ARC Review: Romancing The Scot by May McGoldrick (Pennington Family)

Title: Romancing The Scot

          (Pennington Family )

Author: May McGoldrick

Release Date: November 14, 2017 (ARC)

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press - Swerve

Category: Historical Romance

Type: Digital

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May McGoldrick Website

Blurb:

In this stunning series starter by USA Today bestselling author May McGoldrick, meet the new generation of Penningtons...five brothers and sisters of passion and privilege. Enter their aristocratic world…where each will fight injustice and find love.

Hugh Pennington—Viscount Greysteil, Lord Justice of the Scottish Courts, hero of the Napoleonic wars—is a grieving widower with a death wish. When he receives an expected crate from the continent, he is shocked to find a nearly dead woman inside. Her identity is unknown, and the handful of American coins and the precious diamond sown into her dress only deepen the mystery.
Grace Ware is an enemy to the English crown. Her father, an Irish military commander of Napoleon’s defeated army. Her mother, an exiled Scottish Jacobite. When Grace took shelter in a warehouse, running from her father’s murderers through the harbor alleyways of Antwerp, she never anticipated bad luck to deposit her at the home of an aristocrat in the Scottish Borders. Baronsford is the last place she could expect to find safety, and Grace feigns a loss of memory to buy herself time while she recovers.
Hugh is taken by her beauty, passion, and courage to challenge his beliefs and open his mind. Grace finds in him a wounded man of honor, proud but compassionate. When their duel of wits quickly turns to passion and romance, Grace’s fears begin to dissolve…until danger follows her to the very doors of Baronsford. For, unknown to either of them, Grace has in her possession a secret that will wreak havoc within the British government. Friend and foe are indistinguishable as lethal forces converge to tear the two lovers apart or destroy them both.

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Favorite Line(s):

“We are a match, you and I,” he whispered against her lips. “You complete me.”  ~  Jerry McGuire *cough* I mean, Hugh Pennington 😊

Excerpt:

“You’re too weak to join us in the dining room, but strong enough to walk to the river,” he teased. Last night, she’d taken a tray in her room. “I hope it’s not the company that’s keeping you away.”

“I apologize, m’lord. I only left my sick bed two days ago.” She turned to face him. “I hope you’re not offended. I don’t think I would have been very good company.”

However striking he thought the color of her eyes before, his estimation soared today. Delicate rings of gold encircled the blue irises.

“Hardly offended. Though I can’t imagine you would be anything but the best of company,” he said. “You see, it isn’t too often that we have the pleasure of so mysterious a guest here at Baronsford.”

“You’ll have to pardon me, m’lord, but since I do not recall my past, I’d find it trying to be inspected and judged in strange company. After all, I can offer nothing of substance with which to defend myself.”

Whenever Jo was at Baronsford, dinner was part of an ongoing series of social visits and engagements. It had only been family last night, but they did need to decide on how they would explain Grace’s identity and her presence here. Her reserve was reasonable. As a judge, he understood the strain felt by those who testified. She was suffering from her loss of memory, and cast among the strangers. Still, he was inclined to tease, hoping to soften the shell of uneasiness.

“You assume that people will think the worst, not knowing your name or background.”

“Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t,” she said, looking away in the direction Jo had gone. “I believe that’s the general attitude in England?”

“Then it’s a good thing we’re in Scotland,” he said lightly. “But you’re right. Still, isn’t that human nature, regardless of where one lives?”

“You have me at a disadvantage, since I can hardly use my personal experience in the argument.”

“True, but your comment would indicate that you’re not English.”

“You see? Even in this I can’t defend myself.” She turned her attention again to the carriage barn.

Hugh recognized the depth of her discomfort and searched for a topic that would distract her from her current dilemma. She made the choice for him.

“Lady Jo told me you found the coins.”

“Yes, I did. That first day. They were lying in the bottom of the basket.”

Hugh wondered again if she could be an American. He had family who called Boston their home. Pierce, his uncle, and his wife, Portia, lived there with their children. Now that the war with the former colonies was behind them, perhaps he and Jo could introduce Grace as an acquaintance of his American relatives.

“Those coins could be a clue to where you came from.”

“Perhaps. I just can’t say.”

He thought back to the day she arrived. “When I was carrying you to the house, you murmured lines from a ballad. Do you remember it?”

“I suppose I must enjoy reading. I recall hearing my own voice in the crate, reciting lines of poetry. What works they came from, and when I came across them . . .”She shrugged.

Hugh suppressed a smile, thinking of her feverish desire to read his law journals in the study. “We have two well-appointed libraries here at Baronsford. You’re welcome to use them at your convenience.”

“Thank you, m’lord. That’s very kind of you.” Grace’s attention turned to the gondola she’d arrived in. “Is that the one?”

