God’s teeth! I loved this book-- about a giant of a warrior with the kindest of hearts and a poorly treated and beaten woman who made some wrong choices. They join destinies where family is the most precious of commodities.
I listened to the audiobook of this book, therefore attached review is based on that.
As mammoth as Wee William is, this story is many-paged and hours of pure listening pleasure. Suzan Tisdale immediately drops us into action – Wee William and his almost equally fierce men are looking for treasure. It looked like they were going to kill for it!
The scene unfolds with events softening the listeners/readers heart. These men weren’t looking for treasure out of greed, but out of love to one mishandled wee lass who was newly married to their clan’s laird. My heart furthered softened in how he treats the woman he finds tied, yes tied to Horace Crawford. Wee William, that very evening fell in love, not knowing what love felt like, yet knowing he had to convince this woman to stay with him.
This first scene sets the mood for the remainder of the story. The author, with great detail develops each scene building on the one previous. Horace Crawford was the bad-ass wife beater who Nora tried to escape many a time. His two other brothers lived with them, so she had little chance to escape. Each time she had, she would be found and beaten.
When Horace kept trying to defend himself verbally after Nora had been cut from his ankle, I loved what Wee William said, in the wonderfully gruff and common language of this giant, as spoken by the talented Brad Wills.
“Ye utter another word, you cur, I’ll rip your tongue out and feed it to you through your ass!”
As you can well imagine, it made me laugh! Very descriptive, indeed!
In the first scene Wee William asks Nora if she wants to be a widow. Beaten, one eye closed and swollen, this is something she had prayed for, and thought it a unique way for God to answer her prayers. She nods. Wee William sent his men out to get rid of the three brothers. He sent them without a stitch of clothing, just shoes in the middle of winter. Laird Agnus told his warriors not to kill, so instead of following William’s orders, they left the three brothers to die, miles from the hut.
The rub is, if Horace is alive, she is still married and can’t marry William (which William discovers he wants). But Nora thinks she’s a widow, so lives her life as if she is free. Again, it is extremely funny how Wee William engineers the events to his favor.
Brad Wills never disappoints me when he narrates. His voice was gruff, deep and ‘huge’ for Wee William, which of course, suited him perfectly. I adored the voice he had for Nora’s little six-year-old sister. The character was as cute as a button, sensitive and truly lovable. When Brad Wills pitched his voice 2 octaves above Wee William, it always made me smile. Bravo, Brad! What a great voice range!
This story is about pay-back to those who have done evil and promises are not kept, cherishing family and protecting them even if resources and capabilities are limited. It’s about honor, never giving in to a promise you have made. It’s about camaraderie among men and friendship among women. Readers and listeners, I highly recommend this series. It will tickle your funny bone, melt your heart, curl your toes and make your heart race.
I received this audiobook as a win on a blog and I am so happy I did! Thank you Suzan Tisdale for the great tale and to Brad Willis who narrated it so marvelously!