Sinful Scottish Laird by Julia London Review and GIVEAWAY (TLC Book Tours)

During Droughtlander, it is nice to find Scottish tales that will entertain you as you await more from the world of Outlander.  Sinful Scottish Laird is a good fit, set in 1742 in the highlands, just shortly before Claire Randall would have stepped through the stones to the past and just before the uprising of Scotland against England.  Daisy Bristol, Lady Chatwick, is forced by her late husband’s will to remarry within three years or she will forfeit her son’s inheritance.  Waiting for her childhood sweetheart to return from sea, Daisy escapes to the family hunting lodge in the Scottish highlands. There an outlander, or Sassenach, Daisy tries to repair the lodge while also meeting her neighbors.

One neighbor is Cailean Mackenzie, the Laird of Arrandale, who has no use for an Englishwoman in the highlands, but he finds himself strangely drawn to her.  Daisy is not only a beautiful woman, but different.  When the rumors of her money and predicament are scattered throughout the highlands, many suitors come to vie for her hand.  Cailean had his heart broken by a Sassenach in the past and isn’t sure whether he should pursue her or not.  When her childhood sweetheart shows up, is he all that he seems to be?  Cailean is suspicious of him and not just because Captain Spivey is in the royal navy and the enemy of a smuggler such as himself.  Will Daisy marry her childhood sweetheart or will she find new love with Cailean?

Work has been incredibly stressful lately and I found the Sinful Scottish Laird to be a good escape novel.  The romance was fantastic with the will they or won’t they narrative and I really liked the time period and highlands setting.  I also loved the many call outs to Outlander, intentional or not.   Cailean even has a line where he says he is a man not a priest which reminds me of what Jamie said to Claire on their wedding night.  The Sinful Scottish Laird is a romance novel and the storyline lacks the complexity of the Outlander novels, but if you are looking for a light read, it is a perfect fit.  The novel is steamy at times, but I think the scenes were written in good taste and not over the top.

I like the direction that more modern historical romances, including the Sinful Scottish Laird have taken. Daisy is a woman in her own right who is not waiting to be rescued, she is trying to figure out how to move her life forward to find happiness for herself and her son.  She also embraces her own desires and is not ashamed to fulfill them.  This is not your Grandma’s 1970’s romance with a  wilting violet who does not know what she wants until it is forced upon her.

Favorite Quote:

“She loved the way he treated her, with respect.  As an equal. “

 

Overall, Sinful Scottish Laird is a perfect escape read with just the right amount of simmering passion.

Book Source:  Review Copy as part of the TLC Book Tour.   Thank-you! For all of the stops on this tour, check out this link: 
http://tlcbooktours.com/2016/12/julia-london-author-of-sinful-scottish-laird-on-tour-februarymarch-2017/

Giveaway:

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One Season of Sunshine by Julia London

One Season of Sunshine by Julia London is the October pick for the FLICKS Book and Movie club of which I am a member. I think this novel will give us a lot to discuss with its subject matter and it nicely includes a reader’s guide at the end to facilitate discussion.

Jane Aaron is a thirty year old school teacher with a handsome, singer boyfriend that adores her, and a happy family that loves her. Jane feels like a black sheep in her family as she is adopted and doesn’t share the love of cooking that runs through the rest of her family. Indeed they even own their own family restaurant in Houston. When her boyfriend asks her to marry him, Jane feels that she needs to solve the mystery of her past before she can pursue her future. To this end, Jane moves to Cedar Springs, the town where she was born, to investigate her past.

Asher Price lost his wife in a tragic car accident two years ago. His two children, thirteen year old Riley and 5-year old Levi have a difficult life with no mother and an absent father. Asher is trying to hold everything together at his advertising firm and finds himself on the road constantly. He hires Jane as a nanny for his children for the summer.

Jane searches to discover the mother she never knew while also learning the secrets of the beautiful Susanna Price and the tragedy that the Price family had to endure. She also finds herself falling in love with her employer, Asher, as well as with his children.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I love how Jane grew to understand through her connection with the Price children that her parents could love her even though she was adopted. I liked the mystery of finding out more about Jane’s birth parents as well as about Susanna. I also enjoyed the love story between Jane and Asher. At times I got a Jane Eyre vibe from the book with the “master” falling in love with the governess (or nanny in this case) and a “mad wife” in the attic being the ghost of Susanna Price. Indeed there were references by young Levi that he heard his mother in the attic and that made me think the author was perhaps intentionally making the reader think of that reference. It also reminded me of one of my other favorite books, Rebecca, with Susanna as the Rebecca character that everyone else must be able to move beyond to be able to start life anew.

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library