To Marry a Scottish Laird

An engaging and romantic read.... To Marry a Scottish Laird was a fantastic historical romance. I found myself hooked right from the first page and it kept my interest all the way through. Some nice twists and turns to the story that kept me guessing too. I loved the chemistry and steamy heat between the two main characters as well as how endearing they were. I especially enjoy Lynsay Sands hunky heroes and strong yet quirky heroines. Lynsay is such a talented writer. I have read many of her books and look forward to more in the future.

This is the second book I have read by this author the first book I really loved, I think it was called Switched where one of the sister dressed as a young man and they would switch place. This book was awful. Seems as if the author did not put a lot of time into the book. The author kept repeating a lot of the same things over and over.

This book had a great story and started of great. I did not like the fact that the heroine just fell right into bed with the hero. It was a"oh come on" I do believe that she had so much to give but fell short somewhere . The hero in my opinion was a bit on the selfish side. The dialogue was flat and boring there was no spark between the H and the h . I was disappointed !!!!

This is not up to par with her earlier books and hoped in this one she would bring back the humor that was so prevalent. This was perhaps the most boring of her last books. She is a great writer and needs to bring back her hysterical historical humor. I've read all her books and the latter ones as stated have left me very disappointed.

Lindsey Sands has again written another excellent book. The story line had a great twist at the end. The characters were well written and developed. I think the author did a great job writing a book with a fresh approach. I have read many books by this author and she seldom disappoints.

I love the Argeneau books, but this falls short of her normal skills. The Scottish accent as she has written it seems very forced, especially compared to Diana Gabaldon's amazing Outlander series. The story also seems a little too contrived. I highly recommend the Argeneau books, though!

This is the third book by Ms. Sands that I have attempted to read; the first - The Switch - was an enjoyable novel, but the other two (The Hellion and the Highlander, and this novel) have fallen short. I really want to enjoy this author and the book descriptions often snag my attention and interest within a few sentences. Unfortunately, her books seem to always fall short of the mark, and they lack a lot of the enjoyable qualities I expect from my romance novels. There is a heavy emphasis on sex from the very beginning, with very little emotions or feelings that I can tell.

**SPOILERS**
I don't mind some racy content, but this book has gone a bit overboard. Not only have the main characters had sex a number of times (6 or 7) at 49% through the novel, but the main male character seems to think of literally nothing else besides sex. "I wanna do Joan here, I wanna do Joan there, I wanna do Joan in this position". There's so little *ROMANCE* and so much *SEX* that it's just not enjoyable... There was no build up to their "romantic interludes" either. One second she thinks he thinks she's a male, the next he's essentially having "surprise sex" (aka raping) her despite the fact that he knows she's a virgin (and he just flat out doesn't care about that part, HE EVEN SAYS IT). Then she tries to "escape her feelings" for him by running away... Because she's guilty over all the sex they're having? I'm 49% through the book and if it continues to read like an erotic novel, I'm returning it. :/

An instant attraction and because they were together and unchaperoned they were married.Someone was trying to kill the wife . The plot moves quickly and has many twists and turns,keeping the reader's attention throughout.

To say this book was bad, would be unfair to the author. To say this book has problems with the flow of the plot, typos and language difficulties would be a fair assessment.

I was asked to review this book and wasn't sure that I wanted to but here I am, while it is fresh in my mind since I just finished it this morning, I would like to state the difficulties I had with this book. It was not in areas where a reader could suspend disbelief.That happens in most historical romances. It was in the execution.

First off, this is the second book in this series following .. An English Bride in Scotland. I finished book one and immediately started this book. From book one Annabel's sister Kate is left going to an abby after committing crimes against her sister. She is pregnant with Joan, our heroine in this book. Kate dies and Joan is left to be raised by another woman named Maggie who Jane believes for MOST of this story to be her real mother.

************** SPOILERS BELOW*************

Upon Maggie's deathbed, she gives Jane a scroll to be sent to clan MacKay and has her set out on her own. Little does Jane know that this scroll contains the secrets of her birth and her relations surprise upon her arrival.

Here she is, a woman traveling alone dressed in clothes to look like a boy. Cam comes upon her being accosted by bandits. She is badly wounded and then he gets wounded and she cares for him. She is a healer. This part of the story drags on for about a third of the book as they travel together to reach Scotland. He agrees to go with her because she explains she is headed to clan MacKay and his clan is friendly with them.

I was wondering if they were going to ever reach Scotland. Apparently, after discovering she wasn't a boy, sex was more important to delay their travels then actually reaching their destination, even though they had to hunt for food. Oh, except for the time that an Inn suddenly appears out of nowhere and he brings them a bagged supper. Joan is surprised that she doesn't have to use her slingshot to play Lady Jane but Tarzan saves the day.

********* END OF SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>

Upon reaching the Sinclair castle a bunch of women are waiting there to be Cam's bride but since he was caught doing the deed, some word used like hogawarthy. And this brings me to the language problems.

ken= know
kenned= knew

Sentences were structured in double negatives.. No naught no. (Do not know). That is just an example of the many things over accentuated in the Scottish brogue.

Then there was the construction of the plot problem. Okay, the reader is led in one area or another and pulled in different directions. I was okay with that. What I wasn't okay with but without given away details here, there are questions about the poison, the way it was distributed in certain drinks, and how the person(s) who were supposed to be poisoned even ended up getting the correct cup to begin with. The author tried to pick up the speed at the end and finally threw in details but still left some of the questions unanswered even as she attempted to answer other ones.

Then we have typos that should have been caught. Twice Annabel's name was used in sentences that the author meant Joan. That was unacceptable to the reader because both times happened at crucial points in the story.

In conclusion, I am glad to be finished with this book and to never have to pick it up again. I did like the MacKay's and the Sinclair's. Joan and Cam did resolve their misunderstandings and some of the women who befriended Joan were lots of fun.

It is for that reason that I gave the book 3 stars instead of 2.

Overall rating................ 2.5

I have read books by this author before. Usually I like them. In this book there was too many sex scenes that were used to advance the story and I hate that. I finished the book by just reading the first sentence in the paragraph so it would be over.

To Marry a Scottish Laird by Lynsay Sands (Audio Edition)
Narrated by Keiran Elliott
Series: Highlanders #2

2 stars - I don’t like giving negative reviews, but sadly this book was a disappointment. Not much happens. The plot had loads of potential and I wish the story had progressed farther before he found out the lad was a lass… Feels like there are some missed opportunities for funny situations. Joan seems constantly reluctant and unsure of her worth even when Cam has reassured her. By three quarters of the way through it started to feel like the author was just filling space… she would say the same thing in 5 different ways.

The narrator has a nice voice, however, I don't find him too engaged in the story. He has a different pace to his reading, which by the end almost seemed like he was somewhat bored with the story. So, honestly that probably took away from the story for me as well. As I see many good reviews for this book.. Perhaps skip the audio version and try the book/ebook version instead.

With that said, I am still looking forward to the next in the series, the narrator is a good one and the the plot seems promising!

~Paragraphs and Petticoats~

This one was just okay. I like the first 1/3 of the book and really felt the connection between Cam and Joan, but things took a bad turn after that and the rest of the book limped along at an annoyingly slow pace with manufactured issues and a rather lame and easy-to-spot villain.

<Spoiler Alert>
First of all, I read all the other books in the series before I got a hold of this one and in all the other books the heroine of this book is called Jo by everyone. And yet here in her own book, everyone refers to her as Joan. Why the inconsistency? Second, in all the later books we're bashed over the head with what wonderful strong friends Jo, Saidh, Edith and Murine are and yet in this book that tells the tale of how they first met and became friends, they spend almost no time together and are definitely not shown as having any particular bond. Really disappointing.

The story goes that Joan was raised by a healer who taught her everything she knew about the craft. Then the woman became ill and knew she was dying so she had the local friar write a letter that she sealed and on her deathbed asked Joan to deliver to Lady McKay in Scotland. She also urged Joan to dress as a boy for the journey since it would be too dangerous for a girl to travel alone. Sure enough, Joan gets into trouble along the way when 4 would-be thieves try to steal her bag, which contains the letter. She's getting her face beaten in when Cam arrives and sees what he thinks is a boy being abused by much larger men and he intervenes, saving her. Cam is badly wounded in the process and Joan gets him out of there and nurses him back to health.

