my rating: 5 stars
This book was one of the best historical romance books I’ve read in a while. Historical romances tend to be a hit or miss for me and recently, they’ve been a miss. I think that often times, the plot and similar time periods tend to blur many historical fictions together. If the the writing, tension, romance, and plot are done well, it can result in one of the best and most entertaining romance books. Going into this book, I was a bit tentative on what I’m going to read because the past historical romances I’ve read haven’t been outstanding. They were just okay and I’m the type of person who admittedly, relies on historical romances to be my pick me up books or the type of books that lift my mood up.
I got this book recommendation from Riley Marie’s channel and since she’s rated it 5 stars, I went into this story a bit more hopeful than I would have if I just saw it on my e-library. From her review, I know that this book is a highlander romance, which I’ve never read about, and is centered around a protective-innocent trope and a female mc who’s got a hearing disability.
Riley was not wrong, this book was amazing, five out of five stars. It’s honestly, one of the best romance books I’ve read in a while. It was pure, full of depth, cute, and ugh, just so good. It’s definitely on my 2021 favorites and on my all time favorite historical romance books list.
“Never Seduce a Scot” follows two dueling clans, who have been constantly engaged in a relationship of bloodshed, revenge, rage, and sorrow. After finally managing to get some semblance of peace from England, the King of Scotland wants to put down the dispute between these two clans as quick as possible before the Highlands go back into a war full of instability and bloodshed that’s recently been quelled. So the King does the most reasonable thing and mandates that two people, one from each of the dueling clans, come together in the union of an arrange marriage. And that’s how we meet Graeme and Eveline.
This book did so many things right and went even beyond that. I wouldn’t be doing justice to my love for this book if I didn’t mention the writing.
The reason why Maya Bank’s writing was so good in this book and why every character felt rich and deep no matter how little their “screen time” may have been is because of Eveline. Writing from a main character who doesn’t communicate or interact with the world the way other able bodied characters do really forced Maya Banks to find a writing style that felt genuine and real to the character’s disability. It allowed for the writing to focus on character personalities, bonds, and other specific details of the world and relationships in a way that tend to be glossed over in other books.
Graeme’s character really added to the writing as well. His conflict of doing his clan justice and making sure they are protected, respected, and okay with his marriage while also respecting Eveline and not blaming her for her clan’s actions, produced such an emotionally intelligent character you just can’t help falling in love with. His moral conflicts and how he perceived the situation really helped add to the depth of the story and upped the stakes and tension in the relationship and the whole subplot of the dueling clans.
This book introduced me to a whole new world of tropes.
The first trope that was new to me was the “highlander” sub-genre in historical romances. I have been sleeping on this genre and I cannot believe I didn’t venture into this sub-genre sooner. I think the reason why I’ve felt a bit meh about my historical romance reading journey recently is because I’ve been saturating myself in books centered around the British aristocratic time period. I genuinely am so excited about this new sub-genre because I love how it opens up more plot possibilities such as clan fights and other, more dynamic, relationships and tensions that I haven’t read about yet.
The trope or element that I was a bit weary going into this book was the whole “protective-innocent” romance relationship, Graeme being the protective one and Eveline being the innocent one. I was a bit worried about whether I’d like the romance in the book with the dynamic that these two have.
The romance between the two characters, the whole reason you’re probably reading my review, will not leave you disappointed. I’m very particular about reading books with alpha males and the whole “innocent” girl thing so when I heard that this book centers around a “protective-innocent” trope, my alpha male alert went off. While I can appreciate certain alpha males, the idea and execution of them tend to be off-putting for me by how unnecessarily aggressive and possessive they may come off. I think everyone has their own line of what’s okay and not okay and I have mine as well that I can quickly pick up on if crossed.
Maya Banks, quickly proved me wrong on Graeme and his protective side.
I absolutely loved his protective nature towards Eveline. Graeme while protective wasn’t necessarily the aggressive alpha male that I tend to stay away from. In fact, he was the exact opposite. He had so, I mean so much respect for Eveline as her husband. He was emotionally intelligent, as soft as much as he was hard, and patient. He was basically an emotionally mature man and what’s more sexy than a man who listens, respects, and protects his women? I talked already about his conflict between his clan and his wife and I think that combination of conflicts and how he approached his wife and constantly made sure to prioritize her, no matter how hard it was, no matter how much his family disagreed, really made me fall in love with his character more.
I was equally as wary about the innocent side of the romance. Often times, the female mc plays the role of the innocent in the “protective-innocent” trope and I feel as though they sometimes don’t come off as innocent as much as they do stupid and unknowing.
Eveline’s character is a perfect example of how one can be innocent but also so much more.
Her innocence comes from the way she interprets the world as someone with a hearing disability. I want to make it clear that by using the word innocent, I don’t mean it in a derogatory sense. The way she was sheltered by such a deeply loving family who would fight for her respect and fair treatment, the way and reason she’s living a life where people see her as “less”, and the way she interacts with and interprets the world, all personify her innocence.
The way Graeme and Evline met was amazing and really set off the story in a way you can’t just stop reading. I don’t want to go too much into detail but the way Eveline developed this unerring fascination with a man who she grew up believing was a monster she needed to be afraid of, to suddenly not being able to get enough of was so well done. It made their relationship so much more sweeter.
As much as Eveline is “soft” and innocent, she is that much of a strong female character who’s fueled by determination and perseverance to make her family, husband, and her husband’s clan proud. I think that was my favorite part of her character. Yes she was soft, and yes she was constantly underestimated, but she pushed on and she did what she wanted to.
The way Graeme and Eveline were similar in how they were protective over their clans and how they respected each other but also so different in stature, Eveline being smaller and softer and Graeme being the passives silent, brooding type, really developed the best kind of chemistry that you just can’t help but root for.
What more can we ask for in a romance than a couple you can’t stop loving and root for?
And how can I forget the family element! I love books centered around family and this book did that in such a wholesome way. I think that when you have a large cast of characters, especially a multitude of family members, books tend to run into the problem of having characters who are almost barely edited carbon copies of each other. Banks did not fall into that trap. Every family member had copious amount of love and respect for their respective family member, whether that be Graeme or Eveline. I love the whole big brother little sister relationship and I loved seeing that relationship between Graeme and Rorie and Brodie and Eveline. I loved how the families grew throughout the book, emotionally and physically, and the way certain characters made muddied decisions that show just how human they are, something that can be lost in translation in works of fiction. I, personally, will never get tired of reading about a wholesome family who will fight for their loved one’s respect and their happiness. It’s just so precious.
And that’s where I’ll leave my review today folks. If you couldn’t read my love for this book in my really long review, then here it is again. I really loved this book and highly recommend it! Let me know if you’ve picked it up and if you have any book recommendations that fall under the “protective-innocent” romance because I want to read them all after this one.