Bewitching the Highlander by Lois Greiman

Scottish Highlander Keelan has been away from home, studying in Paris, and comes home to his mother accused of witchcraft and his father murdered. To save his family’s honor he lets his mother give him a potion, which causes him to sleep for over 150 years and wake up in Regency England. Though he has no magic of his own, at least to his knowledge, Keelan goes on a quest to regain his family honor and family fortune.

His quest leads him to the home of Lord Chetfield, who has some goons beat him to a bloody pulp, but gains him entrance into the manor house and under the care of sweet, but seemingly dense Charity, one of Chetfield’s maids. Keelan doesn’t want any distractions from his quest, but Charity stirs passions in him that he can’t master.

Finding something of what he seeks gets Keelan caught and he and Charity are forced on the run, with Chetfield hot on their heels, but they discover that even if the course of true love doesn’t run smooth, it is worth it in the end.

From what I can tell, this is part of a series and after a bit of digging, it’s the third book after Taming the Barbarian and Tempting the Wolf, and Keelan is descended from the hero of Taming the Barbarian. Characters from the other two novels pop up in this one as well.

That said, Keelan is a noble, if confused hero. He’s been transplanted centuries, he was never really a warrior in his own time, but a scholar, and he feels like he was a coward for letting his mother give him a potion rather than fighting for her. When Charity enters his plan, he decides to get his treasure, in more ways than one. But Charity is definitely more than she seems, and she does deserve some respect for her plan in life.

Charity plays up her physical aspects to get the better of men, though Keelan doesn’t really fall for it, he is a man and not wholly immune. She had Chetfield and his goons fooled for a good while, and has managed to nearly get the best of them when Keelan comes along. The chemistry between the hero and heroine comes across as lukewarm at best. Since there’s deception in there, it rings as false, even when they’re declaring their love for one another.

Keelan I liked, Charity was ok, but the villain, Chetfield, is sketched from cliches, especially with his goons, which could have been named Guido and been from New Jersey, for all the characterization that was given to them. And poor Keelan, being the son of a witch, getting nothing but a hightened sixth sense, especially since he’s living out his life in a century far removed from his own.

This was the first Greiman that I’ve read, and it’s a well spun story, though the characterization was not what it could have been, and the chemistry between the leads could have been warmer. It was a solid read though.

Grade: C+