This is my first foray with Elizabeth Essex, and I am delighted to find such an able storyteller! I was truly impressed with the quality of prose and story in this book. I particularly enjoyed the letters throughout the book- to be honest, I kind of wish it was almost entirely letters, but that might just be me. This is a tad more angsty and dramatic than suits my particular taste, but this was a really excellent historical romance. If the premise interests you, I would certainly recommend

Greer Douglas and Ewan Cameron were betrothed as children and have never met. They have developed a friendship and fallen in love through the letters they wrote to each other over ten years. Finally their wedding day has come. On the way to the wedding they stop to help a badly injured man. When is picked taken away by an old man, they continue to the castle. When they arrive, the family is informed (by Ewan’s cousin) that Ewan is missing and reported dead. Greer is devastated, but determined to find the truth about Ewan’s death – when, where, and why.

This story is packed with intrigue, excitement, and danger from the start. The story is told from the points of view of the hero and heroine through the letters (426) between them interspersed with the story narrative. I recommend this book. Greer and Ewan are great characters and their story is a grand adventure and a beautiful love story.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley. The review is voluntary.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Marry is the fourth book in the Highland Brides series by Elizabeth Essex. Although it's part of a series it can easily be read as a standalone story.

Ewan Cameron 5th Duke of Crieff and Lady Greer Douglas have been betrothed sight unseen for 10 years. In that time one or the other of them was travelling abroad but they faithfully wrote to each other regularly. They told each other everything and fell in love.

The time finally came for them to meet in person and to marry but before that could happen, Ewan is set upon and beaten senseless, then left to die. Greer is absolutely devastated when she reaches what is to be her new home only to be told that Ewan is dead. She goes home and keeps herself busy helping to look after a man she had come across on the way to meet Ewan. He was lying in the road near death. She is glad to have something to occupy her, especially as that something, that somebody, reminds her of Ewan. The man has no memory of who he is, and as he has no name Greer even starts calling him Ewan. Could this man BE Ewan, surely not, he's dead and has been buried hasn't he?

Wow, what a fantastic story this was. I was dying to find out who it was that was behind the attack on Ewan and couldn't wait for them to get their comeuppance. I also very much wanted for Greer to have a happy ever after. I don't want to say too much for fear of giving spoilers, suffice to say that I loved this story, it made me run the whole gamut of emotions and I couldn't read it quickly enough to find out how it would end. I definitely recommend this book and indeed the whole series.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers' copy of this book.

*I was given an ARC copy in NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
I was completely enthralled by this book. The author was new to me and I was captivated by their narrative style. The story is heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. The way the characters have been betrothed since early teenage years and they choose to get to know one another by letters and encourage each other to seek their adventures before coming together was really beautiful. Without giving away much of the plot, this book really makes the conflict believable, their love real and the resolution is delightful.
I have a few more books on this series and I plan to read them all now!

Lady Greer Douglas is excited for her upcoming wedding to long-time betrothed Ewan Cameron, the 5th Duke of Crieff. Although they have never met in person, Greer and Ewan have formed a friendship via letters. Both feel that they are meant for one another. Greer's life comes crashing to a halt when she arrives at Ewan's home and learns that he is dead.

Greer recalls a young man she'd rescued on the road who'd been attacked and cannot help feeling he and Ewan are connected. She finds him recovering from his injuries not far from her own lands. Greer begins to spend time with him and the more she does, the more she begins to think Ewan is not dead. In fact, Greer believes the addled stranger is Ewan. Greer knows she is putting herself in danger by trying to uncover the truth, but she must know for sure who this man is she has fallen in love with.

MAD, BAD & DANGEROUS TO MARRY by author Elizabeth Essex is a heart-touching tale of a love lost and regained. Greer and Ewan share a very special bond with one another. They have been betrothed since childhood and have developed a strong relationship over the years by writing to each other. They are so close, Greer is able to recognize Ewan at his most unrecognizable. Two hearts could not be more intertwined than theirs. Historical fans will love Ms. Essex's fourth addition to her HIGHLAND BRIDES series. I, myself, will most certainly be going back to read books 1-3 in this new-to-me series.

