Title: Claimed
Series: n/a
Stand Alone Title: yes
Author: Tarah Scott
Genre: Historical Romance
Blurb: Sometimes, the hero must be the villain…
Fourteen months ago, Lady Rhoslyn lost her husband and infant son to a fever. Now, by order of King Edward I, she is yanked from the healing tranquility of a convent to marry the king’s favored bastard knight. Rhoslyn has no intention of returning to the home where her husband and child died. Neither does she intend to hand over her fortune to the ‘Dragon’—no matter his sweet promises and warm kisses.
Talbot St. Claire tires of war. Seventeen years is enough. King Edward will never release him from service, but the king promises Talbot will find some peace in front of his own hearth. Talbot expects to find a horse-faced, hostile woman in the Scottish heiress Edward commands him to marry. Instead, he discovers a fiery Highland beauty worthy of a man’s respect… and love. Talbot determines to do anything to win his new bride’s acceptance. Anything except the one thing she demands: betray his king and embrace his Scottish heritage.
Thoughts: So, I’m usually not much for historical books, but every now and again I’m compelled enough to pick one up. This one wasn’t a total loss for me – there is a lot of political maneuverings and things going on and manipulations by various parties in the beginning that it lent an air of intrigue to it – certainly enough to keep you reading. I initially liked the characters, and I liked where the story seemed to be going. There was certainly the potential there.
The downside? At times there was a bit too much going on and too many characters that it did make it a little confusing. That wasn’t the main issue for me though. My issue was that the emotions to these characters and the romance just never went far enough for me. It was decidedly lacking in this area, which is a big reason why I read a romance to begin with.
Again, the potential was there, but fell a little short.
Rating: C+/B-
