Tag: Jennifer McQuiston

Review: What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston

Posted March 11, 2013 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins


Rowena’s review of What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston.

Hero: James MacKenzie
Heroine: Lady Georgette Thorold

She Woke Up Married

When Lady Georgette Thorold awoke she saw . . . her corset hanging from the armoire . . . a very handsome, very naked Scotsman lying beside her . . . and a wedding ring on her finger!

Before the attractive stranger can tell her his name, Georgette does the only sensible thing—she runs for it.

Little does she know, James MacKenzie isn’t clear on what happened the night before either. All he knows is that his money is missing and the stunning woman who just ran from the room is either his wife or a thief . . . or possibly both.

What happens in Scotland when two complete strangers fall madly, deeply in love?

Lady Georgette Thorold is fresh out of mourning her deceased husband when she wakes up shackled to someone completely different.  She’s in Scotland, visiting her cousin and when said cousin backs her into a corner, she kind of goes off and well, shit went down.  Only thing is, Georgette has no clue what happened.

So this book is basically Hangover (the movie) in a historical setting.  And in Scotland, not in Vegas.  The book starts off with Lady Georgette waking up next to a very big, handsome man that she doesn’t know.  When she nudges him awake, he wakes only to tell her that he’s her husband and wants more of what he got last night.  During this scene, I was already laughing.  What a predicament to wake up in.

The whole book is spent trying to figure out what happened the night before.  How did Georgette end up with a ladies maid that is more suited for a barmaid with her inappropriate mouth and loud laugh.  She also ends up with a dog, a cat and everyone around her seems to know who she is and what happened the night before.  Everyone except her, so she keeps the ladiesmaid and their first order of business is to find her “husband” and get that situated because well, she’s wealthy and she’d like to stay wealthy so that she can live the way that she wants to.

Throughout this entire book, I was laughing at the pieces of the puzzle that are revealed through the colorful cast that we meet. This was such a fun historical read that I’m really glad that I requested it for review on Edelweiss.  This was one of those books that you’re glad you read, not because it had the answers that would change your life but because it took you away from your life for a few hours and brought a smile to your face.  Was this book realistic? Probably not.  But did I care? Not at all.  This book was fun, the characters rocked my socks and even though the heroine got on my nerves from time to time, it was still an enjoyable book and I will definitely be reading more from this author.  Especially since the next book is the magistrate’s book (his name has slipped my mind) and I’m curious to see how McQuiston redeems him since he was an ass in this book and I didn’t care for him all that much.  Should be another fun adventure and I’m all about that.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

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Review: What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston

Posted February 22, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins

Lady Georgette Thorold has always been wary of marriage, so when she wakes up next to an attractive Scotsman with a wedding ring on her finger, it’s easy to understand why she panics and flees. Convinced that Georgette is a thief, her may-be husband, James McKenzie, searches for her. As both try to recall what happened that fateful night, they begin to realize that their attraction and desire for each other is undeniable. But is it enough?

Georgette wakes up and finds herself in bed with a man. Since she’s a widow and has no current bed partner she’s a bit confused about what’s happening. She discovers not only a bedroom that’s practically been torn apart (what the heck happened?) but also the Scot in the bed calling her wife! She answers his call to get back in bed with a crack over his head with the chamber pot. Since she’s just visiting the town she has no idea who this man is so she runs.

Her cousin Randolph finds her on the street and as he’s looked for her all night long he’s not pleased when he finds her. He takes her back to his cottage and is even angrier when he finds out she’s married. But is she? Randolph takes off to find the groom and Georgette finds one surprise after another. It seems that she had a great time the night before but she can remember none of it. It seems each townsperson knows a little bit of what happened and as things come to light Georgette finds herself almost more confused than when she was completely in the dark.

James might have remembered Georgette when he first woke but after the crash in the head he finds himself forgetting what happened as well. He finds his money missing and goes to the magistrate to get a summons for Georgette as he’s sure that she took it. He is recalling a wedding done by the magistrate in the bar but he’s not sure if it’s real or not.

With Georgette investigating her night and James investigating his it was inevitable that they eventually meet. While the money issue is worked out and the summons dismissed, there are still a lot of questions unanswered. As they spend the day together they find themselves falling in love with each other but there are many obstacles in their way. Her desire not to be married ever again, his trust issues and of course the person who’s trying to kill James. Not an auspicious way to start a marriage – if it is one.

I have to admit to being pretty drunk a time or two in my life (in my younger days, of course ;)) but never drunk enough to not remember what happened the night before. Now in this story Georgette has a little help with her memory loss (something that’s discovered later) but for a buttoned up Lady who doesn’t even like nudity in herself much less others I can’t imagine how she would feel when she found out all she did in this book. She’s such a…I don’t want to say prude but she’s definitely someone who’s always worried about what other people think. To be told that she was sitting on the laps of strange men and flirting shamelessly would have definitely sent her into a tailspin. As the day wears on (as the book all takes place in one day) she kind of finds herself, which I liked. She got to see a side of herself that she didn’t know existed and let some emotions that she didn’t know she had come out to play. Even when she was upset at James she still was his fierce defender and I had to admire her for that.

