His Lordship’s Wild Highland Bride by Kathleen Bittner Roth – a Review

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Description:
A match made for mayhem.

“I’ve no intention of mating with this poor excuse of a man,” Lainie MacGregor declares after reciting her wedding vows. But it’s too late. Far from her beloved Highlands, her fate is sealed.

Ridley Malvern, Lord Caulfield, desperate for her dowry, agrees to marry a wealthy Scot’s daughter sight unseen. He is unaware his tantalizing bride is running from the law. Despite their sizzling attraction, all Lainie desires is to return to her clan. Attempting to make things right, Caulfield takes his wife back to the Highlands only to discover why her father sought the marriage—Lainie is wanted for murder. For her safekeeping, they must remain in England. Now Ridley needs to win her affections and prove that a wild Highland lass and an English lord, can find a love match, after all.

Review:

“I bloody well hate leaving ye here, lass, but ’tis a far better thing I do than taking ye back to Scotland. I’d only be seeing ye hang fer murder.”

Grounds for an annulment, you think? We learn early on that Lord Caulfield’s bride, Lainie, is wanted for murder in Scotland.

Author, Kathleen Bittner Roth, parses out tantalizing deflections to keep the reader in suspense and, some time, I presume, to make the groom fall so head over heels in love with the lass, he’d couldn’t imagine living without her. His Lordship’s Wild Highland Bride was an absolute delight!

It’s what Ridley deserves, we suppose. To cure his economic hardship, he agrees to a blind betrothal…attached to a generous dowry. That Lainie turns out to be a hellion, a “shrew” who prefers the company of her four walls or to be in self-appointed isolation rather than suffer Ridley’s presence is the mess, and mockery, he’s made of marriage. Just wait until she challenges him at every turn.

The story develops into a give and take between partners, and it was so lovely. Lainie and Ridley cannot fathom any commonalities between them, an English and a Scot are innately contentious, but our H/H are spark and fire blazing. In this unconventional, but true, courtship, a bond emerges from reading. Ridley reads to Lainie by firelight and it’s endearing as well as meaningful. That he reads her own countryman’s words is no coincidence — there are exterior forces, fantastic secondary characters, stoking the fire; hoping love will find its way into their hearts.

Before you know it, Lainie and Ridley deepen their relationship. They’re trying to make a real go of their marriage, but such intense, sudden feelings rarely go unchecked. Ms. Bittner Roth touches on all the intimacy and intricacy of love. Aside from Lainie’s murder accusation (who could ever forget that?!) and demons plaguing Ridley, the simple, but perilous trips of the heart can render one mad. I enjoyed the second-guessing and consideration of falling in love too quickly. A usual consequence due to poor eavesdropping, lol. The assumptions can be soul-wrenching…or life-affirming. You’ll want to experience the highs and lows of Lainie and Ridley.

To my surprise, His Lordship’s Wild Highland Bride is book 3 of a series called Those Magnificent Malverns. To my utter delight, I get to read the first two and be ready in time for book 4. Hamish is too enticing to stay in the background! I’m ready when you are.

Reviewed by Carmen

Copy provided by Publisher