Review by Ronny
Series Name: Highland Brides, # 5
Surrender to the Highlander is another romantic historical romance by the talented Lynsay Sands.
Favourite Quote:
She wasn’t sure why she was sorry he left, since she barely knew the man, but she was disappointed, and her feelings obviously showed on her face, Edith realized when Rory’s eyebrows rose slightly and he glanced from her to Niels with a small smile.
Book Synopsis:
Edith Drummond owes her life to Niels Buchanan and his brothers. Waking after an illness to a castle overrun by rugged Highlanders is disconcerting, but so is learning that she’s slowly being poisoned. Niels insists on staying by her side, and Edith soon discovers that even more dangerous is her wild attraction to the fierce warrior.
Niels has never met a more courageous—or enticing—woman than Lady Edith. The idea of such a bonny lass being forced to enter a nunnery is more than any red-blooded Scotsman could bear. He’ll gladly marry her himself. But while sweeping her off her feet is easy, it’ll take all his skill to defeat her family’s relentless enemies, and convince her to surrender to his sweet embrace.
Review:
This is the fifth book in the Highland Brides series, but if you are anything like me and have a tendency to read series out of order, you can definitely do that with this series. This isn’t my favourite book in the series; I found it a bit slow and lacking that spark to draw me in. I tend to like my Highland romances to have a bit of action and/or a road trip in them, and this had neither, which made it feel like a slower read. There is definitely an insta-lust and Insta-marriage feel to this book. I don’t mind when things move fast, but in this instance, I actually feel like it moved too fast, or they didn’t interact enough to really convince me that they had a strong enough connection to warrant a marriage. There was definitely chemistry between Edith and Niels, but I would have liked to see more. That whole start to their romantic relationship was just missing something.
Besides the insta marriage bit, this story is centred around Edith and her family, who seem to be terrorized by a mysterious enemy who has been killing them off one at a time. One thing Lynsay does really well is that when she includes a mystery element, that is always well done. I’m never able to guess who the “bad guy” is, and their motives are always unexpected. It’s always a surprise, which makes their grand reveal at the end of the book entertaining and exciting. The mystery of who is killing Edith’s family is the main focus of this story, besides the romance. I liked it. The Buchanan brothers provide so much fun, witty, comedic entertainment. They are the highlight of this book and series. Their brotherly relationship is just so well done. I am thrilled that there are seven of them because it means that I get seven books with them.
The romance isn’t my favourite, as stated above. The chemistry between Edith and Neil is apparent from the first moment they met. I do love that first interaction when both characters’ worlds stop, and all they see is one another. This is a steamier installment in the series. I enjoyed it when these two were on the page together. Their banter is fun, and they keep each other on their toes. There was just something that was lacking, and I just can’t quite put my finger on it.
