The Devil Wears Plaid

The Devil Wears Plaid by Teresa Medeiros 1021

Emmaline Marlowe's family is in dire straights after she jilted her fiance because she was in love with another man, only to have him reject her and the ex-fiance sue for breach of contract. To save them from debtors prison she agrees to marry the ancient Earl of Hepburn and move to his seat in Scotland. Although she is not looking forward to married life she isn't pleased when her wedding is interrupted and she is taken away by Jamie Sinclair. The Sinclairs and the Hepburn's have been feuding for generations and recently the Hepburn's have gained the upper hand after forcing the Sinclair's and their followers into hiding in the Highlands. And even worse, Jamie believes that Hepburn had killed Jamie's mother, a Sinclair, and Jamie's father, who was Hepburn's son. The two had stolen away together, had a son, and planned to marry, before being killed and Jamie has carried the belief that Hepburn killed his parents his whole life.

He expects a milk and water English miss and surprised to find the very capable Emma who can stand up to him and tell him what's what, make his heart beat faster, and cook breakfast for him and his men. He finds that he can tell her about his parents and his time spent in England trying to learn how to be a lord and she confides in him her fears about the marriage and her desire for a love match. Jamie wants Hepburn to admit what he had done to his parents and that is part of the ransom demand he posts, but at the same time he does not want to send Emma away. Neither wants to leave the other or admit to their feelings and Jamie thinks he cannot subject Emma to the life of a Highland outlaw. But the Hepburn lord has a couple tricks up his sleeves and very dark secrets must come to light before Emma and Jamie can make a new life for themselves together.

I was really excited about reading this book because the idea of a kidnapped bride is a new one for me in romance land. On the whole the book really did not disappoint as I enjoyed both characters and reading about the development of their relationship. Emma was great as she was willing to sacrifice herself for her family's good even while she still harbored fantasies of a happy marriage. I admit that her handling of kidnapping was unrealistic, she was surprisingly calm about it in my opinion, but as she got used to it Madeiros was spot on about how she slowly came to care for the man who had kidnapped her and fell in love with him. Jamie's twisted emotions about everything were understandable and really he handled them remarkably well and did not let them interfere too much with his relationship with Emma, although sometimes it was a little frustrated that he let so much stand in between them.

I liked that these two spent a lot of time together getting to know each other and learning about the other and were able to trust each other with some big secrets. Their was some sex but I really skipped through some of it as it wasn't that exciting but I did think it was great that it was a conscious decision by her part to give herself to the man she loved even if it meant risking her future. The plot involving solving his parent's death was absolutely brilliant and I loved the twists and turns it took and was utterly shocked by the outcome. I also enjoyed some side relationships (not romantic) like the one between Emma and her family, who seemed so callous selling her off to the rich man but really loved her, Jamie's with the men who followed him, and Jamie withthe Hepburn's heir who had once been his best friend before discovering Jamie was one of the hated Sinclair's.

Rating: A very good book with a lot of extras that really made it a great book. It did seem a little slow moving at times and his willingness to send her away grated a little.

A Whisper of Roses

A Whisper of Roses by Teresa Medeiros

The Cameron and MacDonnell clans have been furious enemies for centuries and everyone is shocked when the decaying and moral-less MacDonnell's make a visit to the Cameron clan stronghold. However few are surprised when the MacDonnell leader, Angus, is killed. While no one knows precisely who killed him the Cameron leader, Dougall is quick to offer up restitution. This includes marrying his daughter Sabrina off to Angus' son, and now leader of the MacDonnell clan, Morgan. As young children the two had been intensely, and privately, in love with each other, but pride had prevented their friendship, and love from blooming. Now Sabrina is terrified that Morgan is still the same proud bully he was then and Morgan is worried that Sabrina will always regard him as the uncouth, dirty MacDonnell who ruined her life by taking her away to a crumbling castle and a dieing clan. Despite immense pleading her feather refuses to relent and Sabrina and Morgan are married.

Things do not get off to a rousing start as upon their arrival at the MacDonnell stronghold they are confronte with Morgan's former paramour, Alwyn, in his bed. After a very rocky start with his clansmen, Sabrina sets out to win over her new clan and succeeds admirably with everyone but MacDonnell who holds out until Sabrina runs away in a panic after admitted some of her feelings for her husband. Things begin to look up but then the plot that killed Angus comes to the forefront again and Morgan and Sabrina's happily ever after is seriously threatened by a throw from a horse that leaves her (probably) crippled. Convinced that she can not be a burden to her husband she throws his own fears about his inadequacy in his face and leaves with her father. She heads to London where she turns into a raging bitch and her mom and dad are convinced that Morgan is the only one who can save her from turning into a lonely, bittered old woman. Public spectacles ensue, yelling ensues, and he pushes her until (surprise!) she's no longer crippled!

Both characters spend 380 pages of this book running and hiding from their feelings convinced that to admit their love for the other would mean certian defeat. This was incredibly nerve wracking to read as in most cases we read as the two characters fall in love with each other but instead we are confronted with two characters who love each other and then just shove impossible, sometimes imaginery and annoying, obstacles in their path to true love. It got a little tiring knowing that if either our feisty heroine or our bit strong hero could just have admitted their feelings in the first place the book would never even have started as they would have married as children. This book has more angst than anything I've read outside a Jodi Picoult book. It was amazing at first but after a while I couldn't help but wait for one of them to commit suicide. If life was so awful and you were so worried about your spouse not loving you then... ugh!

The most fun part of this amazingly unfun book was the side romance between Sabrina's self-proclaimed fat cousin Enid and Morgan's incredibly gorgeous cousin Ranald. They're funny, in love, and a great contrast to the angst and drama of Morgan and Sabrina. The sex is steamy but there's very little of it despite the immense sexual attraction they feel as, as always, the two create obstacles to their happiness. I actually started to like this book a little more when I thought their was a chance that we would have a woman wiht a physical disability as our heroine, but of course that couldn't last long as Sabrina was just not walking so she could wallow in her own self-pity. Not to mention: what man would give his daughter away in marriage, even if he believed that they had liked each other as kids, to a man she, and everyone else involved from family members to clansman to the groom himself seemed so dead set against getting married. And of course what ends up happening just leaves everyone feeling guilty and angsty. Enough was enough.

Rating: I got my fill of angst during the marriage preparations and the author did a great job with characters, even if the book did go on too long. I do imagine I'll remember this one for a while.