BRIDE OF A WICKED SCOTSMAN

Author: Samantha James ISBN: 9780060899400 3/2009 HISTORICAL Publisher: AVON
Time Period: 1800s

Lady Maura O’Donnell swore to her father that she would recover the Circle of Light, an enchanted Celtic relic that had brought the family prosperity—until it was stolen two centuries earlier by a notorious pirate. Now the pirate’s descendant, the Duke of Gleneden, holds this rare treasure, and Maura will do anything to get it back Alec McBride knows when he’s been had. Lady Maura tricked him into marriage, and now she’ll pay. He’ll tempt her, tame her—until she sorely wishes she’d never heard of the Duke of Gleneden. Caught up in their game of revenge, Alec and Maura never notice what is happening in their hearts—until it’s too late.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Samantha James sets her historical romance, BRIDE OF A WICKED SCOTSMAN, in Ireland (and later Scotland) where Lady Maura O’Donnell promises her father on his deathbed that she will hunt down the Black Scotsman, find the treasure he stole from them 200 years prior, and return it home, thus breaking the curse which has caused the barrenness of their lands and the untimely deaths of all the Ears since the date of its loss. The Duke of Gleneden, Alec McBride (a descendant of the original Black Scotsman), will be attending a ball at a local Baron’s estate. Maura determines that she must attend and deceive him into marrying him so he’ll take her back to Scotland where she can search for the stolen Celtic relic—a circle of light that can float on air. Will she be able to pull it off without Alec knowing what she’s up to? Will she be able to live as his wife without falling deeply in love with the handsome Duke? Will she be able to save Alec from the curse on his family from her own ancestor?

James creates the perfect sexual tension: a beautiful, spirited Irish lass and a brawny Scotsman who feel the electricity between them the second their eyes meet at the masquerade ball. It only increases once Alec is deceived into marrying Maura because he believes he has deflowered her and she must maintain her virginity, despite his mounting husbandly needs. Who will succumb first? Will she find the relic, save her clan and Alec as well, while still keeping out of his bed? Or will the temptation ignited just by his kisses be her undoing? James is able to keep the tension building to the point where I was ready to bed Alec myself! Let that scheming Maura have her silly relic (if she can find it) and all those lovely silk stockings he has bought to her delight; I’ll just duck out with her duke and let him make me float on air (and he wasn’t even wearing a kilt!).

BRIDE OF A WICKED SCOTSMAN is wickedly steamy, suitably mysterious, charmingly romantic and satisfyingly ended. I do so love a good “happily-ever-after.” Readers who love their romance with lilt or a brogue will be most richly rewarded by Maura and Alec, or “Irish” and “Scotsman” as they call each other when she plunders his jewels and he buries them in her depths.

Susan Barton