's way too pretty and delicate to actually be one (also, the reveal happens early in the book, so they don't get very far along the path before her very clearly feminine assets are on display)--- The twists in the book made it all the more interesting, even when I was able to guess the larger mystery of the storyWhat I didn't like:--- The miscommunication angst gets old for me pretty quickly; thankfully, the female MC from the first book in the series intervened a couple of times to set them straight, but really - just talk to each other - ugh! :)Overall, another very satisfying historical romance from Sands that hit on my must-haves: likeable main characters; some turns/spins on the tale; and a truckload (er, I mean, horse-drawn cartload) of steamy goodness galore!Plot --- 4.5/5Main Characters --- 5/5Supporting Cast --- 4.5/5Steam Level --- 4/5Violence --- some (none domestic or gory)Language --- minimalPOV --- 3rd

While I like the book, I will say I am disappointed in Lynsay's writing. First I am going to say, she does not have the humor like she used to have in her first historical books. Second as someone said she is reusing plots. This book is the same basically concept as the first book in this series. You have a woman (the heroine) who is not trained to be lady and run a keep, who marries a Lord (the hero). She is insecure and thinks he will dump her, either when he tires of her, or realizes she can't do her job, or embarrasses him because of it. Someone is trying to either kidnap or kill the heroine. The heroine is sweet, and everybody just loves her to death. These kind of things do not usually bother me, as everyone eventually uses the same plot someone else uses. However when you have an author who is reusing the same basic plot in the same series it is not a good sign. I do not read vampire books so do not know if she has just lost her knack for writing historical books, if writing the vampire series is where she is making her money so does not really put as much effort in this books, maybe she is just getting older and her writing is not as good as it used to be, or something else is going on. Just know I am disappointed.As far as the book goes it is good. It kept me interested. Both the hero and heroine are likeable. I grew tired of the insecurity though. This one was because she was a peasant and therefore Cam could not love her. The first book in the series the insecurity was Annabel was fat. In both books they also had the insecurity of not knowing how to be a lady and run a castle. I was also able to figure out who was related to whom, and who the person causing problems was, even though the other reviewer said they did not see it coming. To me they were easy enough to see or predict. Not that that matters to me if a good story. It was a good read just don't expect the old Lynsay.You do not need to read the first book, however this is 20 years after the first book in the series and Annabel and Ross now have 3 children. I believe they are ages 12, 16, and 19, or something close to that.Sex content medium/high. Several scenes that are descriptive, but not as descriptive as they can be.

Makes my mind go to Scotland . Awesome

Book is in good shape and was delivered on time

Finally a book that doesn't base love on lust. A very good story line. Great mystery. A few comma errors, but otherwise no mistakes that I noticed. Characters well defined.

I enjoyed this book but it seemed so similar to other stories that at times I wondered if I hadn't read it before and just forgot a few characters. A Highlander comes upon a young boy being assaulted by robbers and enters the fight. After he has dispatched most of them, he is knifed and then rescued by the "boy" who then nurses him back to health. Of course, once he figures out that the lad is really a lass things get steamy between them. In fact, after discovering her real relatives, the two of them are quickly forced to wed. Later, someone decides to do away with the new bride and the race is on to find the culprit before it is too late. I disliked the fact that the villain is so easily recognized (by the reader, not the participants). However, I loved the fact that the women were quicker to recognize what was going on than the men and it was a woman who actually effected the rescue....YES!! My kind of book.Sexual situations may offend some readers.

This is great read

Lynsay é sempre muito divertida e a história é bem desenvolvida, o romance fofo e foi muito bom rever a Annabel e o Ross. Adorei!

I loved this book the characters were great, i liked that we saw annabel and ross from the first book much older. The story was good i did guess who was behind it all but i loved it anyway.This author just has me reaching for the next one highly entertaining read.

There is much fun to be had from reading this book. Laird Campbell is stabbed while saving a boy on a road in Scotland. The boy (Jo) nurses Cam back to life and they travel together enjoying each others company until Cam sees Jo bathing and realises his companion is actually a woman.It's an entertaining beginning that gets better when Cam takes Jo home only to find that his mother has twelve potential brides waiting for him. This being a Lynsay Sands book there is a mystery as well as moments of humour.I agree with other reviewers that this author gets a bit repetitive with similar characters but I don't think that's unusual for mass market reading. In the end I would recommend the book to anyone looking for a few hours of entertainment.

This book was okay, let's face it not all books can be everything great always. It was an interesting read, had a few twists in the story line that were unexpected