Review: Caught by the Scot (Made to Marry #1)

Caught by the Scot (Made to Marry #1)

by Karen Hawkins 

Blurb:

When the dark Duke of Hamilton loses his beloved wife, he heeds her dying wish that he make certain her three brothers marry well for she fears they are all headed to ruin. Heartsick, the Duke approaches the task with a heavy hand, ordering the three brothers to marry within three months or forego their inheritance.

The middle brother, the dashing Conner Douglas, is not about to give up his independence, but he knows marriage doesn't always mean one must change, does it? If anything, being married to a pliable sort of female would give him even more opportunity to seduce the married women of the ton. So he heads straight for the most pliable female he knows - a childhood acquaintance and now mousy spinster, the English born and bred Miss Theodora Cumberbatch-Snowe.

Conner is so certain Theodora will joyously agree to marry him, that he takes his time traveling to her house and has only one month to secure her hand and marry. Yet when he arrives at her parents' house he discovers that Theodora has just run away with a local landowner—a farmer, no less! Unknown to Conner, Theodora has been wildly, passionately in love with him for years. But she's accepted that he sees her only as a friend. Unable to sit forever in her parents' front parlor and wait for what will never happen, Theodora decided to marry someone comfortable in the hopes they might at least become good partners.

Unaware of Theodora's feelings, Conner isn't about to let 'the perfect wife' get away so easily. But as Conner seduces Theodora, his own feelings stir. And after surviving a trip of mishaps and traps, he discovers that he can't image her marrying anyone but him.

Themes:  Historical, Scottish

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 Karen Hawkins has brought us a whole new family of Scottish Rogues to fall in love with and I am eager to get to see each of them fall in love. Karen’s skill with bringing to life the Scots of the past and making us appreciate the Scottish mentality of life and freedom… and of course whisky. I am thrilled to see a new series beginning and was surprised with the direction Karen took.  Beginning with the death of a beloved sister, these three brothers are left with a choice of changing their lives and becoming the good men she knew them to be or give up their inheritance to the hated Campbell clan. The middle brother Conner knows immediately the woman he thinks will be able to fill his requirements for a meek and docile wife to meet the requirements of Anna’s will without having to actually give up his freedom to sail the open seas. So taking his sweet time, he heads to the home of his best friend hoping to convince his friend's little sister, Theodora, to be his wife, but he arrives too late—she’s already run off to elope with a local landowner! Conner rides away in hopes of heading off the disaster of Theodora marrying another man.  Theodora has finally given up hope of ever having the man she loves so she agrees to elope with a man she thinks she can make a good life with.  When Conner crashes into her life again, telling her that she cannot elope because he wants her to marry him, the anger and disappointment is unbelievable.  Now set on the task of convincing Theodora she should marry him, Conner inserts himself on their trip and uses every little bit of trickery he knows to slow their progress.  In the end, only by admitting their true fears and emotions can Theodora and Conner come to find their chance for a fully happy future.  I really enjoyed seeing Theodora push Conner and force him to come to terms with what he really wants from life and the truth of his feeling for her.  Conner was like most men his age, unwilling to admit that his life is not full and that he needs to find a true mate to complete his life. In the end his trickery, sweetness, and passion are the only way he can truly bring Theodora around to giving Conner a chance to redeem himself and earn back her love.  Theodora was a woman well ahead of her time and definitely the perfect woman to make Conner grow up and see what he really wants out of life.  She was intelligent, brave, and independent enough to know what she deserves and what she will demand from her husband.  Once she comes to the understanding that she has made a bad decision, she determines that since she cannot have the man she truly loves in her future as her equal, she will devote herself to her intellectual pursuits instead of having a family of her own.  I enjoyed the back and forth between Conner and Theodora as they battled with their wits and emotions until they could both understand just how much they need to be together.  The love and sweetness countered the need for crazy hot passion, but the obvious chemistry between these two ensured that we readers would always know that there was passion and would be between them for a long time in the future.  I am looking forward to the other brothers falling in love and possibly getting a few other stories starring these characters. Ms. Hawkins never fails to make me laugh, cry and fall in love right along with her characters and I know that anything I read with her name on it will always be worth every moment of angst and worry for the happy ending we always want to see.  Another masterpiece Karen, keep the magic coming.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.