Reviewer: Tracy
So I Married a Highlander by Kate McKinley
Series: What Happens in Scotland #2
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 30, 2015
Format: eARC
Genres: Historical Romance
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Series Rating:

A Lady’s Rules of Etiquette When Eloping:

1. A lady should never leave a note behind explaining her intentions.

2. If by chance a note has been left behind, a lady must prepare to be hunted down and the ceremony thwarted.

3. In such a case, seeking consolation with a night of excessive drinking will be tempting, but ill advised.

4. And lastly, a lady must never, under any
circumstances, wake up manacled to a deliciously handsome Highlander.

Lady Evelyn Alexander has managed to break all four rules in the space of an evening—and the tall, virile Highlander she accidentally married is only the beginning. Her fiancé has also mysteriously gone missing and the threat of scandal is hot on their heels…

Alec McAllister has no use for a wife, but when he wakes up entwined with the lovely and spirited Evelyn, he’s willing to reconsider. He’ll help her find her fiancé, but when the passions ignite between them, it’s only a matter of time before the Highlander claims what’s his…

 

Evelyn and her fiance Stephen have eloped to Gretna Green. She’s anxious to get the wedding over with before her brother, a very powerful duke, comes and stops it. The regular balcksmith that does the marriages is quite busy and so Evelyn asks if there’s another blacksmith in town. She’s told yes but she doesn’t find a man willing to marry her – she finds a surly shirtless guy who’s will only perform the ceremony for a kiss. Evelyn complies and when Stephen shows up the blacksmith, Alec McAllister, starts to marry them. They are thwarted by Evelyn’s best friend and her brother’s best friend and end up NOT getting married.

Back at the inn that evening Evelyn is pissed that the wedding didn’t happen so has decided to drown her sorrows in whiskey. Is it the done thing in London for a lady to get drunk? Not at all but here in Scotland Evelyn feels like anything goes. She confronts Alec, who’s also in the pub, for staring at her and he ends up taking her up to her room before something bad can happen to her. One thing leads to another and the pair wake up naked in her room – and married.

Alec was attracted to Evelyn when he first saw her so isn’t having that hard of a time imagining himself married to her. Evelyn finds out that her betrothed, Stephen, was shot and then taken to a hospital in Glasgow so wants to make sure he’s ok. She heads off with Alec to see to Stephen and the couple find their share of troubles along the way. They also find that their compatability is much higher than either of them thought. When Evelyn’s brother shows up, however, he immediately rushes her back to London and away from Alec.

This was a very cute story if a little unlikely. Yes, things tend to happen quickly in a romance (there are only so many pages in a book) but this one happened rather quickly.

Evelyn is sick of being under her brothers thumb and is anxious to start her own family. Her brother married and she feels like it’s her turn. Her brother refused Stephen’s suit so they took it upong themselves to elope. Actually Evelyn talked Stephen into it. She really just wants to get married but when she finds herself married to Alec it’s not something she’s happy about. I found that strange. She really didn’t know a whole lot more about Stephen than she did Alec. She was a sweet girl though and I could see how Alec would fall for her. Alec fell hard and fast for Evelyn and I was surprised at how fast it happened. He was more than willing to stay married – especially after spending time with her and falling in love.

I felt the wrap up at the end of the book happened way too quickly and easily and that bothered me a bit. I wanted to see Evelyn stand up to her brother but she didn’t – or if she was planning on it they never showed it. I would have liked to have seen a few more pages devoted to the HEA in the end as it would have made it all the more believable.

Overall a fun book, an easy read, that’s not too deep or angsty.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5