A fitting end to an adventurous series. Vanessa Kelly went big. How to Marry a Royal Highlander is full of action, suspense and romance. I enjoyed Alec and Edie. These characters kept me on my toes. Every page was a pleasant surprise. Edie and Alec's love story is a chaotic yet endearing journey through the unknown. My favorite thing about this story is that despite everything that these characters endured they never gave up on each other. For me that makes How to Marry a Royal Highlander an A read in my book. Received an ARC of this story for an honest review. ( )

****Full Review****

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Eden and Alec have never responded well to each other and now that Eden's sister is married to Alec's cousin, they are going to be seeing each other even more. However, all the friction that is crackling around them is slowly starting to heat up. When Eden is caught in a compromising position, it is decided that Eden and her mother will travel to Scotland with Alec as he goes home for the first time in ten years. With a childhood betrothal hanging over his head and guilt over the circumstances of his birth that have him as the heir to the earldom, Alec is dreading going home. He secretly hopes Eden's presence will get him out of his old betrothal but little does he know, he is about to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire.

If you have been reading along with this series, you know all about the men it has followed and their infamous fathers. All the heroes were born on the wrong side of the blanket but lucky enough to have the blankets belong to royal princes. The "cousins" all know about each other and served in the war together as spies. This overarching storyline is attention inducing and in the first book I thought the darker tone such a birth and livelihood would produce was felt. Each successive book I felt has been getting lighter in tone and with this fourth addition, I found myself wanting to describe it as "cute". It's lighter in tone with the playfulness between our leads shown through the hero’s willingness to tweak our heroine’s nose and her ability to always rise to the occasion.

This would work as a standalone, you would miss a few snappy moments between Eden and Alec that occur in the previous book but the meat of their relationship really starts here. I really enjoyed how our leads played off of one another, Alec volleys and Eden readily picks up the racket; they are evenly matched. This made for a fun and spirited couple to read about. Eden was a little unsteady as a character with her confidence and then sudden lack of self-esteem making her actions feel forced sometimes. I get that she feels more for Alec but she would flirt with him and then turn around and be too shy at other times. I also felt like her mother had to drive her towards making a claim on Alec so much that she ended up seeming like a wet noodle. Speaking of wet noodles, Alec is going to drive you crazy during a lot of this story. He's great with Eden being his devilish little self but when it came to taking a stand against his family members over the betrothal, his assertive personality vanished. You'll want to shake him and say "Just tell them no!" but I can see how as this is a historical with historical problems and how family obligations were trickier, dealing not just with emotional manipulation but reputations and legalities, he was in a tight spot.

The secondary characters consisting of Alec's family were molds of the gruff but caring grandfather, scholar father, desperately grasping Aunt, stoic fiancée, and decoy cousin. The villain is obvious and the whole betrothal story that was the main plot device to create havoc for our couple was pretty weak and stretched on for way too long. Eden’s mother stole the thunder for me a lot as she was the one to get things done, laying the law down to get Alec and Eden together, and her repertoire with her “humorless” maid was priceless. In the previous book I thought the emotional execution was weak and the plot stronger, I find the opposite to be true here. I liked Alec and Eden's interactions, when they were allowed to have them, and found the plot very weak; not much happens in a very, stretched out way.

As I said, I found this to be a cute story, Alec and Eden's playful poking at one another will bring a smile to your face, just skip the unnecessary betrothal drama.
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Edie, Eden Whitney, is a lovable character, full of life, energy and intriguing as a personality. Captain Alasdair Gilbride certainly things so. Edie is forever getting into trouble and gets caught in one too many escapades. Now she’s boarded off to Scotland, along with her mother to let the ton forget, if they can, that is.

Captain Alasdair offers to have them stay at his castle.
Edie doesn’t know how she’ll be able to spend five long months in Scotland with her mother who is so tiresome and Captain Alasdair who simply drives her crazy.

The captain works through his plans for Edie.

Excerpt:
Still, he’d need Edie’s help once they arrived at Blairgal Castle, which meant he had to get on her good side by then. Yes, he was a manipulative bastard and his plans for her were a tad ruthless, but he was convinced that Edie needed someone to take care of her. Every moment he spent in her company told him that he was exactly the right man for the job...