Cam wakes up and takes an immediate liking to the boy who he finds to be brave, smart, honorable and honest. Shortly thereafter, he sees Joan swimming in the river and realizes she's a girl. Right away his thoughts turn lustful but he keeps the knowledge to himself for 2 more days. We get a lot of talk in his inner monologue about how he's going to let her keep her secret until she trusts him enough to reveal it on her own....and then suddenly he just starts kissing her and they immediately have sex.

It really felt incongruous with where their relationship stood. Joan had indeed noticed how attractive Cam was and vice versa but since Cam hadn't revealed that he knew Joan was a woman, there were no smoldering glances or accidental touches, etc. It just came out of no where. Also we'd really been beaten over the head with the fact that both of them feared the woman dying in childbirth and therefore planned to never have children or even get married. Cam because his first wife had died in childbirth along with the baby, and Joan because she'd seen so many women die in agony this way during her work as a healer. And yet when Cam just kisses Joan out of the blue, after an initial moment of shock that Cam was kissing a "boy" before he revealed he'd known the truth for a while, Joan just immediately gets on board with giving up her virginity and having unprotected sex with him. And he likewise doesn't spare a thought for the fact that he could be getting her pregnant and therefore condemning her to death. It just didn't jive with their previous behavior.

After the big sex scene, Cam falls asleep and stays asleep for hours and hours. Long enough for Joan to catch their dinner, clean it and even cook it over a campfire. She's confused about why Cam slept with her and what it'll mean for them now, but instead of waking him up and asking a few questions she goes for a swim. Naturally Cam wakes up and catches her skinny dipping so he joins her and they have sex again. Her having absolutely no soreness whatsoever from her deflowering even though she'd described the pain as being akin to being stabbed with a knife. Right after the water sex scene they go back to camp and go for round three, this time with Joan taking the lead, which didn't seem the least bit believable to me.

They have sex round the clock for a while and then Joan decides to make a run for it. She's decided that what they're doing is wrong and it should stop. She doesn't want to be just a dalliance on the side of the road for a nobleman who will set her aside and never look back. But she also recognizes that Cam is so irresistible to her that she'll never be able to deny him. Hence, she has to leave. He comes thundering after her but a scene that could have been one of powerful emotions was instead just kind of lame and bland as Cam finds her easily and just casually asks her to come back, promising to behave himself better. Joan just kind of shrugs and goes back with him. 10 seconds after they get back to camp she does a complete 180 and decides that it's pointless to deny themselves. That she knows they'll eventually give in and start having sex again because neither can resist the other. And since that's a foregone conclusions, there's no point in being celibate for a day or two and missing out on the fun they could be having. So all that was rather pointless. Her vague feelings about not wanting to be a casual fling for Cam are just tossed out the window and she vows to make the most of their time together so she has a nice memory to keep her warm at night through the lonely years to come.

Cam deliberately stretches out their journey so they can spend two weeks loving it up in the forest. It's fairly well done and you really feel the strong attraction between the two as well as the developing friendship. Eventually though, they get close to their destination and Ross McKay, the hero of the previous book who is now over 50, catches them kissing. There's some funny awkwardness about Cam kissing a boy that's quickly dispelled when Joan reveals her gender. On the way to the McKay castle, Cam asks Joan to come back to his home, Sinclair. She asks if he wants her as his mistress or as a healer and he says he doesn't care. He just doesn't want their time together to end. Joan deliberates for a minute but ultimately decides that she can't bear to be his mistress, knowing that he'll eventually tire of her and set her aside, leaving her heartbroken. Better to stop the relationship now after their two weeks in heaven. So she just tells Cam that she DOES want things to end between them, without explaining her thought process. This hurts Cam's feelings to the point where he even begins to wonder if she'd been faking her affection for him all through the two weeks. If she'd only been sleeping with him because she needed his protection or some such nonsense. It didn't really jive. I mean, they'd been having sex round the clock. If she wasn't really into it, she'd have put a stop to that. But this is a book and we need drama so of course Cam's hurt and carries that with him for the whole rest of the book.

Then Joan delivers her message and it turns out it says that Joan is the daughter of Kate, Lady Anabel McKay's psycho sister from the previous book who was sent off to the abbey. Turns out she was pregnant at the time and died in childbirth, so her punishment for all her murdering ways didn't last very long. The abbey didn't want the baby so they gave her to the healer who tended Kate during the birth and that's how Joan grew up thinking that woman was her mother.

Despite everything Kate did, Anabel and Ross welcome Joan with open arms...and seconds after that revelation, Ross sits Cam down and explains that now he'll have to marry Joan since he took her innocence. The book really goes downhill after this. Both Cam and Joan do a lot of assuming about the other's feelings without ever actually talking to each other. Cam assumes that Joan doesn't really like him because of what she said earlier and that she resents being forced to marry him. Joan likewise assumes Cam must resent being forced to marry her just because she turned out to be sort of a noble when he thought he was just tumbling a peasant girl. Especially since he made his stance on never marrying again very clear. They both even have Ross and Anabel talking to them and almost - but not quite - explaining what's really going on while insisting that they love each other and should just talk to one another....and yet they don't. They just go on whingeing about it in their inner monologues for ages and ages.

Joan also turns into a completely annoying self-deprecating little girl for the entire rest of the book. Going on and on and ON about how she doesn't know how to be a lady and will just end up embarrassing Cam and his family. She even tries to insist they have their marriage annulled (which I'm pretty sure isn't possible after they've consummated the union hundreds of times) and suggests that she just be his mistress after all. Apparently forgetting all the reasons why she didn't want that life.

They go to Cam's castle right after the marriage and Anabel and her daughters go along to allegedly teach Joan how to behave like a lady. Except that the things they try to teach her are incredibly stupid. They try singing, dancing and archery lessons, of all things. Not like, the way to run a household or host a dinner party, etc. Maybe back in the day those other pursuits were things ladies did indeed indulge in but that's only because they had SO MUCH time on their hands. Since they weren't working or allowed to do anything in the business world, and were basically told to just sit inside all day, yeah they learned things like sewing, painting, singing and playing instruments. But nobody learns those things in the space of a week. They have tutors for years in order to develop those skills. So it was just ridiculous that Anabel thought THESE were the most important lessons to give to Joan when in the grand scheme of things they're meaningless.

The whole thing was just plot contrivance to keep Joan feeling like a failure as a lady. I found the whole thing to be very tedious. Joan had gone from a strong, smart, independent woman with a valuable skill (healing) and the bravery to travel alone, on foot and unarmed to a new country just to honor a deathbed promise, to this weak, self-doubting wimp. Her healing skills were never once used during her time at Sinclair because Anabel is also a healer and it was usually Joan who needed the healing anyway. So she really became pretty useless and boring.

When they arrive at the castle, there's a bunch of single women there, invited by Cam's mother to try to tempt him into marrying again. One of them is this incredibly nasty woman who sneers at Joan and also throws herself at Cam. Joan of course sees them kissing and assumes that Cam has already tired of her and moved on. But then the woman turns up dead the next day. Joan worries that Cam might have killed her for half a second but then gets over it. There are 2 attempts on Joan's life and Cam is worried about her but they still won't just talk about their various wrong assumptions and get back to being the fun couple they were during those two weeks. They do confess their love for each other, but Joan immediately goes back to doubting herself because she's not a lady and will embarrass him, etc. etc. Very tedious.

The climax with the villain was pretty lame and not very exciting. And Joan didn't save herself, nor did Cam save her. It was one of the other women who allegedly becomes her dear friend between this book and the next. Lame.

But the epilogue is the worst part of the whole book. Both Cam and Joan have agreed that they don't want children because they're afraid she'll die giving birth. So Joan has been chewing a certain kind of seed everyday to prevent conception. But she gets pregnant anyway. The epilogue picks up with her already 9 months pregnant and due at any moment. We get a few brief lines about how during the gestation she and Cam lived each moment as if it were their last, trying to cram a lifetime of memories into that short time, just in case. But since we're not experiencing that in real-time, we don't get the emotions that should have gone along with it. Likewise, when she goes into labor, neither one of them seems suitably anxious about what will happen. You could maybe give Joan a pass on that since she's in labor with no epidural so her entire consciousness is occupied with just getting through the pain, but Cam should have been going berserk! And he just...wasn't.

