The Whisper of Roses by Teresa Medeiros

Book Description:
As she peered over the edge of the gallery, Sabrina Cameron trembled at the sight of the sun-bronzed giant striding into view. But she never recognized the stranger...not until the moment she found herself surrounded by arms of warm steel—and drowning in smoldering green eyes that had once held cool disdain but now shimmered with passion. Morgan MacDonnell, the boy, had been her tormentor. Now it looked as if Morgan, the man, would prove infinitely more dangerous...

Though hatred divided their clans, Morgan MacDonnell had come to Cameron Glen hoping for a truce...only to find that by evening's end the only way to avert bloodshed between the two families was for him to marry his enemy's daughter. But even as Morgan spirited Sabrina away to his rugged fortress, his battle would not be won. For this delicate rose of a girl would put up a bold fight...and the spoils of victory would be nothing less than a heathen MacDonell's heart.

This is the 2nd Teresa Medeiros book that I've read, and unfortunately this one didn't thrill me too much, much the same as the last one. The premise was good and sounded like I would like it. It's a Scottish Highlander romance, but I found it hard to like the hero, Morgan MacDonnell at first. Then, when we finally like him, we no longer like the heroine! Plus, there was this nagging feeling the hero was in love with her mother - huh?!

It is the early 18th century and Sabrina Cameron's family has had a long going feud with the filthy, disreputable MacDonell's as long as anyone can remember. Wealthy, her father invites the MacDonnell's to dine at his castle. After many years, Sabrina who grew up with Morgan McDonnell (he fostered with them as a boy during the summers) meets him again. He is now grown up, handsome, strong, virile, everything she thought he'd be. Yet, he had been a bully to her for years and had treated her badly. Now, we are led to believe that she had carried a torch for him all that time?

Inexplicably, during the grand feast, the laird of the MacDonnell's is murdered, a knife in the back. All hell breaks loose and after much ado, it is determined that Sabrina is going to have to marry Morgan. Yes, I know you must be thinking - "what?" But, they cook up a good reason, and she must leave her beautiful home and go live in the poor and ramshackle crumbling castle of the MacDonell's.

Sabrina and Morgan are wary of each other at first, but before long they fall in love and have a pretty good time of it... But, there are others in the clan who don't want her around and a scheme is carried out by Morgan's kinsmen (unbeknonst to him) that ends in tragedy. Sabrina winds up having a terrible accident in which her legs are broken, and she is crippled. In her own mind, she feels she must do the "noble" thing and make Morgan think she blames him and hates him for being the cause of her accident so that he'll divorce her and find a "whole" woman. Grrrr! I hate it when the heroines gets these stupid ideas in their heads!

So for the rest of the book, the two of them separate and then try to reunite at the instigation of her parents who hate to see what she has become. Sabrina turns into a bitter shrew and Morgan goes to London (where she is living with her English aunt and uncle and cousin, Enid who turns out to be a promiscuous miss in love with one of Morgan's cousins) and poses as a wealthy Scottish earl to win her back. The London part of the book was good, but most of the rest of the book was just a little lacklustre. I can't put my finger on it, but it didn't grab me. Then when we find out the big truth at the end of the book - I really found it hard to believe that Morgan would just accept it! It's quite a revelation!

I've left a lot out, but this review was the gist of the book. It's not much of a review, party because I couldn't really get excited about writing one up! There was a lot of deception, scheming and some sex, but the heroine is just boring. Sometimes she seems intelligent, and other times too stupid to live. I found it hard to believe she had always loved Morgan after he'd been so mean to her. And what did he see in her? I'm not reading any more by this author, I've realized there are better Scottish romances out there, this was well written, but there wasn't much passion in it and as much as there were some good parts in the book, there were also some dull and slow moving parts and revelations that were, in my opinion, hard to live with. As a whole, it all left me with an overall blah feeling in regard to the book. Maybe it's just me, but I recall I felt the same way with the other book I read by her. Disappointing.

3/5

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