I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall Response

I reread Lynsay Sands’ Highlander Brides series last summer as part of a re-reading project, and it was an interesting experience. There were some highs and lows, but generally, it’s an okay series as long as you’re familiar with her work.

I was worried when I realized that she was releasing another book about a Buchanan brother — there are like a thousand of them, and they’re all the same. I couldn’t have told you their names before she started releasing the books.  I was hoping this book would be about Rory because he’s the only brother, aside from Aulay, that I had any interest it. But apparently it’s about Conran, who I had no idea existed.

The characters aren’t all that interesting, the romance is very uneven, and the plot is all over the place as if Lynsay Sands just hadn’t figured out how to do write this. It actually has a sort of a promising beginning that, for me, never delivers. I mean, if you just want to with a cup of tea, be comfy, and read a book that will probably entertain you but won’t stay with you, this is a good book for that.

Spoilers Ahead

What really disappoints me is that the set up of the characters is good — Conran is even introduced with a bit of an identity conflict (his brothers have something they’re good at and he doesn’t), Evina is capable, smart, and fearless. And then it’s story trope after story trope.

I like a good trope. I love marriage of convenience stories, governess stories, medieval highlanders…these things are my catnip. What I don’t like is a book that has more tropes than depth. First, we have a mistaken identity. And then we have a kidnapping. And then we have a forced marriage. And then we have a murder mystery. You’re flying from trope to trope, and never stopping to get to know the characters.

There’s even less emotional connection here. I can live with lust disguised as romance but we don’t even have that here. Conran thinks she’s pretty, trips and falls over her, they kiss, and then their very second interaction, he basically seduces her (thinks she’s a widow, but hey, maybe if you don’t skip from kissing to inserting the penis, you could have covered that ground). It’s just…

It’s exhausting and kind of not all that interesting. So yeah, a super disappointing read at the end of the day, but it’s fine as Lynsay Sands goes.