Review: Between a Highlander and a Hard Place (Highland Weddings #5)

Between a Highlander and a Hard Place (Highland Weddings #5)

by Mary Wine

Blurb:

A fierce Englishwoman on the run

A Highland Laird who needs a proper wife

And a desire neither can resist

Athena Trappes thinks she's in love...until she discovers the scoundrel only wanted her as his bit on the side. Enraged, she does what any spirited Englishwoman would do: set fire to his belongings, incur his dangerous wrath, and flee—immediately. With nowhere else to turn, she seeks freedom in the wilds of Scotland.

Highland Laird Symon Grant lost his wife years ago, and it's his duty to find another. Athena is not exactly what the clan has in mind for him, but Symon's heart burns with unexpected passion for the woman who would risk everything to be free.

Themes:  Historical, Scotland

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating:  

Review:

 With such fire and spirit, one would almost think she was a Scot all along, but once she steals the heart of a Highland Laird, nothing will stop him from making her his.  I have been enjoying this series for a while now, after stumbling across it when the first story was offered as a freebie and now I get to enjoy the series as it releases and share my opinions.  This latest installment by Mary Wine is a unique one in that it weaves together many of the usual tropes we can find in a fiction novel, but they come together so well you just can’t call it clichéd. Athena’s life is in a shambles now that she knows the man she thought was going to be her husband intends to ruin her family is she doesn’t become his mistress.  Determined to protect her virtue AND her family name she flees to Scotland with the perfect disguise, but living life as a boy is tricky for a woman that has never been on her own, until one night of releasing her disguise changes the course of her life forever.  Symon Grant has been a widower for a long time and he knows he has to find a bride, but none of the women in his life make him want to stand up and take his vows again.  A festival with his clan seems like a good place to relax and enjoy life for one night, until he stumbles across a woman that makes his entire body and soul comes to life again.  Now Symon and Athena are on a dangerous crash course that will lead them both on a merry chase and ultimately into one another’s arms, but can the sinfully sexy Highland Laird tempt the English lass to become his bride despite her fears and misgivings or will be forced to one again lose the woman that he loves?  I have followed Symon’s character for several stories now, him being the sister of one of the ladies we met in the first (or second maybe?) stories in the series.  His life has been filled with tragedy, and his clan has suffered the emotional pain right alongside their laird, so he is forced to pick himself up and remarry for the good of his clan.  I loved seeing the way he fought for the woman he wanted, not even understanding the full truth of her past or present situation. He is dedicated, intelligent, sweet, and sensual every step of his journey to convince Athena to be his wife and it is those very traits that make him irresistible to her.  Athena is a woman without a lot of hope and chances for a happy ending.  She let herself become besotted with a corrupt man and then made bad decisions that led her down too many paths to danger.  Though she made many missteps, she wasn’t the kind of woman to sit around and wait to be rescued, more often than not finding her own way out of predicaments and then just needing a bit of help with the final cleanup.  I enjoyed seeing such a strong character develop out of what was shaping up originally to be a naïve and dimwitted woman that allowed herself to be compromised in the first place.  The heat between Symon and Athena was off the charts and surprising for the life they had both lived, but sometimes the gods lead us to our mates in unlikely places and we need that extra boost of chemistry to show us the way.  I am looking forward to the next story in the series where Brenda will finally get her love despite having fought it all this time, if she manages to get out of the predicament she was placed into at the end of this story by the monarch (*wink wink*).   Masterful writing and storytelling lead to an historical romance that leaves you ready for more.

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