Enraptured (3) (Secrets of the Loch)

The book was delivered today like this. Pretty disappointing.

Great read!

This is my first Candace Camp novel & I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love Highlanders they are my favorite hero with their Scottish brogue and I'm not at all surprised that Coll swept me off my feet.

Violet is an archeologist who has been invited to Duncally to study the ruins that an earl discovered on his land. Upon her arrival she discovered that the earl is not in residence he has left for his honeymoon and she is left to deal with the caretaker of the castle and the earl's brother in law Coll. Violet is very strong willed and after a bad first meeting between herself and Coll she vowed to not let him interfere with her work.

But the sparks flying between the two of them is hard to resist and she soon finds herself drawn to him. While excavating the ruins she stumbles upon something extraordinary and that led to Coll telling her of the legend of his grandmother. His grandmother hid three sacks of gold sixty years ago or so the legend says and everyone in the village has been trying to find the gold to get rich. Coll neither his family does not know if the gold even exists but someone in the village thinks that Coll's family has the gold. One night the castle was broken into and the intruder hit Violet and escaped.

With the passion between Coll and violet rising and danger lurking about,Coll and violet set out on the path to find the gold with the help of Coll's grandmother journal that she left.

The suspense, mystery,twists and turns and the sizzling attraction between Coll & Violet this book has kept me on my toes. Each page is a delight and no matter how hard I tried I just could not decipher the clues which is what really excited me about this book. Not knowing what is going to happen gives me such a rush of excitement. Also Ms. Camp writing is flawless. I love the way she portrayed violet as a head strong lass. I also love the attention to details. I like when a book describes everything so in depth. I like to think outside of the box and the words she used to describe people, things, gives me a feeling of not reading a book with words that is monotonous and that is very refreshing.

2.5 STARS. Really struggling with the rating. The truth is I probably would have DNF'd it if I hadn't received it as an ARC (I always feel a responsibility to finish the books in full before reviewing them). That should make it seem like a no-brainer, but the truth is also that I really enjoyed the first half or so; Violet is a spunky heroine and it was a nice change to have the hero, Coll, be the proper and concerned one. I started it in May though and then proceeded to leave it alone and dread picking it up again for several months. Don't think it's objectively bad, just all in all, was not my ideal cup of tea.

WHAT I LIKED.
For at least the beginning, I really enjoyed Violet; she's one of my favorite types of heroine: book-smart, kind of unusual, opinionated and a bit of a spitfire. It also seems like Camp did the research necessary to make her a believable archeologist, which I always appreciate.

I also really loved Coll—he was such a big sweetie, how could anyone NOT like him??? He's a total good guy, still marked by his illegitimacy and so very upstanding and proper, very cute and protective when it comes to Violet. The chemistry between them was good and I definitely enjoyed how attracted he was to all her different facets. He really struggled with his feeling of shame, and that he wasn't doing right by her, and it really made my heart go out to him. He wants to be honorable, doesn't want society to scorn her, but he is also sensitive to her strong feelings of independence and her fear of marriage.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE.
The mystery subplot was pretty blah; moved the plot along in certain ways that it needed to do and led to some fun exchanges between Violet and Coll, when he would get very protective and she just reacted on instinct, but still ... kind of annoying. Similar to some other reviewers, I found Violet's insistence on not getting married a bit annoying. One reviewer was super annoyed by the historical inaccuracy of Violet's persona in that day and age, and frankly that didn't bother me—there are always odd ducks, out of place and time—though I do admire her extensive knowledge and can appreciate why that annoyed her.

For me, what really grated was that I felt like Violet wanted all of the compromises to be on Coll's end. It was all about how she felt, and what she wanted, and how this was contrary to what she believed and wanted. Well, umm, hello, all of those things also apply to Coll! He doesn't want to marry her to own her, he wants to marry her because he loves her and also to protect her and be able to legitimize any children they have. Now her feelings are valid as well, and I'm not saying they should be subordinate, but there was absolutely no willingness on her end to even discuss compromising or try to understand why Coll felt the way he did.

I'm also trying to remember what made me finally put the book down for several months and take a pause, and I'm pretty sure it was that I felt their attraction started being a big thing too much too soon. Can't swear by that, and frankly don't feel like going back through and rereading portions to determine for sure.

BOTTOM LINE.
I don't think it's objectively bad—granted, books are art and art is always subjective (providing for some nonfiction exceptions, but let's not get too literal), but I mean this in the sense that things that annoyed me might not annoy another reader. Camp writes well, the heroine wasn't TSTL, the hero wasn't being abusive but it's made to be romantic, there weren't really stupid characters or plot ploys, things that made no sense, etc. I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would though, so I definitely felt disappointment, and know for sure it won't be a reread.

