1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Book Two of the Scandal series., Feb 17 2009
This review is from: Highland Scandal (Mass Market Paperback)
It is the year 1807. The situation in London is rather tense with the Delicate Investigation under way. That is what people are calling the investigation into the princess's behavior. The Lords Commissioners are examining the accusations against the princess. Most of them are untrue. A wrathful Prince of Wales (George) is hauling in anyone believed to have shared the princess's bed.
When Jankin "Jack" MacLeary Haines, Earl of Lambourne, is accused of adultery with the Princess of Wales, he flees to his native Scotland. Jack believes that George would soon come to his senses and realize that Jack would never have committed the treasonous offense. Once the ridiculous charges were dropped, Jack could return to his London home. Instead, George hires Scottish bounty hunters to search Scotland for the earl. The men that finally capture Jack take him to their laird, Carson Beal. Carson blackmails Jack into handfasting his niece, Elizabeth "Lizzie" Drummond Beal. A handfast is an old Highland custom - a marriage lasting a year and a day, unless both partners agree to make it a lifelong vow. Lizzie may be beautiful, but she is a hellion.
Lizzie is forced to handfast to the earl by her uncle, Carson. Carson is using the handfast to ruin her chances of a respectable marriage with Gavin Gordon of Glen Cochill. Carson claims it is due to an old family feud, but Jack believes there is another reason the laird wants Lizzie and her sister to keep living in poverty at Thorntree. As Jack ponders it all, he also begins to thaw Lizzie's attitude.
***** I must say that Lizzie's unintelligent attitude at the beginning was a bit too much for me. She kept ignoring Jack's sound advice and making matters worse. (As my mother would say, "She was cutting off her nose, despite her face.") That is the only time Lizzie grated on my nerves and I did not think it was irritating enough to subtract even half a star. This tale began with Jack running from bounty hunters. Needless to say, that caught my attention immediately. This story kept me glued as the author toyed with my imagination like a child with building blocks. I would be enthralled by a conversation as the main characters brainstorm what to do, when suddenly I would find myself laughing out loud as something ridiculous happens or is said. Ingenious! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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