Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.

Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.

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Never Seduce a Scot is the first book in Maya Banks’ The Montgomerys and the Armstrongs series, and fun, sexy, entertaining tale! From beginning to end, these feuding clans made this a story filled with twists and turns, situations that were both heartbreaking and inspiring, and kept me turning page after page to see what was going to happen next. Anyone who has read Maya Banks’ contemporaries knows that this woman can write burn up the pages sex scenes, but I wasn’t sure how she’d pull off a non-erotic story. Well, it’s an understatement to say I wasn’t disappointed and, for the record, this is one steamy read.

Given the nature of this story I was a tad concerned that the internal dialog would be dry, making the story drag. But I’m happy to say that Ms. Banks’ did a great job of taking inside Eveline’s mind, letting us get to know her and making her thoughts a pleasure to read! At no time did this necessary storytelling bog down the story, and for that I am very grateful!

I can’t often say that I adored the heroine as much as I did the hero but, in this case, I can. Eveline was such a strong, determined young woman who could have justifiably been whiny and bitchy, but she wasn’t. She was feisty, compassionate, loving, forgiving… a truly wonderful lady befitting her role of the Laird’s wife. And speaking of the Laird… lordy, was Graeme ever amazing. He had every right to be angry, bitter, vengeful… but he was none of those things… well, he never directed those things toward Eveline. Honest, understanding, tolerant… the kind of man a woman like Evenline deserves. They were perfectly matched and their happily ever after was hard earned and well deserved.

The bottom line: Never Seduce a Scot is a delightful, sexy story. While I would have loved to have heard a more distinctly highlander voice given to the dialog, I truly enjoyed the way this tale was told. I’m very much looking forward to reading the next installment in this series, Highlander Most Wanted.

4 of 5 stars

My thanks to netgalley.com for providing me with a copy of this eARC in behalf of Ballentine Books,a division of Random House Publishing Group, in exchange for an honest review!