Highland Pleasures: Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage

This series could quite easily become one of my favourite historical romances. Ms Ashley just has this way of creating characters that you can't help but adore. While I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as I enjoyed the previous one, Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage was still a cut above the rest.

Lady Isabella and her husband, Mac, have had a rather tumultuous relationship. They met at Isabella's debut ball when she was only eighteen. They'd known each other for barely a few hours when they decided to run off and elope. 

In the years after their marriage, they had one of those "love the way you lie" relationships. They were either crazy in love, or fighting like cats and dogs. Then, when the fighting got to be too much, Mac would bail in the middle of the night and only come home weeks later. There was very little middle ground between them, and eventually Isabella decided that she'd had enough.

So, this book starts three years after Isabella and Mac separated. Both are a little bit miserable, but do their best to act like their separation doesn't bother them. However, after years of avoiding one another, Isabella and Mac get thrown back into each other's company when Isabella discovers that someone is forging Mac's paintings. Mac is somewhat blase by the whole situation, while Isabella is determined to find out what's going on. However, Mac soon realises that the person responsible for mimicking his art isn't as benign as he first appeared.

I loved Mac and Isabella together. They could be so sweet, although they did frustrate me a time or two. Isabella would sometimes be all, "Oooh, I want you!" and then turn around to be all, "Eeeek, get away!"

Another bonus about this book is that we saw quite a bit of Ian and Beth. It was so funny to hear Ian giving Mac relationship advice. It was a little bit surreal.   

The next book is the Many Sins of Lord Cameron, and I can't wait! I absolutely love Cam and his son, Daniel.

Highland Pleasures: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

I. Loved. This. Book. 

So much.

I honestly believe that this may have been the best book I've read this year. Which is saying something, because I've read some pretty epic books in the past two months. Seriously, I was one chapter in and I had already decided that this book was going to be amazing...

And I was right.

I just want to warn you before hand that I'm going to gush about this book. Ad nauseum. 

Okay, enough oooh-ing and awww-ing. The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie is the first book in the Highland Pleasures series. The story is set in 1881 and takes place in London, Paris, and Scotland.

 Lord Ian Mackenzie is the youngest of the four Mackenzie brothers, and he's a little bit... odd. His father locked him in an asylum where he was basically tortured in an attempt to make him "normal". He was only released from the asylum after his father died, and he's got some serious emotional scars from his time in that horrible place. He's kinda like Sheldon Cooper in that his mind is brilliant and he doesn't quite understand normal human behaviour. He finds it all a bit baffling. Except, instead of being infuriating like Sheldon, you just want to give Ian a hug. He was just too damn sweet. He can quote whole conversations word for word, but sarcasm is beyond his comprehension. He doesn't see the point in lying so he's brutally honest. He is just so friggin' adorable, I swear I spent most of this book emitting these dreamy sighs. Earned me a few funny looks, but I just didn't care. Ian is my hero.

So, we are obviously in need of a leading lady who can handle Ian's oddities. Which is exactly what we got in Beth Ackerley. We needed a strong heroine who wouldn't be outshone by Ian, and Beth didn't disappoint. I decided Beth was awesome after her first meeting with Ian. She took his proposal really well, and she didn't get come over with "ladylike" indignation when Ian and his brothers were less than gentlemanly. Beth handled his eccentricities really well, and never got offended when it was obvious that Ian had stopped listening to her. 

I loved all the characters in this book. Each. And. Every. Single. One.

Especially the Mackenzie brothers. The oldest brother, Hart, is a little bit cold. He was actually my least favourite brother, but I know there's a story behind his I-am-God-and-you-puny-mortal-must-bow-before-me-attitude. Cameron and his son, Daniel, are so funny! Their relationship is more like best friends than a typical father/son relationship. I cannot wait to read Cam's story. Then we have Mac. He is an artist, and he and his wife, Lady Isabella, have been separated for three years. We're not sure what happened between the two, only that one day Isabella packed her stuff and walked out on Mac. 

Mac and Isabella's book is next and I am so excited, but a little nervous. I mean, how can the next book top this?