But the WORST part is when Cam's mother reveals to Joan that she actually took the birth control seeds away and substituted something else. She deliberately made sure Joan would get pregnant because she wanted a grandchild. Seriously that's pretty f*cked. She 100% knew that neither Cam nor Joan wanted children and had even seen Cam's first wife die in childbirth. And this was a period in history where women were extremely likely to die giving birth. Heck Joan's own mother had died this way! That doesn't bode well for Joan's ability to successfully deliver a baby. And this woman didn't care about ANY of that danger to Joan, or how devastating it would be to Cam if he lost yet another wife in this way. Nope, she just wanted grandchildren and couldn't wait until her second son got around to marrying someone. Wow. But THEN, Joan not only forgives the woman incredibly quickly but she actually THANKS her for interfering because now that the baby is here, Joan is in love with him. And she's so totally over her fear of dying that she's already planning a second baby. Are you f*cking kidding me? So yeah, that ending really pissed me off.

Another thing that bugged me is that Joan never explained to Cam why she'd refused to go with him to Sinclair the first time he'd asked her to. The entire second half of the book he kept returning to that moment and using it as an excuse to go on doubting their relationship and yet they never just cleared the air on the subject. Totally lame.

<End Spoiler>

In the end I was actually pretty disappointed with the book. It started out great, and unlike some other reviewers, I was glad it didn't take Cam very long to figure out that Joan was a girl. After reading The Switch just a little while ago, my tolerance for men who can't spot a cross-dressing bombshell even when she's right in front of him has gone way down. So I was glad we just got on with the romance in this one. But the shift in tone and the characters' behavior just completely derailed the story and it never got back on track

I really enjoy reading the book by one of my favorite authors. The story was an exciting romance that kept my interest. The description of the highlands was beautiful to me. The main character was a hunky highland Laird who I fell in love with at once. Campbell Sinclair being the kind of man who offers help to anyone, including a boy who was being attacked by bandits. He didn't set out to be wounded either. The boy names Jo was thankful that the man came at the right time. Being alone on a quest has it's drawbacks and not knowing the territory is frightening. Jo knows healing and sets out to help keep her rescuer alive.
Cam is grateful to the lad who has stayed by his side during his recovery and decides to take him to his destination. When Cam stumbles on the lad bathing in the river, he doesn't believe his eyes. The lad isn't a he but a she! Things heat up after this and you will not want to miss reading how "To Marry a Scottish Laird" turns out. Thanks edelweiss for letting me review this book.

Joan Chatres is a literate village healer and midwife. She is smart, brave and looks great in men’s braies. As a 20 year old midwife she has seen enough of the bad side of birthing to decide that children are not in her future- it frightens her too much. She is on a deathbed quest for her mother to deliver a scroll to Lord and Lady MacKay.

Campbell “Cam” Sinclair is the family and clan’s heir, but because of his past he no longer takes that duty, or anything else, seriously. He has been offering his sword as a mercenary because of his feelings of guilt. He is smart, has a sense of humor and a deep sense of chivalry, loyalty and integrity.

They meet when Joan is being attacked. She is traveling dressed as a young man and Cam comes to her aid. In the process of rescuing her Cam is injured. As a healer, and the reason Cam is injured, Joan rescues him back and nurses him through a fever and he offers to take her safely to her destination. Cam discovers she is not a he and is intrigued about the reason for her disguise. The time they spend slowly traveling together is one of discovery, long talks, laughter, and attraction. The completion of her quest finds her in greatly improved circumstances and married to Cam. Her new circumstances create issues that require the gentleness and care that cam brings to the story.

Ms Sands writes deep, rich characters and keeps the pace moving so you do not realize you have stayed up all night reading. Her sense of humor is charming. She has created a journey from attraction, to love and the embracing of a HEA that is well done.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Originally published at Rookie Romance.

Joan is travelling to Scotland in order to fulfill her mother's dying request that she deliver a scroll to the clan McKay. Disguised as a boy, she sets off on her danger-fraught journey where she is attacked by thieves. Luckily she is saved by a fierce warrior, Campbell Sinclair, who is injured in battle. Skilled in the art of healing, Joan nurses Campbell back to health. All the while Campbell believes Joan is a boy, but he soon discovers she is a woman and a powerful attraction flares up between the two...

I really liked Joan as a heroine. She's a very independent woman and has been brought up as a commoner but is a skilled healer. She's smart, self-reliant and strong, with no intention of marrying. When she finds out her true identity, it does definitely do a number on her self-confidence because she doesn't think that she's good enough for Campbell, and that he should have someone raised to be a proper Lady. Despite this, she has plenty of determination and courage to become the wife he needs.

Campbell was also a great hero. He leaves home for the summer to try and avoid the leagues of women his mother had invited to their home, hoping to entice him into marrying again. Unfortunately for his mother, Campbell has no interest in marrying again after the death of his first wife. That is until he's caught in a rather compromising situation with Joan which necessitates a swift wedding. Campbell is a kind and compassionate man, with a very protective side when it comes to Joan.

I thought Joan and Campbell were a great couple, and together they could conquer their doubts about marrying and have a happy future. I'll admit to being surprised by how quickly Joan and Campbell began their physical relationship, especially considering that Joan was a virgin. Soon enough though, I was happily swept along in their passionate affair, and I loved how comfortable they felt with each other and how easy their relationship was- at least before other matters complicated it.
There is also a mystery element to the story when there are a series of accidents, all apparently centered around Joan. The culprit behind the 'accidents' came as quite a surprise and it was an enjoyable series of twists and turns in the plot.

Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable story with a fiery love between an honourable Highlander and the strong lass that is perfect for him. You also get to catch up with Annabel and Ross from the first book of the series which was fab. Definitely recommend it!

*I received a review copy, from the publisher via Edelweiss, for my honest opinion. Thank you!

I have read books by this author before. Usually I like them. In this book there was too many sex scenes that were used to advance the story and I hate that. I finished the book by just reading the first sentence in the paragraph so it would be over.

To say this book was bad, would be unfair to the author. To say this book has problems with the flow of the plot, typos and language difficulties would be a fair assessment.

I was asked to review this book and wasn't sure that I wanted to but here I am, while it is fresh in my mind since I just finished it this morning, I would like to state the difficulties I had with this book. It was not in areas where a reader could suspend disbelief.That happens in most historical romances. It was in the execution.

First off, this is the second book in this series following .. An English Bride in Scotland. I finished book one and immediately started this book. From book one Annabel's sister Kate is left going to an abby after committing crimes against her sister. She is pregnant with Joan, our heroine in this book. Kate dies and Joan is left to be raised by another woman named Maggie who Jane believes for MOST of this story to be her real mother.

************** SPOILERS BELOW*************

Upon Maggie's deathbed, she gives Jane a scroll to be sent to clan MacKay and has her set out on her own. Little does Jane know that this scroll contains the secrets of her birth and her relations surprise upon her arrival.

Here she is, a woman traveling alone dressed in clothes to look like a boy. Cam comes upon her being accosted by bandits. She is badly wounded and then he gets wounded and she cares for him. She is a healer. This part of the story drags on for about a third of the book as they travel together to reach Scotland. He agrees to go with her because she explains she is headed to clan MacKay and his clan is friendly with them.

I was wondering if they were going to ever reach Scotland. Apparently, after discovering she wasn't a boy, sex was more important to delay their travels then actually reaching their destination, even though they had to hunt for food. Oh, except for the time that an Inn suddenly appears out of nowhere and he brings them a bagged supper. Joan is surprised that she doesn't have to use her slingshot to play Lady Jane but Tarzan saves the day.

