A Scot in the Dark audiobook

I mean, it's mine. So, of course I like it, but here's a little more about why. Here's a little teaser for those of you who are waiting so patiently! As you can see, the Duke of Warnick (the titular Scot in the Dark) has opinions:He raised a brow. “It's a children’s love story.” Lillian gaped at him. “It’s Romeo and Juliet.” “Babes without any sense. Killing themselves over infatuation.”“It’s considered one of the greatest love stories of all time.”He lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “Unless you know better.” “And I suppose you know better?” she scoffed. "Without question." He leaned forward in the darkness, allowing his brogue to thicken. “You want romance, you ask a Scot.”You can preorder A Scot in the Dark from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, the iBookstore, from your local independent bookstore, or signed and with a free gift from my local indie bookstore (they ship worldwide)!

This was a solid historical romance! The hero is Scottish and he inherits a dukedom, which means that he has inherited being the guardian for the heroine. Lily was in love with an artist and she believed he loved her back and would propose. Instead, he tells all of society that he has his next masterpiece to share. A naked portrait of Lily. This will ruin Lily's reputation, so the hero, Warnick, is trying to help Lily find a suitable husband. The two quickly learn they have quite the attraction for one another, but Warnick is used to people not seeing him as someone worth loving and he feels he would never be good enough for Lily. I really enjoyed their journey towards finding Lily a husband and how Lily was adamant she wanted to marry for love. Warnick would continue to push Lily away, though, because of his past and not feeling good enough. I do wish we got more depth to Warnick a bit earlier than the end, which is what ended up happening, but I did enjoy his backstory and insecurities. I wouldn't say this one was an amazing romance, but it was enjoyable to read. I feel like most books I read by Sarah Maclean are solid four star reads, and this one is the same!

4.5 Scottish Knees Stars!!!!!!This book basically consisted of gleeful giggles while slapping my kindle on my knees. And dreaming about Scottish knees. And drooling over Scottish knees. Why oh why do men wear pants when they could be wearing kilts?! I mean, it’s a reasonable request….from most women (and some men). The Scots know what they’re doing to us, right?! Killing us with their sexy knees! Her gaze traveled to the edge of the fabric, drinking in the curves and dips of his knees. She swallowed, the act a challenge, wondering how it was she’d never noticed the precise shape of a knee. My Alec:My Lillian:Alec is a ALL Scot and hates all things English. Except her. Alec is basically a Scottish PMB (Pouty Man Bear – see Tessa Bailey’s book Worked Up for more information). He is huge, everywhere. He’s a big, brawny beast. But he’s a little sensitive about it because he has been used by women in the past and believes that he is not worthy. This is a central part of the story because it keeps him from accepting Lily’s feelings for him. Alec inherits a Dukedom after a long list of Dukes suddenly die, and Lily is part of that inheritance. She was a ward of one of the previous Dukes, so she has been passed along and forgotten by many. Lily is known to be a true beauty of England. She begins as a naïve character, but she is jilted at the start of the story and becomes jaded. She ends up accepting that she will be lonely her entire life because of this incident. She has been forgotten and lives alone. BUT she turns out to be the strong one in this book. Alec might by huge, but Lily is a beast in her own right! She is a fighter, and I loved her. Where Alec was weak (emotionally), Lily was strong. Both Alec and Lily just want to run away from everything, but they don’t realize that they could find their escape in each other. They each spend time actually running from each other, but they always seem to come back to each other. ”I will give you everything you want, mo chridhe. Everything you need,” he promised, the words dark and low and filled with the accent he worked so hard to keep at bay with her. “I will show you heaven. But only if you let me watch you find it. That is my price.” Knees. You get to know Alec’s knees in this book. Every inch. They are discussed several times, and it wasn’t even enough for me. I didn’t know I could have a love of knees until I met Alec. Some might relate Alec to Jamie from Outlander with the whole Scottish-sexy-knee-thing going on, but I wouldn’t know because I’m an idiot for not watching Outlander yet! Damn, I need some more Scottish knees in my life! For something so silly, the plaid was tremendously flattering. Though, truthfully, Lily thought that it was possibly likely that a flour sack would be flattering to Alec.The man had empirically lovely legs.Not that she’d given much thought to men’s legs in her life. Until Alec. Now, every time she saw him in his plaid, she thought far too much about men’s legs.It was terribly inappropriate. I am such a loser for not reading ALL of Sarah MacLean’s books. Seriously. What have I been doing all my life when I should have been reading her books. Ok, I have read 3 of her books counting this one, but she has so many that I have not read, and I’m a loser for it. My goal is to not be a loser, so I will be reading all of her books. ARC courtesy of publisher in exchange for an honest review.Find me on

