Devil in Tartan
Author: Julia London
Publisher: HQN Books
Series: Highland Grooms #4
Pages: Mass Market Paperback, 379 pages
Genre: Historical Romance
Release Date: February 20th 2018
Summary:
Peril and passion on enemy seas…
Lottie Livingstone bears the weight of an island on her shoulders. Under threat of losing their home, she and her clan take to the seas to sell a shipload of illegal whiskey. When an attack leaves them vulnerable, she transforms from a maiden daughter to a clever warrior. For survival, she orchestrates the siege of a rival’s ship and now holds the devilish Scottish captain Aulay Mackenzie under her command.
Tied, captive and forced to watch a stunning siren commandeer the Mackenzie ship, Aulay burns with the desire to seize control—of the ship and Lottie. He has resigned himself to a life of solitude on the open seas, but her beauty tantalizes him like nothing has before. As authorities and enemies close in, he is torn between surrendering her to justice and defending her from assailants. He’ll lose her forever, unless he’s willing to sacrifice the unimaginable…
Review:
I am rather sorry that I didn't particularly enjoy this installment of the series. And while there are good parts, I have quite a bit of issue with others.
This is the fourth in a series I have come to enjoy and like. I love Julia London's writing style.
However, sometimes the brogue was a bit distracting. I am not sure if I am ever going to like people writing out accents in dialogues. For me, it's about readability rather than authenticity. Also, I keep thinking if they all speak to the same way, why highlight it?
I should mention that if I would have listened to the audiobook, I would have loved the fact that the dialogues were written in Scottish brogue.
The storyline was entertaining. I enjoyed the ups and downs of this adventure. Maybe we should call it a misadventure?
Now the romance is a whole other cattle of fish. I mean, it's not really terrible I guess. But I just didn't get where they were coming from. I get there was sexual attraction. But how on earth did this shift from it to the big L?
I just don't get it. It's way to insta for me. It just doesn't work for me.
Then add to it that some of it was just too generic and we have a big no-no for me.
At least I felt like that until Auley declared his feelings. And let's just say someone might have or might not have been all gooey. He had me at my inner sea turned over ...
The character building left me divided. I love the supporting cast. Most of them anyway. I am not a huge fan of the villains. They feel a bit generic. The rest of the support cast is vivid, unique and interesting. A great backdrop for the MCs
I adore Auley. I loved him from the get-go. I could relate to him ( hello! middle child over here!)
I got his worries, his thought process, I got it all except how or why he fell for Lottie. Except for the superficial that is.
Lottie, well, let's just say she grew on me. I didn't care much for her for most of the book. I found her really immature and fullish most of it. I guess she is quite young, but some of the things she did were annoyingly childish.
Then I found the way Aulay saw her didn't really correlate with the way I see her. And somehow that made it worse, it felt inconsistent. She did towards the end grow on me, not as much as her merry band or Aulay, but still enough.
All in all, this isn't bad. It's entertaining, but not captivating. Great storyline, fab support cast but the romance wasn't for me.
Rating:
Reviewed by Den
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