Wednesday, August 17, 2016

Indie Wednesday ARC Review: The Care and Feeding of Your Captive Earl by Kate McKinley

Series:     What Happens in Scotland #3
Pub. Date:July 18, 2016
Publisher:Self-Pub
Length:197 pages
Source:Author

I like the premise of this series, and the individual stories have the potential to be very cute. However, I think this is a series that you have to read in order. There is quite a bit of character crossover, and I felt like chunks of the story were happening off-page as I was reading. I have a feeling that this storyline runs parallel to So I Married a Highlander

Gwendolyn Wilbraham is the daughter of a wealthy and cruel merchant, who has made her feel useless and inadequate for her whole life. As a favor to her best friend, Evelyn (heroine from So I Married a Highlander), Gwen drugs and kidnaps Matthias Hart. Matthias is a renowned rake, but he seems to have some history with Gwen. He bounces from widow to ballet dancer, never staying with a single woman long. Gwen is attracted to Matthias, but she is not interested in marriage to a philandering reprobate. 

So at the beginning of this story, I was quite confused. I didn't know who most of the people were or why they were in Scotland. I don't know why Matthias had to be kidnapped as it was unclear what his relationship was to Gwen. I rolled with it and the story picked up once Gwen absconded with Matthias unconscious in their carriage. I really enjoyed the middle part of the story - the kidnapping, revenge, and early days when they were back in London. From that point on, Gwen started to get on my nerves. I understood her feelings at first when Katherine came around trying to ruin things... but I felt like she should have questioned Katherine's motivations more and given Matthias a chance to explain or prove himself. I'm not a big fan of running heroines, so Gwen took things too far and for too long to keep me interested in their story. 

This book was quite a bit more steamy than the typical historical romance... and I felt like all the intimate moments were well written and the chemistry was quite good. I will probably go back and read the earlier books to see if things make more sense, but I can't fit it into the calendar right away.

I received a copy of this book at no cost from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

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