up this series in the new year with the McBride men!
Quick
I absolutely love sitelinkJennifer Ashley's writing.
I don't read her books for the romance, I've come to realise, but for the beautiful, broken heroes she creates, What is it about these Scots that is so irresistible Is it the broad brogue Or the kilt Whatever it may be, there is an entire series dedicated to these sexy Scots, and this one was excellent.
Elliot McBride was a different kind of broken hero with PTSD, If Ash sitelinkThe Duchess Deal was sardonic, Broderick sitelinkThe Taming of a Highlander was bloodthirsty, Elliot was the beaten down, suffer in silence kind, He was so quiet, contemplative, and abruptly physical, very unnerving but it was also amazingly emotional, His experience was disturbing, to say the least, that I just wanted to wrap my arms around him, Why Elliot touched my heart was because the author did a brilliant job of describing him without him having a lot of dialogues, It was a work of art,
Juliana was a resolute pillar for Elliot, brought to mind, Beth amp Ian, She was so completely and utterly out of her depth with her abrupt marriage to Elliot, the ramshackle estate, and Elliot's PTSD, but onward she marched, made her little lists, tried to fix things to the best of her ability, and stood up for the man she loved.
Good for you, woman.
The romance was in the familiarity between Juliana amp Elliot, and it was newly founded on hope, Very subtle and
almost spiritual, As always, with Ms Ashley books, the steam was on point,
Sadly, the mystery subplot was flat, It had a lot of potential to be sinister but went unexplored,
I enjoyed the side characters, and Mahindar's loyalty takes the cake, The sweet budding romance between McGregor amp Komal was so cute, as was Nandita amp Hamish's, Preeti was adorable. The Mackenzie appearances are always a delight,
Psychological Accuracy This author clearly does her research well, Elliot's PTSD symptoms were in keeping with his experiences, especially clinging to Juliana's memory, as she became his beacon of hope to survive, That is why he was able to gather himself a smidge in her presence, Him hunting around the hills must have been cathartic, The familiarity of home, Juliana, and the stability plus the normalcy of domesticity might have helped his road to recovery, as it gave him something to hold on to.
It can be that simple at times,
My Recommendation
This review may sound very clinical, but honestly, it was an emotional read, I couldn't put it down, Cannot wait to begin the next one sitelinkThe Untamed MacKenzie, This was a different hero, he only spoke when he wanted to and that was not very often, Even his mind was only full of the tortures he survived and not with a lot of nonsense,
We see a lot of Ansley from bookas the hero is her brother, we even see the whole Mackenzie family, It's been a couple of years since I read the previous books of this series and it is still awesome to see Ian, When you like a character it is so good to see them again,
This plot is about the hero trying to survive his madness, a crumbling house, a kid, a strong heroine, finding out the person that is trying to kill the hero, interesting servants and a bit of Indian and Scottish culture.
I don't know if I should give aorstarts for this book, . . My goodreads. com friend Dhestiny began her review with this:
Elliot is to the McBrides as Ian is to the Mackenzies, except that Elliot wasnt born as he is now.Thats such a perfect intro, that I had to steal it, Yes, if you wanted to take Ian home with you, youll need to build on an extra room for Elliot,
His “madness” comes from being captured, held as a slave and tortured, mentally and physically,
Full disclosure: Jennifer Ashley is one of my top three HR authors, and her Highland Pleasures series is my favorite series, The first four volumes were about the Mackenzie clan, four rowdy, passionate, hunky sons of a Scottish duke, Having exhausted the Mackenzies and now that I think about it, doesnt that sound like fun, she turns to their brotherinlaw Elliot McBride whose sister is married to Lord Cameron, my own favorite Mackenzie brother.
I was almost guaranteed to like this book, so stop reading now if youre looking for an unbiased review,
Our heroine is Lady Juliana St, John, who has been jilted at the altar as the story opens, Lady Juliana didnt actually love her fiancée, but she is humiliated and flees into a small chapel to weep, To her surprise, she finds there a drunken Elliot, her secret crush since childhood, In fact, shes doubly surprised, because she thought Elliot was still in India, where he had spent many years serving in the Army and then amassing a fortune as a landowner.
Thinking to make a dark joke, Lady Juliana suggests that Elliot should marry her and ensure that she doesnt become a pitiable old maid, Elliot agrees, and before you can say “forever hold your peace,” they are husband and wife,
There are several things about Elliot that Juliana doesnt know, however, First, as a friend of her older brother, he has adored her since she was sixteen, Second, he was imprisoned and horribly tortured by outlaws in the Indian hinterlands, and during that horrible year it was the thought of Juliana that kept him sane and alive.
Finally, he had come to Edinburgh that day specifically to find Juliana and disrupt her wedding, believing that life with her will be his salvation,
Elliot takes Juliana to a ramshackle estate that he has purchased from a great uncle, far away in the Scottish countryside, His staff consists of four Punjabi servants who have accompanied him from India, along with a threeyearold biracial girl named Priti, Once there, Juliana begins to realize the depth of Eliots problems, partly from her experiences and partly from what she is told by his devoted factotum, Mahindar.
Elliot suffers from what we now would call PTSD, He loses track of time and sometime becomes unpredictably violent, Occasionally he loses the ability to distinguish between the past and the present,
As time passes, Elliot begins to doubt whether he will ever regain his hold on reality, Juliana, however, is courageous and stalwart as she works to create a home out of the dilapidated house Elliot has brought her to, Things become more complicated though when it appears that someone from his past is hunting Elliot with the intent to harm him and those he loves, Or are they Perhaps his loved ones are most in danger from Elliot himself,
Many scenes take place in the India of Elliots memory, and Ms, Ashley clearly has done her research to show the fraught relationship between the Indian people and their English colonizers, Elliots affectionate relationship with his servants and little Priti, however, is sincere and reciprocal,
Dark secrets are revealed as the story progresses, and Ms, Ashley has constructed her typically complex plot, along with a heartrending love story and delicious sexytimes, Several Mackenzies figure in the plot, and the interaction between Elliot and Ian is especially touching these two men understand one another better than anyone else can.
The reader need not have read the preceding Highland Pleasures books to enjoy this one, but if you havent read them yet, what are you waiting for Start with sitelinkThe Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie and don't dare skip sitelinkThe Many Sins of Lord Cameron!.