Review: Fabulous story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 19, 2014
Lucy Montgomery at twenty-one is considered an old maid, unworthy of no man. She doesn't believe she's as comely as a fresh faced young woman of say fifteen or sixteen. Lord Dominic is a womanizer, a man ready to tumble with the nearest woman to smile at him. She plans to never wed, no matter how she feels about her family's closest neighbor. He has reivers on his mind, outlaws ripping apart his lands and that of his neighbor, Lucy's father.Dominic yearns for a wife, but no woman has ever touched his heart. Lucy secretly yearns for the safety of marriage, but is ready to settle for other pursuits, as she believes herself ugly and fat.Against a backdrop of Scotland in the years after the Black Plague, Samantha Holt spins out a tale of marriages of convenience, love blossoming despite all desires to avoid it, and a couple destined to be together no matter how the odds are stacked against them. The romance of Lucy and Dominic is evident to both immediately, but they look for ways to avoid each other, as Holt teases us along.The strong plot is even better with the accurate of the dangerous time after millions died a horrible death during the fourteenth century. Many families were affected by this plague, and Holt keeps that in the reader's mind, as a reason the reivers torment landowners, as those landowners struggle to care for not only their immediate families, but also the peasants they're responsible for. This backdrop creates the perfect storm for kindly yet strong natured Lucy to discover the cavalier Dominic she met when he was seventeen and she twelve is a changed man, with a soft heart few ever notice. Even more amazing is how Holt plots Dominic's character – a lord of the manor who not only cares about those he protects, but also this wildcat he finds his heart breaking over the least tear from her eye.As strong are the background characters, a group of individuals who know their place, but aren't afraid to speak their minds when the situation warrants it. I found it difficult to put this novel down, and I highly recommend Borderland Beauty for any lovers of a great historical romance.Note: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.