An English Bride in Scotland

This was an amazing book! It made me laugh and cry! I could feel the love so strong between the hero and heroine. And the string family bond between all the characters!

A believable story. Humorous, well written. Flows smoothly. Great description. Story is different from the usual historical romances. Mysteries and surprises . very enjoyable.

Her characters in the book are portrayed in a good way and the story is well written. I have bought all Her books and look forward to her next book.

Annabelle has been at the convent since was seven years old now fourteen years later her mom appears and tell her she must come home at once. Learning her sister eloped and is dead to them she must take her place and we'd the Laird MacKay.

Funny and refreshing read.

4 1/2 stars"An English Bride in Scotland" begins with Annabel being summoned by her parents from the English abbey where she has lived for 14 years as her older sister has eloped with a the stable boy and left them in the lurch on a marriage contract. The arrangement was forged many years ago wherein their first born daughter would marry Ross McKay, the clan laird residing in the highlands. Annabel has been trained to take the veil, and she has no idea how to run a household, especially one as large as the MacKay's, but her parents insist that she take her sister's place so that they do not have to forfeit the gains they received as a result of the match.Ross MacKay has known he was betrothed to the eldest daughter of an Englishman, but he never knew her name. He reluctantly agrees to make good on the arrangement, and he marries Annabel virtually sight unseen, though he does discover the truth of her birth order before he says his vows. Though her parents encourage Annabel to be deceitful, she decides to be as truthful as possible with her new husband, and thus earns her new husband's trust quickly. They seem to be a good match, though Annabel lacks self-confidence as she was sent away and always told that her sister was much more beautiful than she, but Ross works diligently to show her that he finds her more attractive and enticing than any woman he has ever known. But as the newlyweds grow closer, they are unaware that there are forces at play against them threatening to rip them apart.What I liked:--- Ross and Annabel were both very likeable as the MCs of the story--- Oh the steamy goodness!--- The twists were fun and less predictable than I usually find--- The "villain" was believably bad (sometimes they are too over the top)What I didn't like:--- I really wanted Annabel to grow a backbone already (she finally - mostly - did, but it took longer than I felt it should have)Overall, a strong start to a promising series of hunky highlanders with plenty of steam and some twists along the way to keep the plot moving and the reader glued to the pages!Plot --- 5/5Main Characters --- 4.5/5Supporting Cast --- 4.5/5Steam Level --- 3.5/5Violence --- some but none domestic or goryLanguage --- minimalPOV --- 3rd

Let me start out by saying that I am a big Lynsay Sands Argeneau vampire series fan. Not so much the Regency historical books she wrote, though they were well written and humorous. I'm just not big on that genre. And I loved her Highland vampire short stories she wrote in anthologies with Hannah Howell, and my favorite non-vampire book of hers was Devil of the Highlands (I even read it twice!).An English Bride in Scotland reminded me very much of the Devil of the Highlands book. In both, the hunky hero thought he was saving his innocent young bride from an uncaring household (which he was), but knew little else about her. In this story, Scotsman Ross Mackay's father had made an agreement that his first-born son would marry his English friend's first born daughter. That should have been Kate, but she had fallen in love with the blacksmith's son and run off with him just as the family got word that the Mackay was on his way to collect his bride. A second daughter had been born, Annabel, and had been shipped off to a nunnery at a young age (I guess as was done in those times to avoid having an extra mouth to feed and dowry to provide). Just in the nick of time before taking the veil, Annabel is swooped out of the nunnery, told to pass herself off as the older daughter, and given a different veil-a bridal veil! Unbeknownst to her and her family, one of Ross's men overhears the truth and tells him before the nuptials, but he see's something in Annabel that sparks his interest and her treatment by her parents makes him want to get her away from there. Hilarity ensues as Annabel tries to keep her non-secret, danger stalks them as a stranger attacks at several places, Annabel wins over everyone she meets, and has the prerequisite TSTL (too stupid to live) moments that she must be saved from.It's definitely a formula book, like many you've probably already read. And while there's the trademark Sands humor that (at least for me) can cause laugh out loud moments and a surprise villain-still parts of the book seemed rushed, characters not as fleshed out as they could have been, and just a little more interaction between Ross and Annabel. Hmmm...maybe I'll go back and read Devil of the Highlands again...

