On the other hand, there s not much of a story to interfere with. There s lots of highland quaintness going on but not much happens for pages and pages. There s a possibility the grumpy Cook may be trying to poison Niall. Niall and Lona both fantasize about bedding the other, but they don t do anything about it. Niall has an unconventional past that is gradually revealed, but adds virtually nothing to the story.
Little attention is given to character development.
Niall s got a nice smile. Lona s dedicated to her people s welfare. There s no sense that these two people are meant for each other unless being the only two good-looking individuals on a remote island qualifies. On a personal note, one detail that I found to be a major annoyance is that in print Iona and Lona look so similar. I know a romance is proving unsatisfactory when I start practicing my math skills by mentally calculating how far into the book I ve read.