Guest Review: The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney

Item: The Devil Wears Tartan
Rating: 4
Author: Book Binge Guest Blogger

Posted March 20, 2009 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 4 Comments

Guest Review: The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney

Reviewer: Tracy
The Devil Wears Tartan by Karen Ranney
Publisher: Avon, Harper Collins
Publication Date: August 26, 2008
Format: eARC
Genres: Historical Romance
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four-stars

A man in the shadows

Some say he is dangerous. Others say he is mad. None of them knows the truth about Marshall Ross, the Devil of Ambrose. He shuns proper society, sworn to let no one discover his terrible secret. Including the beautiful woman he has chosen to be his wife.

A fallen woman

Only desperation could bring Davina McLaren to the legendary Edinburgh castle to become the bride of a man she has never met. Plagued by scandal, left with no choices, she has made her bargain with the devil. And now she must share his bed.

A fire unlike any they’ve ever known

From the moment they meet, Davina and Marshall are rocked by an unexpected desire that leaves them only yearning for more. But the pleasures of the marriage bed cannot protect them from the sins of the past. With an enemy of Marshall’s drawing ever closer and everything they now cherish most at stake, he and Davina must fight to protect the passion they cannot deny.

Davina McLaren has had a really bad year. Curiosity about sex got the best of her and she had a tryst with someone. Unfortunately they got caught and she’s been shunned by polite society in Edinburgh for the year. Her aunt, her guardian, makes a marriage contract to someone Davina has never met. She’s not please with the match but what can she do.

Marshall Ross is haunted by horrible events in his past, literally haunted. He sees ghosts and has vivid horrifying dreams. He needs a wife to get himself an heir but all he wants is a woman he can bed and then keep to himself as he has this past year.

Neither Davina nor Marshall expect to have feelings for the other but even on their wedding day they can’t seem to keep their eyes off of each other.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It was an extremely quiet book in the fact that there wasn’t action scenes constantly but that didn’t stop the book from getting my full attention. Ranney does a fabulous job of letting us know the hero and heroine’s feelings. Whether it was about themselves or others. The first part of the book where Davina is being shipped off to marry Marshall and she likens herself to a chair that has no choice as to where it’s placed is amazing. Davina and her aunt are in the carriage on their way to the wedding:

…she acquiesced to her aunt’s various instructions to straighten her bonnet, don her gloves, pull down her skirt, and not fuss when Nora dusted off her shoes.

The chair was getting reupholstered and its limbs polished, the better to show itself to advantage. Perhaps she should also get her cushions restuffed.

I also think that what pulled me into this book so tightly was the honesty that Marshall and Davina had with each other. They just spoke their minds whether it was shocking to the other or not, but it was just all part of the conversation. And there were many conversation, which was wonderful. This is a book that I will definitely be keeping and reading again in the future.

Rating 4 out of 5