Scot Under the Covers by Suzanne Enoch

The second in this historical romance series from New York Times bestselling author Suzanne Enoch is sure to make you feel Scot under the collar. A strong hero, a smart heroine, and a truly despicable villain make this regency romance a true delight!

SYNOPSIS

In Scot Under the Covers, a resourceful English lady and a hot-blooded Highlander join forces to trick a scoundrel, and every rule will be broken!

Miranda Harris is known for her charm, wit, and ability to solve any problem she encounters. But when her brother lands neck-deep in gambling debt to a crafty villain and Miranda is subsequently blackmailed into marrying him, she must enlist the help of the devil himself to save the family honor―and herself.

“It’s time to fall in love with Suzanne Enoch.” ― Lisa Kleypas

Devilishly handsome Highlander Aden MacTaggert knows next to nothing about the ways of the ton, but he most certainly knows his way around gaming halls and womens’ hearts. Still, Aden is not sure how he’ll manage to find a Sassenach bride in time to save his family’s inheritance. When his almost sister-in-law Miranda comes to him for assistance, he proposes a partnership: She will help him navigate London society and he’ll teach her everything about wagering…and winning back her freedom. The beautiful, clever lass intrigues Aden―but is she playing her own game, or are the sparks between them real? He is accustomed to risking his pocket. But betting on Miranda’s love is a game he can’t afford to lose. . . Amazon

REVIEW

I love Regency Romances and have been reading them for years. While there are seemingly innumerable different subcategories of Regencies they fall into two major classifications for me: the first is when the couple gets to the culmination of the story, becomes engaged, and sneaks one (perhaps two!) kisses. The second has more bedroom action. It is easy to tell the difference because the cover for the more open door romance scenes usually features a scantily clad individual. As you can see, Scot falls into the second category. In this book, even the open door scenes weren’t so outlandish as to make me uncomfortable but I know some of my readers prefer a heads up about these things. Don’t let it deter you, the romance and the villain are the bulk of the story!

This book is part of the The Wild Wicked Highlanders series which follows the three MacTaggert brothers in their journey to England to reluctantly search for a bride. Scot Under the Covers focuses on the middle child, Aden, while the first in the series,  It’s Getting Scot in Here, focuses on the youngest son. While I missed the first book, Scot Under the Covers did an admirable job catching me up on the backstory. I truly never felt like I was missing anything. Still, I plan on getting my hands on the first book as quickly as possible because I would really like to know everything about Niall and Amy’s love story.

Scot Under the Covers sets up a great tale of romance with a reluctant Aden and an indifferent Miranda being brought together to thwart the villainous Captain Vale. Captain Vale has wagered with Miranda’s brother, Matthew, and won a fortune but is willing to accept Miranda in lieu of the payment. Matthew is engaged to Aden’s sister which is how Miranda and Aden are initially brought together. Disgusted with her brother’s culpability in this situation, Miranda turns to Aden to learn about gambling in an attempt to get herself out of this situation. Sparks fly and the fire of love is lit! I love when two people are brought together with a common goal and fall in love. It makes the partnership more balanced and I certainly felt that Miranda was an equal participant in rescuing her own future.

I have only two small things that I didn’t fully enjoy about this book. First, Aden’s speech patterns (as well as his brothers’) were very repetitious. I got a little annoyed with the number of “nae”s and “Sassenach”s thrown about. I am sure the author did this to fully flesh out the character but it grated just a little bit.

Second, I really enjoyed how Aden dealt with Matthew but I wanted Matthew to have a little more punishment than he seemed to receive in the story. He wagered more money than he could ever hope to repay and then seemingly guilt-free handed over his sister in place of his debt and returned back to the loving embrace of his fiancee and his own life. The author gave us great insight into the workings of Aden’s mother and her thoughts about what was happening but I would have loved to see Matthew’s turmoil over what he did to Miranda.

These two tiny things aside, I could not put this book down. It is unusual to find romances that are written so that you really understand both the male and female components and this book does that so well. In addition, I thoroughly enjoyed hating Captain Vale. Watching Aden and Miranda work against his dastardly deeds was nearly as good as watching them fall in love!

I want to thank St. Martin Press for sending me a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tell me, please!

Do you enjoy Regency Romances? Who are some of your favorite authors?