Book Review: Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

Never Seduce a Scot is the first book in new The Montgomerys and Armstrongs series by Maya Banks. This historical romance pairs, Graeme Montgomery, an alpha male following in a family tradition of feuding with the Armstrongs and Eveline Armstrong, who is much loved by her family but considered to be a little touched, or simple. Graeme will do anything to protect and provide for his clan, so when the order comes from the king that he must marry the Armstrong's daughter, which rumor has is childlike mentally, he agrees to go through with it to prevent war and stay in the king's favor.  Eveline has been silent, and hiding her true flaw, since the accident that everyone believes to have rendered her daft. But, when Graeme comes to fulfill his promise, Eveline found herself fascinated by the man that seemed to carry strength and gentleness with him, and the interest is returned. can the marriage forge a true truce between the families, and deception from and around Eveline destroy everything?

Never Seduce a Scot has everything I like about romance. A pair who do not fall instantly to bed, or ignore common sense in their relationship of lives as a whole. Graeme is a strong and powerful man, a true alpha male. he is a leader, but one that considers caring for his people and those weaker than himself a necessity rather than a burden. Even when faced with the prospect of marrying a women that he would not feel right consummating his vows, because of mental ability, he did what was best for those under his care. Eveline is intelligent, and strong. While she might have deceived her family, she did so out of desperation and still managed to show how much she cared for them even when they thought her to be daft. The larger deceptions and storyline kept me interested in the story and helped trigger important moments in the story. I am very interested to see which family members find love in the next book of the series.

Never Seduce a Scot is a solid historical romance. I really enjoyed the depth to the relationship between Graeme and Eveline, who connected on a deeper level of trust long before landing in bed. That is a nice change of pace from some romance novels. The characters and family relationships are very well built, and made me feel like they very well could be real people, albeit quite some time ago. I recommend the book for fans of Maya Banks, historical romance, and strong characters with a sense of honor.