Edwina Blair is a small-town librarian whose greatest aspiration is to
write the perfect romance novel. Painfully practical, plain, and a
little overweight, Edwina's life is as routine as her father's yearly
sock purchase during the January whites sale. Contrarily, Edwina's
half-sister, Cecelia, is beautiful and business-minded, believing that
her success has nothing to do with her good looks and movie-star mother.
Despite their differences, the two get along well aside from the
occasional spat. When Cecilia books a relaxing vacation to Scotland, she
naturally tries to get Edwina to go with her. Sneakily anticipating a negative
response, Cecilia took the liberty of including Edwina in her plans
before letting her know about the trip. Once she finds out, it's too
late for her to cancel without significant cost to Cecilia and Edwina,
never one to throw away money, resigns herself to a tour through
Scotland. The two are preparing to board the plane out of the states
when Cecilia is called away by an emergency. Alone and inexperienced,
Edwina flies to Scotland without her worldly sister's help. Once there,
she realizes just how far in over her head she is: the ritzy hotel,
booked by and held for Cecilia, refuses to accept Edwina in her place.
The overwhelmed and exhausted Edwina faints dead away at the desk and
comes to a few moments later in the arms of a very handsome Scot who was
in line behind her. Aware of the ordeal facing the American and anxious
to get home to his fiancee, he insists that Edwina come to stay at his
home until she has recovered enough to get back on her feet. Edwina, too
overwrought to protest, finds herself the guest of one Alex Dunnegin, a
Scottish laird and owner of the beautiful castle to which she is taken.
Once situated in the Scot's home, Edwina realizes she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime; the romantic Scottish hills, handsome laird, and rich surroundings are the perfect fodder for her romance novel. Soon, however, she realizes that there's something more going on at the castle than what's on the surface. Laird Dunnegin is constantly being called away on mysterious legal matters and there are murmurs of a tragedy not long past. Edwina tries to take everything in during her short stay, but she feels oddly remorseful when she leaves for the rest of her trip. After some vigorous touring, Edwina is surprised to find Laird Dunnegin calling on her at the hotel. A dinner meeting reveals a job proposition, one made relevant by the departure of the now ex-fiancee, but it's cloaked in secrecy. True to her nature, Edwina ultimately declines, citing her job, family, and obligations at home as the reasons she can't possibly accept. Believing the matter to be closed, she returns to her tiny apartment and routine life in Michigan.
Upon her return to her hometown, Edwina is struck by how average and purposeless her life now seems. Her apartment is cheap, but tiny and unfulfilling. She follows the same routine day in and day out and gets no real joy out of life. Even the career she was so proud of turns sour when a vindictive coworker gets her fired on false charges and steals her position. Faced with the harsh reality of her new situation, Edwina goes to Chicago to spend time with Cecelia and help her out with her successful new line of bed and breakfasts, especially as she's preparing for guests Edwina invited from Scotland. The guests arrive as planned, but the accompaniment of Laird Dunnegin comes as a shock. Once again, he has a job proposition for her, but now he reveals some of the details that were kept in the dark at their last encounter. Should she choose to accept the position, Edwina would act as a teacher for Laird Dunnegin's daughter, who is currently the focus of a legal dispute meant to take her away from him. His wife, who died when the child was very young, was the daughter of a rich American, groomed to take up the family business. With her dead, Paige is next in line for the business, and her grandfather intends to get her however he can. Once again, Edwina's instinct is to turn him down, but further thought leads to the realization that she no longer has any commitments tying her down in Michigan and this could be the adventure of a lifetime. With that in mind, she accepts. Uprooting her whole life to move to Scotland, Edwina can't help but feel that she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. As she becomes more familiar with both her new charge and new life, she finds herself stepping up to the challenge of handling the young girl and keeping her away from prying eyes as the legal storm rages on. But will she be able to meet Laird Dunnegin's high expectations, both in the classroom and out?
Logic dictates that I should hate this book. 1) It's definitely a romance novel, the genre at which I scoff, deride, and pointedly avoid at bookstores. 2) The cover is... well, to be brutally honest, it's one of the most blah covers I've ever seen. 3) I have a strong aversion to the name Edwina. What are we, Victorian spinsters? 4) The editing is also some of the worst I've ever seen. Misplaced or completely missing punctuation, poorly assembled paragraphs, even the wrong name used at one point. Objectively, I can recognize that this book has a LOT of issues... but I adore it. I adore it to the extent that I'm literally looking at taking a tour over to Scotland at some point in the next year or so. I adore it so much that I screeched like a pterodactyl when it slipped out of my hand and hit the unforgiving pavement on the way into my apartment the other day. I adore it so completely that I'm forced to conclude my brain is intentionally filtering out all of those things and I cannot, for the love of pickled herring, figure out why. It's definitely not because I identify with Edwina, who lets her belief that she is plain and chubby dictate her course in life and, quite truthfully, thinks about it more frequently than she should. Nor is it because I have a thing for handsome men with Scottish accents who own fabulously beautiful castles and have large libraries. Most assuredly, it is not - nay, COULD not - be because the main character (who is possibly named after a Victorian spinster) manages to break out of her box, go on an adventure, and maybe have the "happily ever after" we all secretly crave, in spite of being a Plain Jane in possession of a few extra pounds. Since it's not any of those things, why do I continually give this book 5 stars? Why???
