Karinsmiles

Devil o’ the Highlands Revisited

You remember I did a wee race in August? Well at some point during my many searches for stuff about the race I came across a book of the same title by Lynsay Sands. This is the Amazon blurb :
“They call him the Devil, the most notorious laird in all of Scotland. But Cullen, the new Laird of Donnachaidh, pays them no heed. He cares only about the survival of his clan, and for that, he needs a wife. He wants someone stout to bear him sons. He wants a pliable woman who wouldn’t question his dictates. He wants a passionate woman to warm his bed…one out of three isn’t bad. Evelinde has lived under the cruel thumb of her stepmother for too long. That is the only explanation for her eagerness to wed the “Devil of the Highlands”. She’s determined to be a good wife, but this Devil needs to learn that there is more to a marriage than what goes on in the bedchamber… “

So I knew it wasn’t high literature but I’ve got the paperweight and the t-shirt so I had to buy the book. I think it’s what’s commonly known as a ‘bodice-ripper’. I’m only 20 pages in but the heroine has already encountered the titular hero while dressed only in a chemise made transparent by a fall in the river (Miss Wet T-shirt 1273?), they have exchanged their first passionate kisses, there have been a number of arousing caresses and clearly more will follow in the next 300 pages.

I’m not sure what nationality Ms Sands is (she has a website if you’re interested) but the ‘Devil’ has the strangest impression of a Scottish accent “Ye liked me kisses. Doona deny it. I ken ye did”. Actually that probably gives the flavour of the whole book. Anyway I’ve started, so I’ll finish. I think I might send it on to the race organiser when I’m done; he might want to add it to the kit list. It even comes in a compact size, so it will fit in your race pack along with your waterproofs, map and compass.

I don’t know if it’s a typical example of historical romance but it’s definitely not my cup of tea, although so far it’s sufficiently bad as to be funny and I don’t think it will take many hours to read. One of the reviews reads “I knew this book would be a 5 before I even bought it!!! I bye all books from Lynsay Sands. This was a great book. Love passion and feeling. Loved it.” I’ll second that – I think I’ll ‘bye’ all books from Lynsay Sands from now on as well.

postscript 21/11/09 – I finished the book this morning. It took me approximately half as long to read the Devil o the Highlands as it did to run it. Like the run, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I had anticipated. However unlike the run, I’ve no desire to repeat the experience.