Why, oh why, do people publish books with so many errors?! I can understand the occasional mistake in sentence structure or something, but there is no excuse for misspellings, extra words, wrong tenses, etc. These are obvious, and EASILY corrected mistakes. Unfortunately (for me), I've been reading a lot of books like this lately and am becoming good at glossing over those obvious errors and correcting them in my head as I read. But it makes me sad when I see this time and again. Anyway, done with rant. On to the book.
This was an excellent read! I really enjoyed it. I am apparently a sucker for a good highlander romance because I've loved nearly every one that I've read and this was no exception.
Ella is embodied with every virtue, which was a bit much, but I still liked her. The way, in her mind, that she would blame herself for things (often no matter the situation), gave her a vulnerability that humanized her for me. I loved her and Gavin as a couple. Gavin was an incredible hero - I loved his sweetness and protectiveness behind his rough exterior. My heart melted for him as he tried to get Ella to trust and open up to him.
There was a steady amount of action so that it was hard to put down - I had to keep saying to myself "just one more chapter and then I'll go to bed" - and that turned into one more chapter, and so on and so forth. I was completely drawn in.
The one thing that bothered me a tiny bit was the forced seduction on the marriage night. Yes, they were married and during this time period men could absolutely take advantage of their "marital right," but to a modern reader it is a forced seduction. She said no, end of story. True, there is more going on at this point which helps the reader justify the means to an end, but still, I didn't love reading that part.
The ending was perfectly satisfying which was so nice for a change. Usually a book like this has this big final, dramatic confrontation (and then maybe an epilogue) and that's all she wrote. Dobsyn kept the story moving for a few more chapters after the final climax to make sure that everything was perfectly wrapped up. It was great to spend a little extra time with these characters after the drama was over and I got to revel with them in their happy ending for a little while before saying goodbye to them.
As a debut this was an excellent one - the writing was strong, the history accurate (as far as I can tell), and the plot entertaining and character driven. At times heart wrenching, and at others joyful and loving, I felt the emotions of the characters and rejoiced in their HEA.
