Book Review
Oct. 3rd, 2023 09:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariWhen a Scot Ties the Knot
by Tessa Dare
This historical romance novel has a slightly bonkers setup. During the Napoleonic Wars, teenage Maddie Gracechurch is about to make her debut. However, her crushing, panic attack causing, social anxiety has her desperate for a way out. So she invents a suitor - a Scottish soldier named Logan MacKenzie. To maintain her ruse, she writes and sends letters to her fictional beau, assuming that they would end up discarded. Years later, Maddie is a spinster living with her aunt in a Scottish castle her godfather left her, pursuing a career as an illustrator. Then the real Logan MacKenzie shows up with the remains of his troop and her letters. He and his men have been dispossessed and Logan is looking for a way to provide for them. He threatens to publish the letters unless Maddie agrees to enter into a marriage of convenience with him. Not wanting to expose her family to ridicule, and finding Logan attractive, Maddie agrees. They gradually begin to care for each other and then fall deeply in love.
This book was really, really good. It's very sweet and funny and warm. There's a lot of humor in the story as well as deep feels. Logan is a very loyal and caring man under his gruff and stoic exterior. While he does blackmail Maddie, he has no intention of controlling her life or forcing her into intimacy. He just wants a stable, secure life for himself and his men and fully intends for he and Maddie to live relatively separate lives. As he comes to care for her, he becomes protective and supportive of her and her dreams. Maddie is a clever, awkward, quirky, and adorably nerdy woman. She's shy but no shrinking violet, perfectly capable of asserting herself. The relationship between Logan and Maddie is delightful - good banter, real understanding, mutually supportive, and very hot. The way it develops and arrives at a happy ending involves some good character growth and is very satisfying.
by Tessa Dare
This historical romance novel has a slightly bonkers setup. During the Napoleonic Wars, teenage Maddie Gracechurch is about to make her debut. However, her crushing, panic attack causing, social anxiety has her desperate for a way out. So she invents a suitor - a Scottish soldier named Logan MacKenzie. To maintain her ruse, she writes and sends letters to her fictional beau, assuming that they would end up discarded. Years later, Maddie is a spinster living with her aunt in a Scottish castle her godfather left her, pursuing a career as an illustrator. Then the real Logan MacKenzie shows up with the remains of his troop and her letters. He and his men have been dispossessed and Logan is looking for a way to provide for them. He threatens to publish the letters unless Maddie agrees to enter into a marriage of convenience with him. Not wanting to expose her family to ridicule, and finding Logan attractive, Maddie agrees. They gradually begin to care for each other and then fall deeply in love.
This book was really, really good. It's very sweet and funny and warm. There's a lot of humor in the story as well as deep feels. Logan is a very loyal and caring man under his gruff and stoic exterior. While he does blackmail Maddie, he has no intention of controlling her life or forcing her into intimacy. He just wants a stable, secure life for himself and his men and fully intends for he and Maddie to live relatively separate lives. As he comes to care for her, he becomes protective and supportive of her and her dreams. Maddie is a clever, awkward, quirky, and adorably nerdy woman. She's shy but no shrinking violet, perfectly capable of asserting herself. The relationship between Logan and Maddie is delightful - good banter, real understanding, mutually supportive, and very hot. The way it develops and arrives at a happy ending involves some good character growth and is very satisfying.
