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A review by thebritishbibliophile
The British Bastard: A Hot Scots Prequel by Anna Durand
5.0
A beautifully, steamy, angst-filled fusion of a Brit and a Scot. A lad and a lass. Two worlds collide, and fate plays more than one sneaky hand. A fantastic prequel read with the promise of so much more.'
First of all, I'd like to thank the author, Anna Durand, for her kindness towards me and my love of her and her books. I'm signed up on her ARC team but the emails for the ebook ARC reads of this and 'The Notorious Dr. MacT' didn't make it to my inbox (my email messed up). We spoke via Instagram and she kindly sent me the link to both ebook ARCs. I offered to jump back in with her next release, but she offered these ARCs & I accepted. Not many authors would do that, but I'm glad Anna did as she's fast become a firm favourite author to read and I'm thrilled to get the chance to support her--even with a close deadline till release day.
That said, on with the review!
As outlined in the bottom of the blurb for The British Bastard, this is a Hot Scots prequel that reveals the full backstory of Alex and Catriona, going beyond what's revealed in Irresistible in a Kilt (Hot Scots, Book Eight). Usually I would suggest going back to the beginning to read a series from the beginning if books are standalones, but since this is a prequel read, no harm will be done by reading this--or The Notorious Dr. MacT--before the main novel. Especially, if like me, you haven't yet read the novels the prequels come before. I jumped into the Hot Scots series with Book Nine, Devastating in a Kilt, and have followed Anna & her releases since.
Echoing what I said in my review for The Notorious Dr. MacT, if you haven't already read the full-length novel that this story is a prequel of, you're getting the backstory first instead of the other way around of reading the journey and wondering how their story came to be. If you've already read Irresistible in a Kilt, this backstory will answer all of the questions you may have and as someone who's yet to read the full-length novel--again as I found out while reading The Notorious Dr. MacT--, this is a brilliantly detailed and gripping place to begin with these two characters.
The beauty of Anna's books in this series is that albeit they're standalones, you can jump in at any number book in the series and things will still be as clear as if you had started from book one. This is the same, I found, with this prequel. Alex and Cat have been a pair that have cropped up in books nine and onwards that I've read, so it's great to finally be reading their origin story from quite literally the beginning.
The pair as a main character couple, I thought, were very interesting. As a Brit, I can connect with Alex more as a character in terms of the way he speaks, his mannerisms, quirks and thoughts us Brits all seem to share and have a bit of banter about. Pair Alex with fiery, feisty, no-nonsense Scot, Cat, and you've got the best of both worlds. A Brit who despite being a gentleman (who can also be a bit of what is listed in the title of this prequel read), is teamed with a Scot. Two once opposite sides of the coin meld into one and we are left with a read that promised and delivered plenty of steam, secrets, and fate's meddling hand.
In some ways, this read was very similar in terms of context to The Notorious Dr. MacT, but takes its own spin and direction so it wasn't a complete parallel. I much preferred the ending (for now) to this prequel, however. There's the promise of so much more and again as I said in my other review, I'm definitely when I'm able to, going to dive into the full-length novel.
Five stars!
First of all, I'd like to thank the author, Anna Durand, for her kindness towards me and my love of her and her books. I'm signed up on her ARC team but the emails for the ebook ARC reads of this and 'The Notorious Dr. MacT' didn't make it to my inbox (my email messed up). We spoke via Instagram and she kindly sent me the link to both ebook ARCs. I offered to jump back in with her next release, but she offered these ARCs & I accepted. Not many authors would do that, but I'm glad Anna did as she's fast become a firm favourite author to read and I'm thrilled to get the chance to support her--even with a close deadline till release day.
That said, on with the review!
As outlined in the bottom of the blurb for The British Bastard, this is a Hot Scots prequel that reveals the full backstory of Alex and Catriona, going beyond what's revealed in Irresistible in a Kilt (Hot Scots, Book Eight). Usually I would suggest going back to the beginning to read a series from the beginning if books are standalones, but since this is a prequel read, no harm will be done by reading this--or The Notorious Dr. MacT--before the main novel. Especially, if like me, you haven't yet read the novels the prequels come before. I jumped into the Hot Scots series with Book Nine, Devastating in a Kilt, and have followed Anna & her releases since.
Echoing what I said in my review for The Notorious Dr. MacT, if you haven't already read the full-length novel that this story is a prequel of, you're getting the backstory first instead of the other way around of reading the journey and wondering how their story came to be. If you've already read Irresistible in a Kilt, this backstory will answer all of the questions you may have and as someone who's yet to read the full-length novel--again as I found out while reading The Notorious Dr. MacT--, this is a brilliantly detailed and gripping place to begin with these two characters.
The beauty of Anna's books in this series is that albeit they're standalones, you can jump in at any number book in the series and things will still be as clear as if you had started from book one. This is the same, I found, with this prequel. Alex and Cat have been a pair that have cropped up in books nine and onwards that I've read, so it's great to finally be reading their origin story from quite literally the beginning.
The pair as a main character couple, I thought, were very interesting. As a Brit, I can connect with Alex more as a character in terms of the way he speaks, his mannerisms, quirks and thoughts us Brits all seem to share and have a bit of banter about. Pair Alex with fiery, feisty, no-nonsense Scot, Cat, and you've got the best of both worlds. A Brit who despite being a gentleman (who can also be a bit of what is listed in the title of this prequel read), is teamed with a Scot. Two once opposite sides of the coin meld into one and we are left with a read that promised and delivered plenty of steam, secrets, and fate's meddling hand.
In some ways, this read was very similar in terms of context to The Notorious Dr. MacT, but takes its own spin and direction so it wasn't a complete parallel. I much preferred the ending (for now) to this prequel, however. There's the promise of so much more and again as I said in my other review, I'm definitely when I'm able to, going to dive into the full-length novel.
Five stars!