********* END OF SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>

Upon reaching the Sinclair castle a bunch of women are waiting there to be Cam's bride but since he was caught doing the deed, some word used like hogawarthy. And this brings me to the language problems.

ken= know
kenned= knew

Sentences were structured in double negatives.. No naught no. (Do not know). That is just an example of the many things over accentuated in the Scottish brogue.

Then there was the construction of the plot problem. Okay, the reader is led in one area or another and pulled in different directions. I was okay with that. What I wasn't okay with but without given away details here, there are questions about the poison, the way it was distributed in certain drinks, and how the person(s) who were supposed to be poisoned even ended up getting the correct cup to begin with. The author tried to pick up the speed at the end and finally threw in details but still left some of the questions unanswered even as she attempted to answer other ones.

Then we have typos that should have been caught. Twice Annabel's name was used in sentences that the author meant Joan. That was unacceptable to the reader because both times happened at crucial points in the story.

In conclusion, I am glad to be finished with this book and to never have to pick it up again. I did like the MacKay's and the Sinclair's. Joan and Cam did resolve their misunderstandings and some of the women who befriended Joan were lots of fun.

It is for that reason that I gave the book 3 stars instead of 2.

Overall rating................ 2.5

To Marry a Scottish Laird by Lynsay Sands (Audio Edition)
Narrated by Keiran Elliott
Series: Highlanders #2

2 stars - I don’t like giving negative reviews, but sadly this book was a disappointment. Not much happens. The plot had loads of potential and I wish the story had progressed farther before he found out the lad was a lass… Feels like there are some missed opportunities for funny situations. Joan seems constantly reluctant and unsure of her worth even when Cam has reassured her. By three quarters of the way through it started to feel like the author was just filling space… she would say the same thing in 5 different ways.

The narrator has a nice voice, however, I don't find him too engaged in the story. He has a different pace to his reading, which by the end almost seemed like he was somewhat bored with the story. So, honestly that probably took away from the story for me as well. As I see many good reviews for this book.. Perhaps skip the audio version and try the book/ebook version instead.

With that said, I am still looking forward to the next in the series, the narrator is a good one and the the plot seems promising!

~Paragraphs and Petticoats~

This one was just okay. I like the first 1/3 of the book and really felt the connection between Cam and Joan, but things took a bad turn after that and the rest of the book limped along at an annoyingly slow pace with manufactured issues and a rather lame and easy-to-spot villain.

<Spoiler Alert>
First of all, I read all the other books in the series before I got a hold of this one and in all the other books the heroine of this book is called Jo by everyone. And yet here in her own book, everyone refers to her as Joan. Why the inconsistency? Second, in all the later books we're bashed over the head with what wonderful strong friends Jo, Saidh, Edith and Murine are and yet in this book that tells the tale of how they first met and became friends, they spend almost no time together and are definitely not shown as having any particular bond. Really disappointing.

The story goes that Joan was raised by a healer who taught her everything she knew about the craft. Then the woman became ill and knew she was dying so she had the local friar write a letter that she sealed and on her deathbed asked Joan to deliver to Lady McKay in Scotland. She also urged Joan to dress as a boy for the journey since it would be too dangerous for a girl to travel alone. Sure enough, Joan gets into trouble along the way when 4 would-be thieves try to steal her bag, which contains the letter. She's getting her face beaten in when Cam arrives and sees what he thinks is a boy being abused by much larger men and he intervenes, saving her. Cam is badly wounded in the process and Joan gets him out of there and nurses him back to health.

Cam wakes up and takes an immediate liking to the boy who he finds to be brave, smart, honorable and honest. Shortly thereafter, he sees Joan swimming in the river and realizes she's a girl. Right away his thoughts turn lustful but he keeps the knowledge to himself for 2 more days. We get a lot of talk in his inner monologue about how he's going to let her keep her secret until she trusts him enough to reveal it on her own....and then suddenly he just starts kissing her and they immediately have sex.

It really felt incongruous with where their relationship stood. Joan had indeed noticed how attractive Cam was and vice versa but since Cam hadn't revealed that he knew Joan was a woman, there were no smoldering glances or accidental touches, etc. It just came out of no where. Also we'd really been beaten over the head with the fact that both of them feared the woman dying in childbirth and therefore planned to never have children or even get married. Cam because his first wife had died in childbirth along with the baby, and Joan because she'd seen so many women die in agony this way during her work as a healer. And yet when Cam just kisses Joan out of the blue, after an initial moment of shock that Cam was kissing a "boy" before he revealed he'd known the truth for a while, Joan just immediately gets on board with giving up her virginity and having unprotected sex with him. And he likewise doesn't spare a thought for the fact that he could be getting her pregnant and therefore condemning her to death. It just didn't jive with their previous behavior.

After the big sex scene, Cam falls asleep and stays asleep for hours and hours. Long enough for Joan to catch their dinner, clean it and even cook it over a campfire. She's confused about why Cam slept with her and what it'll mean for them now, but instead of waking him up and asking a few questions she goes for a swim. Naturally Cam wakes up and catches her skinny dipping so he joins her and they have sex again. Her having absolutely no soreness whatsoever from her deflowering even though she'd described the pain as being akin to being stabbed with a knife. Right after the water sex scene they go back to camp and go for round three, this time with Joan taking the lead, which didn't seem the least bit believable to me.

They have sex round the clock for a while and then Joan decides to make a run for it. She's decided that what they're doing is wrong and it should stop. She doesn't want to be just a dalliance on the side of the road for a nobleman who will set her aside and never look back. But she also recognizes that Cam is so irresistible to her that she'll never be able to deny him. Hence, she has to leave. He comes thundering after her but a scene that could have been one of powerful emotions was instead just kind of lame and bland as Cam finds her easily and just casually asks her to come back, promising to behave himself better. Joan just kind of shrugs and goes back with him. 10 seconds after they get back to camp she does a complete 180 and decides that it's pointless to deny themselves. That she knows they'll eventually give in and start having sex again because neither can resist the other. And since that's a foregone conclusions, there's no point in being celibate for a day or two and missing out on the fun they could be having. So all that was rather pointless. Her vague feelings about not wanting to be a casual fling for Cam are just tossed out the window and she vows to make the most of their time together so she has a nice memory to keep her warm at night through the lonely years to come.

Cam deliberately stretches out their journey so they can spend two weeks loving it up in the forest. It's fairly well done and you really feel the strong attraction between the two as well as the developing friendship. Eventually though, they get close to their destination and Ross McKay, the hero of the previous book who is now over 50, catches them kissing. There's some funny awkwardness about Cam kissing a boy that's quickly dispelled when Joan reveals her gender. On the way to the McKay castle, Cam asks Joan to come back to his home, Sinclair. She asks if he wants her as his mistress or as a healer and he says he doesn't care. He just doesn't want their time together to end. Joan deliberates for a minute but ultimately decides that she can't bear to be his mistress, knowing that he'll eventually tire of her and set her aside, leaving her heartbroken. Better to stop the relationship now after their two weeks in heaven. So she just tells Cam that she DOES want things to end between them, without explaining her thought process. This hurts Cam's feelings to the point where he even begins to wonder if she'd been faking her affection for him all through the two weeks. If she'd only been sleeping with him because she needed his protection or some such nonsense. It didn't really jive. I mean, they'd been having sex round the clock. If she wasn't really into it, she'd have put a stop to that. But this is a book and we need drama so of course Cam's hurt and carries that with him for the whole rest of the book.

Then Joan delivers her message and it turns out it says that Joan is the daughter of Kate, Lady Anabel McKay's psycho sister from the previous book who was sent off to the abbey. Turns out she was pregnant at the time and died in childbirth, so her punishment for all her murdering ways didn't last very long. The abbey didn't want the baby so they gave her to the healer who tended Kate during the birth and that's how Joan grew up thinking that woman was her mother.

Despite everything Kate did, Anabel and Ross welcome Joan with open arms...and seconds after that revelation, Ross sits Cam down and explains that now he'll have to marry Joan since he took her innocence. The book really goes downhill after this. Both Cam and Joan do a lot of assuming about the other's feelings without ever actually talking to each other. Cam assumes that Joan doesn't really like him because of what she said earlier and that she resents being forced to marry him. Joan likewise assumes Cam must resent being forced to marry her just because she turned out to be sort of a noble when he thought he was just tumbling a peasant girl. Especially since he made his stance on never marrying again very clear. They both even have Ross and Anabel talking to them and almost - but not quite - explaining what's really going on while insisting that they love each other and should just talk to one another....and yet they don't. They just go on whingeing about it in their inner monologues for ages and ages.

