My rating:4/5 stars
Samantha Young is back with another series, and I was very curious to read about her new adventure. She began with sweet Romance and developed into something more – an author who writes not only about love, but also about drama, grief, and combines it with action and suspense. Her stories are very dynamic now, and you can see an evolution in what she is as a writer but also as a storyteller.
Her new series is also set in Scotland – apparently, she wants this to be her trademark, but that’s alright with me. After finishing her book, I realized that it suits her, because you can obviously see how much in love she is with her country, and nobody can depict that more than her.
Tierney Silver is grieving the loss of her parents, and although 2 years have passed, she is still not herself. She is all alone, lost, and cannot find solace in a big city like NY, so she remembers how happy she was in Scotland and decides to move there. The move can be a little awkward, but she finds peace and home in a little village, where she buys a B and B which urgently needs fixing. This is her goal – to start fresh, develop a business, and be happy in a small town. She was not prepared for Ramsay McRae, a grumpy Scott who takes her by storm with his presence, rude behavior, but extremely good looks. He has secrets, like BIG SECRETS, but they have an attraction which is difficult to describe in words. Not to mention an age gap, which I’ve found to be delicious, being one of my favorite tropes EVER.
They begin an affair that needed to be only attraction and fun. Obviously, it didn’t end up like that, and they began developing feelings for one another. To put salt on the wound, Tierney is in danger and won’t say what is happening until it’s too late. The romance and the drama are very well blended, so you will love this action-packed book, with steamy romance and an alpha hero.
Mixing romance with action is now one of Sam’s specialties, but you can see that she worked extra hard for this series/first book. It is not like the Adair series; it’s far more complex, detailed, and the drama and tension are more present. The plot is not solely focused on the main character, but it goes in various directions, probably to begin the development of the future main characters of the next books. You practically cannot be at peace until the end, because always something needs to happen. It was action-packed, well-written but, with a very complicated male hero.
I like Tierney and consider her very brave. I liked that she has initiative, that she was not spoiled because of her privileges, and that she learnt something from grief. I liked the way she assumed her sexuality and way of being, and she was more determined than Ramsay. Ramsay was very quiet, and even if we got chapters from his POV, it was still difficult to understand him. And even if he was depicted in a tormented way, I think he was very exaggerated in the psychological and skills POV, an element that was very hard to believe. I like my characters to be closer to reality, and Ramsay was definitely not, considering his background, but also his physical skills.
I think these are the 2 main reasons I gave the book only 4 stars – the plot dragged, maybe more than it should, giving some unnecessary details, and the portrayal of Ramsay, which may have been a little exaggerated. It delivered a more complex and well-drafted plot, so we could actually see an evolution when it came to penmanship.
Ramonisme 