Tracy’s review of Devil’s Own 
After surviving slavery, Aiden MacAlpin has nothing but thoughts of vengeance. When his tutor Elspeth learns a secret to his past, it thrusts them both into a game of passion and deception that neither may survive.
In the previous book Aiden MacAlpin returned to Scotland after being kidnapped 13 years prior. He’s trying to deal with his many siblings and the differences in his life that came to be while he was a slave. Aiden’s one purpose in life is to find the man who kidnapped all those years ago but he knows nothing of the man except that he wears a black pearl earring. Determined to find him he submits himself to his sisters friend, Elspeth, for tutoring. But he has no money to pay for her assistance so he trades her for help on the farm that she runs.
Elspeth is a dreamer. Yes, she works hard on the farm that she lives on with her father, but she loves to read and dream about herself in a heroine’s role and when she meets Aiden she quickly puts him into her head as the hero. She comes off as clumsy and bookish but she soon charms Aiden with her mind and her kindness.
Elspeth’s father has different plans for his daughter and that is to marry her off to a rich man that can keep him in the life that he’s not accustomed to, but wants desperately. The man that he betroths her to, however, is none other than the man behind the slaver ship and the partner of the man that Aiden seeks to kill.
When I read back on the blurb and what I’ve written it sounds like the book is much more complicated than it truly is but that’s a good thing. A good thing because the major enjoyment for me with this story was the fact, that for the most part, it was just a simple love story. Aiden and Elspeth meeting, seeing each other on the farm, coming to know each other and falling in love. It’s just a sweet story and I very much enjoyed reading about two simple people falling in love without any angst. I love a good angst story as much as the next person but sometimes it’s just nice to read a simple boy meets girl love story. That’s not to say that there wasn’t some excitement going on in the book and toward the end especially there was some intense moments with Elspeth’s future but there was definitely an HEA.
I think if you’re looking for a historical romance without a Duke or an Earl or a Laird and just want to read about two regular people falling in love this would be a great book to read.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5
The Series
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This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here
What a great recommendation – sometimes all you need is to read a good love story – works for me!