Devil in Tartan
Devil in Tartan is set in Scotland in 1752. Lottie Livingstone is forced to take charge at sea when her ship is damaged. She has an illegal load of whiskey on board, and if she can’t get to Denmark to sell it, then she and her clan will lose their home on Lismore Island. She uses her beauty as a distraction to capture the ship of Captain Aulay Mackenzie, who should have been armed to prevent a siege but was too taken with Lottie to think rationally.
The novel fills all the requirements of a romance, but empathizing with the hero and heroine is an issue. Lottie starts off smart and strong, then becomes juvenile and then just too morally righteous. Aulay is interesting when he is bound and subject to Lottie’s demands. When he becomes overcome with lust and then love, he goes from tough to soft and loses his appeal.
Devil in Tartan is a fun nautical adventure except for the hero and heroine, who became too cardboard for me to care about them as individuals and in their romance.
