REVIEW: One Night with the Laird by Nicola Cornick

Can a rake be seduced, then forgotten? Lady Mairi tries but the disreputable rascal just won’t leave her alone until she agrees to be his mistress. Will their resistance to one another prove that they’re not in love once it’s no longer necessary to protect Lady Mairi?

One Night with the Laird by Nicola Cornick
Series: Scottish Brides, Book 2
Category: Historical
Publisher: Harlequin HQN (October 29, 2013)
ISBN: 9780373777907
Rating 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Review Courtesy of Romance Junkies.

Beginning in Scotland in 1815, Jack and Mairi’s relationship is precarious from the start. Having met Jack at a masked ball, Mairi unknowingly picks the one man she despises the most for a sexual interlude. Their passionate evening, spent masked in the dark, reveals only their fervor for one another, dangerous and seductive, as well as unforgettable. Once Mairi awakens and realizes who her lover is, she’s determined that he not find out who seduced him. Can she continue to keep her identity hidden from Jack even though they are bound to be in the same place sometime in the future?

Jack Rutherford wakes up after the most amazing sexual experience of his life to find the woman gone from the bed they shared. No amount of questioning, or threats, forces her identity from her staff. He cannot even find out who owns this hidden place of their clandestine coupling. Later, Jack discusses his frustration with his cousin Robert but can’t seem to find a way to track his mysterious lover down.

As a special favor, Robert asks Jack to escort Lady Mairi to an upcoming celebration, for her safety. Jack and Lady Mairi are well acquainted since Mairi’s sister married Jack’s cousin. That doesn’t mean that they like one another. Quite the opposite. It doesn’t take Jack long to realize, when he calls on Mairi, that she is the masked seductress he has been hunting. Even more frustrating is that Mairi doesn’t deny that it was her, but refuses his escort and any future dalliance.

Jack can’t believe that his seductress is Mairi, whom he has despised for her haughty treatment of his previous suggestions that they become much better acquainted. To think that she had wanted him all along and hid her identity when she seduced him intrigues him even more. It’s just like Jack to think that Mairi secretly pined for his attention and knowingly seduced him. Lady Mairi is determined to set him straight and never make that mistake again.

Can Mairi outwit Jack in the game of seduction which earned him his undeniably rakish reputation? Can Jack keep Mairi safe from gossip and those who find her wealth irresistible without falling in love with her?

ONE NIGHT WITH THE LAIRD is book two in Nicola Cornick’s SCOTTISH BRIDES series. For those who enjoyed book one, you can look forward to being reacquainted with many of the characters. Book two continues at a house party where family and friends gather with Robert and Lucy from book one. If you’re like me and haven’t read book one, you won’t be lost by reading book two first, but you’ll be curious enough to want to read THE LADY AND THE LAIRD next. Dulcibella is a piece of work and she definitely has me curious about her actions in book one, as several laugh-out-loud moments in book two were because of her behavior.

Mairi and Jack are combustible together. The best part is watching Mairi dupe Jack at the seductive game he seems to think he controls. There is some suspense to this storyline but Jack and Mairi’s spark are what kept me reading. Neither one of them wants a relationship but they’re not able to ignore what draws them together.

I’ve always loved author Nicola Cornick’s books and especially when they involve a house party. Ms. Cornick has a flare for making her characters’ interactions come alive, combined with laugh-out-loud moments in their bantering with one another. I can so easily picture them at a table conversing amongst the food and laughter, or playing games, trying to best one another. The simple pleasures of life, that are so well portrayed, bring Nicola Cornick’s historical time periods to realistic fruition. There is also plenty of action and daring, but the love found within the pages is always heartfelt. You really can’t go wrong reading any of Nicola Cornick’s books—just pick one and lose yourself within a well-drawn historical world. I’m betting it will begin your addiction to Ms. Cornick’s style, too. What I love best is that I can prolong my connection with the books by visiting Nicola Cornick’s website. I spend a lot of time there viewing maps, photos and reading the background on books or series. That’s how I love exploring Historical Romance—you get the full package with Ms. Cornick’s eye for detail.

Sensual, seductive, charismatic and a surprisingly naughty rake, with his lady ready to play along, ONE NIGHT WITH A LAIRD is passionate historical reading you won’t soon forget.

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