To Marry a Scottish Laird by Lynsay Sands
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I have no complaints about the author's voice or the characterization, but the plot was irksome, to say the least. The first 1/3 of the book was full of romance, anticipation, sex, and some heart-pounding, worrisome moments, but the last 2/3 of the book felt like a completely different story. The sex and romance disappeared and a new villain, new problems, and new motivations were introduced. It felt disjointed.

I feel like Cam found out that Joan was a woman far too early. There were so many missed opportunities for humour between the two of them. Also, Joan gave up her virginity *really* easily for someone that's petrified of becoming pregnant. I realize that they were in the moment, but as a healer who has seen all sorts of gruesome births, how could that not have popped into her mind?

The latter 2/3 of the novel was painfully predictable, and as soon as the ladies are poisoned by the cider, it's obvious who the culprit is. I don't get why it's a mystery, and I certainly don't get why these obtuse characters can't figure it out from the onset.

The epilogue is heartily disappointing. Why waste all this time on a new villain and new problems in the latter 2/3 of the book, when there was a perfectly good problem *right there*, plugged in from the beginning? Both had horrible fears of a pregnancy! Shortly after marrying, they could have found out that she was with child, and they could have spent time initially grieving, then deciding to go on mini adventures, or picnics (etc) on their "last days" together, realizing that all they wanted before she (potentially) died was to spend every moment together. It would have been heart-wrenching and beautiful, and it would have made the ending that much more impactful.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good adventure in my historical romance. I love nasty villains and devious plots, but this one was introduced so late that it felt like it was the beginning of a totally different story. If the author was so keen on having a villain appear in the latter 2/3 of the book, then my advice would have been to sneak a few peeks into the villain's head in the beginning 1/3. We needn't know their name, but just having a few thoughts, like "when is Cam going to be back? I've been waiting with these awful women for too long!", then at least a villain has been introduced, and the book flows from beginning to finish without feeling so disjointed.

This was my first Lynsay Sands book, and I'm very disappointed. I've heard good things about her other books, though, so I might give her work another shot. Fingers crossed that this one was just a fluke!

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From Exes to Expecting by Laurel Greer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well done, Laurel Greer! From Exes to Expecting is a heartwarming--and sexy--story about long friendships, family, facing our fears, and lasting love. Lauren and Tavish are well-rounded, deep characters with a great deal weighing on their decisions. So much pulling them together, and yet so much forcing them apart. Their love is tangible, pouring from every sentence, and grips your heart, too, not only making you flip each page, greedily wanting more, but also makes you want to shout at them: "you belong together!"

The story pulls you through a rollercoaster of emotions and, as all romances do, it has a satisfyingly happy ending. I adored Laurel's novella, and I adore this book. She has a great style to her writing, and her voice is charming and relatable. I look forward to reading the next novel in the Sutter Creek, Montana series!

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Better Than Gold by Laurel Greer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a quick, enjoyable read with sweet romance and a happy ending. It was precisely what one would want out of a novelette! I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

The characters were lovely: Will, the sexy Scotsman on the rowing team was the perfect match for Evie, and I've got to say that I have a soft spot in my heart for guys eager for a committed relationship. They were a seriously charming couple.

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The Highland Duke by Amy Jarecki
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's entirely possible that the fact that I listened to the audiobook is largely at fault for my frustration with this book, because as you'll read in my review, I couldn't stand the narration.

The audio aspect of my experience wasn't the only main problem, however. The entire premise of this novel is flawed. Divorce, in the time, didn't play out as it does in this book. In this era, divorce was not only extremely difficult to obtain, but virtually impossible when the couple had children. If you *were* able to obtain a divorce (which, again, was basically impossible), you were shunned from society. So, if this duke was actually divorced in the time, he'd not be so chummy with other chieftains or members of aristocracy, as he'd be looked down upon. This fact bothered me immensely throughout the novel. He and his "gypsy fairie" were actually a great match, because he'd have been considered an outcast from society, as well.

Another thing about the plot that bothered me was the duke's assertion that he couldn't marry again. Ok, this makes perfect sense, but he didn't even try. Heck, he didn't even try to figure out if it was possible! He merely said "nope, can't be done" and left it at that. Come on, man.

The ending of the book also really bothered me. From the Captain's POV, we can guess at what happened to him, but it's never actually explained from the H/H's POV. The topic is merely dropped! I mean, what happens with the Marquess? Did he give up his attempts at "getting" the duke? The fact that this was never mentioned again was incredibly irksome. One would think that the editors would have picked up on this open-ended plot issue.

