Review: Not bad but could be better
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 25, 2011
Bree is a young woman who is badly treated and battered by her stepfather and whose mother is exploiting her as a maid. Ruan, a  proud Highlander saved his little sister who was forced into marriage with a much older and abusive husband but must in return marry a notoriously unsuitable woman to appease the inimical clan. In any case, he is very surprised that instead of the outrageously unfit future wife he is introduced to a young and beautiful bride who however didn't know that she is marrying.I love to read a Scottish romance story once in a while and above plot sounded interesting enough. Unfortunately the storyline didn't offer any twist and turns and was rather simplistic. However, the descriptions of the landscape and atmosphere of the Highlands were very inspiring and rewarding.However, of course always according to my opinion, the main characters weren't  enough elaborated. Firstly, the description of the main characters were incomplete. With this I mean that there is no clear indication how old they are. There is a short reference to Ruan's sister who is ten years old and at a certain point the hero thought that his bride isn't much older but there isn't any clear point of reference how old she/he is - or did I miss something? I considered this to be an important detail, especially because both main characters handled their romance in a rather immature way, which could be explained if they were young rather by accrediting it to a sketchy production of the main characters.Secondly, I thought that Bree's and Ruan's behavior and attitude weren't well enough refined, hence seemed shallow, at least to me. Bree was married to Ruan without really understanding what was happening to her. OK - taking into consideration how this happened, which was very nicely described, I can relate.  I can even understand her initial reactions to the incident. However, after a certain point in time I would expect a thinking person to try to find out who her new partner is, evaluate the situation and then try to pursue a new strategy. However, Bree didn't react like a clear thinking but rather like a very narrow-minded person. She kept on running away by principle because she wanted to be independent (back in those times?!) and then, after some time and just like that, realized  that she's in love with Ruan. Hm, I would've liked a bit more reasoning behind this very serious change of mind.On the other hand, Ruan seemed to be a more complex character. I liked that he showed a lot of emotions and seemed in general to be a rather rare specimen for a man of his time. His positive image would've been enhanced had the author chosen to explain more detailed why exactly he was "through with women".Finally, I would have expected a bit more sexual tension in the story, which is common for romances of this genre. Especially since the book is neither character driven nor based on an embellished and ornamented  plot.Not a bad book but according to my opinion it needs more refining and "maturing".