***
Once in Scotland, Edie finds Blairgal Castle fascinating, convinces herself she can win over Captain Alasdair’s father, his sister and Fergus, the captain’s cousin. She has lots to learn about the highlands and the captain’s family. She’ll find her mother, Lady Reese, is more than just an annoying, complaining travel partner. She's exceedingly entertaining. She certainly knows how to control a situation. Alasdiar's aunt is one unbalanced woman I’d not want to cross. I liked the part she played, however, adding just another layer to the complexity of highland families.

Captain Alasdair has been skirting his duties far too long. He needs to go home, face his father and face the music of a betrothal he can’t accept. The little minx, Edie, fills his mind. He’s determined somehow to get out of the betrothal to his cousin who is much too passive for him—he doesn’t love her. Edie’s difficulties play into his hands—her visit works perfectly for him. He doesn’t tell her about the betrothal, he doesn’t tell her about his father, Lord Riddick, who is stuck in medieval times, he doesn’t tell her about his cousin and the secret the family holds. All this not telling, makes an explosive, funny story, you won’t want to miss! ( )

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

This is the first one of this series that I’ve read, and the last one to be released, but it stands well on its own with hints of the fun to be had in the previous novels.

While not quite sure what to expect, I enjoy historical romances and the Scottish highlands offer such fodder for the romantically inclined. Imagine my surprise when I learned not only were Eden and Alasdair already constantly at odds, but that Alasdair is engaged to be married…to someone else.

As the plot unfolds, and I use the term “plot” intentionally because there are several going on in this novel, we learn that all can turn out well if only they manage to break with tradition, convince certain people to follow what they truly desire (Eden, or Edie, being one of those people), and manage to survive assassination attempts all at the same time.
Toss in Edie’s fascination with history and a grandfather who hates all English but has a soft spot for anyone as enraptured by his castle and its history as he is, and you start to get an inkling of the romp this book turns out to be.

Edie and Alec (Alasdair) are like mischievous children with their scheming and cutting repartee, but both have good hearts and a sense of honor that’s delightful even as it buries them in trouble. Edie’s mother is a wonder as she drives her daughter to pieces while Alec’s father is truly good and his grandfather a real character. Alec’s cousins are a mess of trouble with their misunderstandings and misguided acts and yet there’s something likable about each of them.

The book is a rollicking good time with interesting people in an interesting place. It’s also a complicated story where the right action and the one they long for aren’t always the same thing, or at least do not appear to be. There are explicit sexual encounters between Alec and Edie, but she holds out until there’s a thorough commitment between them…though the road still contains some serious obstacles.

I found How to Marry a Royal Highlander to be much like a game of Clue. Everyone is up to something, everyone has strong motives, and all those “up to”s conflict with each other to create enticing chaos. An enjoyable, light read.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. ( )

A sparkling read!

I loved the story of this Renegade Royal, Alec (Captain Alasdair Gilbride) and his not so compliant true love Edie (Eden Whitney).
Full of intrigue, tender moments and quite a few irregular happenings.
Edie manages to get herself banished to the highlands for the rest of the season (to give time for the gossip to die down) after being caught by a hardened society gossip kissing Sir Malcolm Bannister, a notorious rake. Edie was investigating the art of kissing although really, Sir Malcolm's tongue down her throat was not what she quite had in mind!
And of course, being Edie, she walks into quite another situation in the Highlands, although Captain Alec must be held to account as it was his mistaken idea that Edie and her mother might help him with a problematic family situation at his grandfather, the Earl of Riddick's estate, Blairgal Castle. (Edie had been hoping for banishment to the family manor).
The story reads well, the action flows smoothly and the braw Scottish laird Alec, (a seemingly great lummox--though a deadly spy), is well and truly bowled over by the vivacious Edie.
Edie's Mama turns out to be a trooper and there are a couple of amusing scenes with Lady Reese well and truly doing the frosty sassenach lady.
Truly amusing and enjoyable!

A NetGalley ARC ( )