Taming the Highland Bride

Devil of the Highlands #2

by Lynsay Sands

She was ready to let her heart run wild . . .
Merry Stewart has had enough! Enough of her brothers, whose behavior would make even the most improper lady blush. Enough of their Highland home, which would surely have fallen to ruin were it not for her. She dreams of escaping into the arms of her betrothed, Alexander d'Aumesbery, even though they haven't yet met. But when they do, Merry is devastated. It seems he's no better than the men in her family.

So beautiful, so brazen . . . From the moment he meets Merry, Alexander is determined to make her his. Desperate to convince her he's nothing like the members of her roguish clan, he will prove he is every bit the well-mannered gentleman. Yet, beneath it all beats a heart as intense and uncontrollable as hers. And finally, when his life is threatened, Merry realizes he's the husband she's been waiting for . . . and their passion becomes the one thing that cannot be tamed.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Audiobook, Medieval, Scotland

371 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 26, 2010

About the author

LYNSAY SANDS is the nationally bestselling author who is known for her hysterical historicals as well as the popular Argeneau/Rogue Hunter vampire series. With her witty and charming personality, Sands describes books as, “Waking dreams or stories, tales to amuse, entertain and distract us from everyday life.” She’s been writing stories since grade school and considers herself incredibly lucky to be able to make a career out of it. Her hope is that readers can get away from their everyday stress through her stories, and if there are occasional uncontrollable fits of laughter, that’s just a big bonus. Visit her official website at www.lynsaysands.net.

Reviews

[Natasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I was reading the second book in this series, I suddenly realized this story could have been taking place in Montana or Wyoming. Yes, Lynsay Sands tells us the action occurs in England and Scotland, but there are no descriptive paragraphs that transport the reader to either location. One of the reasons I enjoy reading historical novels is the genre offers free tickets to many places during any time period. When the hero and heroine journey from England to Scotland, I couldn't even tell the setting had changed!

Merry, the Stewart Shrew, journeys from Scotland to England to marry Alex, the man she's been betrothed to since a child. Alex, a soldier during the Crusades, has been away fighting in Tunis and has returned to England only because his father has died. He's in no hurry to claim his bride, so Merry's father decides to take her to him. She's happy to soon be rid of her drunken father and brothers, but is disappointed when she meets her future husband and presumes he's also a heavy drinker. Fast forward several chapters and we discover someone has been drugging Alex and wants him dead. A similar plot was used in the first book in this series, and I found myself rolling my eyes as I read the pages about the attempts on Alex's life. In the end, the characters behind the murder attempts are revealed and justice is served.

I must commend the author for how Edda was portrayed. I bought the reformed villain act without question. I was really hoping she had changed for the better. I also felt this hero and heroine had better chemistry than the lead characters in the first book. While I wasn't wowed by their relationship, I did feel there were a few sparks that flew between them.

I realize during this era the upper classes put a lot of pomp and circumstance into the consummation of a marriage. I cringed at "the bedding" preparations and the hanging of the soiled sheet the day after the wedding. What I cannot excuse are the chicken references in relation to the sex act. In chapter five, Alex says he couldn't be around his wife "without growing as hard as a dead hen." While explaining sexual intercourse to Merry, Edda describes the penis as a "chicken neck."

Edda nodded solemnly. "Tis most odd-looking. It sticks out from their body like a misplaced nose, but you must not laugh when you first see it," she cautioned, and they nodded to emphasize the point. "They become very offended. For some reason, they are very proud of their chicken neck."

The virginal Merry would not have used the word "erection" to describe the condition of her husband's penis. I don't know why this word even appears in this historical novel. She also would not have known how to give her unconscious husband a hand job without being instructed by someone beforehand. The idea that this naive virgin would consider mounting her unconscious husband to ride him is preposterous! Once again, this is more sexual knowledge than she would have had on her wedding night. The only background the author gives us regarding Merry's knowledge of sexual pleasure appears in chapter three. Merry recalls seeing maids on their knees before groaning men in the darkened corners of her home.

The "rough wedding night" misconception could have been played up a lot more than it was. I think Merry admitted what really happened too soon in the story. The deep cut on her leg affected the way she walked. Her limp could have been stressed more to garner her pity and sympathy. I would have loved to see Alex and Merry's family grovel for at least one more chapter.

I'm getting off this train now. The Devil of the Highland books have failed to give me the romantic adventure I expected, so I won't be reading anything else in this series. I expected the action and tenderness I enjoyed in Julie Garwood's Honor's Splendor. The premise of each book is very good, but the author failed to develop the characters and offered lack luster romance. The book didn't need a murder plot. It needed more intensity among the characters. A missed opportunity!

[Jane Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 ½ stars. Ordinary. Nothing special.

STORY BRIEF:
Merry’s father and brothers are drunk most of the time. Merry manages the laird and the household and oversees the men’s fight training. She is known as the Stewart Shrew because she’s so tough on her father and brothers when they are drunk. A marriage was arranged years ago to Alex. He was fighting in the Crusades and just now returned. Merry’s father and brothers take her to Alex’s home for the wedding. When they arrive, they see Alex drunk. No one tells Merry that he was given whiskey for the purpose of pulling a bad tooth. Then each day someone drugs Alex causing him to appear drunk. Later there are repeated attempts to kill Alex.

