Review by Ronny
Series Name: The Montgomerys and Armstrongs, # 1
Never Seduce a Scot is a smouldering, wild Highlander romance romp by the talented Maya Banks.
Favourite Quote:
A deep timbre-a voice! Low-pitched like some of the other rare sounds she was able to hear, though until now she’d never been certain that they were real. She’d thought they were only memories of sound she’d heard before her world had gone silent.
She pushed around her brothers so she could more squarely see the room, and she searched for the source of that sound. That beautiful sound.
As soon as she made her presence known, the others looked her way, and it was then she saw that Graeme’s lips were moving. It was him she was hearing!
Book Synopsis:
Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.
Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.
Review:
This is another book that I learned about from the Fated Mates ladies, and the plot instantly had me intrigued. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I ended up reading it in one sitting because who needs sleep? It was Eveline’s character and her journey in this story that drew me in. For romance reasons, Eveline and Graeme find themselves forced into an arranged marriage. This is a true enemies-to-lovers story in that Eveline and Graeme are enemies from different warring clans. There has been a fierce and violent feud between these two clans spanning generations, and the Scottish King is sick of them fighting, so he has arranged for Eveline and Graeme to marry in hopes it will spark a truce. There is a slight problem with this arrangement: Eveline has been pretending to be “touched” in the head and hasn’t spoken to anyone in years. Graeme isn’t too keen on having a wife who is addled in the brain because it means he won’t be able to have heirs. What Eveline has kept secret is that she isn’t “touched”; she is deaf and can read people’s lips. She lost her hearing because of a head injury she sustained when trying to escape an arranged marriage to a terrible man. She kept up the ruse of being “touched” in order to annul the arranged marriage. We find all this out within the first couple of chapters of the book. Maya has set the stakes pretty high right from the beginning for the two MCs in this story. They both find themselves in an undesirable situation that wasn’t of their making and as a reader, I was instantly intrigued and wanted to know what would happen to these two characters.
One of the reasons why I love a historical Highlander romance is because there is often this element of danger and/or action injected into the plot. Whether it’s something that is front and center in the story or a whisper of danger in the background that you know is going to push the story and its characters in a certain direction, that danger/action element makes for an entertaining read. This story is interesting because, for the most part, the danger in the story is mostly centred around the disdain the Montgomery clan has for Eveline. They are not as forgiving or as accepting of Eveline’s presence as Graeme is. So, the danger is low-key for about 75% of the story, and then wham, you are hit with a twist that injects this edge-of-your-seat danger, and you weren’t expecting it at all. It was a great dramatic twist in the plot.
This book has all those great romance elements that I love: that lusty and sweet tension between the two MCs, forced proximity, an arranged marriage, a one bed situation, and lots of drama. Now, Maya’s stories tend to be on the more serious side. There aren’t a lot of comedic moments in the story, and there is mention of situations where assaults and harassment have occurred. The story is rich with details and is written in such a way that you cannot help but sink into the love story that is unfolding on its pages.
I enjoyed both Eveline’s and Graeme’s stories. Eveline is, in one way, that traditional historical heroine. She is brave, smart, and kind, but her character stands out from other heroines because she is deaf. It’s not something I have read in a medieval Highlander romance before, and I was curious about how her character would interact and develop in this story. I wasn’t disappointed with Eveline’s journey and loved spending time with her and watching her fall in love with Graeme and find a place within his clan. Graeme was delightful. He comes across as that gruff tough warrior, but you quickly realize that he has a pretty big and gentle heart. He shows kindness and understanding to Eveline right from the beginning, and that kindness never wavers as the story progresses. He is just a big softy underneath that fierce warrior exterior. The chemistry between these two was delicious, and it was addictive watching as they interacted and tried to understand each other.
Never Seduce a Scot is a swoonastic and entertaining Highlander love story.