Now, on to the audiobook presentation. I cringed so many times while listening to this. Penelope Hardy actually seemed to try to put on a Scottish accent, but fell a bit short. She was a decent enough narrator, and I think she'd be great for an England-set novel, but Scottish romances just aren't her forte. Alex Hyde-White, on the other hand, was not just cringe-worthy, he was irritating, and often disturbing. I felt upset every time he spoke. Not only did he not even try to put on a Scottish accent, but he spoke in a higher-pitched, nasally, raspy, and slow voice, making the duke sound like an old, stuffed-up, pervy man. I'm sure he'd be suited just fine for a literary or non-fiction novel, but with romance...just, no. I felt distinctly uncomfortable when he read anything intimate, and he was terrible at reading female voices. In fact, it was very difficult to differentiate between the duke and any other male character. Additionally, at the end, the last chapter switched the narration between Penelope and Alex, both reading the other character's POV. Put simply, the narration was terrible.

Overall, the book had many things that bothered me, but from chapter-to-chapter, I enjoyed the interaction between the H and H. If you're willing to overlook the implausibility of the plot, I'd recommend it...but only if you read the book. I wouldn't recommend the audiobook to anyone.

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Where Dreams Begin by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

In general, I adore Lisa Kleypas. In fact, I think that this is the first book of hers that I've read that I haven't given a 4* or better review.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the first half, expecting some sort of change in the characters. In Holly, I expected that her uptight, prim, and proper personality might loosen a bit, but after she'd finally followed her amorous feelings for Zachary, she had to up and leave his estate, right into the arms of her dead husband's best friend. If there was an actual reason for her doing this, I might accept it, but there was no rational reasoning there. Additionally, she's overly frigid for a woman that had been previously married.

In Zachary, I expected that once he realized that he wanted Holly, he'd stop his carousing. I have to confess, I *despise* it when heroes or heroines sleep around with people other than their book match after they've met their future spouse. And he did this for a good half of the book. I hated it.

Not only this, but I couldn't quite understand why Zachary fell in love with Holly. I get that opposites attract, but Holly was cold when it came to any romantic aspect of their relationship.

In addition to the irritating character and relationship issues, the last 1/4 of the book seemed to have absolutely no purpose. The book ought to have ended when they got married. If the author wanted to put in the terrifying sickness, she should have put it in before the romantic conclusion.

That all being said, there were some parts of the book that I enjoyed. I rather liked the interactions between Zachary and Rose, and when Zachary finally stopped sleeping around, he seemed likeable.

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed Ready Player One. While I'll agree with some of the 1 to 2 * reviews in that there are a few info dumps in-between the action, I actually found that they added to the narrative (despite the suspense that they invariably caused). They also explained things, such as the backstory to a video game, that I would not have otherwise known, and were, therefore, integral to the story--no matter how "dry" they might have seemed to some readers.

As for some readers' assertions that this is simply a book about nostalgia, and spoke of the implausibility that there could be nothing else of interest between the 1980s and 2040s video game-wise... That is a very closed-minded way of thinking, in my opinion. Firstly, it wasn't just a matter of nothing else interesting happening, it was about a specific contest that centred around video gaming in the '80s, so while there might be other interesting gaming info, the protagonist clearly didn't care so much about the other gaming info when a big prize was to be had if he focused on the '80s stuff. Additionally, I don't think that the only readers that are capable of enjoying this are people reading for nostalgic reasons. I was born in the '80s--not playing video games in them--and I still very much enjoyed the book.

To me, the idea was fascinating, the descriptions and plot engaging, thought-provoking, and exciting, and the characters diverse, imaginative, and amusing. I loved the humour and the voice. I am unquestionably going to read this book again, and I would recommend it to others. I'm very much looking forward to watching the movie when it comes out!

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A Highland Knight to Remember by Amy Jarecki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**This review contains spoilers**

This is the second of Amy Jarecki's novels that I've read, and my enjoyment was just about the same with this one. Overall, this story was great; lots of love and steam, with some adventure thrown in. I very much enjoyed the interchange between Sean and Gyllis, particularly when Gyllis was in the midst of her recovery from paralysis and he went frequently to visit her.

