Review: Highland Awakening by Jennifer Haymore

10 May of 2016 by Jean

Reviewer's Rating: 4

4.0Overall score

There is nothing quite as intriguing as the not so innocent virgin.

Highland Awakening By Jennifer Haymore

Historical Regency/Victorian Romance

Released March 29, 2016

Loveswept

Series: Highland Knights, Book 2

Synopsis

For fans of Maya Banks and Monica McCarty, the Highland Knights series continues as a tight-knit band of Scottish mercenaries make trouble on the mean streets of London . . . and under the sheets with England’s proper young women.

As the secret author of racy romances, Lady Esme Hawkins goes to great lengths to protect her family’s honor. Which is why she carefully disguises herself before entering a notorious bordello to do research. But when Esme comes face-to-face with a brooding Highland bodyguard, she can’t easily refuse a harmless kiss . . . a kiss that inflames desires ripped from the pages of her novels. Acting on them, however, would risk revealing Esme’s identity—and the fact that she’s engaged to another man.

As a Highland Knight sworn to protect the crown, Camden McLeod never expected to follow his client into a bordello—nor could he anticipate meeting a bright, innocent lass with lush lips and eyes the color of the sea. Instantly, Cam knows he must possess her. But to do so, he’ll need to give up his rakish ways, embrace his role as heir to his despised father, and snuff out a deadly threat to his brothers in arms. By comparison, winning Esme away from her insipid fiancé will be pure pleasure.

THE HIGHLAND KNIGHTS SERIES:

0.5: A HIGHLANDER’S HEART (Lady Claire & Major Campbell)

1: HIGHLAND HEAT (Lady Grace & Mackenzie)

2: HIGHLAND AWAKENING (Lady Esme & MacLeod)

2.5: HER WICKED HIGHLANDER (Aila & White)

3: HIGHLAND TEMPTATION (Lady Emilia & Stirling)

Review

Reviewed by Jean

There is nothing quite as intriguing as the not so innocent virgin.

I positively loved the opening scene of this book where the heroine is deposited in the antechamber of a brothel with the hero. Camden McLeod is instantly intrigued by the slip of a girl and her obvious innocence in the midst of a brothel. Mistakenly he thinks her a new girl seeking to ply her wares. He’s curious and he wants to know what the notebook she clutches so tightly holds. In an attempt to discover her secrets he engages her in a seduction and absconds with the notebook but his hopes are dashed when they are interrupted and the lass comes to her senses and notices he has taken possession of it. Stymied, Cam is left without the notebook and what’s more without the name of the lass but more than determined to discover her every secret. Luck is with him when he attends a dinner party with his client and discovers she is the Lady Esme and sister to the Duke of Trent.

The very shy and reserved Lady Esme has her secrets, secrets which could be very damaging to her family’s reputation. She’ll do anything to protect them from further scandal. Her clumsy nature has already caused enough social gaffs. Someone discovering what her notebook holds could be totally disastrous. Only her older half-brother, Sam knows that Esme is a published author… and not only does she write, but she writes scandalously romantic novels. Hence, her research trip to a brothel. And now Camden McLeod, heir to the Earl of Sutton has discovered her secret. What’s more, he has taken it upon himself to end her engagement in any manner possible even if it entails a betrayal of her confidences and putting her in a compromising situation.

While Cam may have begun his quest to save Esme from a marriage that would have proven confining and disastrous, he quickly comes to realize that he simply can’t walk away from her and he certainly doesn’t have the patience to wait for her to come around to a proper courtship. At the same time, the Highland Knights are being hunted. One of his best friends has been murdered and the danger continues to escalate. Courting Esme is a distraction he can ill afford but one he is unwilling to forego.

Highland Awakening is full of intrigue, suspense and danger. A healthy dose of humor and a heaping helping of desire provide the perfect balance. Overall a very entertaining read that has me ready for the next novel in the Highland Knights series.