Suzanne Enoch

What happens when you have a hot-headed and honorable Scot forced to marry any Englishwoman in four weeks and an independent and opinionated actress who’s life is in danger? You get trouble with a capital T.

Coll doubted any man could throw him out of a place where he was inclined to be. His brothers didn’t refer to him as “the mountain” for no reason.

Coll MacTaggert, Viscount Glendarril, is tired of all of the English hothouse flowers his long-lost mother parades in front of him. show more Many of them are afraid of him because of his size and lack of manners and the rest just want his title and money that goes with it. Now that his two brothers and sister have found the spouses of their choice that satisfy the agreement his parents drew up when they were children, it’s his turn to find a wife so he can keep his mother’s monetary support of his home in Scotland. But one night at the theatre, he meets the loveliest and most intriguing woman he has ever met. She calls herself Persephone Jones. He thinks she’s hiding something and he is determined to find out the truth by any means possible.

“Before I answer that, I have to ask ye where Mr. Jones might be,” he said, already better than halfway to hating the man. She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Oh, somewhere about. Why do you ask?” “Because I’m nae a poacher.” “Ah. A hunter, then. You’re assuming, though, that I can be caught.” “I reckon I could make a good go of it.”

Mrs. Persephone Jones is the most famous actress in London. She has worked hard to be where she is by owning her own home with her own servants. Her own independence. Marriage is not in her future. Then she meets Coll MacTaggert, the rugged mountain of a man who is handsome, stubborn, and intelligent. He has become her protector to ward off the many men who profess their love for her after every performance. In turn, she will help him to find a wife. But her life is in danger, and Coll’s protection becomes more personal.

I love this captivating tale where this reader couldn’t wait to find out Persephone’s secret and who is trying to kill her. The chemistry between Coll and Persephone is instant and their clever and many times funny banter is entertaining. Coll’s respect for Persephone’s lifestyle is a nice change as he understands what her acting and her self-sufficiency mean to her. In turn, Persephone is a kind and charitable person who is sensitive to others’ needs and not harsh like others in her profession. Persephone’s theatre friends, her servants, and her volatile cat named Hades are a plus for the story. As well as the intimidating and noble MacTaggert family who are all unique on their own, but incredibly fierce when protecting their own.

If you enjoy a delightfully fast-paced historical romance with mystery, laughter, and family drama, give book 3 in the Wild Wicked Highlanders series a try.

Thank you to Ms. Enoch, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review. show less

I smiled the entire length of this book even though there was some serious dog-napping going on. From the moment the two lead characters graced the page, I knew I was going to love them – and I did. When you have a brilliant, but perhaps absent-minded (distracted) Duke and the season’s diamond together on an adventure – well, that is just what you get – an adventure.

Michael Bromley, the Duke of Woriton, does not care in the least about the ton or society in general. He knows they show more think he is eccentric and perhaps a tad mad, but he just doesn’t care. He doesn’t have time for all the gadding about, gossiping, and talking all around a subject but never directly saying anything. Not him. He says exactly what he means and he says it plainly. He’s not rude, his mind is just always filled with scientific calculations and inventions so it never occurs to him to engage in small talk. He’d just rather stay in his home laboratory inventing things that help mankind. That is what he should have been doing instead of walking his aunt’s black poodle in the park. But he dotes on his aunt and she has left her precious dog with him for six weeks while she pays a visit to a friend. Everything was progressing swimmingly until another black poodle came barreling into him and Lancelot – and he ended up in the Serpentine. OOPS!

Elizabeth (Bitsy) Dockering was a Diamond of the Season during her first season and she’s still a Diamond in her second season. She is bright, friendly, and beloved by all. Everyone loves her – and she loves her beloved black poodle, Galahad. Yes, Galahad is a holy terror to everyone but her, but she couldn’t imagine life without him. However, bad boy Galahad has just barreled into a duke and knocked him into the water. OOPS!

Unfortunately (or is it fortunately), the dogs get mixed up and before they can be exchanged, Lancelot is dog-napped from Bitsy’s home – then Galahad is also stolen from Bitsy’s home. What? Now, Bitsy and Michael must work together to rescue the dogs before the kidnapper does away with them.

You will absolutely love the way Michael goes about hunting down the dog-nappers. It doesn’t even occur to him not to include Bitsy on the quest and they are off on a rare adventure. From Mayfair to the Rookeries, they hunt high and low for the dog nappers and the dogs – and along the way, they find they might just have something in common other than black poodles.

This was a delightfully fun and entertaining read. I absolutely adored Michael and Bitsy and the supporting characters. I think this book had a little bit of everything – disgruntled suitors, grand balls, kidnappers, circus performers, a very eccentric duke, and a diamond of the season. I know you are thinking of reading this book because you love romance – right? Well, you actually sorta/kinda end up with three romances. So, how about that?

Happy Reading!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

Ah! I’ve been waiting for Coll’s book for what seems like FOREVER. It was worth the wait! You could absolutely feel Coll’s frustration and anger at his parents (especially his mother) – it was rolling off him in clouds. To truly understand Coll’s total frustration, you should read at least the first book in the series, It's Getting Scot in Here. If you haven’t read that book, I’ll give you a little of the background for the series.

