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dinipandareads 's review for:
To Marry a Scottish Laird
by Lynsay Sands
2.5 stars
TL;DR: I gotta say, I was already not taking these books too seriously but even the wildness of this second book in the Highland Brides series is a bit too much for me. Although I liked the way the story started with a bit of ‘hidden/mistaken identity’, I didn’t find Joan and Cam’s journey as entertaining nor their connection as strong as the couple in the first book. I also wasn’t a big fan of how certain events and topics were handled in this book. As a content warning: this does prominently feature discussions and graphic descriptions of traumatic childbirth, including the loss of the MMC’s wife and child during childbirth. Overall, I wasn’t too keen on this one!
Joan and Cam have an interesting and unconventional start as they meet when Cam rescues Joan, who’s dressed as a young lad, from brigands on the side of the road. I liked their not-so-meet-cute but I wasn’t a big fan of how it was revealed that Cam knew Joan was a woman this whole time, especially since (minor spoiler) it happened when they were about to have sex for the first time… The intsa-lust and Cam’s thoughts about getting her naked got a little old after a while, Following that scene, a big chunk of the first half of the story was taken up by our MCs having sex everywhere—open spaces, behind waterfalls, in the wilderness—as they (slowly) made their way to Scotland where Joan planned to fulfil her mother’s dying wish. While I didn’t think they were bad characters, I didn’t entirely feel their chemistry. I liked that Joan was a healer and how she’s smart and courageous and Cam was pretty much your typical brawny highland lord. I did like how Joan and Cam both didn’t want children and that tied them together, as Cam lost his wife to childbirth and as a midwife, Joan knows the pain and trauma of childbirth and doesn’t want to experience it herself.
The characters from book one make a reappearance halfway through the book and play a surprising role in Joan and Cam’s story. I have to admit that I didn’t immediately connect the characters to the ones in the first book because this takes place 20+ years after those events, but I enjoyed the unexpected reveal. That said, the second half of the book felt very disconnected from the first half and it could’ve honestly been two different books. I’m personally not a fan of pitting women against each other, especially to “win a man” but the mystery aspect also was pretty obvious to me. I did like some of the friendships that resulted from the chaos though and I’m admittedly torn between wanting to read the next book and being over the silliness of this series because I like the FMC of the next book. She’s sassy, foul-mouthed and feisty!
Overall, while I didn’t take these books too seriously from the beginning, I’m still kind of disappointed that I didn’t have fun with this one!
TL;DR: I gotta say, I was already not taking these books too seriously but even the wildness of this second book in the Highland Brides series is a bit too much for me. Although I liked the way the story started with a bit of ‘hidden/mistaken identity’, I didn’t find Joan and Cam’s journey as entertaining nor their connection as strong as the couple in the first book. I also wasn’t a big fan of how certain events and topics were handled in this book. As a content warning: this does prominently feature discussions and graphic descriptions of traumatic childbirth, including the loss of the MMC’s wife and child during childbirth. Overall, I wasn’t too keen on this one!
Joan and Cam have an interesting and unconventional start as they meet when Cam rescues Joan, who’s dressed as a young lad, from brigands on the side of the road. I liked their not-so-meet-cute but I wasn’t a big fan of how it was revealed that Cam knew Joan was a woman this whole time, especially since (minor spoiler) it happened when they were about to have sex for the first time… The intsa-lust and Cam’s thoughts about getting her naked got a little old after a while, Following that scene, a big chunk of the first half of the story was taken up by our MCs having sex everywhere—open spaces, behind waterfalls, in the wilderness—as they (slowly) made their way to Scotland where Joan planned to fulfil her mother’s dying wish. While I didn’t think they were bad characters, I didn’t entirely feel their chemistry. I liked that Joan was a healer and how she’s smart and courageous and Cam was pretty much your typical brawny highland lord. I did like how Joan and Cam both didn’t want children and that tied them together, as Cam lost his wife to childbirth and as a midwife, Joan knows the pain and trauma of childbirth and doesn’t want to experience it herself.
The characters from book one make a reappearance halfway through the book and play a surprising role in Joan and Cam’s story. I have to admit that I didn’t immediately connect the characters to the ones in the first book because this takes place 20+ years after those events, but I enjoyed the unexpected reveal. That said, the second half of the book felt very disconnected from the first half and it could’ve honestly been two different books. I’m personally not a fan of pitting women against each other, especially to “win a man” but the mystery aspect also was pretty obvious to me. I did like some of the friendships that resulted from the chaos though and I’m admittedly torn between wanting to read the next book and being over the silliness of this series because I like the FMC of the next book. She’s sassy, foul-mouthed and feisty!
Overall, while I didn’t take these books too seriously from the beginning, I’m still kind of disappointed that I didn’t have fun with this one!