REVIEWER’S OPINION:
This book did nothing for me. I stayed with it out of curiosity, but it wasn’t engaging. It felt like the author was just getting out another book for the year. Story was predictable. There is a lot of conversation, but it was ordinary. Then we have stupidity. After everyone knows someone is trying to kill Alex. Alex’s friend wants to post guards around Alex’s tent at night. Alex says no. Then the bad guy sets the tent on fire while Alex and Merry are sleeping inside. Author doesn’t explain why Alex said no. There are several sex scenes, but nothing special.

Instead of an interesting discovery process about the mystery, we have the convenient long explanation by the bad guy at the end, just before the bad guy will be striking the final killing blow.

Slight annoyance with the cover picture. Alex has long blond hair. Cover guy had short dark brown hair.

The title was misleading. There was no taming of Merry. After he saw her in action, Alex quickly fell in love with her.

I do not understand why this book won the RT Reviewers award for Scotland-Set Historical Romance.

DATA:
Story length: 371 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 8. Estimated number of sex scene pages: 18. Setting: unknown time during the Crusades probably 1100 to 1600, in Northern England and Scotland. Copyright: 2010. Genre: historical romance.

OTHER BOOKS:
To date I've read the following Lynsay Sands books. Dates are copyright dates.
3 stars. The Switch 1999
2 stars. Sweet Revenge 2000
2 stars. Always 2000
1 star. Love Bites 2004
2 stars. The Perfect Wife 2005
5 stars. Love is Blind 2006
2 ½ stars. Taming the Highland Bride 2010

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really a 3.5 star read. Taming the Highland Bride is an easy, fast-paced story about mistrust and misunderstandings. This page turner was filled with obstacles that the main characters had to get past to find love. This was my first book by Lynsay Sands and I have to say that her writing style is very light and creates an easy flow.

Alex is patient, sweet and loyal man and I liked that a lot. Even though he had misgivings about Merry from rumors that she was a shrew, from the beginning he was attracted to her. He wanted to make her happy to be his wife. My only problem with Alex is that he was not portrayed as a warrior. For the better part of the book, Merry ran the household and held the men together, while Alex was constantly in harm’s way and banged up.

Merry is a strong, independent and caring woman. After suffering through years of taking care of her drunken brothers and father, she is desperately seeking a new life. I honestly felt Merry’s disappointment at her first encounter with her Alex, knowing she felt as though she left one horrible situation for another.

As they both try to move forward from their awkward first encounter, they both have to learn to let go and find love. I enjoyed the way Alex worked to get Merry’s guard down to prove that he was not like the men in her family. He took his time not to force her but rather show her that he was a man of honor. Sure enough, slowly as they are on an adventure to Scotland, Merry sees her husband for the man that he truly is and allows him to slowly enter her heart.

While they are both discovering their newfound feelings towards one another, mystery and danger is lurking around every corner. I felt the mystery incorporated throughout the entire story was interesting and at the end I was a little surprised at the villain. I wanted them to dig around to find out who was behind the “mysterious” incidents but I was a little disappointed that they just happen to stumble across the truth. No one took real interest that they were in real danger except Merry.

Overall, I would recommend Taming the Highland Bride to anyone who wants to enjoy a quick and enjoyable read. I look forward to reading further along in this series.

[Vanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story: 4 Stars
Audio: 4 Stars

The narration is much improved in this one, compared to the last book. The plot and villain were predictable, but still quite entertaining. I must say however that it felt like this was more of Mary’s story than Alex. She was always rescuing him from danger and taking care of him; whereas he was the “damsel in distress” 🤪 always needing rescuing.

[Karmen O · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how the hero can be unconscious half of the time and the pair still end up in love.

[Sandy M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep telling myself, every time I read a current book from Lynsay Sands, that I’m going to pull all of her books from the TBR mountain and put them right on top so I can get to them soon. I love her writing, her characters, her stories, I love everything about her books. Sigh. My problem is time, but I’m one step closer. I’ve found a good portion of her books in that mountain and they’re nearly ready to be read. Just have to find the rest now, because I refuse to read Ms. Sands out of order anymore. I want the full effect from start to finish, and I intend to have it!

This is the second book in the Devil of the Highland series. The hero, Alexander, is the brother of the heroine from that first book, so we do get a little update about Cullen and Evelinde along the way.

Alexander has just learned of his father’s death, so he’s come home from the Crusades at last. That’s when he learns his sister is married to the Devil of the Highlands and he’s determined to make sure she’s well and happy at that man’s hands. But before he can begin his journey, word comes that his intended bride is on her way to him. Having put off marrying the Stewart Shrew so far, it looks as though the deed will now have to be done.

Tired of picking up after and taking care of her father and brothers, drunken sots that they are, when they give Merry the news they’re taking her to her betrothed, her resistance lasts only so long. Anything has to be better than the life she’s led since her mother died. Leaving behind the tedious and heading toward a new adventure, Merry finally comes face to face with Alexander and learns he isn’t any better than the men in her family. Her new life will be exactly like her old.

But Alexander is determined to prove to his new wife that he’s truly not what she believes. So begins the wooing and loving between these two characters, who I thoroughly enjoyed. Alexander is confident in his position as laird, has a good rapport with his people, and knows he’s got a good woman and means to keep her. Merry has a heart that wants to experience love, companionship, and some wildness thrown in for good measure, and she eventually knows that Alexander is the one to give all of that to her.

