The Scotsman Who Saved Me: Seven Brides for Seven Scotsmen, Book 1

Howell’s new historical series following the marital pursuits of the seven MacEnroy brothers gets off to a lamentable start. After the MacEnroy family were evicted from their tenancy by the local gentry, they fled Scotland for America and set up a home in Arkansas, where they built a fortified stockade and went on to become wildly successful in all their endeavors. When the MacEnroys rescue Lady Emily Stanton and her young nephew (English gentry who are traveling in America) from the men who killed Emily’s sister and brother-in-law, Iain MacEnroy embarks on a plodding, uninteresting struggle between his attraction to Emily’s alleged charms and his lingering resentment of the nobility. For her part, Emily is implausibly innocent, and, despite a few indications of potential for becoming spunky, fails to develop into an interesting character. Scenes and conversations are so repetitive they echo word for word in places. The book is trite, badly written, and utterly lacking in tension, passion, or humor. Fans of romance can give this a pass. Agent: Evan Marshall, Evan Marshall Agency. (Oct.)