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A review by jaclynder
Once Upon a Tartan by Grace Burrowes
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.