Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

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Still feeling in the historical mood, I picked up a hyped Maya Banks, Never Seduce a Scot. This is the first in her Montgomerys and Armstrongs series. I was able to use this for the prompts disability/chronic illness rep for the 2nd board of Winter's Kiss and doing 1920s laundry for the Heaving Bosom's 2022 Reading Embrace.

Evaline is being forced into an arranged marriage with Graeme, the laird of the Montgomerys, by the King of Scotland. The Armstrongs and Montgomerys have been fighting for generations and the King needs his countrymen to stop in-fighting. Evaline is known as being less than whole after her negotiated marriage with Ian, the son of Laird McHugh, is cancelled. Evaline had gone riding, fell off her horse into a ravine and was found several days later. After coming out of her fever induced sleep, Evaline was deaf. She masquerades as being more addled though to keep from marrying Ian. Evaline is excited for the marriage to Graeme because she's looking forward to having an adventure and being able to start fresh without the lies keeping her back. Graeme is frustrated though because with the rumors he sees the marriage as a death sentence for his line; how can he expect to have a child with someone that has significant mental deficiencies. When they both open up and Graeme learns the truth about what's actually wrong with Evaline, they quickly move into being a true couple.

Oh my gosh. This book was absolute magic and lived up to the rave reviews that I've been hearing the past couple years on booktube and bookstagram. I loved the way that Evaline and Graeme connected and how much Evaline really fought to be seen as a full person despite her deafness. When Graeme figures it out and starts "talking" to her by just mouthing the words, he is completely mind-blown. What made it even better though was instead of getting angry for the misunderstanding, he is immediately in awe of Evaline for teaching herself how to read lips. That was one of my favorite parts of the books and the entire scene of them talking about becoming true husband and wife was so heartwarming. I really can't say enough good things about this book.

What I found interesting, was in the author's note at the end Maya Banks said that her husband has a similar issue to Evaline. I guess nobody really realized that he was deaf or partially deaf until he was in school for his Master's degree. I feel like that's what helped pushed this overboard for her books. I liked the other books I've read by her, but I feel like having that extra connection is part of what really pushed this book to a full 5-stars for me. I just really loved how the relationship progressed for Evaline and Graeme throughout and just fell in love with both characters whole-heartedly.

I can't wait to read more by Maya Banks, and definitely want to finish this series. I do know that the third book has been on hold for several years at this point and is something that a lot of people are upset over. If I remember correctly, I think I saw something about there being health issues or family issues on top of the 3rd book moving to being published by Avon instead of Ballantine. I definitely need to read the rest of her historical books, but I'm also intrigue by her more romantic suspense series as well.

Have you read Never Seduce a Scot?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: Never Seduce a Scot, Maya Banks, 5-stars, 0 days, paperback, 373 pages, published in 2012, traditionally published

In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks

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Taking a break from my Kate Daniels binge, I needed to sneak in the October Rake Appreciation Society book. However, I ended up putting it down and going back to Kate Daniels before finishing it. If you are new to the book club, it's hosted by Crystal and Jen. This month the book chosen was In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks. The live was last Thursday and you can watch it here! This is the first book in her McCabe Trilogy. I have all of Maya Banks highlander books in paperback (the plaid backgrounds are so pretty) and am so happy to finally pick one up! I was also able to use this for the prompt set in a place I want to visit (Scotland!) for Fall in Love. 

Mairin is the illegitimate daughter of the previous king. Since she is the only living progeny, she has a large dowry and her son is the heir to special land in Scotland. She's been hiding out in an abbey until she can find the right husband. She ends up getting kidnapped by Laird Cameron, an abusive and horrible person. She ends up escaping with the young boy Crispen. He's the son of Laird McCabe. Ewan takes in Mairin and they quickly decide to get married.

Okay, I'm really torn on this book. It took about 150 pages for me to really get into the story. I really had a hard time with Mairin. Now, in a lot of romances people have issues with heroines when they're TSTL, or too stupid to live. Mairin gave me that vibe a little bit. She's injured and bleeding everywhere, but completely surprised that she's been injured. I get when it first happened being in shock and not realizing you were injured, but she passes out from blood loss. Ewan asks her where it hurts and she nonchalantly decides her side hurts a little. After seeing her getting beaten and survive through her injuries, there were times that her character felt so whiplashy.

I like Ewan. I know that others had a hard time with him, but he's pretty similar to a lot of other highland laird heroes I've read. Yes he yelled at her, but she was also super naïve and made some weird choices. Like I said before, I had way more issues with her than Ewan. She almost reminded me a little of Zia from Under the Highlander's Spell by Donna Fletcher. While they aren't the same character, I had similar frustrations. I just felt like Ewan did all the bending and she didn't really compromise as much as he did. I don't know, I just didn't connect with her. What grabbed my attention was more the plot of the story and not necessarily the romance between them. If I were to be more strict on my rating, this would be a 3.5-star, but I'll keep it rounded up to 4.

I will definitely be picking up more of Maya Banks's works. I know that Never Seduce a Scot is super popular with booktubers and bookstagrammers I follow and really need to pick it up. It's the first in her Montgomerys and Armstrongs series. The 3rd book in that series hasn't been released yet and seems to have been delayed a couple times. Not only did she switch publishers, but there was a lot of personal life issues that led to her not writing for a bit. I know that the plan is still to release it in the next couple years, but we'll see. I certainly can't wait to get to the rest of her highlander books! I also might look at picking up one of her romantic suspense series when I'm in the mood for that subgenre. I certainly enjoy her writing style and can't wait to read more!

Have you read In Bed with a Highlander?

Bookishly Yours,

Stasi🍎

STATISTICS: In Bed with a Highlander, Maya Banks, 4-stars, 5 days, paperback, 351 pages, published in 2011