I did enjoy this book but it has so many convenient head injuries I lost count. The most likeable element is the heroine Annabelle who is foisted off on laird Ross in place of his betrothed. Annabelle is a morning person with a sunny personality despite being bought up by mean nuns and parents who like to make her feel inadequate.Annabelle has lived at a convent since 7 years old in training to become a nun, something her parents want to hide as she is not trained in wife duties. Her new husband Ross dreads marrying his unknown bride but changes his mind once he sees her. There are mysterious attacks on the couple as they travel to Ross's home. Along the way there are fun times as Annabelle tries to comply with church teachings that forbid sex on most days of the week. Despite all the head injuries this is a light hearted book and recommended reading.

Light hearted medieval romances- do they exist? Well apparently they do because this one was light hearted and funny and sweet. This was a case of bookstagram made me do it after seeing a couple of reviews for this one and although I didn’t love it I liked it but it was still a bit meh at the same time..Our heroine has been raised to be a nun since she was deposited in a nunnery at the age of 7 until one day when her mother drags her out. She is then quickly married off to a Scottish Laird in replacement of her sister who ran off with the stable boy (natch)..I thought the heroine’s naivety would annoy me but instead it was kind of adorable? As was the way that the hero doted on her and pretty much just had love hearts in his eyes every time he looked at her. Overall not a bad medieval romance but I kind of just wanted more 🤷🏻‍♀️.

Got this book for my granny she told me all about it she said i was a great book.

I’m a big fan of this author especially her historicals’s this one is an arranged marriage romance set in Scotland and I enjoyed it a lot. It was a very easy low angst feel-good experience. The writing itself is good and the story gave me such warm feel-good vibes. Once I began though I actually realised I must have read this at some point before as certain key points were definitely very familiar especially the no bedding on Sundays Wednesday and Fridays as laid down by the church that was actually highly amusing. No matter I still loved reading this all over again.Annabel has grown up in Elstow Abby she’s been there since the age of seven and is expected to eventually take the veil. That is until her mother turns up out of the blue and whisks her back home to fulfil a marriage contract originally meant for her older sister Kate. Her sister has run off with the stable boy and Annabel parents now need her to take Kates place and marry her betrothed Ross Mackay a Scottish Laird else they will all be ruined. Ross has little want for an English bride that is until he actually sets eyes on his bride to be and is instantly captivated he is definitely now feeling much more optimistic regarding the future.Annabel was an easy character to warm to she’s charmingly naive with some strange ideas mostly inherited from the way she has been raised. She always tries to see the best in others and is ever ready with a sunny smile and an easy disposition. That’s not to say she’s a complete pushover but at heart, she’s a simple girl with simple wants. She also suffers with a sense of inferiority she has been told continuously that’s she’s not good enough, pretty enough, slim enough or even obedient enough and those barbs have struck deep chipping away at her self confidence.Ross by contrast is determined to show his new wife just how special and important she is. He is more than pleased with his choice of bride no more so than when he eventually encounters his original intended Kate and realises the bullet he has literally dodged there. Annabel though he feels is perfect for him and these two share fabulous chemistry which was intense as well as being incredibly endearing and I definitely liked them as a couple. We also have a bit of intrigue here as well someone is trying their best to harm Annabel and for the moment the suspects are thin on the ground. I did guess who the perpetrators probably were it wasn’t that hard to work out but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment either.There were occasions throughout this mostly when it came to Annabel’s sister Kate that I wanted our girl to totally rip her a new one. God Kate was a bloody spoilt petulant malicious nightmare and Annabel was far too tolerant when it came to her many antics. If you like feel-good historical romances Scotland and arranged marriages all rolled into one this is sure to be a hit. It was such an uncomplicated heartwarming story that I’m happy to recommend.

This is a very sweet story with very likeable main characters. But if you're a KLV reader like me, you may find it a bit too uncomplicated.But what irked me with this book, and with many of Sand's novels, is the glossing over the cummupence for the 'baddie'. In this case, the enemy is present in the background thru most of the book but her punishment once discovered, is relayed to us readers in a bit of speech from one of the characters.As with many of these novels, I find this incredibly unsatisfying and feel short changed that the character who drives you to hate them is punished 'off screen'. I'd prefer to read about it.This is probably the main reason why I borrow rather than buy Lynsay Sands books.