Joan also turns into a completely annoying self-deprecating little girl for the entire rest of the book. Going on and on and ON about how she doesn't know how to be a lady and will just end up embarrassing Cam and his family. She even tries to insist they have their marriage annulled (which I'm pretty sure isn't possible after they've consummated the union hundreds of times) and suggests that she just be his mistress after all. Apparently forgetting all the reasons why she didn't want that life.

They go to Cam's castle right after the marriage and Anabel and her daughters go along to allegedly teach Joan how to behave like a lady. Except that the things they try to teach her are incredibly stupid. They try singing, dancing and archery lessons, of all things. Not like, the way to run a household or host a dinner party, etc. Maybe back in the day those other pursuits were things ladies did indeed indulge in but that's only because they had SO MUCH time on their hands. Since they weren't working or allowed to do anything in the business world, and were basically told to just sit inside all day, yeah they learned things like sewing, painting, singing and playing instruments. But nobody learns those things in the space of a week. They have tutors for years in order to develop those skills. So it was just ridiculous that Anabel thought THESE were the most important lessons to give to Joan when in the grand scheme of things they're meaningless.

The whole thing was just plot contrivance to keep Joan feeling like a failure as a lady. I found the whole thing to be very tedious. Joan had gone from a strong, smart, independent woman with a valuable skill (healing) and the bravery to travel alone, on foot and unarmed to a new country just to honor a deathbed promise, to this weak, self-doubting wimp. Her healing skills were never once used during her time at Sinclair because Anabel is also a healer and it was usually Joan who needed the healing anyway. So she really became pretty useless and boring.

When they arrive at the castle, there's a bunch of single women there, invited by Cam's mother to try to tempt him into marrying again. One of them is this incredibly nasty woman who sneers at Joan and also throws herself at Cam. Joan of course sees them kissing and assumes that Cam has already tired of her and moved on. But then the woman turns up dead the next day. Joan worries that Cam might have killed her for half a second but then gets over it. There are 2 attempts on Joan's life and Cam is worried about her but they still won't just talk about their various wrong assumptions and get back to being the fun couple they were during those two weeks. They do confess their love for each other, but Joan immediately goes back to doubting herself because she's not a lady and will embarrass him, etc. etc. Very tedious.

The climax with the villain was pretty lame and not very exciting. And Joan didn't save herself, nor did Cam save her. It was one of the other women who allegedly becomes her dear friend between this book and the next. Lame.

But the epilogue is the worst part of the whole book. Both Cam and Joan have agreed that they don't want children because they're afraid she'll die giving birth. So Joan has been chewing a certain kind of seed everyday to prevent conception. But she gets pregnant anyway. The epilogue picks up with her already 9 months pregnant and due at any moment. We get a few brief lines about how during the gestation she and Cam lived each moment as if it were their last, trying to cram a lifetime of memories into that short time, just in case. But since we're not experiencing that in real-time, we don't get the emotions that should have gone along with it. Likewise, when she goes into labor, neither one of them seems suitably anxious about what will happen. You could maybe give Joan a pass on that since she's in labor with no epidural so her entire consciousness is occupied with just getting through the pain, but Cam should have been going berserk! And he just...wasn't.

But the WORST part is when Cam's mother reveals to Joan that she actually took the birth control seeds away and substituted something else. She deliberately made sure Joan would get pregnant because she wanted a grandchild. Seriously that's pretty f*cked. She 100% knew that neither Cam nor Joan wanted children and had even seen Cam's first wife die in childbirth. And this was a period in history where women were extremely likely to die giving birth. Heck Joan's own mother had died this way! That doesn't bode well for Joan's ability to successfully deliver a baby. And this woman didn't care about ANY of that danger to Joan, or how devastating it would be to Cam if he lost yet another wife in this way. Nope, she just wanted grandchildren and couldn't wait until her second son got around to marrying someone. Wow. But THEN, Joan not only forgives the woman incredibly quickly but she actually THANKS her for interfering because now that the baby is here, Joan is in love with him. And she's so totally over her fear of dying that she's already planning a second baby. Are you f*cking kidding me? So yeah, that ending really pissed me off.

Another thing that bugged me is that Joan never explained to Cam why she'd refused to go with him to Sinclair the first time he'd asked her to. The entire second half of the book he kept returning to that moment and using it as an excuse to go on doubting their relationship and yet they never just cleared the air on the subject. Totally lame.

<End Spoiler>

In the end I was actually pretty disappointed with the book. It started out great, and unlike some other reviewers, I was glad it didn't take Cam very long to figure out that Joan was a girl. After reading The Switch just a little while ago, my tolerance for men who can't spot a cross-dressing bombshell even when she's right in front of him has gone way down. So I was glad we just got on with the romance in this one. But the shift in tone and the characters' behavior just completely derailed the story and it never got back on track

I really enjoy reading the book by one of my favorite authors. The story was an exciting romance that kept my interest. The description of the highlands was beautiful to me. The main character was a hunky highland Laird who I fell in love with at once. Campbell Sinclair being the kind of man who offers help to anyone, including a boy who was being attacked by bandits. He didn't set out to be wounded either. The boy names Jo was thankful that the man came at the right time. Being alone on a quest has it's drawbacks and not knowing the territory is frightening. Jo knows healing and sets out to help keep her rescuer alive.
Cam is grateful to the lad who has stayed by his side during his recovery and decides to take him to his destination. When Cam stumbles on the lad bathing in the river, he doesn't believe his eyes. The lad isn't a he but a she! Things heat up after this and you will not want to miss reading how "To Marry a Scottish Laird" turns out. Thanks edelweiss for letting me review this book.

Joan Chatres is a literate village healer and midwife. She is smart, brave and looks great in men’s braies. As a 20 year old midwife she has seen enough of the bad side of birthing to decide that children are not in her future- it frightens her too much. She is on a deathbed quest for her mother to deliver a scroll to Lord and Lady MacKay.

Campbell “Cam” Sinclair is the family and clan’s heir, but because of his past he no longer takes that duty, or anything else, seriously. He has been offering his sword as a mercenary because of his feelings of guilt. He is smart, has a sense of humor and a deep sense of chivalry, loyalty and integrity.

They meet when Joan is being attacked. She is traveling dressed as a young man and Cam comes to her aid. In the process of rescuing her Cam is injured. As a healer, and the reason Cam is injured, Joan rescues him back and nurses him through a fever and he offers to take her safely to her destination. Cam discovers she is not a he and is intrigued about the reason for her disguise. The time they spend slowly traveling together is one of discovery, long talks, laughter, and attraction. The completion of her quest finds her in greatly improved circumstances and married to Cam. Her new circumstances create issues that require the gentleness and care that cam brings to the story.

Ms Sands writes deep, rich characters and keeps the pace moving so you do not realize you have stayed up all night reading. Her sense of humor is charming. She has created a journey from attraction, to love and the embracing of a HEA that is well done.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Originally published at Rookie Romance.

Joan is travelling to Scotland in order to fulfill her mother's dying request that she deliver a scroll to the clan McKay. Disguised as a boy, she sets off on her danger-fraught journey where she is attacked by thieves. Luckily she is saved by a fierce warrior, Campbell Sinclair, who is injured in battle. Skilled in the art of healing, Joan nurses Campbell back to health. All the while Campbell believes Joan is a boy, but he soon discovers she is a woman and a powerful attraction flares up between the two...

I really liked Joan as a heroine. She's a very independent woman and has been brought up as a commoner but is a skilled healer. She's smart, self-reliant and strong, with no intention of marrying. When she finds out her true identity, it does definitely do a number on her self-confidence because she doesn't think that she's good enough for Campbell, and that he should have someone raised to be a proper Lady. Despite this, she has plenty of determination and courage to become the wife he needs.

