The shadowed duke!
Tempting the Laird (Highland Grooms #5) by Julia London
What a great read! I loved the character of Catriona Mackenzie, aka Cat. Her passion for her cause, her humor, her way of disarming a situation. The brooding yet resigned duke, Hamlin Graham, Duke of Montrose, who the neighborhood is convinced murdered his wife. His ward Eula is such a poppet. It was charming the way Eula insisted on calling him Montrose and each time he would patiently correct her. As when Eula was tying the Duke's silk neckcloth,
' “You look very fine, Montrose,” [Eula] said, eyeing him closely. “Your grace,” he reminded her. “Your grace Montrose,” she returned with a pert smile.'
To be applauded and noted is that Cat is older than most leading ladies, in her early thirties, and, 'For whatever reason, fate had not seen fit to lead her to drink from the trough of marital bliss, and now, frankly, it was too late.' So Cat turned her energies elsewhere.
As I said before Cat is stout hearted and particularly passionate about those she's set out to help. Cat and her Aunt Zelda have sustained Kishorn Abbey as a safe place in the Highlands for abused and discarded women. When her aunt dies, the English authorities want to seize the abbey (the Culloden retributions continuing). Cat is in Edinborough visiting her uncle and trying to fight that decree.
In the midst of all this happens the troubled Montrose. Our Cat is ripe for falling in love. Montrose is a brooding man with a tender heart, and Cat is drawn to him like a moth to flame.
Their dance is lively, with lightening flashes and despairing shadows when trouble comes calling.
A NetGalley ARC
*****
' “You look very fine, Montrose,” [Eula] said, eyeing him closely. “Your grace,” he reminded her. “Your grace Montrose,” she returned with a pert smile.'
To be applauded and noted is that Cat is older than most leading ladies, in her early thirties, and, 'For whatever reason, fate had not seen fit to lead her to drink from the trough of marital bliss, and now, frankly, it was too late.' So Cat turned her energies elsewhere.
As I said before Cat is stout hearted and particularly passionate about those she's set out to help. Cat and her Aunt Zelda have sustained Kishorn Abbey as a safe place in the Highlands for abused and discarded women. When her aunt dies, the English authorities want to seize the abbey (the Culloden retributions continuing). Cat is in Edinborough visiting her uncle and trying to fight that decree.
In the midst of all this happens the troubled Montrose. Our Cat is ripe for falling in love. Montrose is a brooding man with a tender heart, and Cat is drawn to him like a moth to flame.
Their dance is lively, with lightening flashes and despairing shadows when trouble comes calling.
A NetGalley ARC
*****
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