I have a guest review of The Key by Lynsay Sands up at The Good, The Bad and The Unread.
Iliana Wildwood would do anything to escape from the depraved baron who sought her lands – including marrying a barbarian. Fleeing the highlands, Iliana was wedded to Duncan, laird to Dunbar Castle. Certainly, there was something about the virile warrior that made her weak in the knees – but something stank in the state of Scotland, and Iliana would not trust anyone until she’d discovered the source.
Determined therefore to resist her handsome husband, Iliana found a way to keep her secrets safe. Employing a belt of chastity, the spirited beauty managed to thwart the thane’s advances. But then her husband changed his tactics and began a sensual assault that sent her intentions up in smoke. And as the air cleared, Iliana found it had been her heart she had locked away, and that this stubborn Scot had finally found…
Lynsay Sands is a fairly new-to-me author. The first full length historical of hers I read was Devil of the Highlands, and that was just a few weeks ago. I found that novel to be lighthearted and engaging. I was looking for more of the same when I picked up this book, and I’m happy to report that it delivered.
One of the things I liked best about this novel is that both characters were in need of growing and settling in to the relationship. When one of them would do something wrong, the other would call him/her on it. It wasn’t that Duncan was always in the wrong and Iliana always right, or vice verse….
I have only read Lynsay Sands’ Argeneau vampire series, but it sounds like she brings her quirky sense of humor to her historicals as well, and I’ll have to give them a try.
This is one I haven’t read yet…need.to.find.it. 🙂