Angus MacTaggert, Earl Aldriss, met and married show more Francesca Oswell in a whirlwind. It was a love match and a practical match as well. Aldriss needed money and the Oswells had it in droves. Francesca’s father was uneasy that the courtship and marriage happened so fast, so he assured that the money always remained in Francesca’s hands – along with the property she received from the Oswell estate. Angus and Francesca were two of the most stubborn and pig-headed people you’ll ever meet – neither had a conciliatory bone in their bodies. She wanted to live in England for part of the year and he wouldn’t hear of it. So, after the birth of their fourth child, Eloise, Francesca took Eloise and left Scotland, Angus, and their three sons – Coll, Aden, and Niall. Before she left though, she made Angus sign an agreement that their three sons would marry English women before Eloise married. After seventeen years of not hearing a word from their mother – and their father never telling them about the agreement – the now grown brothers were shocked to learn that in order to have the funds to maintain the Aldriss estate and its tenants, they were expected to marry English women – because Eloise was now betrothed. To say that didn’t go well was putting it mildly. There was so very much anger from the sons – who was this woman who had abandoned them, didn’t love or care for them – and now she has the power to control their lives. Coll had the most anger because he was the oldest and remembered his mother the best – and he remembered the deep pain her rejection and abandonment of them caused. Coll won’t go down easily!

Coll MacTaggert, Viscount Glendarril, has definitely not made a good impression on the ton. Inside, Coll is an honorable, caring, loyal, intelligent man, but all he has shown the ton is anger – basically his neanderthal side. You can’t blame him. How would you feel if the parent who abandoned and rejected you when you were twelve years old suddenly summoned you from Scotland to London to marry an English woman you’d never met and didn’t want? He could have refused, but if he did, all of the funding to support Aldriss Park would go away and his tenants and others would starve and be forced to leave Scotland for America or other places. Yes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree because Coll inherited all of the stubbornness both of his parents had. What he didn’t inherit though was their intractability. Coll was able to see another’s point of view and to accommodate those views. Thank Goodness! It is easy to think Coll is just a jerk, but he isn’t. He carries deep scars from his mother’s abandonment and those come out as anger. Coll knows he has to marry an English woman, but he’ll choose his own NOT the insipid debutantes his mother keeps throwing at him. When she tries to trap him into an evening at the theater with not one but two potential brides, Coll flees his mother’s theater box and ends up deep inside the bowels of the theater, he is escaping – again. That is when he meets a woman who doesn’t know he has a title – and doesn’t care. She isn’t afraid of him and stands toe-to-toe with him. Oh! My! He knows he can’t wed an actress – but if he could …

Mrs. Persephone Jones is the darling of London’s theater. Her performances are always sell-outs and everybody admires her abilities. She’s always surrounded by men – rich, titled, men – who want to be her ‘protector’ and expect her to acquiesce. One evening after a performance, she saw a huge Highlander behind the stage. He wasn’t frightening – she’d seen frightening and he wasn’t it. When he rescued her from one of her would-be protectors later, she was grateful. Then, when he cleared a path for her as she was leaving the theater, she was even more grateful. She appreciated him, but that was as far as it would ever go. Or, so she thought.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Coll and Persephone dance around each other – and learning to love each other. I loved seeing Coll’s perceptive views of Persephone – because he knew there was more to her than it seemed. Then, when she was in danger, he’d move heaven and earth to keep her safe.

I am going to assume that there will be another book in the series – maybe the parents getting their second-chance-romance. The reason I’m going to assume that is that this book would be a terrible wrap-up for the series. Too many things left unfinished – undone. If it were the last book in the series, it should definitely have had either another couple of chapters to wrap things up – or an epilogue. So, I won’t downgrade it in stars assuming that all will be wrapped up in another book.

I definitely enjoyed the read and I hope you will as well. It is excellently written and excellently executed. If by chance, you are wondering why Coll and his brothers hate the English so much, it is because their mother is English AND their father has spent the last seventeen years telling them how awful the English are and reminding them that if they need an example, all they have to do is to look at their mother. Anyway, it is a great read and I’m looking forward to at least one more book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. show less

Wonderful on audio! I enjoyed the first in this series but thought I would be happier with an audio version because I could listen to the accents without seeing them written out. That was a good call, but I think I would have liked this one more than the first regardless of format.

Marjorie and Graham are a great pair, and I was just laughing and melting all the way through. Graham’s younger brothers—especially the 8-year-old animal lover Connell—brought an element of warmth and fun to show more the novel, and I loved how their impulsive actions resulted in a found family for Marjorie. I adored every scene with little Connell, and a big part of that was reader Flora Macdonald’s portrayal of him. She did a fantastic job with all the characters, and I hope to find more books with her as narrator.

I appreciate romances where the characters don’t beat around the bush about their feelings for each other. Graham and Marjorie don’t necessarily have a straight path to happiness, but I liked the honest way their romance progressed and that it wasn’t plagued by dumb misunderstandings. They both made assumptions about the other, but they were smart enough to recognize they were wrong and admit it once they did. I loved their banter.

Another detail I loved was that Marjorie’s companion Mrs. Giswell (not sure of the spelling since it was audio) wasn’t just a purse-lipped judgmental foil for Marjorie. Her own story didn’t take up a lot of space, but it was enough to make me fond of her and root for her.

This was delightful and is destined for the comfort read pile. show less