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iskanderjonesiv's review against another edition
3.0
Who is the captive and who is the captor? When a sexy laird holds a spirited English lady for ransom, she turns the tables and steals his heart. The lush Scottish Highlands are a tempting setting for seduction in New York Times bestselling author Julia London’s sparkling new novel.
The last person Daria Babcock expects to find in her grandmother’s home is a brawny, naked Highlander. She doesn’t buy Mamie’s explanation about finding the poor man shot in the woods. Nor does she trust the gorgeous laird, who insists his own memory fails him. But Daria came to Scotland looking for adventure and romance, and after the intriguing stranger kidnaps her, she gets her wish—and so much more. . . .
bookloverchelle's review against another edition
4.0
Unsurprising to no one, I accidentally started the Secrets of Hadley Green series on the last book in the series, The Last Debutante. This did leave to a little confusion on my part with some secondary characters but for the most part I really enjoyed the Scottish exploits of Daria, the last debutante. With all of her friends of Hadley Green marrying and starting families, Daria is starting to feel a little lost. She has always wanted a family of her own but hasn’t found any possible candidates in her town. Looking for adventure she volunteers to visit her grandmother in the Highlands only to find upon arrival that her grandmother has a very interesting, and very naked, house guest. Jamie is not happy with how he ended up in the cottage and after he is able to stand again he takes Daria back to his castle as ransom (circumstances explained better in the story). There Daria is left to her own devices as an English Lady in a Scottish castle that she cannot leave. She tries to make friends and alliances but really the only people who will speak to her are the outcasts. Despite how they were brought together or the animosity they should feel towards each other, neither can deny the attraction they feel. With family drama brewing for both Daria and Jamie, long hidden secrets are brought to the forefront potentially destroying any future they could have had. Enjoyable story and a fun read from Ms. London. I’ll admit, I wasn’t a big fan of what the Big Secret was at the end but I can understand why the author chose it. Outside of that, I’m excited to try other reads from Ms. London.
colorfulleo92's review against another edition
2.0
The last debutante was not really my kind of historical romance, felt rather bored and the story rather bland
synergysel's review against another edition
3.0
This was a cute book I enjoyed reading about Jamie and Daria but good lord did Daria's grandma annoy the ever lovin mess outta me...I expected more of a connection between his loony grandad and her. Daria was funny and Jamie wasn't too over the top I smiled thru a lot of their interactions and actually wanted to read more of their story. I thought this was one of the better historical romances I've read in a good little while Julia London like always floats my boat with her books.
caitcoy's review against another edition
3.0
A quick, fun Scottish romance that I very much enjoyed until the end. The love story between the Scottish laird Jamie Campbell and the English debutante Daria Babcock was funny, sweet and entertaining and I loved many of the characters, a primary concern for me when reading romances. But the end was so anticlimactic and unsatisfying that it almost ruined it for me. The villain barely exists in the story and the conclusion is so tidy that you wonder what the hell he even existed for. He spends the entire book as such a threat to Daria and her family that he is the driving force of the book. I want the good guys to win but I'd like to at least feel like they battled with the villain! I thoroughly enjoyed reading up to that point however, so if you need a decent Scottish romance, you could give this one a shot.
Spoiler
And then the Campbells find him in an abandoned castle and give him to the English authorities with no trouble at all.ifoundtheme's review against another edition
2.0
The protagonist had a lot of say-not-show character traits shoved at you in a way that felt like "oh I forgot to tell you she's good at navigating this kind of situation, anyway, that's relevant right now to the plot because..."
It got better but was overall never better than average
It got better but was overall never better than average
heyhaley17's review
3.0
Please note that this book likely would have gotten more than three stars if the dreaded reading slump hadn't set in when I was 1/4 of the way from finishing. It sat on my bed side for over three months before I just gave up on the idea of reading it as by then I had lost interest. But what I did read, I absolutely loved. One thing I greatly appreciated was that our main couple did not yet sleep together over 3/4 of the way in, which means a great deal of time was spent on developing plot and relationship to work up to that particular moment. The plot is different compared to other novels and the situation that her family gets her into is interesting and works to bring our couple together. If anything I would have liked some more concentration on developing the relationship over her family's involvement in the events the ultimately bring them together, several things became a little repetitive. But then again I didn't read that last 100 or so pages.
ria_mhrj's review
3.0
I was in a bad mood when I read this, so perhaps it coloured my enjoyment, but I was hoping for a little more sparkle from this one based on the fun blurb. Nevertheless, enjoyable and kept my attention when my cranky brain needed a distraction.
kwill11's review
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
pnwdermnrs's review
3.0
I usually enjoy Ms. London's novels, but this one left me kind of meh. Pleasant story, but didn't have that certain something that makes me emotionally invested in the characters or their outcome. I'm glad Daria Babcock got her happy ending - sort of, I mean she discovered her parents had been deceiving everyone around them including her for her entire life in the last 5 pages of the book, but whatevs.
There weren't any glaring faults, it just was not anything special in my opinion.
There weren't any glaring faults, it just was not anything special in my opinion.