I have given feedback on Netgalley on this really good book. Thank you.
I highly Recommend!
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Ewan Cameron, 5th Duke of Crieff is vicious attacked on his way home to his wedding, he’s left for dead as someone tries to steal everything he holds dear.
Lady Greer Douglas has been faithfully writing to her betrothed the Duke of Crieff, for ten years and now she’s about to meet him for the first time and be married. On the way to Crieff her parent’s carriage comes across a man lying in the road who is seriously injured, the caretaker comes to her rescue and take the young lad to his home to see to his injuries. Once she arrives at Crieff she discovers Ewan has been missing and presumed dead and his cousin Malcom Cameron the new Duke.
The caretaker tells everyone the young man has died, but Greer discovers the stranger is still alive. She is convinced this man could be the lost duke, her Ewan. Her compassion turns to friendship as she helps him regain his memories and everything he’s has lost. With the murdered still out there every step he gains his memory back put them in danger. Will their new found love overcome the many obstacles to regain their future to only have it snatched away again by the evil lurking in the shadows. A love story told in letters they wrote to each other over the ten years of their engagement before they were to marry, to a story of reawakened love, compassion and a love to last a lifetime if they can survive. This is my honest opinions after I voluntarily read a copy of this book that was provided to me with no requirements for a review.

I have been reading Historical romance for at least 10 years. So many times you feel you are reading the same story lines over and over again. But this story was different. Ewan, the Duke of Creiff and Lady Greer Douglas, daughter of an Earl, have been engaged from childhood. Though they have never met, they have written each other for 10 years and through their letters fall in love. On the way to her wedding, Greer comes across a severely injured man. They stop to help when the gamekeeper offers to take care of him. Greer proceeds to the castle for her wedding where she is told the Duke has vanished and is presumed dead. Greer cannot believe it. She is devastated, depressed. When out riding, she comes across the injured gentleman. He's in a crofters hut in the middle of nowhere. She brings him food. She keeps visiting him, checking his wounds and feeding him. He has no memory due to the beating he took but Greer can't help but feel she knows him.
Of course he is Ewan but since they've never met they don't recognize each other. This is why I gave this book 4 stars. Their lands adjoined. But they never met. Yet at the end of this book, people were going back and forth between the two estates very easily.
I loved the way they fell in love in their letters and then again in person as adults.
Definitely a book to reccomend!

4.5. stars

The wedding day of Lady Greer Douglas and Ewan Cameron, the Duke of Crieff is finally here, after 10 years of writing letters and falling in love, they will finally meet and marry.

Greer is in alt, she loves Ewan with her entire being and he is her best friend and today she will not only marry him, but look upon his beloved face for the first time! Betrothed as children, they have never met, the timing has always worked against them, but they have written letters and come to know each other and have fallen in love. Both are anxious and excited for the wedding.

But this day will not be the fairy tale Greer has envisioned, first they are delayed when they find a badly beaten man in the road, Greer doesn't hesitate to help, the man is barely alive, they are preparing to take him to the castle when the moorkeeper for Crieff, Dewar comes along. He recognizes the man and tells Greer, he will take him and care for him. Greer is reluctant to let the man go, she feels drawn to him, but Ewan awaits. They continue up to the castle and are shocked that no one is there to greet them, they knock on the door and learn the awful news - Ewan is dead. His cousin Malcolm has installed himself in the castle as the new Duke and has the audacity to offer to marry her in Ewan's stead. Greer is devastated and Malcolm doesn't give them any straight answers. He says he doesn't even have Ewan's body yet, he was killed in Edinburgh after a night of carousing with his friends. Greer doesn't believe him, but has no way to refute his words. In her sorrow, she runs out of the house and to the moors to grieve, this is where she finds Ewan's dog Gent, alone and disheveled. As she takes the dog and makes her way back to the castle, she is intercepted by Malcolm and has no choice but to walk with him. They pass the moorkeeper cottage and Dewar tells her that the man died. He sees the dog and offers to take him, but Greer asks Malcolm if she can keep him.

