THE HIGHLANDER'S CHRISTMAS BRIDE

A young woman ill-suited for life as a nun is sent home from her convent with only a handsome Highlander as escort.

Donella Haddon is known throughout Scotland as “The Flower of Clan Graham” for her beauty and charm. Logan Kendrick has recently returned to Scotland from Canada, hoping to expand the market for his trapping and logging business. He is deputized by Donella’s uncle to escort her home, but the short trip turns into a journey after someone attacks their carriage and tries to kidnap her. Donella’s return to society forces her to face the humiliations that sent her fleeing to the Carmelites in the first place: being jilted by her fiance and lingering bad blood over a past incident involving Clan Murray. Logan and Donella become friends and learn to trust each other, but their unchaperoned nights together move them down a path to marriage neither one is ready for. Kelly (The Highlander Who Protected Me, 2018, etc.) constructs the entire plot around secrets and hidden information—not only do Logan and Donella keep secrets from each other, but major plot developments are also kept hidden from the reader. This gives the entire book an aimless, drifting feeling: Something is motivating characters, but it isn’t worth telling readers about. A subplot about Logan’s son’s heritage as part of the Mi’kmaq tribe feels shoehorned in to win diversity points rather than being an organic part of the story.

Convoluted and slow-moving plot with uneven characterization and pacing.