It's Getting Scot in Here
Series: Wild Wicked Highlanders #1
Author: Suzanne Enoch
Published February 26th 2019 by St. Martin's Press

Goodreads Synopsis
HAPPILY-EVER-AFTER
London socialite Amelia-Rose Baxter is nobody’s fool. Her parents may want her to catch a title, but she will never change who she is for the promise of marriage. Her husband will be a man who can appreciate her sharp mind as well as her body. A sophisticated man who loves life in London. A man who considers her his equal―and won’t try to tame her wild heart...

IN THE HIGHLANDS
Rough, rugged Highlander Niall MacTaggert and his brothers know the rules: the eldest must marry or lose the ancestral estate, period. But Niall’s eldest brother just isn’t interested in the lady his mother selected. Is it because Amelia-Rose is just too. . . Free-spirited? Yes. Brazen? Aye. Surely Niall can find a way to soften up the whip-smart lass and make her the perfect match for his brother for the sake of the family.

JUST GOT A WHOLE LOT HOTTER.
Instead it’s Niall who tempts Amelia-Rose, despite her reservations about barbarian Highlanders. Niall finds the lass nigh irresistible as well, but he won’t make the mistake his father did in marrying an Englishwoman who doesn’t like the Highlands. Does he have what it takes to win her heart? There is only one way to find out...
Goodreads

Review
For the three MacTaggert brothers, they adore their home in the Highlands, and hate their mother for fleeing when they were children, with their younger sister, and returning to London. Now grown, it's revealed that they all must marry, and marry English women, in order to save the family estate, before 18 year old Eloise does. Travelling to London to meet their mother, and the woman she's decided Coll must marry, Niall finds himself shocked to be falling for the quick-witted Amelia-Rose Baxter, who is intended for his brother. Amelia-Rose knows her family want her to marry a title, and they don't care about her feelings on the match, but when it's obvious that Coll is avoiding her, and sending Niall in his place, the attraction between the two soon makes it harder for Niall to stand by his refusal to marry a Sassenach woman.

I've seen these books around, and when I was approved for the third book, I decided to order copies of books 1 and 2, to binge the entire series. Because their mother held all the purse strings, they had to please Francesca, but they never expected that they would be forced to marry an English woman. All three of the brothers hated the idea of heading down to London, and entering the ton. As much as this was a romance, it's also a family book too. All three brothers year young when Francesca left with one year old Eloise, and they were hurt so much about the abandonment. For Niall, he was only 7/8, and he wanted to love his mam, but also hated her at the same time. We can see the growth and rebuilding of the family, and of Eloise meeting her brothers, and I can't wait to see that developed further in the other books.

I found the relationship in this book so lovely to read. At the first meeting between Amelia-Rose and Niall's family, she was meant to be spending time with Coll, who she was all but engaged to, but Coll disappeared and Niall was left to entertain Amelia-Rose. This happened again and again, and Niall soon wasn't spending time with Amelia-Rose on Coll's behalf, but rather because he loved spending time with her, and wanted to be with her as much as possible. He was so caring for her too. They both knew Amelia-Rose didn't agree with the marriage, and Niall wanted to give her the option and agency in her life that she had been denied. Both the hero and heroine were lovable, and it was easy to ship them from their first interactions. I loved how they grew as a couple, and as individuals. I do hope we see more of them in future books too.

Dates Read:
December 3-5, 2020

Rating
4 Stars