SynopsisTo fulfill his father's dying wish, border laird Jamie Graham must marry and sire a legitimate heir. But his marriage will be one of convenience, for he has vowed never to open his heart to betrayal. While guarding his cattle from thieves, Jamie catches the spirited daughter of a neighboring laird stealing his horse.
Despite viewing an arranged marriage as a death sentence, feisty Kenzie Irvine has no choice but to wed the domineering Jamie. But she has sworn an oath never to bring a child into an uncaring world. And Kenzie also has a dark secret she has no intention of giving away - even if she finds herself her on the wrong side of the law…
Review
It seems this book has received quite a bit of online love; which always makes me skeptical. Who publishes their views of novels online anyway? Can they be trusted?
I was not disappointed when I read this book. I was initially very sceptical, the premise seemed awfully convenient, and the characters had the potential to be very two dimensional.
Jaime is a reliable man who is driven by the desire to please a dead parent. He is jaded by his parent’s love and his father’s heartbreak. Kenzie is trouble, essentially, wild and wilful. A woman who stubbornly refuses to marry, afraid of losing her fragile position and identify. It seems Kenzie is defined by her lack of place in the world, while Jaime is defined by his expected role. One has not enough place, one too much. A simple convenient beginning.
Although Butler’s superb writing style carries her reader away.
I enjoyed this book, Butler carefully divulges information in a very natural way, not twists or awkward information drops. Kenzie and Jaime keep their secrets and their motivations close to their chests until they feel comfortable enough or concerned enough to divulge. I loved this. Her characters are realistic and relaxed. An interesting aspect of the novel is Butler’s writing, it is very clean. There is no awkward chunky description of quivery body parts of 50 synonyms for parts of the anatomy. She simple focuses on feelings. Kenzie mentions her body only when she recognises it change; when she realises she is attracted to him and her heart pounds. Jaime makes vague comments about her beautiful body or quickening pulse.
Although we take this description for granted as a staple in the romance genre it is not missed. I didn’t realize it was missing until after I finished reading. It was refreshing to have a novel more concerned with characters than sex, although Butler surely doesn’t ignore the latter.
Butler has created a wonderful character based novel, driven by natural and realistic writing. Although not very focused on the historical details, well not as much as I would like. I don’t know much about Scotland at this time, so a little more detail for the unknowing would have been helpful. 4 Crowns - Princess of a Charming Story
(Reviewed by Countess Sarah)
