She was ready to let her heart run wild . . .

Merry Stewart has had enough! Enough of her brothers, whose behavior would make even the most improper lady blush. Enough of their Highland home, which would surely have fallen to ruin were it not for her. She dreams of escaping into the arms of her betrothed, Alexander d'Aumesbery—even though they haven't yet met. But when they do, Merry is devastated. It seems he's no better than the men in her family.

So beautiful, so brazen . . . From the moment he meets Merry, Alexander is determined to make her his. Desperate to convince her he's nothing like the members of her roguish clan, he will prove he is every bit the well-mannered gentleman. Yet, beneath it all beats a heart as intense and uncontrollable as hers. And finally, when his life is threatened, Merry realizes he's the husband she's been waiting for . . . and their passion becomes the one thing that cannot be tamed.

Tracy’s review of Taming the Highland Bride (Devil of the Highlands #2) by Lynsay Sands

Merry Stewart was given the name “the Stewart shrew” by her brothers of all people. That’s because after her mother died her 2 youngest brothers and her father became raging drunks. She tried to control everything, as they did nothing in their drunkenness, and they therefore thought of her as a shrew. When they hear that her betrothed, who has been in the Crusades, has finally returned they are anxious to get her gone so that they can have control of their whiskey.

Merry’s not sure what expect when it comes to her betrothed. They have been betrothed since birth but have never met. She just hopes that he isn’t a drunk like the men in her family. When she arrives Alex is so drunk he falls flat on his face. Then for the weeks following he slurs and stumbles and she’s positive her husband is just as bad as the Stewart family. Then as they travel to visit Alex’s sister several incidents occur that have people who work for Alex suspecting that Merry is trying to kill her husband. When Alex and Merry actually talk they discover that someone is not only dosing him with something that makes him randy as hell but that someone – not her – is trying to kill him.

I really love Sands’ historical novels, I must say. This was another great one as it had me completely intrigued but laughing as well. I swear, the descriptions she comes up with to describe sex in her historicals cracks me up. In this one she has Alex’s step-mother talking to Merry about what to expect on her wedding night and describing a man’s penis. OMG, I found myself laughing pretty darned hard:

“Well,” Edda said finally. “You see, men are built differently than we women. The man has a…” She paused again and chewed on her lip briefly before brightening and saying, “Have you ever been in the kitchens at Stewart while your cook was preparing a chicken?”

Merry blinked at the question, not at all sure what a chicken had to do with this, but said, “Aye.”

“Well, think of the neck when the cook has plucked and cut it off to throw it in soup. A man has one of those between his legs.”

“Sort of,” Edda said with dissatisfaction. “’Tis straighter. At least ’tis when they are excited. And it does not have the bony ridges and it may be a tad bigger than a chicken neck.”

“Oh,” Merry said faintly.

Edda nodded solemnly. “’Tis most odd-looking. It sticks out from their body like a misplaced nose, but you must not laugh when you first see it,” she cautioned, and nodded to emphasize the point. “They become very offended. For some reason they are very proud of their chicken neck.”

Hilarious!

Merry was a great heroine and perfect for Alex who was a wonderful hero. I thought they fit together perfectly and I loved that despite everyone else’s suspicions Alex never believed Merry capable of harming him. Definitely points in his favor. Their love story was very sweet and I loved reading it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Avon. You can buy it here or here in e-format.