Hit Me With Your Best Scot
Series: Wild Wicked Highlanders #3
Author: Suzanne Enoch
Published February 9th 2021 by St. Martin's Press

Goodreads Synopsis
The MacTaggert brothers have one task:
Find English brides or lose their land!

Coll MacTaggert, Viscount Glendarril, is a big, brawny Highlander who doesn’t like being told what to do—not even by his exasperated English mother who is determined to see her eldest son wedded and bedded. However, when he comes to the rescue of an irresistibly beautiful woman, Coll discovers that he may have found his perfect match…

The challenge isn’t that Persephone Jones is famous, wealthy, independent, and smarter than anyone he knows. The problem is that she is not interested in marrying any man---especially not a hot-headed Scot—even if he is the only man who seems to understand who she really is even when she’s not sure herself. When Coll learns that Persephone is actually a lady-in-hiding and someone is willing to kill her for what she stands to inherit…Well, Coll has never been one to turn down a fight. When hearts are involved, nothing comes between a Highlander and his lady.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

In the final Wild Wicked Highlanders book, the eldest MacTaggert brother, Coll, Viscount Glendarril, finds himself falling for the one woman who his family can't imagine he would marry. Because of his mother's ultimatum, he only has 8 weeks to find a bride, and wed her, or face losing the money that his family's estate relies on. Meeting Mrs Persephone Jones, the famous actress, is a surprise, as is the feelings he has for her. When it's revealed that someone is out to hurt her, or worse, Coll takes it upon himself to protect her, and working together, they try to discover just who the culprit is. But, Persephone is hiding her past, and it might just come back to haunt her.

I've been waiting for Coll's story ever since we met him in It's Getting Scot in Here. He is the one who is most vehemently against Francesca's machinations, and the whole idea of marrying an Englishwoman is abhorrent to him. Being 12 when Francesca left them, he can remember her the most, and was the most hurt by the abandonment - exacerbated even more so by her never writing/ignoring his letters. Now pushing 30, he doesn't want to forgive her, and will do just about anything to stop her plans, even hiding backstage in a theatre after she brings two debutantes for him to meet. Here he meets Persephone, and as oblivious as he is to the way things are done in London, he knows that telling his mother her plans to marry her just may be a step too far, and may give him a slight reprieve. I really liked Coll's character, and the way we saw his hurt and vulnerability, hiding beneath a gruff Highlander exterior. He truly cared for his loved ones, even Francesca, and wanted to protect Persephone, no matter what, once he heard her tale. For Persephone herself, she's been alone for years, but her reputation as a renowned actress open her up to admirers, and some who can't separate her from her characters. She's hiding her past - something which I had sort of guessed at before it was truly revealed - and doesn't like asking for help, or opening herself up to vulnerabilities. In a way, she was the perfect match for Coll, and they both grew as individuals and a couple over the course of the book. Seeing their relationship play out from lust, to love, against all the odds, was wonderful, as was seeing the whole MacTaggert clan - including father Angus - together again. The only thing I felt this book was missing was an epilogue, because I wish we had seen Eloise and Coll's weddings take place, and perhaps a look in the future to how the four siblings, and their families, were doing. Even without this, though, it was still a fantastic book.

Dates Read:
January 24-26, 2021

Rating
4 Stars