Pros:
Once situated in the Scot's home, Edwina realizes she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime; the romantic Scottish hills, handsome laird, and rich surroundings are the perfect fodder for her romance novel. Soon, however, she realizes that there's something more going on at the castle than what's on the surface. Laird Dunnegin is constantly being called away on mysterious legal matters and there are murmurs of a tragedy not long past. Edwina tries to take everything in during her short stay, but she feels oddly remorseful when she leaves for the rest of her trip. After some vigorous touring, Edwina is surprised to find Laird Dunnegin calling on her at the hotel. A dinner meeting reveals a job proposition, one made relevant by the departure of the now ex-fiancee, but it's cloaked in secrecy. True to her nature, Edwina ultimately declines, citing her job, family, and obligations at home as the reasons she can't possibly accept. Believing the matter to be closed, she returns to her tiny apartment and routine life in Michigan.
Upon her return to her hometown, Edwina is struck by how average and purposeless her life now seems. Her apartment is cheap, but tiny and unfulfilling. She follows the same routine day in and day out and gets no real joy out of life. Even the career she was so proud of turns sour when a vindictive coworker gets her fired on false charges and steals her position. Faced with the harsh reality of her new situation, Edwina goes to Chicago to spend time with Cecelia and help her out with her successful new line of bed and breakfasts, especially as she's preparing for guests Edwina invited from Scotland. The guests arrive as planned, but the accompaniment of Laird Dunnegin comes as a shock. Once again, he has a job proposition for her, but now he reveals some of the details that were kept in the dark at their last encounter. Should she choose to accept the position, Edwina would act as a teacher for Laird Dunnegin's daughter, who is currently the focus of a legal dispute meant to take her away from him. His wife, who died when the child was very young, was the daughter of a rich American, groomed to take up the family business. With her dead, Paige is next in line for the business, and her grandfather intends to get her however he can. Once again, Edwina's instinct is to turn him down, but further thought leads to the realization that she no longer has any commitments tying her down in Michigan and this could be the adventure of a lifetime. With that in mind, she accepts. Uprooting her whole life to move to Scotland, Edwina can't help but feel that she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. As she becomes more familiar with both her new charge and new life, she finds herself stepping up to the challenge of handling the young girl and keeping her away from prying eyes as the legal storm rages on. But will she be able to meet Laird Dunnegin's high expectations, both in the classroom and out?
Logic dictates that I should hate this book. 1) It's definitely a romance novel, the genre at which I scoff, deride, and pointedly avoid at bookstores. 2) The cover is... well, to be brutally honest, it's one of the most blah covers I've ever seen. 3) I have a strong aversion to the name Edwina. What are we, Victorian spinsters? 4) The editing is also some of the worst I've ever seen. Misplaced or completely missing punctuation, poorly assembled paragraphs, even the wrong name used at one point. Objectively, I can recognize that this book has a LOT of issues... but I adore it. I adore it to the extent that I'm literally looking at taking a tour over to Scotland at some point in the next year or so. I adore it so much that I screeched like a pterodactyl when it slipped out of my hand and hit the unforgiving pavement on the way into my apartment the other day. I adore it so completely that I'm forced to conclude my brain is intentionally filtering out all of those things and I cannot, for the love of pickled herring, figure out why. It's definitely not because I identify with Edwina, who lets her belief that she is plain and chubby dictate her course in life and, quite truthfully, thinks about it more frequently than she should. Nor is it because I have a thing for handsome men with Scottish accents who own fabulously beautiful castles and have large libraries. Most assuredly, it is not - nay, COULD not - be because the main character (who is possibly named after a Victorian spinster) manages to break out of her box, go on an adventure, and maybe have the "happily ever after" we all secretly crave, in spite of being a Plain Jane in possession of a few extra pounds. Since it's not any of those things, why do I continually give this book 5 stars? Why???
Pros:
- Ye Olde Scotland
- Ye Olde Romance Storye
- Edwina likes Goodwill. I also like Goodwill.
Cons (in case your brain lacks the filter mine seems to have put in place specifically for this book):
- Truly hideous editing (or lack thereof)
- Occasionally whiny characters
- The extreme guilt I feel over giving this 5 stars in spite of all its clearly stated flaws. I'm beginning to truly understand the meaning of the phrase "guilty pleasure".
Final rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
On a semi-related note, I feel the world deserves to know that there's such a thing as a Scottish subscription box and it is life itself. I mean look at this veritable treasure trove of goodies! Specifically, please direct your attention to Douglas, the incredibly handsome Highland cow. Honestly, I mainly got the box for him, but it also came with a box of tea, a Scottish puzzle book, and the tartan shawl that's being used as a background, plus some handy little pamphlets. What a time to be alive!
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