A Highland Folly (Zebra Regency Romance)

Oh my lord this is stupid. What exactly is his plan? To ruin her reputation so no one will listen to her? He's going about it the right way, if so. His behavior toward her would be entirely unacceptable if there were no other questions involved - as it is it's both unacceptably rude and incredibly stupid. Rude and wrong by both Regency and modern standards - no means no. Then he's keeping secrets, and instantly assumes she's been lying to him. Then - why (oh why) would she agree to consider Busby's proposal? Why does she blow up at the latest suggestion someone might be attacking the camp - he didn't say a word about the twins. Neilli in her dress is being incredibly stupid - it does seem to be a theme. Good thing she got diverted or show more she'd probably have been laughed at...which might have been good for her. Amazingly stupid climax, too - there is absolutely no point in the elaborate tying-up, if he were 'too eager to kill Lucais' to deal with her, he wouldn't have spent all that time setting it up. It would have been very quick and easy to kill her - the _only_ reason for the elaborate death trap is that it's traditional for the villain to do so. Heavy dependence on tropes - the proper behavior of villains, the villain hiding in plain sight, the standard 'wild attraction equals true love' - ugh. She may have researched llamas for this story (though the end is WAY too convenient even with that), but she didn't bother to study the manners and mores of the place and time she set the story in. Oh, and the old letters with the truth of the feud - again, way too convenient. Badly written, badly researched, dependent on cliches - the only thing I can't figure out is why I kept this, because I know I'd read it before. show less