Review - Scandal in Scotland by Karen Hawkins

TITLE:    Scandal in Scotland
AUTHOR:   Karen Hawkins
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 333 pages
PUBLISHED:   Pocket Books, 2011
SOURCE:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM AMAZON:    A DESPERATE BEAUTY...Despite fame and countless admirers, actress Marcail Beauchamp has never forgotten William Hurst, the audacious seafarer she once loved . . . and lost. Now, forced by a mysterious blackmailer who threatens her family, she must steal an ancient onyx box from the one man she’s vowed never to see again.

A BOLD ADVENTURER...To save his brother from a ruthless abductor, William must deliver the artifact as ransom. He’s stunned when Marcail, more lovely than ever, suddenly appears on his ship. But when she drugs him and steals the box, his fury knows no bounds.

THE TREASURE EVERYONE WANTS...William pursues Marcail, but too late: she has already delivered the box. The estranged lovers realize they must work together—both to regain the artifact that could mean life or death to his family and to destroy the mysterious blackmailer’s power over her family. Thus begins a high-stakes quest through the reaches of Scotland, a quest that stirs up long-forgotten memories and an unquenchable passion. . . .

MY TAKE:    This is my third Karen Hawkins book since I started this blog last July.  I absolutely love this lady's writing!  I reviewed Much Ado About Marriage in September and then followed it with the first book of this Hurst Amulet series One Night In Scotland in November. 

Karen has created a very devoted fan in me with these fantastic stories.  I love the idea of the mysterious amulet and the effect on the family and those around them.  This latest installment has all of the excitement, humor and of course, romance as the others.  I really enjoyed delving into this and didn't put it down until I was finished.

Marcail is a fun and sympathetic heroine or protagonist.  She is a beautiful woman who appears to have it all - on the outside.  She doesn't let anyone in except for her grandmother who was also a famed actress.  Marcail has made numerous sacrifices to protect and provide for her family, without them knowing about it.  One of these sacrifices was William.

William is a hunky sea captain who is furious with Marcail, both for stealing the onyx box in the present and for breaking his heart in the past.  He's extremely proud and rather stubborn.  He holds onto a grudge and finds it hard to see the truth about the woman he loved and can't forget.

The action and mystery kept me quickly turning the pages.  I really liked that the feeling of excitement and adventure carried over so well from the first book.  These books can be read by themselves, but the backstory and history of the characters really adds to the entire tale.  I'm really looking forward to the next installment Seduced in Scotland to be released in October.  

Out of 5 JEWELS, I give it:

WHERE TO BUY IT:    Amazon and The Book Depository

  

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - One Night in Scotland by Karen Hawkins

TITLE:    One Night in Scotland (Hurst Amulet)
AUTHOR/EDITOR:    Karen Hawkins
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 245 pages
PUBLISHED:   Pocket Star, 2010
ISBN#:   978-1-4391-1758-7 
HOW'D I GET IT:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM GOODREADS:  I New York Times bestselling author Karen Hawkins begins a sparkling new series with this thrilling tale of a desperate beauty on an urgent quest, a dark earl scarred by his beastly past—and the ancient treasure that binds their fates.

A mysterious abductor . . . Someone is holding her brother prisoner in exchange for a gold-and-onyx box covered in mysterious runes, so Mary Hurst boldly sets out from the family vicarage to find the priceless artifact. But the man who possesses it, Angus Hay, the Earl of Erroll, is less than sympathetic to her plight.


A forbidding stranger . . . Himself a prisoner of his dark past, Angus refuses to yield the box—or allow Mary to leave! Suspicious of the alluring lass’s mission, he vows to wrest a confession from her, but unearths a fiery temper and a will as strong as his own.


An unbreakable curse . . . Passion flares between them, but now there is more at stake: an unknown enemy is hunting down the precious box, and will stop at nothing. Risking all for love, Angus must solve the mystery behind the runes . . . and trust the only woman who can awaken his forgotten heart.

