From Amazon:
In Holling's superb trilogy, it's 1597, and Scotland is no place for witches. After Alan MacDonell's wife was burned at the stake, he sent his three daughters away. Now he is dying and sends three escorts to bring them back to marry men he believes will protect them from the witch hysteria.Gillian is now to marry Nicholas Lyon, the powerful Earl of Kincreag. In their story, My Devilish Scotsman, Gillian is drawn to Nicholas and anxious to be a good countess since she has no discernable powers. Nicholas promised his best friend, Alan, he would marry one of his daughters, and that's all there is to it, but Gillian sneaks through his defenses. Then, just as he lets down his guard, Gillian discovers that she has powers as a necromancer, one who can speak with the dead.
Medieval Scotland comes to life in Holling's tantalizing trilogy, and each book is moving and engrossing, as each tormented hero is saved, not by the powers of the MacDonell sisters but by their love. Through her alluring characters, Holling celebrates the triumph of good over evil, especially in dangerous times, and no one should miss these fine romances.
Lately, I've taken to reading a lot of Scottish Highland romances, and I had read the first book in this series, My Wicked Highlander *rolls eyes at the titles* and judged it okay. It was one of the first Scottish romances I had read, so I didn't have much to compare it to. Since then I've read many, and again, my reaction to this book is "It's okay." As far as Medieval Scotland comes to life, no it did not. In fact, I didn't even realize it took place in the 16th century, until I read the blurb of it from Amazon (Booklist). This book could have taken place in the 12th century or 17th century for all I knew.
This story is about the middle daughter, Gillian, a brown haired beauty (of course) who marries Nicholas, who has a reputation for being cruel and unforgiving and rumor has it, he murdered his first wife by pushing her off a cliff. But, he's dashingly good looking in a Darcy-esque (Pride and Prejudice) kind of way and she falls in love with him and he with her in no time. I did find their courtship amusing, in particular concerning a love potion she tries to give him and inadvertently winds up inside the pet dog who spends the rest of the time in the book chasing after her, licking, jumping up on her, and ultimately saving her life at one point. But, despite a few amusing episodes, the book was somewhat lackluster and a trifle dull.
Gillian is just not all that interesting a heroine, and Nicholas (who is really the son of a pirate that raped his mother) reminds me a little of Darcy. Always brooding, doesn't smile or talk much, feels he's above it all (he's an Earl), so I kind of like him, despite his bad temper - but what does he see in Gillian, apart from her lovely swaying hips and heaving breasts? Gillian, compared to her two sisters is the weakest of them all. Nicholas is naturally wary because his first wife cuckolded him and then tried to poison him, he doesn't want that to happen again in his second wife! But, I feel like he fell for her much too easily and quickly and couldn't understand why - she's so drippy! Even the sex is a bit ho-hum.
Overall, if you like witchy romances, you'd probably like this book (I'm not into witches). I found the outcome predictable and guessed who was behind the mysterious deaths and poisonings and I'm pretty positive I know what is the mysterious illness that is killing their father. But, despite my feeling for this book, I'll read the 3rd in the trilogy about her younger sister, Rose, who is definitely more interesting and based on her looks, could be Jamie Fraser's (Outlander) little sister!
3/5
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