Campbell was also a great hero. He leaves home for the summer to try and avoid the leagues of women his mother had invited to their home, hoping to entice him into marrying again. Unfortunately for his mother, Campbell has no interest in marrying again after the death of his first wife. That is until he's caught in a rather compromising situation with Joan which necessitates a swift wedding. Campbell is a kind and compassionate man, with a very protective side when it comes to Joan.

I thought Joan and Campbell were a great couple, and together they could conquer their doubts about marrying and have a happy future. I'll admit to being surprised by how quickly Joan and Campbell began their physical relationship, especially considering that Joan was a virgin. Soon enough though, I was happily swept along in their passionate affair, and I loved how comfortable they felt with each other and how easy their relationship was- at least before other matters complicated it.
There is also a mystery element to the story when there are a series of accidents, all apparently centered around Joan. The culprit behind the 'accidents' came as quite a surprise and it was an enjoyable series of twists and turns in the plot.

Overall, this is a thoroughly enjoyable story with a fiery love between an honourable Highlander and the strong lass that is perfect for him. You also get to catch up with Annabel and Ross from the first book of the series which was fab. Definitely recommend it!

*I received a review copy, from the publisher via Edelweiss, for my honest opinion. Thank you!

Traveling alone, Joan dressed herself as a lad to protect herself but hadn't counted on being attacked by thieves hoping for an easy score. When a big handsome Scotsman comes to her rescue and nearly dies for the effort, she stays with him, heals him, and without intending to, begins to fall in love with him.

Life gets turned upside down for Cam Sinclair when he comes to the rescue of a young lad who nurses him back from a stab in the back, but then he's thrown a curve or two after discovering young Jo is actually Joan. Soon he's unable to resist the beautiful young woman pretending to be a boy. After spending two weeks on the road with her, he wants to keep her with him but instead, is rejected by her. When luck shines on him, he does what is expected of him only to wonder if he's forced something upon her she still no longer wants. Things heat up in the bedroom as well as elsewhere, after strange accidents begin to happen around the castle. Someone is up to no good, but who is it and why?

TO MARRY A SCOTTISH LAIRD by Lynsay Sands kept me glued to the pages from the beginning and once mysterious things start happening, I became intrigued with trying to figure out who the bad guy (or girl) was. In the beginning, I was a bit concerned with how quickly Joan gave up her virginity to Cam but then I got to thinking about it. If this was a contemporary romance and a young woman finding herself attracted to a gorgeous Scotsman did what Joan did, we would think it normal so why shouldn't she act on her desires in a historical just as well. By assuming that Joan would never act on her desires even though she has no wish to marry or have children, leads us to believe that only a modern woman has sexual desires. Is there really any difference between a woman of today and a woman of days gone by? I don't believe there is, and so I applaud Lynsay for giving Joan the desire for a man and the willingness to give in to it, while keeping her self-respect by refusing Cam when he wants to make her his mistress.

Supported by a lively cast of secondary characters, both good and nasty, TO MARRY A SCOTTISH LAIRD by Lynsay Sands is a delight to read, Cam is a hero worth falling in love with, and Joan is a good model for all women - to thine own self be true.

I highly recommend TO MARRY A SCOTTISH LAIRD by Lynsay Sands because it will make you think while allowing you to escape to a time gone by and the Highlands of Scotland. Do you need more reason than that?

***purchased this one for my personal reading, but am sharing my honest and unscripted review.

Rating 3 1/2

So, I finished To Marry a Scottish Laird by Lynsay Sands. I have to say it was an all right book. So, let's dive into my thoughts.

I love the beginning and how Joan meets Campbell Sinclair (Cam). It's not your typical meeting. Oh no, it was more like Cam coming to rescue a lad. Yes, Cam thought Jo was boy for the first couple of chapters. I actually wonder when he would discover he was a she. Of course, he finds out and he tries to keep her secret. I have to say it's pretty amazing how many times people try to keep Joan's secret. Anyway; by the time she's outed the story mellows out. I felt To Marry a Scottish Laird started to drag. Once they reach the MacKay's land a secret is reveal, which ties her to the MacKay's. If you read An English Bride in Scotland you will see how the two stories tie together. Don't have to worry if you haven't read the first book, because you won't be lost. Actually To Marry a Scottish Laird jumps ahead 20 years from An English Bride in Scotland left off. See no worries. To Marry a Scottish Laird does pick up once Cam and Joan return Sinclair land and the drama unveils. Cam's mother has some good intentions, but they are just wrong. The problem lies with her good intentions which causes danger to a few of the young ladies.

As I said it was an all right book. I did like the beginning and the end, it was the middle I had a little trouble getting through. After reading a few Lynsay Sands historical romances and I have notice they tend to have a little flair for the dramatic towards the end. To Marry a Scottish Laird does have a little flair at the end. Overall, not bad and if you are looking for a Scottish romance, you can give To Marry a Scottish Laird a try.

I thought this was the sweetest quote from Cam:
"I do no' care if ye can sing or dance or shoot a bow. Either ye'll learn those things over time, or ye will no'. It does no' matter to me. I do no' even care if ye learn to ride. Ye can ride with me if necessary. Those are no' the things I came to value about ye on our journey north. I value yer honesty, yer courage. and yer spirit. I like that yer smart, and that we could talk about anything under the sun and laugh together. That's what I want from ye."
Copy provided by Avon via Edelweiss

Joan is on a mission to carry out her mother's last wish. She is traveling alone to Scotland to deliver a message to someone. She doesn't know what it is about only that she has to do it. She is attacked and being beaten when a man saves her. After the attack she finds the man is injured and takes care of him. Cam awakes to find what he thinks is a lad has taken care of him. He tells him he will take him to his destination and help him out to return the favor He accidently discovers the lad is a girl. Joan soon finds she is attracted to him and when he makes a move she doesn't resist. When the message she delivers makes everything change they both have to decide if a marriage is what they really want and where to go from there.

Joan is tough, rough around the edges and not used to fine things. She is a great healer and knows how to hunt for food. I really liked her as she knows she has faults and it does get her down at times. She doesn't like to force anyone to do what they don't want to do. Cam is great. He protects innocents and is a caring guy. It also helps he is a hot Scotsman! He doesn't know for sure how to show a lot of his feelings but in may ways he shows it through little things.

This was a wonderful historical romance. It has a hot love that at times can seem sweet, a few mysteries to figure out, danger and much more. I am a fan of this authors and she didn't disappoint me in this new book at all. Cam is a character who will stick in your mind and make you want more of him. Joan also makes it great as she isn't a character that is weak or one that faints a lot. There is one of those in tis book but I liked her as well. There is also a evil well witch to put it nicely. I hated her and wanted to choke her. Without giving anything away I will say fans of historical romance will love this one and it is a must read!

A charming, lovely, romantic read, To Marry a Scottish Laird was a fantastic historical romance. I totally loved this book! It was sweet, enjoyable, and with a few surprises in store. I've adored every book I've read by this author and this one is no exception.

Joan was a lovely heroine. She was strong and definitely wasn't a woman to be underestimated. She was determined and a genuinely kind heroine. My one issue with her was that I wish she hadn't let the jealous ladies get to her so easily. She was too easily convinced of her own insecurities. But, other than that, I really liked her.

Cam was wonderful. He was so sweet and utterly adorable. He was strong, honorable, and protective of his loved ones. I totally loved him. He was perfect.

The romance was a mix of sweet and hot. Joan and Cam were wonderful together. They had some issues with miscommunication and assuming things about each other at first. But, despite that, they were perfect together. And the chemistry between them was super hot. They literally couldn't keep their hands off of each other and there was plenty of steaminess. I thought they were great together.

The plot was fast paced and I was hooked the entire way through. They mystery of who was trying to kill Joan was well done. It added some thrills and I never suspected who it turned out to be. And there were a couple other surprises along the way, especially the truth about Joan's family. I really enjoyed the story and the ending was perfect.

To Marry a Scottish Laird was a brilliant historical romance! I absolutely loved this book. It was romantic, surprising, and truly enjoyable. Romance lovers, this book is a must read.

