Sunday, October 9, 2016

Laiden's Daughter (The Clan MacDougall) by Suzan Tisdale



From the Back Cover:

"Scotland, 1344

She believes men are not honorable nor are they kind-until she meets one that changes her heart forever.

Betrayed by lies told before her birth, Aishlinn is raised by a harsh and cruel stepfather. Her life is forever changed one horrifying night when she is forced to flee England for the safety of the Scottish Highlands. Rescued by a fierce band of highland warriors, Aishlinn soon learns that honorable men do exist. She finds a strength she never knew she possessed and it will be tested to the limits when she is forced to make a heart-wrenching decision…allow the English to kill those she loves, or surrender for the crime she committed.

She is everything he never knew he wanted in a woman….

As a fierce highland warrior, Duncan McEwan has survived numerous battles, bed countless women, and survived a horrific storm at sea. He has scaled mountains and even survived hand-to-claw battle with a cat-o’mountain. But none of that could have prepared him for how his life forever changed one fateful spring day when he rescued a lass from a freezing stream. He will do anything to keep her as his own and will risk everything to keep her out of the hands of the English."

My Thoughts:

This was a quick read book of around 250 pages.  Normally I feel like a good story needs more than that to truly develop, but this one was okay at that length.  This was the first of Suzan Tisdale’s books for me, and although it was an interesting story line, it could have used a better content editor and a better line editor.   There were too many things that didn’t make sense to me, things that a good beta-reader or content editor would have caught, and too many grammatical errors.

First, let me talk about the positives.  I loved the Highlander’s.  Suzan Tisdale did a good job portraying their brash and rowdy personalities while also showing us how devoted they were to their clan.  There were numerous times throughout the book that I found myself smiling.  Duncan McEwan was a great alpha-male, strong and masculine but also tender and protective.  Wanting to know more about the other men might make me want to pick up another book in this series.  And I have to admit that “Laiden’s Daughter” had an interesting plot line! 

As for the negatives…. Hmmm…. Where do I start?  First of all, I found Aishlinn to be rather confusing.  She rides a horse for days with no food or water?  Then she sleeps through most of her journey to the castle.  And I get the fact that she believed she was plain and ugly because that is what she was told by her step father and step brothers her whole life, but didn’t she ever come into contact with other human beings?  Quite frankly, I got really tired of her calling people liars when they told her how beautiful she was.  Then she is naïve and frail and thinks of herself as an unworthy scuttle maid one moment and the next moment she is a rough and tough battle queen!

And who was Baltair and how did he know Aishlinn should escape to Scotland where she will find “her people”?  Perhaps this is explained in another book in this series?  I don’t know.

Here’s the thing that didn’t sit well with me.  Aishlinn's father is presented the bloody dress of Laiden, who he loved with all his heart and wanted to marry and he takes the word of another man who was also in love with her, that she was dead.  Didn’t Aishlinn’s father want to pay his respect and see the grave?  Or perhaps find the thieves who supposedly killed her and avenge her death?  And what about the rest of Laiden’s family?  Didn’t they want to find out more about her supposed death?  They just took the word of Broc and let that be?  And why did Laiden never contact anyone from her highland family again? She lived for more than five more years, and she knew where they were! Even if she thought Aishlinn's father was dead, she still had a sister and friends there and no reason to cut herself off from all of them. And if Moira knew that Aishlinn didn't belong with her step-father, why didn't she send word to Laiden’s family when Laiden died?

And did English soldiers wear red coats in the 1300's?

My Ratings:

Wasn't sure whether to give this 3 or 4 wine glasses, perhaps it should be 3 1/2.



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