Wild Wicked Scot

Starred review from October 17, 2016
Veteran author London entices readers with the first Highland Grooms novel, set in England and Scotland at the beginning of the 18th century. After being bartered in marriage to Scottish laird Arran Mackenzie, Englishwoman Margot Armstrong is not happy with her new home in the Scottish Highlands. She returns to England after just a few months of marriage, believing that her husband is happy to see her go. But three years later, her father forces her to return to Scotland to get back into Arran’s confidences and secretly test his loyalty to Queen Anne. Arran makes it clear to Margot that though he may still desire her, he hasn’t forgiven her for her desertion, and he wonders at the real reason for her return. Their passion sizzles and Arran sees that Margot is doing her best to make amends, and as they each reveal their innermost feelings, they learn that there may be more to their relationship than their physical attraction. But Margot’s duplicity may destroy any chance for their happiness. Expert storytelling and believable characters make the romance between Arran and Margot come alive in this compelling novel packed with characters whom readers will be sad to leave behind.

Derek Perkins's narration manages to be both commanding and intimate, and threaded with humor besides. In the first of a new series, spoiled, na�ve Rose, who is English, is married off against her will to a gruff, obstinate Highlander. The story has been told before, but author Julia London manages to make it fresh, delivering an unpredictable and captivating tale with historical details of the early 1700s deftly woven into the narrative. Perkins is a popular reader of historicals set in the British Isles for a reason; he handles the many accents and colloquialisms with aplomb. Character portrayals are distinct and never feel false, whether he's voicing a teenaged coquette or a fierce warrior. L.C.L. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Starred review from October 15, 2016
A young woman must choose between loyalty to her father and loyalty to her husband, but she decides not to be a pawn in men's power games anymore.Miss Margot Armstrong was just a boy-crazy teenager when her father announced his intention to marry her off to the Scottish Chieftan, Arran Mackenzie. Both Arran and her father would gain political influence from the alliance, and nothing Margot said could sway her father. After all, as Margot knew all too well, "women existed to be bedded and impregnated." But after a few disastrous months as Arran's wife, living on his isolated estate with no one but his unfriendly clan for company, Margot fled back to her father's estate in the north of England. She spent three empty years going to parties and gambling until the political machinery of the early 18th century churned again, and once again Margot was caught in the middle. Her father ordered her back to Scotland, this time to determine whether Arran was plotting against the English crown. But instead of the indifferent husband she expected to find there, Margot soon realized that Arran was just as confused about their union as she was, just as much a victim of her father's political machinations. London's (Suddenly Dating, 2016, etc.) new Highland Grooms series will be well worth following if this first novel is any indication; she achieves something very difficult in a genre that often follows a formula--a suspenseful plot with an unpredictable conclusion. Both Margot and Arran grow as people during the course of the story and learn to build a marriage on something more than noble titles and valuable land. An absorbing read from a novelist at the top of her game.

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Starred review from December 1, 2016
As London (Suddenly Dating, 2016) begins her new Highland Grooms series, readers will see that the marriage between pampered, spoiled Margot Armstrong and Scottish chieftain Arran MacKenzie is doomed from the start. One can't get much further from London society than a medieval castle in the wilds of Scotland, or from a passionate marriage to one of convenience designed to increase both Margot's father's and her new husband's wealth and political power. After only a few short months of matrimony, Margot flees Scotland. Three years later, her father forces her to return to the remote castle to determine if Arran is plotting to remove Queen Anne from the throne and replace her with James Stuart. But when the only common ground between them is their erotic nights between the sheets, how can Margot get Arran to confide in her? With well-developed characters who experience genuine growth, London is at the top of her game in this thrilling tale of political intrigue and second chances. This absorbing and passionate romance bodes well for future Highland Grooms titles.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)