*I received a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Joan is on a mission to honor her late mother’s request: deliver a scroll to the clan MacKay. As a woman, the possibility of any dangers she might face on the way compel her to journey disguised as a boy. Trouble does indeed find her, and she quickly discovers changing her appearance isn’t enough when the man standing over her is hell-bent on beating her to death. But her rescue comes in the form of Cam, who is injured when he rescues her. To show her gratefulness, she nurses him back to health, hoping to keep her gender a secret for a little while longer.

I liked that Joan wasn’t a lady of the realm. She was a healer, a woman of humble beginnings with so little to her name now that her mother was gone. But Cam didn’t seem to mind that she wasn’t wealthy, dressed in the latest fashions, or composed like other women her age. He seemed to like her the way she was, boys clothing and all.

I’ve never read anything by Ms. Sands, and I wonder why I haven’t yet. Her writing style is light with a touch of danger and humor. There are plenty of smile-worthy moments throughout this story, and the first book promises the same, which I’ll have to pick up a copy of over the weekend.

Fast-paced and sensual, this is a terrific story that I’m so glad I asked to review. I’ll be looking for more by Ms. Sands for sure.

***Received from Edelweiss via Tasty Book Tours for an honest review***

I read Ms. Sands’ Devil of the Highland series a couple of years ago, so I was eager to read a book from her newest series, English Bride in Scotland. I loved her heroine, Joan, from the beginning. Her tenacity and strength were admirable. Alone, with no family left, she was willing to fight bandits, even chasing them down, to keep them from stealing the scroll she’d promised her mother on her deathbed to deliver to the lady of clan MacKay. And I’m probably splitting hairs, because there were several flaming love scenes on the way to their initial destination, but she stood her ground and refused to become Cam’s permanent mistress, knowing her choice would result in being alone and losing the man she loved. She had enough pride and self-value to take nothing less than marriage.

Cam Sinclair is a true hero. When he arrived on the scene, Joan, dressed as a boy, had suffered a beating and would have lost the fight if he hadn’t interceded. Ultimately, they save each other - Joan is a skilled healer and tends to a severe wound he receives during the altercation. Soon after, Cam realizes the boy is actually a lass, and their mutual attraction ignites into a fierce flame.

Cam's weakness is his short-sightedness. He lost his first wife and baby during childbirth, has sworn never to marry again, and is so caught up in his own agenda he doesn’t realize that he’s disrespecting Joan by not offering marriage when he asks her to return to his home with him. Yet, fate intervenes when the scroll is finally delivered to Lady MacKay.

As I’ve said before, I’m not a spoiler, so you’ll have to read the book to find out the numerous unexpected twists and turns that keep you on your toes. However, I would definitely suggest the e-book over the audible version. I didn't care for the narrator who's reading rhythm was very distracting and continuously took away from the book content.

Overall, a very enjoyable book - I must now go back and read book #1 in the series!

I have been enjoying this series over the weekend. I unknowingly read them out of order (3, 1, 2). This book takes places approximately 20 years after the first book, An English Bride in Scotland. While I have enjoyed the other two books of the series immensely, this book dragged for me. I felt like it was too similar to An English Bride in Scotland.

That being said, I still enjoyed the book. Joan and Cam were likable enough as our leading characters, even though I would have liked to see a little more character development. I did not like the communication problems that arose between them once their journey from England to Scotland was complete. But that only lasted for a short time, and it did not seem to be prohibitive of their sexytime. So when they couldn't communicate with words, they certainly did so with body language.

We also meet the girl posse in this book - Joan, Murine and my favorite, Saidh. Saidh's book, The Highlander Takes a Bride, is probably my favorite of the series so far. I would recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a light and entertaining read. It is not a factually detailed with respect to the time period and setting, so don't go into thinking you are gonna to have any historical events to reference. I would also recommend not to read them all together because the similarities will stand out more. Otherwise, I'm a big fan.

Heir to Clan Sinclair, Cambell (Cam) preferred to go to battle than have to spend time at home being pushed to marry again after his wife and child both died in childbirth. He swore never to marry again but felt after six months away, his home would be cleared of prospective brides.

On his way home he came upon a huge giant of a man beating on a young lad and jumped in to save him. He didn’t count on the giant having cohorts and was promptly stabbed in the back but still managed to fight and kill three of the bandits and with the help of the young lad Jo, the fourth was knocked out. Jo, then saved Cam using medicinals which were in his sack and nursed Cam for three days. Discovering they were traveling in the same direction, where upon Jo was trying to deliver a sealed missive to a neighbor of Cam’s he and the lad set out together. A couple of days later, Cam came upon the lad Jo bathing in the river and discovered Jo was really Joan!

*** First of all I love Scottish historical romances and secondly, I really love the writing of Lynsay Sands so right from the start in TO MARRY A SCOTTISH LAIRD I knew it would be another gem to put on my keeper shelf. And I was right!

Naturally, I expected some laugh-out-loud moments and in that I was not disappointed; also some very sensual love scenes which were delightfully steamy. The best laugh out loud moment of course, was when the Laird McKay came upon Cam rather bare-assed hugging Joan, dressed in her disguise as a lad. The descriptions and dialog had me rolling on the floor!

This is not to say that TO MARRY A SCOTTISH LAIRD didn’t also have some real suspense and mystery as well when many attempts on Joan’s life finally turned up not as mere accidents but that someone was out to do Joan real harm. The mystery of who the villain was turned into a surprise for me as I generally figure them out before full exposure.

Finally, I have to say this was classic Lynsay Sands and a total enchanting and delightful read from beginning to end. Sands is still an auto-buy for me whether historical or paranormal - always a hoot and forever entertaining!

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

I loved this book! I am a fan of Sands vampire series, and decided to take a chance her highlanders, and let me tell you, I am not disappointed :) The heroine was asked to deliver a death bed message from her mother to a family in the Scottish Highlands. For her journey, Jo decides to dress like a boy/young lad to protect herself. Our hero, Cam is riding past as she's being beaten, and stops the gang of men from hurting her further. Anything beyond this, will probably be a spoiler, but I'll keep going....

SPOILER (maybe) - Cam quickly realizes that Jo is a woman and starts lusting after her, but keeping her secret for a few days. One night, it starts raining in their camp, and he does the gentlemanly thing, he lays beside her sleeping form and offer protection with his plaid (swoon!). When she wakes up, Cam goes for it, and they have a liaison.... and the passion overflows, in the best way possible! After this they continue to head towards Scotland, and eventually find the family that Jo needs to dliever her message to.

I don't want to ruin anymore of the surprises for prospective readers. I will say it was a tiny bit predictable at first, but in the best way possible. There were enough unique things to make this story stand out :) I loved the ending, and feel like it was perfect for this couple. It left me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.

Romantic comedy at it's best. I absolutely loved this! And, I know i say this about all of Sands' work but, she has not wrote a single book that has disappointed me. A remarkable author that releases yet again a remarkable read! A beautiful romance packed with suspense and comedy alike! The set up and plot for this book was great! I loved that Jona dressed as a boy and even more that Cam fell for it and then fell for her. Campbell is one hunky Scott! This was the perfect romance with the perfect happily ever-after that we all crave. Lynsay Sands is the best at giving us a romance we can't get enough of. With just enough suspense, drama, and comedy along the way to keep you turning pages until you get to the most beautiful of HEAs! She is a master at this and I love it. I don't want to give too much away but, I love the way the book began and let the romance build with the characters. I also really love the characters, as I always do with Sands' book. Characters you love to love and those you love to hate! When I pick up Sands' book I know hat I am getting, a hot and steamy yet beautiful romance, suspense, drama, a hot and sexy man or men ;),a lough out loud comedy, and a beautiful HEA. And Cam and Jo are no different in To Marry a Scottish Laird. You get it all in this amazing book! And I love Lynsay Sands' book for it. My go to author for romance and comedy and she should be yours too. I recommend you read this and all of her work. You will fall in love too, over and over again!

This is the second book in her series "An English Bride in Scotland". I gave the first book 3 stars because while I thoroughly enjoyed the light fluffy story line, the romance, and the mystery (despite the fact that Sands seems to be recycling plots like nobody's business), but I didn't like one very gratuitous aspect of the ending.