“Would you like a closer look?”

“Please,” she said, following him into the barn.

“We cleaned out the basket entirely. Aside from the coins, there was nothing else to indicate where you might have come from, other than Antwerp.”

Slowly, she circled the basket and peered inside.

“This must feel like meeting an old friend.”

“Actually, I now know how Lazarus might have felt passing his burial cave.” She shivered. “Or how a former prisoner feels returning to view his cell.”

Five days, he thought. Captive. Isolated in near darkness, knowing her surroundings only by touch. Never knowing if she would ever see the light of day again.

He motioned to the open doors. “Perhaps we should go. I don’t mean to torment you.”

“You’re too kind, m’lord, but I asked to see it,” Grace said softly. Looking back into the basket, she added, “And I’m fine now.”

As Hugh watched her, he wondered if she was searching for something that might bring back her forgotten past. He moved to her side.

“Jo tells me you only remember the time inside the gondola. And even those memories are scattered and limited.”

“Limited in every respect.”

It wasn’t his imagination that she was becoming paler. “I’m pressing you.”

“What stays with me being trapped in it is my response to what I thought was certain death,” she went on. “I suppose wishing for the end to come, praying that each breath would be your last, is too powerful an emotion to forget.”

“I’m sorry that an instrument of my avocation was the cause of your ordeal.”

“I might not remember the past, but I’m certain neither you nor this basket are responsible for any of it.”

Slowly, she turned and glanced around at the other equipment.

“Are you a balloonist?”

“Guilty. As you can see, flying is my passion,” Hugh told her.

Moving past barrels and piles of netting, she paused and looked at the knotted ropes dangling like nooses from the rafters.

“And that balloon is the only thing that keeps you up in the air?” she said, pointing up at the deflated silk.

“It’s called the envelope. But yes, that and the gas that will fill it.”

“They say there is a fine line between courage and madness.”

“So my sister tells me,” he replied, smiling.

Dialogue Highlight:

Seeing a page of the newspaper among the others, Grace smiled to find the “radical” paper had published a glowing article on the “Right Honorable, the Lord Viscount Greysteil.”Poring over every line, she decided she could easily become a supporter of this William Ritchie, the editor.

“Well, that’s a sight to behold.”

Grace looked up, startled and happy to find Hugh standing in the doorway. So few hours had passed since she’d seen him last, but that made no difference to the wild thump of her heart and the heat rising into her face. She pushed the volume onto a table beside her, starting to put her feet down and stand.

“Please don’t,” he instructed, coming into the room. “Give your ankle a rest.”

Grace didn’t know if she’d ever be getting used to the way his presence affected her. Each time she saw him, she was taken aback by her response to his darkly handsome face, his great height, his confidence. He’d changed his clothes. Her gaze took in the long muscular legs sheathed in the tight buff trousers, the embroidered gray silk waistcoat, and the double-breasted blue coat. Above his broad chest and hidden beneath his neck cloth lay the strong neck she’d tasted this morning.

Realizing she’d sighed audibly, she hazarded a look into his face. And he was watching her again. She bit her lip as he glanced at the open library door before looking back to her.

A smile tugged at his lip. He crossed the room to the window and took in a deep draught of the warm breeze.

“I was told you were sleeping.”

“How did you know that I wasn’t?”

“Spies. Paid informants. Faithful servants.” He came to her side and opened the volume she’d been reading. “More inquiry into my legal failings.”

“More glowing reports on your achievements, even from The Scotsman.”

“That’s only because William Ritchie was a solicitor before descending into the abyss of journalism. And he’s still a friend of mine.”

She already knew it was so like him to deflect a compliment.

“Have you heard anything about Mr. Darby’s condition?” she asked.

“Truscott returned an hour ago with good news. The doctor stitched him up and says he’ll mend nicely. He wants to keep him at his infirmary tonight, however. Tomorrow, he’ll bring Darby back out in his carriage.”

She was tremendously relieved. She never could have stopped or survived that attack if it weren’t for Darby’s heroism.

“You might also like to know that we’ve begun a search to find the three men.”

“I thought you would.”

For years Grace had been the arranger of everything in the lives of her father and herself. Perhaps it was her nature, or perhaps it was her upbringing as the daughter of a military man, but she’d always planned and organized every move. Listening to Hugh, she could see they shared that trait.

“I’m sorry that you had to receive Mrs. Douglas along with everything else today,” Grace told him as he walked to the fireplace. He took a toy block from the mantel and turned it around in his hand before putting it back.

“The perfect host did not greet her when she called. Her late husband’s position in the government might buy her a great deal of status, but she found it meant nothing here. She faced the judge in me, and she stood accused.”

“Did she explain her reason for the sudden visit?”