They work hard at their relationship and when all comes together is when danger shows up on their doorstop and defeating that peril together only makes them stronger. This is another terrific book from Ms. Sands and I’m anxiously looking forward to the third book in the series, The Hellion and the Highlander. Release is only a month away!

See my complete review at http://www.goodbadandunread.com

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sadly, not as good as the first book but still a solid read. Very slow, hard to get through at times. Not a lot of action. Not as good as first book in the series because characters were not as compelling. Didn't stand up to my high expectations sadly. But, it was still an easy way to escape for a couple of hours. The mystery remained a mystery for me until nearly the end, which was nice! Also nice to visit Evelinde and Cullen again.
I liked this...didn't love it.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this one 4.0 because, really, the only thing I didn't like about it was how identical it is to all the other books in LS's Highland series. It's the same old story, some mystery person is trying to kill either the hero or the heroine. They take a long journey that gives the killer ample opportunity to do their dastardly best to accomplish that killing. The villain is incredibly easy to spot and yet the hero and heroine are clueless until the bitter end, etc. etc. No new ground here. But I liked the hero and heroine and their relationship. And I even chuckled at some parts, which for me is a big deal because humor in romance novels usually strikes me as hokey and eye-rolling.



Okay so the book opens with Merry, "The Stuart Shrew" Stuart lamenting the fact that her drunken father and brothers have been making her life hell since she was sixteen. She's had to do all the work around their castle, including training the men for battle, because her father can't be bothered and her mother is dead. She's miserable and stressed all the time, trying to keep her no-good family out of the whiskey that is their clan's main source of income. Their home is pretty much in shambles because the drunkards break everything either in fits of drunken rage or out of sheer clumsiness. And the men constantly call her a harpy because she has the audacity to try to get them to act like adults. In fact, they're the ones who gave her the nickname, The Stuart Shrew.

Then one day, one of their drunk friends brings the news that Merry's betrothed, Alex, is finally back from the crusades. The father and brothers, eager to be rid of Merry once and for all, decide to lie and say that Alex "sent for her" and wants her to come to his home in England immediately. Merry resists at first because it's highly inappropriate and downright rude for Alex not to come collect her in person, but then she realizes that this could be the start of a better life for her so she agrees.

We flash over to Alex's side of things. In the previous book that told the story of Alex's sister, Evelinde, we saw that their Evil Stepmother,(ESM) was a despicable abuser. Not only did she humiliate Evelinde whenever she could and abuse the servants, she also deliberately arranged for Evelinde to be married to the Devil of Donnachaidh because he had such a bloodthirsty reputation that ESM hoped he'd beat Evelinde for the rest of her life. AND she insisted Cullen consummate the marriage immediately even though Evelinde was drugged to the point of not being able to participate in the act. She even insisted on seeing the blood smeared on Evelinde's inner thighs as proof the deed had been done. Goddamn, that's an evil woman right there. "Not only do I insist you rape a helpless woman drugged out of her mind, but I want proof that you did it!" Jesus.

So you can imagine the trouble I had when in this book ESM acts super sweet and caring, both toward Alex and to Merry when she arrives. I mean, no one who is as evil as ESM was portrayed as in the last book could ever be anything but a villain. So it was pretty clear to me right from the start that ESM would be the villain in this story too. Of course she acted nice when Alex came home, he was the lord of the manor and could toss her out on her arse if he chose to, but I knew it was just that, an act. And of course I knew she'd have to start working on some kind of evil scheme to try to maintain her place in the house, because she knew that as soon as Alex talked to his sister and learned how horrible ESM had been all the years he was away, the jig would be up. So it was a forgone conclusion that she'd be the bad guy and yet the book was written as if there was supposed to be some doubt in my mind about ESM's guilt.

Alex is a bit suspicious of ESM in the beginning because he remembers her being difficult throughout his childhood. He also can't believe that ESM "let" his sister be betrothed to the Devil. But ESM is going out of her way to be nice to him and even cleverly admits that she knows she was difficult all her life, but she was really just lonely and sad. So he's kind of reserving judgement for the time being. Never mind that every single servant in the house quakes with fear around ESM, nope, she might just be misunderstood.

So anyway, Alex intends to ride off with all haste to check on his sister's well-being and, if necessary, go to war with Cullen to get her back if she's being mistreated. It's one of the reasons why he hasn't made any effort to go collect his own betrothed, the other being that he's heard she's referred to as The Stuart Shrew and he's in no hurry to meet her.

Alex has a toothache at the start of the book and ESM insists on having the offending tooth pulled before he rides off to get his sister. She is, of course, just trying to delay his journey so he won't find out how she behaved while he was gone. But this also sets things up for Merry and Alex to have a bad first meeting. The blacksmith who is to pull the tooth insists Alex drink a whole pitcher of whiskey before they begin to help dull the pain. So, of course, he's drunk as a skunk when Merry arrives. He tells her she doesn't look like a shrew and then promptly passes out at her feet.

