I purchased this story because of the setting. I usually love Scottish romances and am a fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I figured this would be a short, enjoyable story...and in all truth, it should have been. It has the makings of a wonderful story, but it seems as if the author got greedy and decided to publish a skeletal outline for a quick sale. There are too many holes, and it's simply too short to be worth paying for. For instance, once he realizes "Reva" is a girl, he decides to hold her hostage instead of having her executed. He tells her she has earned her next meal and better lodging, and then in the next sentence, suddenly it's 2 months later and they can't stop thinking of each other. What?! She's coming to breakfast, he's staring at her, and they've both fallen in love with each other during those 2 months, even though from what I can tell, they never actually talk to each other? He still doesn't know who she is, and all she knows of him comes from people who live under his protection. This is a huge fault, Jackie Barbosa. You cannot expect the reader to believe they are in love simply because you say they are. We need to see some sort of progression. And then to believe that she, a strong woman who would rather face execution and surrender her family name, would blurt out that she's fallen in love with him when he's her familial enemy? Ridiculous! I'm insulted as a reader that I'm expected to just go along with this absurd plot with no attempt to show me how it happened. With more length and attention to the missing pieces, this could have been a good story. What a waste!
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