Mary Wine

SCOTTISH HISTORICAL ROMANCEFeisty Englishwoman Athena Trappes thought she was in love - until she learned the Baron's scheme to marry a noblewoman and keep her as a mistress. Out of options, Athena disguises herself as a boy and leaves London, aiming to be in the Scottish Highlands for May Day, the annual celebration of love and fertility.Highland Laird Symon Grant is struck by Athena from the moment he catches her out of disguise - but he's not the only one who noticed that she's actually a woman. With yet another threat on Althena's life, it's going to take a miracle - or perhaps an oh-so-tempting and strong Highlander - to get her out of this mess...

Between a Highlander and a Hard Place

Lover of Romance 

This review was originally posted on Addicted To RomanceI received this book for free from Sourcebooks Casablanca in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Between A Highlander and a Hard Place is the next book in the Highland Weddings series. Each book has added some depth of courtly intrigue and we definitely get some delightful and mysteries that come into play into this book. We have an edge of your seat, laugh your booty off fun that will keep you flipping those pages as fast as you can get them read. This might just be my favorite book of the series, it was SUPER DUPER FABULOUS!! Mary Wine has done wonders with this book and it had that old classic Highlander feel that I have missed lately but Mary Wine has revitalized this type of Highlander we see that occurs in this book.

In Between A Highlander and a Hard Place it begins with our heroine who is English. She is living in London, with her uncle. She has been courted by a lord with high hopes of marriage soon and thinking that his affections were genuine. However, her fiancee is not who she believes him to be. He has no plans to marry her, he makes a plan to make sure she is ruined in society's eyes, and will have no choice but to be his mistress or her uncle with be left destitute. But Athena, has no plans to be a mistress for anyone...she wants and knows that she deserves better. So she runs away and her uncle hides her with a good friend of his, who is traveling north to Scotland where she will pose as a boy.

Laird Symon Grant is a widower after his wife dies struggling to give birth. And now he is alone and knows that he will need to marry again, but this time he is determined for it to be his own choice. What Symon didn't plan on is sighting a beautiful lass at a may day dance and a woman who will turn his world upside down. Athena while traveling sees the festivity of the may day dance and she wants to participate and feel like a woman again. So she lets her hair down, and buys a dress and starts participating in some frivolity. Only she never expected to run into Laird Symon who kisses her breathless and she knows the chemistry between them is fiery hot. But she has no place with her life in shambles to even think about entertaining the idea of being with Symon. But Symon has his own plans for Athena and he refuses to let her get away from him ....even if it means a bit of kidnapping to make sure she is safe.
I crave you, Symon. God knows I should not.
What a delightful jewel Between a Highlander and a Hard Place turned out to be. I wish I could give this book the type of review this book deserves. Now I do want to say that this book won't be for everyone, and you just can't take certain things seriously. Like Symon putting Athena over his shoulder at times...I found it hilarious because of the way its written but I know some might take it too seriously. The bantering between these two is such fun times and boy can this boy KISS!! You will just want to swoon alongside the heroine because these two put together some fireworks that are EXPLOSIVE!!
I'm no' interested in fucking ye for the release it grants me. I want more, and I'll no' have ye unless ye swear ye are me wife because ye consider yerself bound to me as surely as I know I am bound to the very bottom of me soul to ye.
I love the way that Mary Wine developed the romance here. Its written in such a way that endears you immediately. Athena has been burned very badly, obviously. So she is wary of Symon, but she soon realizes that he is nothing like her ex fiancee. He does have honor and wants to see her safe even if he wants the time to court her and convince her to marry him. She is endeared to the clan pretty quickly, and many can see the chemistry between the two even if they are a bit resistant to others. But they see the way that Symon and Athena defend and protect each other in the small ways that make the big difference.

Now we have another aspect to the story that I really enjoyed....the bigger plot of the book that is outside of the romance. Now the primary focus of the book is the romance, but we also see some other elements that really make this story sparkle and shine. We have some side plot lines that come together. We have the ex fiancee, who is furious that Athena has some lands she didn't know about since she has Stewart blood in her. We have the leery and horrible man who tried to sell Athena into prostitution who was traveling with her and he wants money and is trying to entrap her. We have some plots among the court of King James who is merely a teenager and a Frenchman who tries to manipulate him.

Then we have something happen in the end with Symon's cousin who I have a feeling is going to be the heroine for the next book. Now she and another clan chief have some sizzles between them but its going to be a forbidden romance and I really want this book NOW because the plot in Between a Highlander and a Hard Place doesn't get fully resolved and I need to know what happens with all the other key players apart from our main couple. Gosh darn it Mary Wine....you are pushing my limits of patience hehe (love you though).

Overall I found Between A Highlander and a Hard Place to be a love story of adventure, laughs, steamy kisses and sensual overtones that keep your toes curls and a plot that keeps you on the edge....watch out for a story that will stun and delight you in the small and momentous ways!!







 



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Between a Highlander and a Hard Place

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