With that being said, I have some criticisms. Firstly, I thought that it was just in the first book I read (in which the heroine wants to be a nun), but the over-doing-it with God references got to me a bit. There were a *lot* of scenes in which the Sean or Gyllis shouted at the skies, asking God "Why is this happening to me?!?!" or some variation of that. It got old really fast.

Second, was the third sex scene. Yowza. So Gyllis just rescues Sean from the brink of death (he'd been held in a full-body iron contraption and starved for three days). They miraculously make it out of there and to safety in order to clean him up, etc. He gets his servants to draw him a bath (because he was covered in blood, snot, oozing lesions, and his own urine, according to the scenes with Sean in the cave), and then, before he's even gotten into the bath, he's got a raging erection for Gyllis. I just don't get it. He's almost died from lack of food and water, he's weak, he's been tortured, and likely smells to high heaven. How on earth does this make any sense? I mean, he could possibly be up for some sex after he's gotten some rest, food, water, and bathed, but it doesn't make sense to have it before then.

Additionally, once Gyllis starts washing him in the bath, it doesn't say anything about his washing his face and hair, which led me to believe that once they started kissing, his snot-covered nose and upper lip (as he'd previously described it) was rubbing all over her mouth. Not only that, but he pulled her into his filthy bathwater! Talk about cringeworthy. He was supposed to have washed his stale pee covered body in that water, as well as the fact that it'd have dried blood and puss from his "festering wounds" floating around. And somehow Gyllis didn't even notice that the nasty water was soaking into her clothes when he pulled her in. Nope, she just went on kissing his booger-covered face.

My third--and last--criticism of A Highland Knight to Remember was the fact that these characters seem to recover from injuries shockingly fast. Not only was Sean ready for sex immediately after being rescued from the torture device, but he rode off before dawn and went straight towards the battle. Once he's in hand-to-hand combat with his foe, he quickly realizes his folly, but I was still amazed that he was able to get out of bed, let alone ride around and wield weapons.

These things aside, I (again) very much enjoyed this novel. I would certainly recommend it for those wishing for a sweet and sexy love story between two strong-willed characters.

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A Highland Knight's Desire by Amy Jarecki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**This review contains spoilers!**

I'll be clear and say from the start that I very much enjoyed this novel. It kept me engrossed and eager for more. That being said, I do have some criticisms.

A Highland Knight's Desire is a page-turner throughout the first 1/3, but I found it dragging around the middle when Duncan leaves on his next mission for the king. Duncan spends far too much time either injured or recovering from injuries, and while I mostly enjoyed it, I found that plot point became overdone pretty quickly.

I’m glad that I started the series with the second book, because I would have absolutely been heartbroken otherwise. This author broke the unspoken cardinal rule of not killing off their previous novels’ hero/heroine. In this novel, the hero of the series’ first book is killed, which I’m sure would break the hearts of many readers. Usually, when I’m reading a series and this happens, I stop reading immediately, but as I’d begun the series with this book, I didn’t. Killing off previous heroes/heroines is a cruel way for authors to pull emotions from readers, especially when there are plenty of other ways to elicit those feelings.

I also had an issue with Duncan and Meg's first intimate experience, where Meg kissed Duncan when he’s unconscious, and they had sex while he was delirious with a fever. It wasn’t just that the act seemed implausible (because he was both injured and weak), but that a woman would try to seduce a man that was out of his wits. He clearly wanted it throughout the beginning of the novel, and he was pleased with the fact afterward, but it still seemed a bit sketchy to me.

Despite my reservations, I really enjoyed A Highland Knight's Desire. I'm definitely going to read the other two books in the series.

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Marrying Winterborne by Lisa Kleypas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a reader of historical romance, it's not often that I come across a novel in which the hero and heroine are on good romantic terms from the start, and circumstances/events/other people are their obstacles throughout, but Lisa Kleypas pulled it off. I absolutely loved Marrying Winterborne.

Helen is shy and kindhearted, and Rhys is a lovely mix of power and gentleness. These two worked wonderfully together. Their passion for each other is electrifying.

I think that my only criticisms would be that I wish the year was posted at the beginning of the first chapter, and there were several proofing errors. Otherwise, this was a thoroughly enjoyable read! I'm looking forward to the others in the series.

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Chimera Catalyst by Susan Kuchinskas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chimera Catalyst is an engaging and exciting read that kept me reading until the end. The voice was highly entertaining, and the plot kept me eager for more. Susan Kuchinskas wrote characters with depth that were fun to read.

I would highly recommend this novel. Kudos to Susan Kuchinskas!


I was given an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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