A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter … and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.
Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He’s wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters… and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.
Comment: This is the third story in the Castles Ever After series by Tessa Dare.
I liked the other two books, being the first one my favorite and after finishing this one as well, it remained so. I liked this story but more along the lines of the second, meaning it was cute but not as amazing or special as I imagined.
In this story we meet another heroine, Maddie, who has inherited a castle from her godfather. Since Maddie has also fabricated a story about a military fiancé to avoid attending balls and being around many people, it is understandable she would feel like going to a castle in the Highlands to "mourn" the death of the man she wrote to for years.
Maddie is, therefore, quite surprised and somewhat suspicious when a man, saying he is the captain McKenzie she has wrote to all those years, arrives at her door.
Apparently, the name she invented is rather common among the Scottish and a man has indeed received all those - sometimes silly - letters and now wants to provide for his fellow soldiers and that means the land where Maddie's castle is.
Since everyone already assumed they were sweethearts... why not making it real?
This is where the author's books are both silly and amusing: some premises are just too unlikely to have been possible and even allowing for some leeway in a time before videos and cameras and the internet recording all clues, it's still difficult to imagine no one would suspect of Maddie's scheme for so long in a more obvious way.
Still, it is what makes it possible for this funny story to exist and part of the fun of the author's books is precisely how it can work.
Even admitting some of the silliness of the plot, of course the author has cleverly created a situation where it can be understandable why captain Logan McKenzie would feel he could live with the fellow soldiers of his company who had no place to go or who had been maimed and left abandoned. His is a worthy goal and the lack of money or estate after the war sent so many Scottish men away only to return to "occupied" estates by the English lords who were excused had to be solved. I mean, this was a very interested critique to do, so there's always some little gems of insight or even of characterization to look for among the most silly or funny scenes.
Maddie is an interesting heroine. She is a bit of an introvert and I liked how this was portrayed. She is, of course, a sweet young woman, whose flaws aren't that negative, just aspects she hasn't worked on. Meeting and dealing with the hero improves her considerably for she finds strength in being with someone who challenges her and supports her. She is cute and funny and I could relate to some of her behavior but she is not over the top special.
The hero is more interesting for me, emotionally. We learn about his past, his lacks and how he tried to better himself despite what was against him. I obviously liked he cared for his friends and had the thought of doing something unselfish and even a little mean (to scare Maddie into a real relationship) in order to make a right (helping those worst than he).
Their romance was a sweet, funny one, quite balanced even despite the (in my opinion) too many sexual innuendos and thoughts they both had but that was to be expected anyway.
Some sequences weren't very well done, I'd say. the insta-love is explained, after all we have them interacting and seeing good things in each one, which brings them closer but the reasons why just don't work all the time. It's still too quick because they are strangers, even having the letters Logan has read to know more about Maddie. Other situations seem to be solved so quickly, without fuss...
I liked the book as a whole but there are details I think would be better if different.
This was an enjoyable, fluffy read that suits its style perfectly. Those who like the author's style will certainly appreciate this cute story.
I liked other things by her more but in general this was a good way to spend the time.
Grade: 7/10
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