Poor Merry then believes that her fiance must be a drunkard just like her father and brothers, if he's this inebriated this early in the morning and she despairs of ever having a good life. Then ESM swoops in and plays the friend to Merry, acting all things sweet, helpful and motherly. The next day, Alex wakes up and learns of his behavior. He goes downstairs to try to fix things with Merry but instead finds his soon-to-be in-laws drunk at his dining table.

Merry's father believes Alex to be a kindred spirit and drunkenly explains to Alex about how Merry isn't really a shrew, she just doesn't understand about a man and his need for whiskey. He then reassures Alex that she'll be a good wife because she'll do all the work for him, just like she's been doing at home. It's only during this speech that the father seems to recognize that in his short-sighted haste to get rid of Merry so he could drink himself to death in peace, he was forgetting that he'd also be losing all the good things she did for him.

I actually really liked the way LS handled this. I was afraid we were being set up for a long and tedious session of Big Misunderstandings where Alex went on thinking she was a shrew and she went on thinking he was a drunk for ages. But by having Merry's father just lay it all out there for Alex, we bypassed most of that and I was happy. Although it was kind of irritating that Alex didn't bother to try to explain to Merry that he was not a drunk like her family members. I get his point that she probably wouldn't believe him because drunks were notorious for lying about their own affliction, but still. He should have at least given it a shot. But anyway, he vows to show her through his actions that he's not a drinker.

Merry and Alex are married in short order and at the wedding feast afterward, Alex deliberately doesn't drink anything stronger than mead...until Merry's father insists on a toast and says Alex will be insulting him if he doesn't drink whiskey. So Alex does, but intends to only nurse the one glass for the rest of the night. And yet somehow he fails to notice that that "one glass" never seems to run dry because Merry's father was constantly topping it off when Alex wasn't looking. I call BS on this one. How could he not notice when he glass went from nearly empty to full again?

But anyway, he's plastered by the end of the night. Merry goes upstairs to get ready for the bedding ceremony and ESM kindly describes the birds and the bees to her by describing the penis as being a “chicken neck.” I actually found this funny, and whenever it was referred to as such throughout the rest of the book it put a smile on my face. But when Alex is finally brought to her for the big event, he trips in his drunkenness and knocks himself out cold. Merry, convinced that her husband is indeed a drunkard, decides that she needs to get the consummation done on her own because the marriage won’t be legal otherwise and if Alex dies in his sleep or breaks his neck falling down the stairs in the morning, she’ll be forced to go back to her father’s house. Whereas if the marriage is consummated and Alex dies she’ll be left the owner of his keep.

Her first plan is to sit down on his still-erect-even-though-he’s-unconscious “chicken neck” and just do the deed while he’s out cold. Thankfully she barely touches Alex when "his chicken neck starts spitting at her" and then deflates in her hand, so she didn’t have a chance to rape him, which would have squicked me out. It’s bad enough that she even considered it. Instead she decides to cut herself and smear blood on the sheets to make it look like her v-card was revoked. But, as is somewhat clichéd in romance novels when this sort of thing comes up, the ill-informed Merry has no idea how much blood is necessary and way overdoes it. The following morning when the priest comes to collect the sheets, everyone, including Alex, is horrified at the amount of blood.

Merry’s father and brothers even offer to take her back home with them, unwilling to leave her to be mistreated. I actually had trouble reconciling this with their behavior in Book 3, which I’ve already read. In Book 3, there was absolutely nothing redeemable about Brody, the oldest brother. He was a mean-tempered drunk who raped any girl he could get his hands on. And indeed on their first day at Alex’s house, Merry had to render Brody unconscious by beating him over the head with a shield in order to get him to stop assaulting a maid. So hearing him play the part of concerned brother just didn’t jive in my mind.

But anyway, Merry feels a tiny bit guilty about everyone in the entire keep thinking Alex to be a great rutting brute who ripped her apart on their wedding night, but not guilty enough to come clean about what she did – not even to Alex. That’s pretty terrible of her. 3 weeks go by with Merry not even making eye contact with Alex because she thinks he’s a drunk and him avoiding talking to her because he feels so ashamed. Every evening during this period Alex has been slurring his speech and drunkenly stumbling around. Merry chalks this up to him drinking, even though she never sees him drink anything stronger than mead. Alex suspects that someone is drugging him and initially suspects Merry, thinking that she’s trying to keep him from having sex with her again. But then he deliberately doesn’t drink anything for 2 nights and yet still experiences the symptoms so he instead decides he must just be fighting off some bug. (This actually ends up being a plot hole because LS never gets around to explaining how Alex was slipped the drugs on these two nights where he didn’t drink.)

Eventually, Alex decides that he needs to show Merry that he can be a good and gentle lover, so he sets out to seduce her. He starts while she’s asleep and she responds, but when she wakes up she pulls away. He finally explains that he’s not a drunk and knows she doesn’t believe him but asks her to give him and their relationship the benefit of the doubt. She eventually agrees and then he starts making out with her again. She gets with the program pretty quickly and of course it’s an amazing experience. Alex, however, realizes right quick that he’s just deflowered his wife for real this time and asks for an explanation. She finally gives it and he’s not NEARLY pissed enough. In fact, he actually thanks her for “seeing to things” so that there would be a sheet to “prove” their marriage had been consummated. So yeah, no payoff or consequences for her letting Alex and everyone he knows think he was a horrible raping beast three weeks. Longer than that, actually, since they can never tell anyone the truth, the entire keep will always think Alex brutalized Merry on their wedding night, even if they seem happy together now.

