In Your Wildest Scottish Dreams by Karen Ranney | Book Review + Giveaway

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MY THOUGHTS

“Slow start but enjoyable”

In Your Wildest Scottish Dreams is the first book in the newest series by Karen Ranney and centers on a second chance romance trope which is one of my favorites.

Glynis Smythe, in love with her older brother’s best friend Lennox Cameron, impetuously declares herself to him when she was nineteen. Unfortunately, they were not destined to be together – yet and Glynis ended up marrying an American and left for America shortly after.

Fast forward to seven years, Glynis is now widowed, with no money to support herself, disillusioned with love, and jaded (insert Jaded by Aerosmith here), returns home to Scotland with a lot of secrets. She hasn’t forgotten Lennox and when she finds out that Lennox is still single, she vows to keep her distance. Lennox, on the other hand, cannot understand why Glynis left years ago and when he sees her, he sees someone more.

In Your Wildest Scottish Dreams is a wonderful second chance romance that can tug at your heartstrings. Add that to the backdrop of the American Civil War (Lennox is a shipbuilder who has been commissioned to build ships for said war) even though the entire story happens in Scotland adds a unique touch to this trope.

As much as I wanted to give this book four hearts, I couldn’t. Despite the story being wonderfully written and interspersed with historical data, it was a slow start for me. Despite that, I still enjoyed the whole romance.

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THE EXCERPT

“You’ve come home,” Lennox said.

Glynis wanted to pull away but stood still. Precipitous gestures could be misunderstood. Better to allow him to hold her hand than cause a scene, especially when whispers swirled around them.

“It’s the MacIain girl, home after all these years.”

“Wasn’t there some scandal about her?”

“Is this the first time she’s been seen in public?”

Were people recalling those times she followed after Lennox as a child? At five years old she marked him as hers. As a young woman she was prepared to tell him she adored him.

Foolish Glynis.

He must not affect her. She wouldn’t allow it. She was no longer nineteen and desperately in love.

“Why didn’t you come home sooner?” he asked now, still holding her hand.

Instead of answering, she only smiled. The diplomatic ranks did not value honesty and so she became adroit at sidestepping it.

He still smelled of wood and the ocean. Whenever anyone said the word “ship” or she tasted a brine filled breeze, he would appear in her memory with a twinkle in his eye.

The hint of beard showing on this important occasion wasn’t due to any sloth on his part. He had to shave more than once a day to eliminate a shadow appearing on his cheeks and chin.

“I think God wants me to have facial hair,” he said to her. “But God and I are going to disagree.”

He was a foot taller than she was, dressed in black evening wear accentuating his shoulders and height. All his life he’d worked hard and it showed in the breadth of his chest and muscled legs. Something about him, though, hinted at power and always had. In a crowded room people sought him out the way they looked to leaders and confident men.

Lennox Cameron resembled a prince and a devastating Highlander and he’d been the hero of most of her childish dreams.

No longer, however. Too much had happened in the intervening years.