Ash’s review of Tempted by a Warrior (Dunwythie Trilogy Book 3) by Amanda Scott
Historical romance released by Grand Central Publishing 1 Jul 10
Usually when I reach for a historical romance it’s because I need something I can just relax with, something that makes me forget the rest of the world for a bit. I want that with a good Scottish setting with tough, manly heroes (preferably in kilts) and spunky, fiery heroines. I want to feel like I am back in time and falling in love along with the characters. Sadly, with Tempted by a Warrior, all I felt was like I was back in school, confused, and a little bit sick.
When we first meet Lady Fiona Jardine, our heroine, she is seventeen, pregnant, and being beaten by her husband, Will (who is not our hero). Right off the bat I am scared. My hopes for this story fell a little, but I kept going to see where all this was taking us. Some pages later we meet our hero, Sir Richard Seyton. Throughout the story he is called Richard, Dickon, Kirkhill, and I think a few others that I can’t remember. To spare you all the same confusion, I am going to stick with Kirkhill.
It’s been a few days since Fiona’s husband Will has been heard from, after beating Fiona. To top it off, Old Jardine, Will’s father, is on his deathbed. With Will presumed dead, Kirkhill is now Old Jardine’s heir and Fiona’s guardian. Of course, Old Jardine dies soon after and Kirkhill moves in to take over. Fiona is none too happy about that and complains about it like any teenager would.
So now we have Will still missing, Fiona the presumed murderess, Kirkhill taking over and fighting his attraction to Fiona. There is also some drama with Nan, Kirkhill’s fifteen-year-old sister. Kirkhill’s best friend plans to marry her, which just adds to my feeling of uneasiness. I prefer the heroines in my books to be at least a legal age. Oh, and Fiona has a baby boy. That is pretty much exactly how exciting the story is.
It is almost 200 pages before Fiona and Kirkhill actually kiss. By this point, I was just weirded out by the whole thing. Ignoring the fact that she is only seventeen, Kirkhill treats her like an unruly child, going so far as to attempting to put her over his knee and spank her. I never saw any real relationship between them, they lust after each other and that seems to be enough. Fiona acts like a brat half the time, but everyone shrugs it off as her emotions over giving birth, and Kirkhill acts like an anal father figure throughout the story.
None of the characters were interesting, I honestly couldn’t stand most of them. Tempted by a Warrior felt more like a bad historical than anything else. I was either bored, grossed out, or struggling to understand even a word of what was being said. The mystery over Will is not something I ever cared about, since mostly everyone hated him anyway. At this point I just don’t care about anything to do with this book anymore, and I couldn’t continue reading it.
If all of Amanda Scott’s stories read like this one, then I don’t plan to continue reading her. I couldn’t finish this one, I am not sure I want to even bother giving another one a chance.
Grade: DNF
Summary:
Lady Fiona, wed in haste, has never known marital peace. When last she’d seen her cruel husband Will, he’d struck her – and she has no memory of what she did next – only that she woke later alone in her bedchamber. Will has gone missing, and Fiona fears that in her rage and terror she might somehow have killed him. When her husband’s cousin Sir Richard comes to search for Will, Fiona is touched by his warm nature. A knight and warrior, Richard is drawn to Fiona’s brave manner, quickly seeing in her an equal measure of inner courage.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
