Genevieve McInnes is locked behind the fortified walls of McHugh Keep, captive of a cruel laird who takes great pleasure in ruining her for any other man. Yet when Bowen Montgomery storms the gates on a mission of clan warfare, Genevieve finds that her spirit is bent but not broken. Still, her path toward freedom remains uncertain. Unable to bear the shame of returning to a family that believes her dead or to abandon others at the keep to an imposing new laird, Genevieve opts for the peaceful life of an abbess. But Bowen’s rugged sensuality stirs something deep inside her that longs to be awakened by his patient, gentle caress—something warm, wicked, and tempting.
Bowen seizes his enemy’s keep, unprepared for the brooding and reclusive woman who captures his heart. He’s enchanted by her fierce determination, her unusual beauty, and her quiet, unfailing strength. But wooing her will take more than a seasoned seducer’s skill. For loving Genevieve, he discovers, means giving her back the freedom that was stolen from her—even if it means losing her forever.
In book 1 we read about Ian McHugh. He was, in three words or less, a “big ole bastard”. Seriously, that man was demented. Now that he’s gone the Armstrong and Montgomery families have now banded together and 4 of their sons have descended upon the McHugh Keep and have found it in desperate straights. Patrick McHugh, Ian’s father and the true laird, has deserted his clan in fear and has taken most of their stores with them. The remaining McHugh’s are fearful but also belligerent to the new laird, who is Bowen Montgomery.
When they first arrive they meet Genevieve McInnes. They just know her as Genevieve and that she was Ian’s whore. She was however, kidnapped and kept as Ian’s prisoner. He raped her repeatedly and even cut her face so that no one else would want her. To say that Genevieve has emotional issues is to put it mildly. Bowen, however, sees a woman who is strong for having put up with not only the horrors of Ian but also the extreme disdain and hatred from the rest of the clan. When the keep is attacked and Genevieve becomes fierce in battle she’s thought of even less. Again Bowen comes to her defense.
On top of those issues then there’s the part she played in the kidnapping of Eveline in book one that Bowen may come to terms with, but Eveline’s husband, Graeme, isn’t too about. The decision for Bowen, after he falls in love with Genevieve, is to keep her and make himself happy or send her home and make her happy. Not an easy decision.
This was a very emotional read. Reading about Genevieve’s experiences was quite hard and pretty heartbreaking. There was yet another incident in the story that Genevieve had to deal with and that was pretty scary as well. I really liked Genevieve and the strength she showed throughout the story.
Bowen was a man with a huge heart. He saw the good in Genevieve almost from minute one and I loved that about him. He didn’t judge, he just opened himself up to listening and for a medieval man to do that was awesome. He even ended up thinking of Genevieve’s feelings before his own and that made me love him even more.
Overall it was a good book and I enjoyed reading it. I didn’t like it quite as much as book one but that would have been pretty hard to top. 🙂 I can’t wait to for the next book to see who’s paired up next. I’m really enjoying this series!
Rating: 4 out of 5
One of the ladies in my book club is reading this series and she's loving them. I really need to start reading these too.
I've really liked her Scottish historicals, Wena.
I think I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would…and I actually cried at the end. Don't know why I ended up with tears…Ms. Banks must be doing something right for me to get so emotionally involved!
regards,
irene of Montgomery County Child Custody