Anyway, they end up having sex some 5 times throughout the night and even Alex is a bit puzzled by just how insatiable his lust for her is. The next morning they set out to see Alex’s sister. Along the way there are the clichéd LS “accidents” that are chalked up to bandits. A rock is pushed off a cliff onto Alex and he barely avoids getting brained. Someone coshes him over the head while he’s outside peeing and begins to drag him off into the woods, etc. Pretty standard. In between all the accidents, Alex has also been incredibly randy to the point where he’s actually concerned about what might be wrong with him. Merry's attractive and he's definitely interested in her, but his lust is so pervasive that it's disturbing.

Then one night a series of events leads to Merry giving Alex’s squire, Godfrey, Alex’s wine. That leads to the boy, who’s sixteen but looks twelve, trying to rape Merry’s maid during the night. Merry begins to suspect someone has been drugging Alex for weeks and that's why he appeared drunk all those times. No sooner has she had this realization than Alex turns up out of his mind with lust. She tries to tell him of her suspicions but he's too far gone to listen and actually comes close to raping Merry, before realizes he’s scaring her and pulls back. Still, they end up having sex over a half-dozen times that night. I felt like we missed out on some great emotions from Alex here. Once his mind had cleared from the drugs, I expected him to be horrified by his own behavior. I mean, he'd literally ripped Merry's dress apart to get at her and had BARELY held himself back from raping her long enough to make sure she was ready for him. That's the kind of thing that should give a hero pause. But he doesn't seem to have any concerns over his behavior or anger at the fact that someone has been drugging him. He doesn't take any particular precautions to ensure it doesn't happen again. And not only is Merry completely unfazed by having been the recipient of this animalistic lust, she actually feels like she's "benefited" from the drugging because apparently sex with a guy who's out of his mind is really good...

So anyway, the drugging is common knowledge and following that, Merry suggests that the "accidents" that have been heretofore blamed on bandits might not have been accidents at all. Alex's First places suspicion on Merry since none of this happened until she arrived and she's the only one "benefiting" from the act. Merry points the finger back at the First, mostly as a red herring to the readers. After one of the attacks leaves Alex unconscious for 2 days straight, Merry insists on pushing on to his sister’s place, where Alex will theoretically be safer. They arrive, but in a ridiculous state of affairs, only stay for about 18 hours. Alex wakes up and doesn’t like that everyone is treating him like an invalid and also decreeing that Merry can’t sleep in the room with him because she’s a suspect, so he insists on leaving the next morning. I really didn’t buy this. I mean, they’d just made a long, multi-day journey to get here because he was so worried about his sister and now after having one conversation with Cullen and barely speaking to his sister at all he's just going to turn right back around and trek home again? It didn't make sense and made the whole trip feel like nothing more than plot contrivance so LS could have these "accidents" occurring.

Merry is depressed on the return journey because although Alex insists she sleep beside him, he never bothers to say that he doesn't think she's trying to kill him. Then there another attempt on Alex’s life, this time when someone sets fire to his tent with both him and Merry inside. And here we’re told for the first time and expected to believe that a) Merry sleeps with her head completely under the covers like a burrowing Chihuahua, and b) that this fact somehow miraculously saved her from smoke inhalation and the heat of the fire. BS

The fact that Merry almost died too does take her off the suspect list, however. And it’s only afterward that Alex bothers to explain that he never suspected her in the first place. There’s also some dumb manufactured angst about Merry thinking Alex doesn’t desire her and it was just the effects of the drug he was being given and even though Cullen warned Alex about this very thing before they left Donnachaidh, he still doesn’t do anything to reassure Merry for almost a week. It was dumb and unbelievable. When they finally talk about it, he says that the reason he didn’t bed her was because their tent burned down and they wouldn’t have had any privacy to get it on. I just didn’t see why he wouldn’t tell her his reasoning before it became a problem when he'd been specifically warned about it.

Merry does a lot of fretting over who could be trying to kill Alex and why. The two sets of attacks don’t seem to match. Why would someone simultaneously try to make Alex super horny and also be trying to kill him? It didn’t take me half a second to figure that one out. Obviously the answer was ESM. Her plan must be to get Merry pregnant by Alex so that the baby would inherit the keep if Alex died. Then after Merry gave birth, ESM would kill her too and become the baby’s guardian, thus securing her position in life. Before they’d left on their pointless trip, ESM had been convinced that Merry was pregnant and thus assumed it was safe to kill Alex.

It all seemed really obvious to me but our hero and heroine never even come close to figuring it out. This felt like incongruous BS too. I mean, after the HORRIBLE way ESM treated Alex's sister, and them traveling all the way to Scotland just to see her, and Evelinde even talking about ESM, how could any of them walk away without knowing how awful she really was?? Why would the sister just make vague statements about the ESM being mean instead of just straight up explaining the horrible things she'd done? It just isn't believable that she'd allow them to leave not being sure if ESM was truly evil or not. All Evelinde did was ask them to send ESM away to her sisters when they got back, to ensure Alex would be safe if it turned out ESM was behind it all. Which Merry reluctantly agreed to but then hesitated to actually do when she got home because ESM seemed so gosh darn nice.

