Taken by the Lairdby Margo Maguirereviewed by Cybil SolynOctober 2009, 384 pages, Publisher: Avon, ISBN: 0061667889 Back Cover Blurb: A young lady escapes to Scotland in the dead of night, desperate to avoid the horrid marriage her guardian had arranged. Traveling alone, fearing for her safety, Brianna Munro finds shelter at the imposing Castle Glenloch. She intends to stay for just one night . . . but then Brianna encounters Hugh Christie, Laird Glenloch, and all her best-laid plans vanish into the Highland air.
The stubborn chit says she's a lady's maid, running from a vengeful employer on the way to Dundee. But Hugh can see that the bold beauty is hiding something, just as plainly as he can see that he won't be able to resist her. Brianna's tempting body was made for pleasure, and Hugh has never been one to deny himself the delight of sin. He'll have to convince Brianna that he's not like the other men she's known - and that being taken by a laird one stormy night is just the beginning of a lifetime of ecstasy.
I am done with Margo Maguire books. Finished. No more. This is my second book by Maguire and it has the same eye rolling problems as the other one. I obviously am not a fan, and no reader should have to torture themselves with an author who is clearly not their cup of tea.
So, as not to make the same mistake as the author, this reviewer is going to let the back cover blurb speak for itself and not repeat the same information again. What I will add is that this book tries and fails to "have it all" with a ghost, smugglers, brandy, an heiress, a Castle in Scotland, and a horny Scotsman. What it does succeed at is throwing all this stuff together in a morass of 384 pages and spending about half that time repeating the same thing over and over. AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN!
What makes me the most upset about this novel is that there is a glimmering of a good story and decent writing. Perhaps if the author had a better editor guiding her this book could have been salvaged. Brianna is an interesting, if somewhat cliche, heroine. She is brave and innocent and doesn't know what to do about the passion she feels for the Laird of the castle. Hugh is funny. The things he thinks had me LOL at times. But all in all he's a man who wants to get the snake outta his trews and into Brianna. How romantic. *gag* Maybe if I wasn't a sophisticated reader this would be fine. I could see in my early reading days how I could like a book like this, but now I like my women with more depth and my men thinking more with their brains and not their...ahems.
The second half of the book is a little better. Once Brianna and Hugh work out their differences and the mystery takes over more I didn't roll my eyes quite as often. Their was less of Hugh manhandling Brianna and Brianna wanting/not wanting it because she isn't that kind of girl. But the characters were uneven doing silly things and having boring sex.
Bottom Line: With a better editor I see promise for this author, but seeing as how she is a seasoned author I won't hold my breath because right now better from bad doesn't equal good.
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Cybil Solyn, csolyn@rakehell.com
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