Now James, while being an upstanding citizen, really rubbed me the wrong way at times. He assumed the worst about Georgette without knowing the full story and that didn’t set well with me. While he was easily swayed in her favor initially, that didn’t stop him from being distrustful of her later on in the story. His seesawing back and forth was a bit annoying. I did like that he and his father, who hadn’t talked for 11 years, got to kiss and make up so to speak. That showed a side of him that was admirable and that was a definite plus in his direction.

Overall the book was fun. While I usually like the h/h to know each other longer than a day there was so much going on in the story it probably felt more like a couple of weeks for them – at least. 🙂 I liked McQuiston writing style and will look for more from her in the future.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Jennifer McQuiston

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What I Read Last Week

Posted February 18, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 3 Comments

Happy President’s Day to you all! It’s George Washington’s birthday and while I’m happy to celebrate I like this day more because I’ve got the day off. Woohoo! Lol I know, it’s all about me, right? 

Sorry that I’ve neglected the blog this past week. I mentioned last week that my youngest was sick and it continued throughout the week. She was find Tuesday and Wednesday and then got sick again Wednesday night (all night) and then on Thursday and Friday too. The rest of the weekend has been recovery…for all of us. Wow – I’ve never seen anything like that in the years I’ve been a mom. Crazy. She’s better now though so…yay! 

Reading: between doctor and bathroom visits I managed to read. I was a little disappointed this week in some of the books that I read that I liked but yet expected to be better. I hate it when that happens!

I started off the week with The Devil’s Triangle by Toni De Palma. This is a YA book that I read for The Book Binge and frankly while it sounded good I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. It’s not that long of a read so I was skeptical. OMG was I wrong. This is the start of a series and I honestly can’t wait to read the next book. The story is about a guy who dies and is sent back to earth for a girl named Grace. He’s given a month but he’s not sure what he’s supposed to do about Grace. What he finds in this town in New Jersey is so much more than he expected. He found…another life he’d been living and a girl he loves but was torn from by the Devil. It’s just this totally crazy, far-fetched story and it worked really well. My review will post over there on Wednesday if you want more info. 🙂 4.5 out of 5 

Next up was a re-read – Almost Like Being in Love by Steve Kluger. I had lent this to my mom to read and when she gave me a bag of books back before she left this one was in there. I just kept looking at it as it was calling me to read it again. Lol It was just as good the second time as it was the first. If you haven’t read this wonderful story you really should. It’s about 2 guys, Travis and Craig, falling in love in high school and then 20 years later Travis decides he NEEDS to find Craig because he’s the only man he’ll ever love. There are some issues though (like Craig having a long term boyfriend) but I thought Kluger did a great job of working it all out. 5 out of 5 

Next up was What Happens in Scotland by Jennifer McQuiston. The first novel by this author and it was good. The story is about a couple who wakes up next to each other, supposedly married, and have to piece the previous night together to figure out many things – mainly if they truly are married. It’s a cute tale and I’m looking forward to reading more from McQuiston in the future. 3.75 out of 5 

Immortal Ever After by Lynsay Sands is book 18 in the Argeneau series. The story centers around Anders and his life mate Valerie, who was kidnapped by a vampire and used for blood. She obviously thinks the kidnapper was a nutjob so Anders isn’t quite sure how he’ll tell her that he’s an Immortal and yes, has to drink blood to live. The story was good but not as exciting as past books have been. I really liked Anders and Valerie together which was good and we got to see some characters from previous books. 3.5 out of 5 

I know, I know, Love Irresistibly by Julie James doesn’t come out until April but I couldn’t resist diving into the story as I love her books so much. Unfortunately while a liked this one I just couldn’t get into these characters as much as I have the others in previous books. I still laughed many times and parts were quite touching so that was a good thing. I’ll post my review when it gets closer to the release date. 3.5 out of 5 

The Duke Diaries by Sophia Nash was my last read for the week. This is book 3 in the Royal Entourage series. I didn’t read the first two books but that wasn’t a problem. This pretty much stood alone. The story is about Verity who is the sister of one of the Duke’s in the Royal Entourage. She has listened at doors and such since she was 13 and has written all the stories down. Someone steals a couple of those diaries and starts to publish them in the paper. Then there’s Rory who is one of the Duke’s and after a night of escapades wakes to find himself in bed with Verity. They must marry and Rory does his best to convince her but Verity is absolute in her belief that she will not marry – as well as the thought that Rory will not WANT to marry her after she tells everyone she’s the author of the diaries. The story is good and I really liked Rory a lot but Verity was a hard sell for me. She was strong but did everything for everyone else and never herself. She pretty much turned martyr toward the end of the book never sits well with me. I’ll post more in my review later. 3 out of 5 

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week: 
Big Bad Bite by Jessie Lane 
The Dark Lady by Maire Claremont 


Happy Reading!

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