Dewar tends to the man from the road, he is barely clinging to life and has only said one word - Crieff. The man is Ewan and Dewar is convinced that his life is still in danger. Ewan doesn't remember anything - his mind is a black void, the only thing he knows is the name "Crieff", but he doesn't even know what that means. His only memory is a vison of a bridge, a woman and a penny. Dewar tells him that the Douglas of Delshee found him, that is another name he knows, but doesn't know why. For his protection, Dewar moves him to a brothy near Glas Maol (yet, another name he knows).

Greer returns home and is inconsolable for the next two weeks, but finally she is given a purpose to get out of the house - the new duke is selling off unentailed land and her father wants her to look at it, it is near her favorite place, Glas Maol - this is the place between hers and Ewan's estates - a place they had planned to meet but never got the chance. She goes and sees Ewan, but doesn't' recognize him as Ewan - having never met him in person and this man is still healing from a beating and is covered with bruises. She doesn't know him, but Gent does! Greer begins to foster hope that this man, might be her Ewan. She talks to him and learns that he has no memory since the beating. She befriends him and promises to visit him again. She returns home to find Malcolm there - inviting them to Ewan's funeral.

Ewan begins to heal and bits and pieces of his memory return, he is also falling in love with Greer, but sadly has no memory of his previous relationship with her. Greer is now positive that this man is Ewan and writes to his friends for answers to his last day in Edinburgh. But they have to proceed with caution, because even if Ewan can't remember what happened to him, it is clear that someone tried to kill him. When he finally remembers who he is, it is bittersweet for Greer, as he has no memory of her. So she has found the man she loved, but has still lost him.

Together with his friends, they try to sort out what happened to Ewan that last day and who is trying to kill him.

This is a very sweet story of lost love found, betrayal and friendship. It is well written, it is set in the present, but is interspersed with the letters Greer and Ewan wrote to each other, so the reader learns their past and sees them falling in love, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when Ewan doesn't remember her. The story has several suspenseful moments, some steamy love scenes, cameos from Quince and Alastair from Mad About the Marquess, a really nasty villain and a very, very touching ending.

I have loved all the books in this series, but I think this might be my favorite, Greer and Ewan truly are soulmates. I highly recommend this book, it is the fourth in the series, but it could be read as a stand alone title with no problems.

I voluntarily borrowered and read this book. My opinions are my own. I would rate this 4.5 stars. This is a story about Ewan, Duke of Crieff and Greer who have been writing letters as a betrothed couple for 10 years. They have not met each other but have fallen in love through their correspondence. Greer is headed to Ewan's home to finally get married but come upon an injured man on the road. She does what she can to help but upon arriving at Crieff finds out that Ewan is dead. His cousin is there and eventually offers to marry Greer but she is grieving. She runs into the injured man who has lost his memory. The mystery unfolds in a nice way and I really like that Greer is discerning and not easily influenced by words alone. It was a nice read.

This is an utterly bewitching story of a betrothed couple that is estranged right before their wedding due to a tragedy befalling the groom. I absolutely adored the hero, Ewan. I mean how can you not love him and the romance when he and the heroine have written four hundred and twenty six letters to each other over the course of their courtship. It was enough to make me swoon over them. The characters of the hero and heroine are beautifully written. I would definitely recommend this book. This is part of the Highland Brides series but it can be read as a standalone novel.

* I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

I really enjoyed Ewan and Greer's story!

If was definitely different from most of the HR stories that I read. The couple has been betrothed since they were children. They have been writing back and forth all this time and have really come to know each other. When they are finally going to get married, Ewan turns up dead...or is he??

