This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Genres: Historical Romance
Published by Forever
Released on May 29, 2018
Pages: 384
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
The Delight
Scottish highlands, a broken laird and the lass he has no right to want. What’s not to love? It’s a historical story with all the wondrous trappings of a romance to both swoon for and be delighted by.
Review
Years ago I read way more than my share of Scottish highland romances, mainly during high school and they were pretty tame back then. Recently, I got back into reading some historical romance and thought I would try this one when I saw it on Net Galley. It ended up being a fairly good read with some really heartwarming moments.
Lachland MacKenzie is the Laird of Black Isle, but in truth, hasn’t been much of one for over two years. After losing his wife and daughter in a fire, he became withdrawn and uncommunicative. When he hears that is daughter might be alive and all he has to do is kidnap a young woman to trade for his daughter, there’s really no question. Of course, he knows the man is a scoundrel, but he is only focused on his daughter. Mailie MacGregor has turned down a perfectly horrible man named Ranald Sinclair and wants nothing to do with him. When she goes to market day with several members of her family, she wants nothing more than a nice afternoon out. Getting kidnapped was not on her agenda.
I had fun getting to know the two main characters, Mailie in particular. She’s spunky, courageous and determined to find her way back home. She’s also beautiful, sweet and caring. Lachlan never knew what hit him the day he brought her home. He’s been broken for over two years and wants nothing more than to see or speak to no one except for his old nursemaid, Ruth. Mailie is a breath of fresh air to the dark and dingy castle she finds herself in. Since they have to wait two weeks for word to reach Sinclair, she has lots of time to change things. I pictured Lachland like a huge lumberjack or something similar. He’s strong as an Ox, but he has a marshmallow heart. He’s also his horribly scarred on one side of his face. Beauty and the Beast anyone?
This was my first book by Paula Quinn so I had no idea what I was getting before reading this. I now know she’s a very prolific writer and I definitely would be willing to read another book by her. The romance and sensual scenes she writes were almost perfect for this couple. The initial premise was a good one as well. One problem with the book came in the middle when the action really lags. I even put it down for awhile, not sure if I was going to finish it. At almost four hundred pages, I think at least fifty pages could have been trimmed as unnecessary to the story-if not more. I persevered and ended up enjoying the rest of the read. And not to be picky, but the cheesy lines during some of the more sensual scenes literally had me shaking my head. But who knows, maybe they actually talked like that back then? As far as the heartwarming moments, I am going to leave that to the reader to discover. Just know there are actually quite a few of them.
For adults that love a good sensual Highland romance, I do recommend this book.
Recommendations
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Mailie And Lachlan sound like my kinda characters, I do love the spunky ones too. Great review.
Yes, I love a spunky or snarky heroine the best. Thanks!
I love that you jumped in at book seven and aye this does sound delightful!
Aye, it really was! Definitely can standalone.
it’s been so long since I haven’t read a book like that. At last you weren’t too lost by starting with this one
No, not lost at all. I wouldn’t mind reading more in this series either.
Jumping right in at book 7 is great! I love the cover and the book sounds good!
It really is a standalone so I had no problems jumping in. Although, you could definitely tell that some of the characters have had their own books or will in the future.
This sounds like a really fun summer read!
I had fun reading it mostly. It would be a fun summer read!
ah yes any hero in a kilt floats my boat 😉
I know, right? And the accent.
Ha! What a hoot! He kidnaps her to get his daughter back and now he likes her. Looks like you found a fun one, Lorna! I’ve only read a novella by Paula Quinn, but I did like it so I’ll have to check out more of her stuff.
Oh, he definitely more than just likes her! I really enjoyed the romance in this one!
I used to read this author quite a bit but haven’t read her in a while now. This one sounds really lovely. Great review.
Thank you! I think I might try some others by her.
OK, I am sold. I love a good sensual highland romance. I just read one that was quirky and fell in love with it. Great review!
Oh, good! I hope you enjoy it if you get to read it!
Oh that’s my kind of hero! Yum! I think I have one of hers on the print review pile from years ago. I need to go hunt that down and get on it it seems!
Yes, I know a lot of people really love this series. Not sure if I am going back and start at the beginning or not but it was easy starting with this one 🙂