I know I’m late to the party and that there is nothing I could possible say that hasn’t already been said about this book but it was oh so good! I had the pleasure of listening the audio format and the narrator did a superb job! She nailed all the accents and gave each character its unique and distinctive voice.

Maddie is captivating from the beginning. Her imagination and innocence grabbed me from page one. As the story progressed and she matured with time, she only became more endearing. She is one of those girls that even though naïve she was not silly or acted as a simpleton. I suppose her “disability” –she suffered from panic attacks- only made her more endearing in my eyes. I know from experience how disabling some episodes can be and that made her a more relatable character as well.
And Logan, can we say W-O-W! Although he started as an infuriating man that pushed his way into Maddie’s life by way of blackmail he turned out to be all “mushy” inside. He was just pretending to be a hard man because of the life he’d lived and because he was afraid to love for fear of rejection. But the more he tried to be unlovable, the more Maddie (and I) fell in love with him. Because really, who wouldn’t fall in love with a man that likes reading?
Secondary characters were all a riot but also engaging. They all had their own stories to tell and contrary to other stories where too much of others overpower the plot of the main characters, in this case it just added luster to the main story.

I could go on and on and on about all the things I loved about this book but suffice to say that it was funny, romantic, and tug-at-your-heartstrings kind of book; the kind of book you can’t stop thinking about long after the last page was turned, or in my case the last second was played.

When A Scot Ties The Knot by Tessa Dare is a fabulous historical romance!  My favorite part of this book is the humor.  Maddie's letters to Logan had me laughing out loud.  Ms Dare has impressed me with this well written book.  She has peppered this story with fun and lovable characters.  There's plenty of drama and spice to hold your attention and keep the pages flipping.  I enjoyed When A Scot Ties The Knot and look forward to reading more from Tessa Dare in the future.  When A Scot Ties The Knot is book 3 in the Castles Ever After Series but can be read as a standalone.  This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger. 

This book  exemplifies what I enjoy so much about modern historical romances, as opposed to those of the mid-twentieth century. Most of the story is set in 1817. The romance is a forced-marriage plot between an English woman who now owns a Highland castle and a Scot, Captain Logan MacKenzie. It's not always played for laughs, but it is a comic set-up. Madeline Gracechurch is a woman with both a private income and work she loves, so she doesn't really have to marry him except to avoid some embarrassment, plus, he's handsome. But there's more to him. The Clearances have left some of his men with no home to return to, these are the ones who've suffered the worst injuries and the greatest personal losses. It's not as much of an anachronism as calling their trouble PTSD, but MacKenzie recognizes that these particular men will require more care of many kinds, and if marrying a pretty young woman is the easiest way to achieve it, well...

So there's a traditional sort of romance plotline, but the characters have rather more modern insight into the lives of those around them. It isn't enough to create a happy ending for just one couple: Dare is giving a happy ending to her whole group of characters, like Oprah, bestowing gifts on her audience: "Happy Endings for Everyone!"

Library copy

About the cover: this is why women love their electronic readers. I refuse to believe that the most popular genre of books is in any way inferior because it is by women for women. But I cannot take that book out of the house without blushing.

I've already gotten on my soapbox about modern characters in historicals this week, so I'm just going to say, if you want to write a contemporary, feel free to do so. Anyway, I ended up liking this one more than I was anticipating, I've not had luck with this series previously. What sold it for me was the relationship between our two leads and hey, isn't that what we read these books for? They were ooey gooey sweet and my little girl princess happily ever after side quite enjoyed it. My cranky butt adult side noticed how it didn't really feel like a historical, the winks and nods to cliche scenes in romance books had more of a nervy tone than cheeky, and how the whole thing felt like the author was going through the motions. It almost seemed like Dare created a good romance despite herself. I would recommend this for individuals looking for a cute and light romance because like I said, this couple was cute.

The moment his hand closed around his rigid staff, her own breeding parts went soft and quivering.