Sandy M’s review of To Wed a Wicked Highlander (Bad Boys of the Highlands, Book 3) by Victoria Roberts
Historical Romance published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 3 Sep 13
With this third book in the Bad Boys of the Highlands series, I have to come to the conclusion that my “definition” of bad boys and that of the author just isn’t the same. Only one hero has actually been a bad boy – women, whiskey and song, so to speak – but that wasn’t even in his own book. He had been toned down by that time. These men are definitely to be feared by those of their time, but that’s leadership and protectiveness. Bad has nothing to do with it.
Alex is surprised when his clan’s enemy, The MacKenzie, offers up his daughter for marriage, but since Alex also wants peace in the Highlands, he accepts and finds himself married in no time. He’s quite happy with the arrangement, because after meeting his bride five years ago when she and her brother trespassed on MacDonnell land, he stole a kiss and has thought of her more than once over the years. And his need for an heir will also be taken care of at the same time.
Wanting her father’s approval, Sybella has agreed to wed Alex MacDonnell, but she’s starting off on the wrong foot. Their clan’s seeing stone has been in MacKenzie hands since it was stolen by Alex’s father, and it’s time for it to return to its rightful clan. Thus, Sybella’s mission is to spy on her new husband to discover the stone’s whereabouts and report such back to her father. What I like about Sybella is she’s not really her father’s daughter. She immediately begins to question her actions. This is her clan now, her husband, her family. Guilt begins to slowly worm its way into her, but the other side of the coin is how to get of out the mess she’s in without stirring her father’s wrath.
Sybella needs to gain Alex’s trust before she can begin her search, so they settle into a newly married state, both happy with each other and the way life is going for them. Even their wedding night fiasco doesn’t keep them from enjoying one another whenever possible. Thank goodness cousin Mary, who tried to give Sybella a birds and bees type talk about a husband’s bed, isn’t around that often. These two would never get anywhere if she’d have stuck around, which Alex also realizes once Sybella tells him the part she played in the fiasco. There’s also issues with Alex’s grandmother, Iseabail. She’s suffering the beginnings of today’s Alzheimer’s, and I love Alex that much more for his concern.
Mysterious attempts are made on Sybella’s life, which spurs Alex to tighten a safety net around her while they hunt for the culprit. About this time Alex’s cousin, Rosalia, and her husband, Ciaran, come to visit. They are the featured characters from the first book in which Rosalia was trying to make her way to Iseabail at Glengarry, only to have Ciaran interrupt her journey. He will, however, now prove useful in helping solve the current mystery. The resolution, once learned, isn’t quite what you expect and does throw everyone for a loop.
Sybella has one important decision to make – stay loyal to her family and betray Alex or continue her loyalty to her husband and betray her family. I’m happy to say she finally sees the light and knows which way she has to go. However, I wish she would have made that decision much sooner. Alex is her family now and he’s the one who deserves the loyalty, no questions asked. So her character doesn’t grow on me as much as Alex does. All in all, the heroes of this series, while not the bad boys I’ve been looking for, are my favorite parts. The heroines take too long to commit, worrying too much over things that should no longer matter.
All that being said, I’m not sure I’ll continue reading the series at this point, if there are more books forthcoming. There are parts I enjoy, but there are more parts that don’t work for me. The writing is also just a bit too simplistic to me, not as much depth that you get from other writers. So it’s just a wait-and-see thing for me right now, hoping I might meet some true bad boys in the future.
Grade: C
Summary:
She always wanted to be one of the boys…
Sybella would do anything to prove she’s just as valuable to the MacKenzie clan as her brother is. She’d go on any hunt, take any dare. But her father has a different sort of mission in mind: marriage. It’s simple, he explains. All she has to do is marry Alexander MacDonell and report back on his family’s secrets. It will be easy, he says, as long as she doesn’t do anything foolish…like fall in love.
Until she got a man
As laird of the MacDonells, Alex has a duty to produce an heir. It’s a duty he won’t mind with the lovely Ella as his wife―even if she is one of the dreaded MacKenzies. He’s wooed and won many ladies, but Ella is a challenge like no other. He can tell she’s holding something back. But not for long. Because inch by inch, he plans to expose everything she’s been hiding and claim the ultimate prize: her heart.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