They’re scarcely back home for an hour when ESM makes her move. Turns out the squire, Godfrey, is her nephew and ESM has been blackmailing him into helping her. He’s pretty okay with the idea. He’s not a psycho who would have done on his own, but he’s not really that opposed to murdering his lord or lady. The motivation is exactly what I guessed, ESM trying to get Merry knocked up and Alex killed. When Merry reveals that she's not pregnant like ESM thought, ESM just shrugs and says that it doesn't matter, she'll kill Alex now and then have Godfrey rape Merry every night until she's pregnant with his child instead, then pass it off as Alex's. There’s a showdown in the castle tower where Godfrey has managed to render Alex unconscious AGAIN (seriously, it's the fifth time!) and both ESM and Godfrey end up dead. The epilogue wraps up with them pregnant.


All in all, it was a decent book. I liked Merry and Alex as the main characters. Alex wasn't nearly as alpha as some heroes you read. He was sweet and thoughtful to Merry, which was good, but kind of lacking in the "super smart, take-charge man" arena. I mean, he didn't actually do anything to ensure his own safety even after he realized someone was both drugging and trying to kill him. He didn't do anything about ESM either. Even though he agreed with the plan of making her go see her sister, he apparently expected Merry to be the one to send her packing. It didn't quite make him a beta but pretty low on the alpha scale. Still, I enjoyed it and finished it without difficulty.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merry Stewart is tired of being taken advantage of by her drunken father and brothers, running the keep and ensuring their soldiers are well-trained with no one to help her. She’s never met her betrothed, Alexander d’Aumesbery, but when he sends for her, she is eager to go to him, if only to escape her current situation. But when she arrives in her new English home, it is to find that her new husband seems to comport himself no better than her father or brothers have.

Alex is taken with Merry from their first meeting and determined to convince her he’s a good man, despite his less than stellar first impression. Beneath his gentlemanly façade, he’s just as passionate as she is and Merry soon realizes Alex is just what she needs, but someone is trying to kill him and Merry is determined to keep him safe.

This was a classic wild, fun Sands highlander romance and I still say we need more of them. This one had me laughing and rolling my eyes, but it also kept me intrigued with the mystery elements and the clear connection developing between Alex and Merry. I wanted to smack the useless men in her family, and I loved that Alex stepped up and cared for her for a change, even though he had to teach her how to accept help. Alex’s patience was definitely needed because Merry could be rather a handful and a bit judgmental, but when she actually listened to him, they made a nice couple and I liked seeing them sort out their newfound feelings. There’s nothing particularly profound happening here, but it was an enjoyable, quick story with a decent narrator and entertaining, if sometimes overly ridiculous and silly, characters.

Blog link: https://mustreadalltheromance.blogspo...

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just ok for me. It took me 5 days to read it, not because I'm a slow reader, but because it just didn't hold my interest for long periods of time.

There was one notable scene that amused me- On their wedding night before Alex and Merry could consummate the marriage, Alex fell and was knocked unconscious. Knowing that the following morning the marriage bed sheets would be hung in the great hall for all to see that the marriage was consummated and that Merry was indeed a virgin, Merry decided she would cut herself on the leg so that she could spread some blood on the sheets and everyone would think that she and Alex had consummated their marriage. Only she had no idea how much blood there should be and she ended up cutting herself way too deep and bleed very heavily all over the bedsheets. The next morning when the sheet was hung for everyone to view was pretty funny. Everyone thought Alex had been an animal and had really damaged Merry. And Alex did not remember what happened so he too thought he had done that to her.

Other people have enjoyed this book more than me, so do not decide if you will read it based on my view of it! It may have just been my frame of mind... for the entire week... maybe...

[SoBeA · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Lynsay Sands' historicals! I know her vamp series has a huge following (and usually cause said historicals to take a back seat) but honestly, it's her historical Romances that make me a fan! They're always fun and funny, and not full of pages and pages of seemingly endless amounts of angst! And 'Taming...' is no different!

The Romance was a sweet one, the mystery carried all the way to the end, and I have to say I loved all the characters! The Main ones were fun to follow along with, and were so cute together! Oh and I was totally surprised by at least one of the villans! Really, the only downside of the book is that it's so so short! I finished it in a few hours, and now am thanking my lucky stars that her next historical comes out next month!

[Brittany B. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not good. Period.

[Lady Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: 4.9 / 5

As the sequel to Devil of the Highlands, which I loved, Taming the Highland Bride does justice to the story and to the author--whom I think I can officially say that I'm a fan of now!

This time, we focus in on Evelinde's brother Alexander, who is back from the Crusades and due to marry his betrothed, Merry Stewart. Merry is known as the "Stewart Shrew" however, and so Alex has been dragging his feet when it comes to marrying her. Their first meeting is...less than ideal, shall we say, and there are a few misunderstandings that they have to navigate through before they get their happy ending.

Like Evelinde, what I liked about Merry was that she was a distinguishable heroine with unique characteristics. No "damsel in distress" heroines for this author, it seems like, as Merry not only takes charge in a "shrewish" manner, but also is a real Scottish warrior and also a healer through her knowledge of herbs. She shows her disapproval plainly, and gets shit done when she needs to--even in dangerous situations that would have other heroines fainting, for example. Her Scottish burr also had me thinking of Merida from Brave, so that's another plus in her favour.