*This review is of an ARC provided by Net Galley and the publisher

Seems there were more "thoughts" than interaction with each other. Finished this series of the Highlands, so was good in that regard. Enjoy this author.

Love her books.

Violet’s mentor had been her Uncle Lionel. But Violet’s uncle had died and she was now on her way to the Earl of Mardorin to try to be given the chance to take her uncle’s place as the antiquarian before others got the chance to go after the position. Only Lionel had accepted Violet’s abilities. Then the carriage Violet was in was stopped by thieves but Coll came to Violet’s rescue and ran the men off who had stopped the carriage. Violet did not offer even a thank you was actually rude. Coll would have been happy with a thank you then decided to take a kiss for a thank you, then he toke another. Violet was shocked then ashamed she responded to Coll Violet is from England and Coll is Scottish from the Highlands. Coll manages his brother in laws estate who is the Earl that Violet is trying to see. The ruins are on his estate. There is a rumor of lost treasure hidden on the estate or the estate across the loch[ lake]. The rumors of hidden treasure are putting Violet in danger Coll is determined to keep Violet safe. Attracted to each other but Violet says she is not going to slip again as when Coll claimed his payment. But also Coll has no desire to travel the world and Violet wants to go wherever the ruins are being found.
I didn’t love this but I didn’t hate this story. I loved the character of Coll He is really a sweetie as far as I am concerned. Violet kinda irritated me but I also understand she is independent but that doesn’t mean you have to be rude. The uncle may have let her do mostly anything she wanted to. But she does eventually loosen up with Coll and learns to Coll. I did like the ins and outs of this story.
I received an ARC of this story for an honest review.

The story dragged at the beginning. It became interesting the last 20 pages. I like a book to capture my attention from the first chapter and this book did not deliver. Disappointed.

Finally! I'm enchanted! I love this author but the first and second book from this series lacked something for me. But this one finally swept me away like I expect from Mrs. Camp. Great job!

Summary from Goodreads:

"When Coll Munro finds himself supervising an archaeological dig on the sprawling Highlands estate of Duncally, the handsome Scot’s only worry is his former crofter friends, who seem to delight in making his job as hard as possible. Little does he know his biggest problem comes in a much smaller package. Gorgeous Violet Thornhill is an exasperating, meddling bluestocking who came to the site to examine the ruins and instead finds herself studying Coll. The unyielding Highlander and the headstrong English beauty clash at every turn. But when a midnight intruder threatens Violet and the excavation itself, these polar opposites must work together to solve a decades-old mystery. As Coll and Violet race to decipher long-buried clues, will they discover riches hidden years ago...or an unbridled passion more precious than gold?"

My Thoughts:

Last year I didn't read hardly any historical romances which is a shame since there are so many great books out there in this genre. This year I'm changing that statistic and books like this are exactly why. I enjoyed this book so much and found it to be a pleasurable read from beginning to end. One of the things that really made this book stand out for me were the two main characters. Oh but how I loved the two main characters in this book! Violet Thornhill is one of the most independent and unique female leads that I have come across in a book like this. She is an archaeologist and committed to never being married as she doesn't want anyone to have control of her or anything she does. Then you have Coll Munro who is much more conventional in that he plans on getting married and settling down one day. The two of them clash from the very beginning and I just adored it. I am all for romances where the happy ever after doesn't come too easily - sometimes the friction between the protagonists is the very best part! I was completely content to read about these two butting heads while also trying to avoid the growing attraction between them. Be still my heart! If there is a romance "trope" that I love the most, this is probably it. I found myself wrapped up in their relationship hoping that they would be able to work it all out.

One of the other things that I loved about this book was that the author didn't make it easy for these two. They were so completely different in the way that they viewed marriage. They were also so different when it came to worrying about what others would think and about how to handle the chemistry between them. I fully admit that there were times where I just didn't see how this author was going to make it work. I felt like they were too different and head strong on certain points that they were never going to be able to come together. You'll have to read the book yourself to see how it all plays out but I can tell you that it is completely worth the ride. I also really enjoyed the mystery of the missing treasure story line that came into play. It added a layer of suspense to this book that I wasn't expecting but really liked. I had a hard time setting this book down and managed to read it in a matter of days. I didn't realize that this book was part of a trilogy at all and honestly don't feel like it took away from my enjoyment of this book at all. Now I just need to go back and read the other two books since I liked this one so much.

Overall, a really great read and a new author for me to follow. I loved the chemistry between Coll and Violet so much which gives me very high hopes for the rest of the books in this trilogy. This book was really entertaining and left me completely satisfied by the end. What more could a girl ask for? I also have to tell you that the chemistry between these two was hot, hot, hot! Easily recommended for fans of historical romance- check this one out!

Bottom Line: A book that reminded me exactly why I love this genre so much! A great read!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher.