Overall Response

Of the six books in this series, this one is probably my favorite so far. I’ve reread three of them when writing this review, and I think Annabel and Ross are the best couple. What I love about Lynsay Sands is that I know exactly what I’m getting when I read her stories: a frothy romance with two beautiful people who spend half the book lusting after one each other, mixed with a murder mystery. Medieval Scotland is a violent place, y’all, and everyone of these people almost gets killed a dozen times.

I really liked the playful banter between the two leads and how well they interacted. The story with them was rarely about misunderstandings or secrets, just trying to figure each other out while outrunning a variety of murder attempts.

Spoilers Ahead

One of my absolute favorite parts about this book is Annabel’s background as a former oblate and her haphazard attempt to stick to the religious strictures about sex. Wearing a weird chemise with the hole cut into it and not bedding on certain days, etc. I thought it was lovely and sweet of her to attempt it, but I really loved Ross’s response. He was a bit frustrated, but he didn’t force her, didn’t belittle her beliefs. He simply just worked around them. It was a lovely bit of trust building that you don’t often see.

I liked the twist of Annabel’s sister being a bad guy and the stable boy, Graham, actually being a little sympathetic. Not really rootable, but I was sad when he died. The murder attempts were engaging, the supporting cast was great.  I don’t really have a lot to say about this. There’s nothing wrong with this book, it just lacks that extra oomph to get you to five stars if that makes sense.