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sharonwb's review against another edition
3.0
More of an adventure story than a romance. Good family story, mild romance.
seeinghowitgoes's review against another edition
2.0
While I rather enjoy the MacKenzies series, surely Jennifer Ashley could have come up with a better title than this one! Was just 'The Art of Seduction' taken already, was she so attached to it that she was like, well I'll just chuck in his full name as well.
We've run out MacKenzies brothers and sons, and are now going further back up the family line to their ancestors, it's a fun romp with Alec MacKenzie masquerading as an art instructor all the while trying to infiltrate the family of a Duke who supposedly may know where his missing twin brother is. In the process he falls in love, gets married, whisks away his bride, etc etc you know the drill. Fun, but nothing revolutionary.
We've run out MacKenzies brothers and sons, and are now going further back up the family line to their ancestors, it's a fun romp with Alec MacKenzie masquerading as an art instructor all the while trying to infiltrate the family of a Duke who supposedly may know where his missing twin brother is. In the process he falls in love, gets married, whisks away his bride, etc etc you know the drill. Fun, but nothing revolutionary.
katemc's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Plot wise I think this was the most interesting, maybe of the whole series? I genuinely didn’t know where the ~intrigues might lead. Some fun hijinks without going too overboard.
BUT the romance reallllllllyyyy suffered. The plot almost took too much importance? The ways all the characters existed to just contribute to the plot rendered them super flat IMO. Felt no connection to Celia, Alec was always the least interesting of the brothers ("paints" is not a personality). They got together so randomly (and early) and there was zero romantic friction or conflict which is always boring in a romance.
Also I’m so tired of the constant “my wild Highlander” nonsense. Every highland man being a barehanded violent beast is literally the justification the English are using in this very book to torture and maim them so fetishizing it in the same context is just very weird to me. Especially when Alec is literally just a guy unwillingly pushed into violence by the circumstances of his birth? Idk it’s just weird to me how Ashley insists on caricaturizing her characters like that.
BUT the romance reallllllllyyyy suffered. The plot almost took too much importance? The ways all the characters existed to just contribute to the plot rendered them super flat IMO. Felt no connection to Celia, Alec was always the least interesting of the brothers ("paints" is not a personality). They got together so randomly (and early) and there was zero romantic friction or conflict which is always boring in a romance.
Also I’m so tired of the constant “my wild Highlander” nonsense. Every highland man being a barehanded violent beast is literally the justification the English are using in this very book to torture and maim them so fetishizing it in the same context is just very weird to me. Especially when Alec is literally just a guy unwillingly pushed into violence by the circumstances of his birth? Idk it’s just weird to me how Ashley insists on caricaturizing her characters like that.
drkappitan's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
A fun, sexy romp
bookhaulin's review
3.0
Quick and easy read.
I really think Ashley dropped the ball on Celia though, half the time she only felt like the outline of a character. She ticked all the boxes of a Likable Heroine (sensible, good with children, kind, etc.) but lacked any sort of real personality. The only character with less substance was Jenny, Alec's daughter. I don't even know why the author bothered to include her (or Genevieve, her mother); Jenny was basically a prop, used to tell readers that big, tough Alec could be gentle after all (or that Likable Heroine Celia is good with children).
Overall, none of the other books in this series have lived up to Ian's, which is disappointing but not surprising.
I really think Ashley dropped the ball on Celia though, half the time she only felt like the outline of a character. She ticked all the boxes of a Likable Heroine (sensible, good with children, kind, etc.) but lacked any sort of real personality. The only character with less substance was Jenny, Alec's daughter. I don't even know why the author bothered to include her (or Genevieve, her mother); Jenny was basically a prop, used to tell readers that big, tough Alec could be gentle after all (or that Likable Heroine Celia is good with children).
Overall, none of the other books in this series have lived up to Ian's, which is disappointing but not surprising.
lady_wallflower_reads's review against another edition
3.75
Beginning of the book is what is keeping this from a 4 star for me. I wasn't completely sold on how they came together but the second half of the book was so jam packed I didn't even remember why I felt that way to begin with. Love the time period and the stories that have come together for the Mackenzie family!
leg64's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
readersincealways's review
5.0
What a ride! Back to the beginnings of Clan MacKenzie after disaster befalls Scotland at Cullodan. Widowed Alec leaves Paris to find Will, who has vanished amidst of chaos and uncertainty of war torn England/Scotland. Traveling with his baby daughter he is housed in the palatial mansion of Lady Flora; society’s leader with a dark, hidden secret, and resolves to seduce Celia; the unsuspecting daughter of his “enemy” and Will’s jailer. Just who seduces who is up to dispute. What remains is a lively tale introduced and told by Alec’s descendent Ian; our favorite MacKenzie. Complex and well plotted this book bears careful reading and much enjoyment.