Together, Merry and Alex make a lovely couple, same as Evelinde and Cullen, with a slightly different dynamic. Where Evelinde and Cullen had a clear protector-damsel dynamic, for Merry and Alex they mutually save each other's lives, so it's a slightly different relationship. Oh, but it's no less compelling, believe you me!

Will be looking forward to reading Kade Stewart's story in The Hellion and the Highlander. And, I mean, when you name a character Kade, even if he's mentioned just as a side character in one book, you know that he HAS to get his own story in the series! Looking forward to reading all about that s-o-o-n!

[Laur Laur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minority opinion here, but I didn't like how incompetent the hero was. He kept getting attacked and losing, repeatedly, and I like my heroes to be unrealistically infallible. The *one* time he did win, it was against an opponent with half his skill and half his size. Oh well. I did love the beginning and the plotline where he had to prove he wasn't like her family, but then it went downhill for me.

[Janja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book!

[starryeyedjen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this one, but it reminded me too much of another Lynsay Sands novel, and so it was obvious to me very early on who the culprit in this story was. Also, I accidentally picked up in the middle of a series again, and therefore know how the first book ends now. But had I read the first book prior to this one, I undoubtedly would have guessed the attacker's identity even earlier. Ah, well...probably best to stop while I'm ahead with this series...

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first read the description of what happens on her wedding night that her betroth's stepmother describes to Merry, I laugher so much I almost started to cry. Lynsay Sands has a terrific sense of humor and I have read several of her books which made me laugh too.
But Merry soon discovers that someone is trying to kill her husband as they travel to visit his newly married sister. She also finds that the wedding night is far different than Edda told her. Starting to love her husband, she finds that his first thinks she is trying to kill him, and sets out with him to discover who is behind all the accidents, and the dosing of Michael to make him look drunk. Merry has dealt with a drunk father and two brothers for years, and the last thing she wishes it to have a husband like them. As she finds out that her stepmother knew absolutely nothing about love, she comes to care for Michael and he for her as they work to discover who might want him dead.

[Jayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second in this series of three books (that I know of) this tells the story of Merry and Alexander. Merry has been betrothed to Alex since she was a very little girl. When she is grown she is not looking to marry but to escape the situation of two older brothers and a father who are perpetual drunks. Unfortunately, it seems her new husband is also a drunk.

Alexander is far from what her brothers and father are but he appears to be the recipient of a series of accidents. Mishaps that no one, including Merry, seem to believe are nothing more than accidents. Alexander, who wants to be sure his sister Evelinde is all right with the Devil of the Highlands is traveling with his new wife and some of his men. The accidents escalate until there is a fire that cements husband and wife together. It is time to find out who means harm to them both, and why.

[Cheesecake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read this one a while ago and forgot to click it off my goodreads list, so I've forgotten much of it. I remember it being entertaining but involving lots of eye-rolls and palms-to-forehead moments.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am hearing the song "some day my prince will come" in my head while thinking about this book. Love the author and love her books.

[Dylan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadly, Taming the Highland Bride was a disappointment. Now, admittedly, my expectations were quite high. The Devil of the Highlands was surprisingly genuinely good - but the sequel was missing some of that magic.

What it was missing most was the sense of urgency regarding the mystery. It's wrapped up all-too-neatly in its final chapters - and, disappointingly, the groundwork for the motivation of the villain is not developed (foreshadowed) earlier in the novel. Which is to say that the big reveal (Who is behind the attempts at murder?) is quite obvious - I mean, there are only a handful of named characters...you've got a good chance of guessing if you even just pull their names from a hat. Their motivation, which is finally revealed to us in the classic "You have no escape, let me tell you my plan all along!" speech does not impart any real sense of danger because we know everything's going to be alright in the end.

Thankfully, there were still some very funny scenes. Sadly, they were few and far between - and this time they comprised almost entirely of jokes about large penises. Yes, I laughed at them...but they seemed lazily written in comparison to the well-written scenes from the first book.

By a different metric, this might be the 'better' book. There's a lot of sex before the midway point - and it's described in all its glory. If that's what romance is all about for you, you'll likely be disappointed by the second half: it's essentially barren of any steamy stuff.

Eventually, onto the third book.

[(betts) ⚜ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75⭐ / 1.5🌶️

— vibezz
🕯️ arranged marriage
🐎 road trip journey I guess?!
🕯️ multiple attempted murders

mini blurb — ✍🏻
Back into his homeland after spending many years fighting in the crusade, Alexander is ready to take upon himself the restoring of his castle and the many problems arising with it, among them is earning the trust of his people and finally take his bride.
Merry had hoped to finally find some serenity through marriage, but after a questionable first encounter with her future husband she begins to have more than a few second thoughts.

//

this was funny at the beginning omg I laughed so hard during the first "meet cute" between Merry and Alex, he was so pining after her even intoxicated with half a bottle of scotch he was adorable.
ngl all those attempted murders of maim at best were a little too much and going for the ridicule after a while, but I enjoyed the romance and honestly forgot everything else.

It was a nice distraction and an easy read perfect for a cleanser between heavy ones.

