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alana_reads's review against another edition
3.0
I was intrigued to read the follow up to our book club book for last month 'The Bridegroom Wore Plaid' which was an light and easy read with perhaps a little too much over the top 'mushy stuff'. Once Upon a Tartan was more of the same but I think I preferred it to the first book as I felt more invested in the romance and in the conflict between Tye, Hester and Fiona, though I think I preferred Augusta as the heroine to Hester who I could never really get a sense of. I will probably go on to read the third book to round off the trilogy as I'm hopeful of seeing a reunion between Asher and his brothers. If you're a fan of historical romance or romance in general, you will probably enjoy this series but if you're wanting something with a bit more depth, I would steer clear. Overall I liked it, it was a fun, light read which is exactly where I'm at reading-wise at the moment!
jaclynder's review against another edition
3.0
I feel very conflicted with Grace Burrowes’s historical romances. Each one of her books that I have picked up, I have either loved or hated. I had read the first of the MacGregor Trilogy and loved it; so far it has been the only Burrowes book that I have really liked. Therefore, I was rather excited to read Once Upon a Tartan, which features Hester MacDaniel, who was mentioned the first book. I ended up really liking this one, but it wasn’t without the problems that I dislike in Burrowes other books. There were instances where I felt confused with plot and its rationale; I find that Burrowes can overdo it with plot complications.
Hester has come to her brother’s holding in the Highlands while recovering from a broken engagement to watch over her step-niece, Fiona. While there, Hester gets an unwanted guest, in Tiberius Flynn, uncle of Fiona’s late father. Fiona’s father had seduced her mother and continues to be unacknowledged by her father’s family. By all appearances, it appears that Tiberius has come to acknowledge Fiona and take her back home with him. Hester is not about to let that happen, especially since her brother and Fiona’s mother are away on their honeymoon. However, Hester finds herself desperately attracted to Tiberius and sorely tempted to explore that attraction after what has happened with her former fiancé. Tiberius also feels this attraction, but is under orders to bring Fiona back to his father’s home, despite his own personal misgivings about taking a young girl from her loving family.
I really enjoyed the romance aspect, and I loved Tiberius and Hester together. Hester deserved to have someone treat her well after what happened at the hands of her fiancé; however, the way that this romance was complicated really threw me off and left me rather confused. It just seemed to convoluted as to why Tiberius’s father wanted to claim Fiona at this point, and to me, it didn’t really make sense that everyone just bowed to his whim despite the fact that everyone knew how wrong he was to take a child from her family. While I was rather confused and disbelieving concerning the plot that drove the novel, I was quite happy with the romance aspect of it. Tiberius and Hester was great together, and it was good to see that they would get their own happily ever after despite Tiberius’s father’s machinations. Fans of The Bridegroom Wore Plaid will be sure to enjoy this book in the trilogy, and will be anxiously awaiting the conclusion with the return of the lost heir in The MacGregor’s Lady.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
Hester has come to her brother’s holding in the Highlands while recovering from a broken engagement to watch over her step-niece, Fiona. While there, Hester gets an unwanted guest, in Tiberius Flynn, uncle of Fiona’s late father. Fiona’s father had seduced her mother and continues to be unacknowledged by her father’s family. By all appearances, it appears that Tiberius has come to acknowledge Fiona and take her back home with him. Hester is not about to let that happen, especially since her brother and Fiona’s mother are away on their honeymoon. However, Hester finds herself desperately attracted to Tiberius and sorely tempted to explore that attraction after what has happened with her former fiancé. Tiberius also feels this attraction, but is under orders to bring Fiona back to his father’s home, despite his own personal misgivings about taking a young girl from her loving family.
I really enjoyed the romance aspect, and I loved Tiberius and Hester together. Hester deserved to have someone treat her well after what happened at the hands of her fiancé; however, the way that this romance was complicated really threw me off and left me rather confused. It just seemed to convoluted as to why Tiberius’s father wanted to claim Fiona at this point, and to me, it didn’t really make sense that everyone just bowed to his whim despite the fact that everyone knew how wrong he was to take a child from her family. While I was rather confused and disbelieving concerning the plot that drove the novel, I was quite happy with the romance aspect of it. Tiberius and Hester was great together, and it was good to see that they would get their own happily ever after despite Tiberius’s father’s machinations. Fans of The Bridegroom Wore Plaid will be sure to enjoy this book in the trilogy, and will be anxiously awaiting the conclusion with the return of the lost heir in The MacGregor’s Lady.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
bettiespages's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, it took me a bit to get into it...mostly because the back cover did not match the story in my mind. Now that's not altogether a bad thing, just caused confusion.
Good characters and a clever story. I definitely will read more from this author.
Good characters and a clever story. I definitely will read more from this author.
intostarlight's review against another edition
1.0
This book was so boring! I couldn't even finish it properly without skipping pages. I just didn't care for it. It was too slow. The hero and heroine weren't interesting, in fact they were boring and the hero was a doormat while the heroine really made some questionable decisions based on her previous experiences. The only bright spot in the story was the niece, Fiona, but even she can't redeem this book.
amshofner's review against another edition
4.0
When you read an author's books back to back, sometimes it's fun to pick out aspects that appear with regular frequency. Hair brushing, braiding, mutual pleasuring in lieu of sex, wayward children... still enjoyable, though.
ribbitingreads's review against another edition
no rate because DNF
This book has a lot of potential. I read the reviews before I read the book myself. A lot of people said it had a slow start, but it was an overall good book. However, that slow pace isn't for me. At least not in this moment. I will probably pick this book back up sometime this year, but for now I'm going to leave it here.
This book has a lot of potential. I read the reviews before I read the book myself. A lot of people said it had a slow start, but it was an overall good book. However, that slow pace isn't for me. At least not in this moment. I will probably pick this book back up sometime this year, but for now I'm going to leave it here.
larisa2021's review against another edition
4.0
Another top notch tale of complicated family and love, plus a bunny. Grace delivers the good again!
pattydsf's review
4.0
This is the 14th romance that I have read that Burrowes wrote. It has been, however, three years since I read the last one. How could I have forgotten how much fun I have reading these wonderful stories.
hayleyde's review
5.0
Listened to as an audiobook narrated by Roger Hampton. The first couple of chapters are a bit slow and hard to follow, but Grace Burrowes’s wry sense of humor is abundant throughout the book. By the end, the book is not only entertaining, romantic, and hot, but emotionally arresting. I was almost in tears throughout the entire last chapter and then some. This book has a similar feel to Mary Balogh’s Bedwyn saga in all the best ways. Highly recommend the audio as I think it enhanced my experience (apparently we Americans say the name Ian all wrong), but I ended up checking out the ebook as well so I could highlight the numerous memorable moments.
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