Taming The Highland Bride

Author: Lyndsay Sands
Genre: Historical Fiction Light (Bodice Ripper), Canadian
Type: e-audiobook
Source: Local Public Library
Publisher: Avon
First Published: January 2010
First Line: "Merewen Stewart stabbed the needle into the cloth and tugged it out the other side with an irritated jerk."

Book Description from GoodReads: She was ready to let her heart run wild . . . Merry Stewart has had enough! Enough of her brothers, whose behavior would make even the most improper lady blush. Enough of their Highland home, which would surely have fallen to ruin were it not for her. She dreams of escaping into the arms of her betrothed, Alexander d'Aumesbery;even though they haven't yet met. But when they do, Merry is devastated. It seems he's no better than the men in her family.
So beautiful, so brazen . . . From the moment he meets Merry, Alexander is determined to make her his. Desperate to convince her he's nothing like the members of her roguish clan, he will prove he is every bit the well-mannered gentleman. Yet, beneath it all beats a heart as intense and uncontrollable as hers. And finally, when his life is threatened, Merry realizes he's the husband she's been waiting for . . . and their passion becomes the one thing that cannot be tamed.


My Rating:1/5 stars


My Review: When I downloaded this e-audiobook from my local library I wanted an easy to follow light historical fiction read (with a hint of romance) to listen to while I gardened on the weekend. Light romance is not my usual genre but in years past I had read books that I enjoyed set in old Scotland, with a lighter tone and romantic story line (like Ransom by Julie Garwood or On a Highland Shore by Kathleen Givens) so I thought this would be similar.

This book started out as I had expected - rife with misunderstandings, a damsel that needs to be rescued from her drunken father and brothers all set in the beauty that is Scotland - but I never found Merry to be a 'shrew' as everyone kept calling her so I really saw nothing to be 'tamed' per se.  The book was a decent read until it took a bad turn after the wedding and went from okay to ridiculous.

In one scene in particular I think the author was going for humorous but it didn't work for me.  I cringed and said "OMG, you've got to be kidding!" to a hosta I was transplanting.  It was at that point in the book when an older woman tells Merry, who was nervous about her wedding night, to expect to see a chicken neck dangling between her new husband's legs.  *cough, sputter* Say wha?  Then, with her husband in a drunken stupor and passed out Merry decides she'll climb on top of her passed out husband whose 'chicken neck' is at the ready and get on with consummating this marriage herself.  That's where I turned it off.  Ridiculous and insipid.  Ain't nobody got time for that.

What this e-audiobook did have going for it was the narrator.  She had a nice Scottish accent and was able to convey different characters easily for the listener.  Unfortunately, I need a stronger plot and not silly contrived scenes. 

Not recommended.