***Review posted on The Eater of Books! blog***A Scot in the Dark by Sarah MacLeanBook Two of the Scandal & Scoundrel seriesPublisher: AvonPublication Date: August 30, 2016Rating: 4 starsSource: eARC from Edelweiss***Warning: this is an adult book, and for the eyes of mature readers***Summary (from Goodreads):Lonesome Lily Turned Scandalous SirenMiss Lillian Hargrove has lived much of her life alone in a gilded cage, longing for love and companionship. When an artist offers her pretty promises and begs her to pose for a scandalous portrait, Lily doesn't hesitate...until the lying libertine leaves her in disgrace. With the painting now public, Lily has no choice but to turn to the one man who might save her from ruin.Highland Devil turned Halfhearted DukeThe Duke of Warnick loathes all things English, none more so than the aristocracy. It does not matter that the imposing Scotsman has inherited one of the most venerable dukedoms in Britain—he wants nothing to do with it, especially when he discovers that the unwanted title comes with a troublesome ward, one who is far too old and far too beautiful to be his problem.Tartan Comes to TownWarnick arrives in London with a single goal: get the chit married and see her become someone else's problem, then return to a normal, quiet life in Scotland. It's the perfect plan, until Lily declares she'll only marry for love...and the Scot finds that there is one thing in England he likes far too much...What I Liked:It's been over a month since this book published, and I'm now getting around to reading it! I've had the galley for quite some time, so this is rather irregular. When I tried to read this book several months ago, I struggled with it. I had seen some so-so reviews of the book, and I felt a bit let down. But I'm happy to say that I felt a bit differently than those reviewers! This is the second novel I've read by Sarah MacLean (the first being book one of this series, The Rogue Not Taken). So far, I've enjoyed the series!In this novel, we have Lillian Hargrove, a ward of the Duke of Warnick, who has been an artist's muse and mistress for six months. She thought he intended to marry her, and that he loved her. She loved him, and so when he announces that a magnificent nude painting of her will be the next masterpiece, Lily is shocked. The painting will be revealed to the public in ten days, but Lily's reputation is already ruined, just as she is. The solicitor writes to the Duke of Warnick, a Scottish man who wants nothing to do with England. Alec didn't even know that he had a ward - he's the eighteenth (or something like that) Duke of Warnick, and he's not interested in being the Duke. But he comes to London to help his ward, and finds that she is just as beautiful as the rumors say. But beauty is troublesome, and Alec knows that she must marry in order to weather the scandal. But while both Alec and Lily have differing agendas, they can't seem to fight the feelings that develop.This book was both wonderful and heartbreaking at the same time. I loved and hated the premise. Lily innocently and naively fell for an artist, an artist who only saw her as his muse. She thought he loved and her wanted to marry her, and she was totally devoted to him, in every way. My heart broke for Lily, when she realized that he was going to share the large nude painting of her. He had said that the painting was private, just for them, but then he changed his mind. Doesn't this sound familiar? Like... when a girl's nudes are leaked on the Internet, by her boyfriend or husband or someone. You trust someone with a very private part of you, with your life, and the person violates that trust.In that sense, I love how MacLean relates a novel set in the 1800s to the current time period. Lily is the victim of a massive invasion of privacy. Yes, she sat for the painting, in the nude. But the painting was, to her knowledge, supposed to stay between her and Derek (the artist). The issue of womens' rights (or lack thereof) and sexism is very significant in this book. More than once, Lily remarks on how if a man did this or that, it wouldn't be as big a deal.As feminist as Lily is, it was nice that she wasn't a jerk, either. Often times, romance authors will make the feminist heroine so strong and so feisty and so bull-headed... and turn the woman into a cruel jerk. Lily stood up for herself and didn't let herself get pushed around, but at the same time, she was almost always respectful and empathetic. She isn't necessarily a sweet woman, but she is mindful of manners and she isn't cruel.Alec... Alec is such a complex character. He is swoony and sweet, selfless and protective. He is a quiet alpha; he's known for his size (over six and a half feet tall, broad, and with a Scottish brogue to boot). Alec is a very likable hero, and I liked him a lot, issues and all. By the end of the book, I wanted to cry. He constantly puts himself down, and doesn't think he is good enough for Lily. He has developed such a rigid line of thinking in terms of his self-worth. His past defines him in terms of one aspect, an aspect that rules his personal life. He pushes and pulls away from Lily, because he doesn't think he is good enough for a lifetime. It's a good thing Lily is a keeper, because as much as Alec put himself down, Lily saw him and loved him.In that regard, I adored the romance. Yes, there were hot and cold moments, and the beginning was a little rough for these two. But their emotional progression of feelings was evident, even if this book took place in less than two weeks. The chemistry didn't show up until about halfway through the book, but it went into the story well. I really liked seeing the pair interact once they start recognizing their feelings for each other.One of the reasons why I liked this book so much is because of how Lily fixes her own problems at the end, in terms of both the painting and Alec. The painting aspect was surprising, but not shocking, and I liked how she took charge of that. In terms of Alec... well, he's insecure about him being good enough for her, and he tries to dissuade her many times from loving him. But I LOVE how Lily sticks with Alec, and never gives up on him. She is always there, constantly fighting for him. It doesn't matter how many times he pushes her away, she never actually goes away. I love this. I love how she stood her ground and dug her heels in. Often times, you'll see a heroine run far away if the hero tells her he doesn't want her (because he's not good enough for her, or some other stupid reason). In this case, Lily is not buying that, and she sticks around. I love this! Fight for your man, girl.I'm also really glad that Lily ended up comforting Alec as much as he comforted her. You'll see that this is one-sided, in romance novels. The girl is suffering and the guy comforts her - but the guy is working through issues and the girl never seems to comfort him. I liked seeing this support go both ways, between Alec and Lily.Minor things that I liked -- there were no overbearing 1800s parents in this book. There were no parents, period, and I was fine with that. Lily is twenty-three and Alec is thirty-four, but both were orphaned at some point. Sometimes the parents in historical fiction novels can be SO annoying, so I was glad that that toxic presence wasn't in this book (on either side). Another thing I liked was the appearance of the Dangerous Daughters! Their friendship with Lily was so wonderful. It was nice to see some really positive female relationships, especially with all the cattiness of the ton at the time.So! I loved Alec, his character development, Lily and her strength, the romance (it was cute), and the messages of this book. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series!What I Did Not Like:I think the romance could have been stronger (and definitely sexier). It was a cute romance, and you could see the progression of feelings, but I didn't totally believe the chemistry at first. And then there was only like, two sex scenes?One thing that I was waiting to get cleared up in the story (but never got cleared up) was an assumption/inference that Lily is led to believe, about Alec and something he did/didn't do (those who have read the book should know what I'm talking about). It never got cleared up - and you can't tell me that Lily didn't care. I would care!Would I Recommend It:While this isn't necessarily a new favorite of mine, I liked this book a lot. Initially, I couldn't get into the story because I was deterred by some reviews (and the premise of the book, if I'm being honest). But I'm glad I gave this book a chance! It's an enjoyable story with a lot of meaning behind it, and a wonderful cast of characters with a cute romance. Rating:4 stars. I don't think MacLean is on my auto-read authors list (yet?), but after two books I can definitely see the hype surrounding her. I'll stick with this series and then branch out to some of her backlist titles eventually. I'm excited to read book three - the premise sounds intriguing! A little unconventional, but it has my attention.

