Reviews

A Heartless Laird by Dragonblade Publishing, Hildie McQueen

laceyfrance's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. Sometimes felt like too many stories were being told at one time to be able to get deep enough into each of them.

mldreading's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

3.0

smithrachaelynn's review against another edition

I just didn’t like anything about this story and the characters made me sad.

jasbeingjas's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I really liked Elspeth.  Malcolm was interesting.  Usually the "intimidating" laird, is just intimidating because of his size or because he has rbf, which is weird considering everyone seems to be huge.  But Malcolm being actively scary or ruthless made it so much better.  Interested to see how this clan war is resolved.

ohthesheenanigans's review

3.0

raizynbran's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

amandasbookreview's review against another edition

"' A Heartless Laird' has the potential to be an amazing Scottish epic tale!"

Check out my full review at InD'Tale Magazine:

http://magazine.indtale.com/magazine/2020/february/viewer/desktop/#page/58

itsemtee's review against another edition

DNF at 70%. Man, this was painful to read. An almost incoherent swirling mess of so many story arcs and plot lines I felt like I was in the midst of a fever dream. Insta-love, zero romance, cardboard cutout characters; no seduction, no foreplay, no chemistry, no connection. No stars.

dwohlfarth's review against another edition

2.0

so, I've read some bad bodice rippers in my day, and I hesitate to call this one the worst. because plot wise, it's not the worst... it's just boring. you would think that with 3+ couples and the narrative flipping back and forth between pov's and relationships that there would be a lot going on and it would be an exciting read, but it's just boring. a kidnapping plot gets resolved within the same chapter, there's no emotional buildup; the climactic battle with the "bad guy" was over in 3 sentences; multiple plot points were left unresolved in set ups for future books. oh, and I know all these books have insta-love, but when you're constantly flipping back and forth between narratives, it's hard to build up any emotional bond between the characters. they barely interact because you don't spend any time with them.

(not to mention that for a solid 3 pages Alec McLeod was called Alec Ross- aka misnaming him as a member of his rival clan. proofread, people, proofread!!!)

overall, it just felt really disjointed and needed a good editing down. the smut was dope though, that gets a 9/10 in my opinion. the rest of it? a snooze-fest.