Joan meets Campbell Sinclair when he saves her, and then she saves him in turn, from some bandits. Joan is on a quest to fulfill her deathbed promise to take a scroll to Lady and Laird MacKay, and is dressed like a boy and brutally beaten, so Campbell initially doesn't realize she is female. This is a common trope that I am not typically fond, but here Campbell's confusion only lasts long enough for him to learn to like and respect Joan, and the secret only lasts long enough for a few humorous moments. From then on, it is all heaving uncontrollable lusts, with the one addition that BOTH of the characters think about contraception. (pro-tip, it turns out that wild carrot seeds actually are and were used as a natural form of contraception). However, they get to MacKay and all the secrets come out, so naturally they have to get married, despite the fact that neither of them thinks the other wants to. When they get to Sinclair's awkwardness and hi-jinks ensue until the mystery is finally solved.

This is a fun read full of pratfalls and misunderstandings and a bit of mystery. There were two twisty secrets, and I'll be honest, I didn't see either of them coming. I enjoyed both Joan and Campbell and I enjoyed getting to read about past characters. So, altogether I really did enjoy this book, and recommend to anyone who likes reading humorous and even slightly ridiculous historical romance, but it isn't going to be making my re-read shelf so I am giving it 3.5 stars.

Also, while this is the second in a series, it should work well as a stand-alone as there is no overarching story arc.

As usual, Ms Sands writes an entertaining historical romance that is set in the Highlands of Scotland. This author's highlander books are an auto buy for me as I have enjoyed each one. She writes them with humor, engaging family dynamics and of course a sizzling romance between the hero and heroine.

Joan, a lone woman, is walking across England toward Scotland disguised as a boy. She made a promise to her mother on her deathbed to deliver a scroll to the MacKay clan. She is attacked for her meager belongings but fights desperately until a man comes to her rescue.

Campbell Sinclair's mother is on a mission to marry him off again, but after losing his wife during childbirth he is in no hurry so he leaves home for several weeks to fight with others. When he comes across Joan being attacked he saves her only to find himself stabbed and in need of her healing abilities. When he finds out her reasons for the trip he accompanies her, since the MacKay's are friends of his family. They form a friendship in the beginning, however when he finds out she is a woman, their feelings begin to blossom and they become intimate and thoroughly enjoy each other. Unfortunately she knows this will never work because he is of noble birth and she is not, yet the scroll holds some interesting information that changes both their lives.

Another winner by Ms Sands, she can bring out the best in these Highland characters and I always look forward to the next adventure.

Joan is the perfect heroine, a genuinely nice person that will do anything for others, she shows this by caring for a perfect stranger when he saves her life because it is the right thing to do. She grew up very poor and does not know what she will do with her life after this mission but seems resigned to whatever her fate brings. She knows that staying with Cam is not in her future but finds she can't stay away even after she tries. It is only after they reach their destination that she feels she can back off, and hurts Cam with her remarks.

I absolutely adore Cam, an amazing man that is sexy, honorable but not too alpha. Although they can't keep their hands off from each he is not sure what role she will play in his life, only that he wants their relationship to continue. It is fortunate that circumstances dictated what their future will be. The two together experience some intense times during their trek and the chemistry is off the charts.

The family of two clans, Cam's and the MacKay's are truly a site to see. Ms Sands always writes interesting and dynamic family members into her stories. Usually each family has many siblings and the parents are together and in love, they seem to have a great relationship that usually calls for meddling and all types of antics that bring humor to the story. This book is no exception as the MacKay parents were the feature of the previous book and the siblings all seem to want to be involved in what is going on.

The pace of the book is perfect as we watch the relationship between the two develop only to have some miscommunication cause some problems, and as is true for most of Ms. Sands books, there is some danger for Joan when someone tries to kill her, but all in all an engaging story that will satisfy those that love those Highlanders.

Review also posted at Ramblings from a Chaotic Mind

Copy from publisher for an honest review

This book takes place 20 years after An English Bride In Scotland (An English Bride In Scotland #1)and can be read as a stand-alone. And while I enjoyed this book it did lack some of Ms. Sands trademark humor. I recommend her historical novels to my friends as hysterical. This one doesn’t quite qualify as that. That being said… this is a rather sweet tale of a young woman left in dire circumstances meeting her slightly tarnished Scotts savior in a kilt. If you enjoy the occasional historical novel, as I do, then you may want to give this a quick read.

I really love vampire stories and I have been an avid fan of Lynsay Sands from the first page of a Quick Bite! I was hooked. I have read everyone of her Argeneau novels twice. She has such a way with all her characters that you feel like your part of the story and can't put it down. I'm not much into Historical novels but considering their written by Lynsay I am going to give them a try while waiting patiently for the newest Argeneau novel to be released in September. I was hoping someone could guide me in the reading order for her Highlander series. I love each of her books and have never been disappointed by anything Iv read of hers. Lynsay takes you through her characters so the story is so captivating. It always leaves you wanting more. I have read a couple of her analogys like My Immortal Highlander that she co wrote with Hannah Howell but found them to short and left me wanting more. So if anyone can tell me what order I should read them in I would be forever grateful..

This was a very interesting historical romance. I've given it a 4.5* rating. For the most part, I absolutely loved reading this. And yes, it's the sex part that sometimes is a little unbelievable. It was fairly fast moving and had humor and sorrow. It was also hard to figure out who done what, which kept it more interesting. I also really liked how it ended. I look forward to more of her work. I was given this book in return for an honest review.

Campbell and Joan fall in love on their journey but both have issues that they need to sort through. When Campbell first kisses her Joan keeps going over in head what is happening and can't believe that he is kissing her because she think that he thinks she is a boy. Finally when he pulls away and says "Josephine or Joanne?" and tells her he has been racking his brain trying to figure out what Jo is short for does she get it. Also the labor scene is great! I found myself laughing out loud a bit there.

Very entertaining read. I enjoyed the foreshadowing and mystery of "To Marry a Scottish Laid." Lynda Sands always have some gimmick which pulls you in. I read this story in a day. I recommend this novel to all romantics.

This book is very sweet and charming! My one complaint is that Laird Sinclair says that neither Ross nor Annabel (from book 1) had any siblings, and while they address Annabel’s crazy sister, they never address the fact that I’m book 1, Ross had a sister named Giorsal and she was married to their neighbor! It’s really bugging me. Other than that, I love Cam and Jo <3

To Marry A Scottish Laird is a sweet and delightful Scottish romance. I really enjoyed Campbell and Joan story. Even though I immediately guessed the villain in this book,( after reading Lynsay Sands previous Scottish romance books) the plots seem almost the same for me but I still loved this book and was happy that Annabel and Ross were in this book too. Thank you Lynsay Sands

As audible had a special going this week, I tried it out but had a lot of difficulty finding a voice I could listen to, realised it wouldn't be suitable for me so simply used my 1 credit to buy any audible in a Scottish accent.

Boy did I luck out on this!

Got "To Marry A Scottish Laird" read by Kieran Elliott, a definite must! His accent would have been enough in itself, but the story was great with hot sex scenes! LOL I was at first listening by the open window while embroidering, hit first sex scene & converted to headset!

The only problem I have with this book is that Cam's voice reads like an Irishman and not like a Scot. Example: "Me house" This is how the Irish speak not the Scots. I could be wrong, but it still reads as Irish to me.

Lynsay Sands books are very well written and humorous. I enjoy all of them. This is her Highlander series. You also need to read her Argeneau vampire series. I would rate all of her books 5 stars!!!!

I'm an enormous fan of Lynsay Sands. I'm never disappointed in her work and "To Marry A Scottish Laird" was no different. Sexy, with the perfect combination of humor and romance. I truly enjoyed reading this novel and can't wait for more historicals from her.

Did anyone not notice how it was completely erased that Ross had a sister in the first book and she had a husband and kid, which means his kids had to have had more than one cousin Not Just Jo!!! WTF...... still it was an ok story

I absolutely loved this book and in fact enjoyed it more than the first but I loved the first one as well - really looking forward to her next tale. Lynsay is a terrific author and I especially enjoy her medieval books - all of which I have on my 'keeper shelf'.