[Lori ◡̈]

No rating - only got a few chapters in and decided it wasn't my style. So nothing against the writing itself, just not my type of desired storyline. What struck me right off was that the heroine was the one wearing the pants, out on the field training the soldiers for her new soon-to-be-husband (without being asked to do so...). It seemed as if she was the alpha and the hero was the beta. Again, that's just the beginning, so it could have changed as time went on, but it definitely did not grab me into the story and hook me into caring.

[Natalie Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. The first 45% of this book gave me some really good laughs. Then the second half was more mysterious. I had strong suspicions of the villains, not that there were many options. I liked the first half more. Had the whole book had that level of humor, this would’ve been a 5 star read.

[Tetty Marlinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

#142 - 2019 RC
Genre: Historical Romance

[Lindsey Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

would’ve been better without the weirdest dubious consent i’ve ever read

[paz · Rating 5 out of 5]

highland times but HE was acting like a disaster

[Michelle K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review here:
http://anotherlookbookreviews.blogspo...


Another fun historical read by Lynsay Sands. I kick myself for reading them out of order because Taming the Highland Bride is book 2, not book 1 like I had thought. I should have checked Goodreads first instead of the inside covers. Oh well. I have book 1 The Devil of the Highlands and I also already have book 3 The Hellion and the Highlander so I'll just have to step back one book and start it.


Taming the Highland Bride was a very enjoyable read that included a bit of a mystery too. Someone was out to hurt or kill Alexander and unfortunately Merry was even a suspect. It was creative to have the villain so obvious yet there was always a thought that perhaps that person was not necessarily the true villain. Right up until the end when I saw I only had a few pages left, I still wasn't sure who the culprit was.


Poor Merry grew up having the need to take an adult role her entire life. Her father may have been Laird Stewart but due to his drunkenness and his lazy sons, Merry seemed to be the true laird of the clan. She really didn't have anyone to rely on before.


Not having the need to depend on anyone, made it difficult to accept Alex and even something as simple as heeding his advice of taking her time to walk after dismounting from a horse made her suspicious.


Since someone was constantly out to hurt Alex, Merry seemed to save him from peril more than a few times. Being a brave warrior, that was hard for him to accept that his hero was his tiny wife. It was nice to read how smart Merry was in each of these rescue situations.


I enjoyed the journey of their blooming love and was piqued by the mystery of who was out to get him. Excellent read and I can't wait to step back to book 1.


Teasers - Stewart Shrewd, big claymores, draining the dragon, genius horse rescue by Merry

[Laurie • The Baking Bookworm · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I downloaded this e-audiobook from my local library I wanted an easy to follow light historical fiction read (with a hint of romance) to listen to while I gardened on the weekend. Light romance is not my usual genre but in years past I had read books that I enjoyed set in old Scotland, with a lighter tone and romantic story line (like Ransom by Julie Garwood or On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens) so I thought this would be similar.

This book started out as I had expected - rife with misunderstandings, a damsel that needs to be rescued from her drunken father and brothers all set in the beauty that is Scotland - but I never found Merry to be a 'shrew' as everyone kept calling her so I really saw nothing to be 'tamed' per se. The book was a decent read until it took a bad turn after the wedding and went from okay to ridiculous.

In one scene in particular I think the author was going for humorous but it didn't work for me. I cringed and said "OMG, you've got to be kidding!" to a hosta I was transplanting. It was at that point in the book when an older woman tells Merry, who was nervous about her wedding night, to expect to see a chicken neck dangling between her new husband's legs. *cough, sputter* Say wha? Then, with her husband in a drunken stupor and passed out Merry decides she'll climb on top of her passed out husband whose 'chicken neck' is at the ready and get on with consummating this marriage herself. That's where I turned it off. Ridiculous and insipid. Ain't nobody got time for that.

What this e-audiobook did have going for it was the narrator. She had a nice Scottish accent and was able to convey different characters easily for the listener. Unfortunately, I need a stronger plot and not silly contrived scenes.

Not recommended.

[Shelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book! It is the second book of Lynsay Sands' Devil Of The Highland trilogy. It's my 3rd or 4th time reading it and I swear it gets better each time! I highly recommend it to anybody who likes historical or highland romances. Lynsay Sands is an excellent author whether she's writing highland/historical romances or humorous vampire romances. She adds humor to her writing along with some suspense to keep the reader enthralled in her books. I haven't read a Lynsay Sands book I hadn't enjoyed thoroughly.
This book had it all, a tad bit of humor, mystery, an element of suspense, and my most favorite, great sex scenes with a hunky alpha male!!! This book takes place in England, but the heroine is from the highlands. Alexander, our hero, comes home from 3 years doing his Prince's then Kings work to come home to a keep that is anything than happy. There's a wicked stepmother in Edda. What a creative name, I mean Edda, who has ever heard that name? Then there's Merewan (Mary) Stewart/d'Aumesbury who has lived the past 6years, since her mother's death, running Stewart keep for her drunken father & brothers. She's used to dealing with her drunken family & from them, earned the name "the Stewart Shrew".
There is a mystery that keeps you guessing til the end with a big surprise as to one of the culprits. Of course there are misunderstandings at the start of the marriage, but eventually we get our happily ever after.
It is best you read the books in order as they are all related, but they also work as standalone books.