MY TAKE:  When I read and reviewed Karen Hawkins' Much Ado About Marriage earlier this year, I knew I'd found an author who I'd be reading a lot more of.  She has continued to entertain with this latest offering, the first in the new series about the mystery of the Hurst Amulet.

One Night in Scotland is one of those reads that I stopped everything else I was doing to complete.  I was hooked from the very start with the humor and adventure that was jumping off the first few pages.  I love it when a book pulls me in immediately and doesn't let go, even when it's over (although it's not really over when there's an exciting new book in the works...anticipation...is making me wait...)

Mary Hurst is an unusual woman of her time as she is extremely well-read and longs for adventure and travel.  She lives vicariously (in a vicarage...) following the expeditions of her brother, an Egyptologist.  That is until her brother is in danger and Mary is forced to go out on an adventure of her own to try to save him.  She's accompanied by a very colorful and mostly inappropriate maid who is good for several laughs.

Angus Hay is a scarred man, both literally and figuratively.  He is a reclusive Earl who is also an esteemed expert on antiquities, including those of Egypt.  He doesn't trust Mary, thinking that she is an impostor and a thief.  He decides to lock her up in his castle until he can decide what to do with her.  What follows is plenty of laughs and lots of intrigue.

I highly recommend this to lovers of romantic fiction, mystery and fun adventure.

Learn more about Karen Hawkins at her website.
   
MY RATING:    4.5/5

WHERE TO BUY IT:  Amazon, The Book Depository, Powell's Books, IndieBound

 

~~~~~ Disclaimer:  All opinions expressed on this blog are 100% my own.  I do not receive monetary compensation for my reviews but do utilize affiliate links.  I may receive books in  order to facilitate a review, but this does not guarantee a good review - only a completely honest one.  Each review post denotes how I obtained the book.

Review - Much Ado About Marriage by Karen Hawkins

By rewriting her first historical romance with additional new material and tying in both her MacLeans series and her newest Hurst Amulet series, bestselling author Karen Hawkins has once again delighted her old fans and created new ones with Much Ado About Marriage.

Much Ado About Marriage

TITLE:    Much Ado About Marriage

AUTHOR/EDITOR:    Karen Hawkins
INFO:    Paperback, Fiction, 365 pages
PUBLISHED:   Pocket Books, 2010
ISBN#:   978-1-4391-8760-9
HOW'D I GET IT:   Received from Publisher for Review

FROM THE COVER:  Meeting lovely Fia is all it takes to turn Thomas's espionage mission to Scotland topsy-turvy.  Flirting in the woods with the seductive, infuriating lass leaves him captive in the MacLean castle, but his escape attempt brings worse!  Caught in an apparently compromising position with the lady, the English earl has no chance to make any ado before he finds himself wed.  Thomas is on a serious assignment, but Fia's sharp tongue and saucy wit bring mayhem to his life.  How can he concentrate, when just one glance from her makes him burn with desire?
  
MY TAKE:   I really got a kick out of all of the mishaps poor Thomas suffers at the hands of the lovely Fia and her family.  She is a determined young playwright who is also just a bit clueless when it comes to the real world of espionage and intrigue that Thomas is heavily involved in.  Fia's devotion to her unusual animal companions is another source of amusement for the reader and extreme irritation for Thomas.

Several of the characters aside from Thomas and Fia were very interesting and believable, especially Fia's protective guardian, her cousin Duncan.  I'm looking forward to reading more about him and his troubles with a mysterious amulet.  Weaving actual historical figures such as Walsingham and Queen Elizabeth into the tale adds to the feeling of the book. 

This was a fun book that I read quickly and with much delight.  There was a lot of humor injected into the situations as well as some of the dialogue.  You could tell that the author enjoyed writing this story as much as I enjoyed reading it.  Highly recommended!
   
MY RATING:    4/5

WHERE TO BUY IT:  Amazon.com,   The Book Depository