That ending was perfection. And Sarah MacLean did a Scot SO GOOD!

Sarah MacLean does it again! How does she do it? Seriously, I'm a writer and I want to know the secret. It's the sweeping emotions. The larger-than-life hero. The downtrodden heroine who I care about so deeply. I can't say more than that because the book isn't out yet...but this one is truly spectacular. The biggest, boldest, most passionate Sarah MacLean yet. Can't recommend it enough.

Loved this one too!

I have found that I have to space out my Historical Fiction, and I recently went on a binge of Sarah MacLean titles and just couldn’t resist grabbing this one too! I truly have enjoyed all of her books that I’ve read, and I’d probably rank this one up among my favorites! Lilian Hargrove has lived most of her life alone… beautiful but set apart from the many people of society she is surrounded by. When a rising artist starts to pay her attention and claims her as her muse she can’t help but fall for him. But his betrayal is a wakeup call for her and just reminds her why she wants to leave London and disappear. The Duke of Warnick is a Scot… and he’s only the Duke because there is no one else left. He hates London, and everything having to do with the aristocracy and when he finds out he has a ward who has found herself in trouble, he heads for London with a plan to marry her off and get back home. Of course things don’t go quite as Warnick plans and he finds he can’t resist the charms of one Lilian Hargrove as much as he tries. But Lily will only marry for love and Warnick can’t seem to find anyone who he would deem a perfect match for Lily… but maybe that has more to do with him than her. I kind of love Lily… she’s lonely sure, and she did something stupid, but she’s a smart and strong woman and she won’t let this painting ruin her life. (The ending of this story is perfect!)And Warnick … It was so wonderful to get a big tough Scot in a Sarah MacLean novel. The interactions between Lily and Warnick were so fun. Whether they were arguing or having a serious discussion or slowly falling for each other, I found myself so enthralled with their story and it was an such a wonderful touch to add and provide interactions with some of the characters from the previous stories in this series! If you’re a historical romance fan and love Sarah MacLean you’re going to love this one too. If you’re new to the genre, and are looking for someplace to start, this author is definitely the place! Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I love this series beyond reason! 😏 Alec has by everyone’s surprise inherited a dukedom and after a few years finds out he also inherited a ward who is older than most wards would be. He is only made aware of her because she finds herself in scandal. Now the massive Scotsman with the big hands and nice knees 😏 has to ride into rescue her. The only trouble is she doesn’t want him to rescue her.Lovely Lilly thought she was in love but unfortunately she was used by a man who makes me want to punch his face. Now that Lilly is part of a scandal all she wants to do is run away from England. However the Duke of Warnick rides in acting like a hero and she can’t leave.This was so so so good! I think I liked it just as much as the first one. I can’t wait for the next!