2.5 Stars (rounded up to 3 for Goodreads, NetGalley)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Date of publication: January 30th, 2018

Genre: Romance, Historical Romance

Series: No Ordinary Hero

Hero in the Highlands – Book 1

My One true Highlander – Book 2

A Devil in Scotland – Book 3

Where you can find A Devil in Scotland: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book Synopsis (from Goodreads):

The dawning of desire…

1806, Scotland: Wild, reckless Callum MacCreath is in no hurry to become someone’s husband. But when his responsible, steady older brother Ian announces his engagement to their childhood friend Rebecca, Callum makes a startling discovery: he wants the lovely young lass for himself. But it’s too late, and when Ian banishes him for his duplicity, he’s only too happy to leave Scotland forever…

…is delicious and dangerous.

1816: Marrying Ian was the practical, logical thing for Becca to do. But once Callum sailed away to America, she missed his rakish charm and lust for life. Now, ten years later, Becca is a widow when a much-changed Callum returns to his Scottish homeland. Will he remember their spirited, fiery connection, or does he blame her for his brother’s unexpected death? This time neither of them can deny their scorching attraction, but will their hearts be burned in the blazing heat of scandal?

Trigger Warning: None

My Review:

I wanted to like A Devil in Scotland. I did. I love historical romance. Historical romances are one of my favorite genres to read. So, I was surprised when A Devil in Scotland did not resonate with me. I could not connect with Rebecca. I also could not connect with Callum. I did like the plotline but it didn’t hold my attention.

The book starts off with Callum being banished after propositioning his brother’s intended. When Callum leaves, he tells the Laird that if anything happens to Ian or Rebecca, he will be back. Fast forward 10 years. A letter reaches Callum in Kentucky. Ian is dead and Callum is now the heir to Ian’s business. The letter also details how his brother died. Callum travels to Scotland to fulfill his promise he made to the Laird 10 years earlier. Rebecca is less than thrilled to see him. She thinks that he hasn’t changed from the drunken man who chased after women. She wants him gone and Callum, well, he decided that he was going to stay. His decision to stay was cemented even more when he finds out that Ian’s death was not an accident. Danger abounds and lives are threatened. Will Rebecca and Callum find their happily ever after or will they be forced to be apart?

I did not like Rebecca. Right from the beginning, she rubbed me the wrong way. The way she judged Callum annoyed me. Even after 10 years, she still acted like a snot towards him. I wanted to smack her in the face. She discredited everything he said and for a while worked with his enemies to drive him away. She did everything within her power to make it hard for him to protect her. It was only after Callum showed her proof that Ian’s death wasn’t an accident, that she began to come around. I wish I could say that I came around to liking her character but I didn’t. I still don’t understand why Callum even cared about her…

Callum was a tool for most of the book. He went after his brother’s fiancée and then complained when he was banished from his house. I mean, what did he expect? His brother to be happy with him? Then he decides to burn every single letter he gets from Scotland. Which, thinking about it, I would have done too. He did open the last one after seeing something in the paper about his brother’s death. He also decided to do the right thing and head to Scotland to claim his brother’s title and business. He also was going to look into Ian’s death. I did end up liking him a bit. He treated Rebecca with respect. All he got was a bunch of disrespect from her. She also went behind his back to try to get his title stripped from him. What got me is that she did that and he still stuck around.

Now I might have not liked the main characters but I did think that they were pretty good together in bed. The sex parts of the book weren’t as racy as some historical romance novels that chose to include sex. It was hot but not too much. I do wish that Rebecca and Callum had some sort of connection earlier in the book. It would have made the sex so much better. Other than the hot sex, I do think that Rebecca and Callum did not have any chemistry or spark.

I do want to add that Callum speaks with a Highland brogue the entire book. For the most part, it was pretty easy to follow but there were some parts that I had to read out loud. So, if you don’t like men who say “canna” for “cannot“, “ye” for “you” (and so on), then this book isn’t for you. I liked it. It was different and added a dated feel to the story.

I liked the whole Callum getting revenge for his brother’s death. The killer was never kept a secret. The author did a great job building up the tension between Callum and the killer.

The end of A Devil in Scotland was somewhat anticlimactic. The epilogue didn’t do anything for me either.

A Devil in Scotland is a historical romance set in Regency-era Scotland. While some points of the plot were fantastic, I felt that other points weren’t. I felt that the plot lagged towards the middle of the book. I felt that the female and male main characters were very unlikable. There was no chemistry between them. There were some good points in the book. I loved the main plotline. I liked that the killer was known up front. I don’t think I would reread this particular book but I am very interested in reading the other books in the series. I also don’t think I would recommend this book. I would give this book an adult age range. There are sex and mild violence.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Paperbacks, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review A Devil in Scotland.

All opinions stated in this review of A Devil in Scotland are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**