“To make certain that she was absolved of any guilt or responsibility,” he told her. “Or to glean more information than she learned in the village. As you thought, she was walking in Melrose at the time of the attack. She also admitted everything about her letter that I already knew from you.”

“Your verdict, my lord justice?” she asked. “Guilty or innocent?”

“I’m withholding judgment for now. Mrs. Douglas’s performance was strong enough to allow for another hearing.”

When he spoke as a justice, Hugh assumed a severe and commanding presence that Grace imagined few men or women would not cower before. She was not disconcerted by it; she’d grown up in the company of generals and kings. But this side of him, this confidence in his ability to act decisively, only added to her growing feelings. It only made her want him more.

He walked back to where she sat and picked up her cane, flexing it to test its sturdiness.

“This was my father’s cane,” he said. “If it’s too long, we can cut it down to the right size for you.”

“It’s a beautiful stick. I could never allow you to do that. The length is fine as it is.”

“As you wish.” He inspected the carved lion’s head for a moment before continuing. “Do you have any plans for this afternoon, Miss Grace?”

His gaze moved languorously over her, pausing on her lips and then her breasts before moving down along her legs to her wrapped ankle, leaving a wake of delicious chills rippling through her.

“I was planning on doing more reading.”

“Excellent. Hold on to this,” he said, handing her the cane.

She gasped when he lifted her off the chair in one sweep. As she looped one arm around his neck, Grace espied a maid walking past the open door.

“What are you doing? Where are you taking me?”

“Where would you like me to take you?” he whispered in her ear.

Grace’s gaze flew to his. Their faces were mere inches apart. She looked into gray eyes that gleamed suggestively as they focused on her lips. She suddenly felt wicked, undone. She’d go anywhere. She would do whatever he asked. She wanted him.

“I’ll take that as a highly favorable response to an unspoken question,” he whispered with the hint of a smile. “But we’ll save that for later. Right now, I’m taking you to my study and putting you to work.”

Review:

Grace Ware is an enemy of the crown – her father a former commander of Napoleon and her mother an exiled Scot. Her father has just been murdered and after running from his attackers, she finds herself locked away in a crate bound for who knows where. Five days later and very near death, she is discovered by Greysteil and nursed back to health. But her luck could not be worse because he’s a Justice of the courts and she fears his retribution should he discover her identity. Her only course of action, to feign amnesia until she can plan an escape to finish the quest her father had been on. But the Penningtons are an accepting family and she is easily welcomed in to the fold. Before too long, she finds that Hugh’s reputation as a fair man is warranted. Worse still, she falls for him and starts to hope for a future which cannot ever be for a known enemy such as she is.

Hugh Pennington, Viscount Greysteil is a widower – having lost his wife and young son in the war and internalizing personal guilt for their deaths, he is known to have a bit of a death wish. While he scoffs it off to others, inside he knows the truth of the rumor. When Grace is literally delivered to his door, he instinctively knows there is much to her mysterious circumstances that must be uncovered. When an attempt on her life is revealed, he vows to get to the bottom of the truth. He has a reputation for being fair, and even considers himself to be so – but the tenacious Grace challenges him at every turn and soon elicits a new way of thinking in some areas. As they uncover her secrets, they come to understand one another. Ultimately Hugh decides he will never let Grace go, but a lot must occur and the cards must fall in their favor or Grace’s life will never be her own.

May McGoldrick – I can tell you that if all books are this fantastic, I will not hesitate to buy every single one of them. This intricate plot was brilliantly crafted and wonderfully executed. The Penningtons are a unique family with a tragic beginning (at least for their parents) that eventually came round to create the family that we are introduced to. While we did not learn a great deal about all of the siblings, I learned enough about Hugh, his sister, and their parents, to wish they were my neighbors and friends. I want to know more and I despise having to wait for the next installment, but with no other choice, wait I will.

Grace is quite clever and her ability with her photographic memory makes her a perfect complement to Hugh. Her strong character and refusal to back down tasks him with reexamination of some of his tactics. Hugh is also quite ingenious and uses his intellect powerfully, but impartially within the courtroom. His role within the court is almost a secondary persona – a change in his demeanor as the Justice comes to the surface. A tortured alpha who doesn’t even realize he is in need of saving – and a betrayed heroine who doesn’t believe saving is even within the realm of possibility – Hugh and Grace couldn’t be more perfectly matched. His family is an interesting mixture with open minds and a welcoming nature toward pretty much everyone. I very much enjoyed my time getting to know a portion of the Pennington family and am looking forward to the next book in the series! Those who love HR with a powerful family that uses their power for good, a charming cast of characters, a thrilling and enthralling plot, a shroud of mystery surrounding it all, and a brilliantly beautiful love story are sure to be pleased with McGoldrick and the Penningtons.

Kindle version provided by St. Martin’s Press ~ Swerve/Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.