I liked how Ewan and Greer come to know each other when they didn't really know who the other person was. They fall for each other as they interact and try to solve the mystery of Ewan's identity and Ewan regains his memory, the love they developed over all those years just makes what they have found, all that more special.

This was a great addition to the Highland Brides series!

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Marry is such an intriguing romance that I did not want to put it down. The love letters between our sweet couple, Greer and Ewan, are letters any couple would love. They seemed fitting for the time period of young people laying their hearts open to each other. Ms. Essex thoroughly makes their lack of meeting for ten years completely understandable through the ten years of their betrothal. Each and every close encounter is explained even though they lived close to each other.

Greer and Ewan had that instant connection that you love to see in couples. Greer was on her way to her wedding when she and her parents happened upon a wounded man on the side of the road. Although you know he is the ‘deceased’ Ewan of her letters, you still want to know what happened and how his cousin Malcolm comes to be the new duke so quickly.

Ewan is just as described in the letters. He struggles throughout the book to remember what has happened to him. Greer is just as dedicated to helping him heal and remember, even when her heart is breaking.

You will love this book and the style in which Ms. Essex writes their love story.

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Marry by Elizabeth Essex is book Four in the Highland Brides series. This is the story of Ewan Cameron, 5th Duke of Crieff and Lady Greer Douglas. I haven't yet read the previous book but felt this was easily a standalone book.
Ewan and Greer have been set to marry for years and did their courtship through letters. When the time comes for them to say their vows the worst happens. Thinking all is lost Greer heads away for awhile but ends up meeting a injured man. They form a bond, friendship....and feelings.
But there is more going on than just helping a stranger...Greer starts to think that also.
Loved this book...it is one that is very hard to put down!

Scotland (and other major European cities) 1782-1792.

Betrothed since childhood. Faithfully corresponded in writing for a decade. Exchanged 426 affectionate letters. Their wedding is set, sight unseen.

That sums up the intrinsically entwined lives of Ewan Cameron, 5th Duke of Crieff and Lady Greer Douglas. Alas, they were robbed of their carefully planned future by a diabolical, vindictive attack on the Duke.

Lady Greer was made to believe that Ewan has passed on. Their wedding day turns into a funeral, the only enduring connection to the life she envisioned with Ewan had been interred into the plot at Castle Crieff.

But Greer believes that the wounded stranger they rescued on the moor was her Ewan, who now suffers from memory loss.

Ewan and Greer has rekindled the easy familiarity, not surprising as they have mutual interests and a bond that is unbreakable. Their meeting also propelled their intense longing for each other, their passion, unbridled; their hearts, engaged.

Greer was resolved on assisting the duke to come through his ordeal and to recover everything he has lost, heedful of the jeopardy they now faced from the potential murderers. Her considerable courage shows enduring love and loyalty.

Elizabeth Essex is, and will always be, a superb storyteller. I absolutely adore how she wrote this plot. Reading those letters made me utterly besotted by these two characters. How I wish I could read all the 426 affectionate letters! Five+ stars with a perfect dose of steam.

This eCopy is gratis. I volunteered to read. My review is impartial and honest.

This is the fourth volume in a series of which I didn’t read the previous books as usual for me, but that doesn’t trouble the comprehension of the story. We meet Greer on her wedding day, when she learns her betrothed is dead. But she can’t help thinking the wounded man found on the side of the road could be this lost fiancé.

First the ARC I received needs proofreading. There are a lot of sentences, especially in the first half, where we see the author changed her wording during writing but the previous verb is still there. I hope it will have been corrected in the final version.

Then the hero and the heroine have been betrothed for ten years and they never met. At one time he left to travel in Europe with his friends, when he came back he went to study on Cambridge (I thought this travel young noblemen did was after their studies… I could be wrong). Then it’s her who’s left to travel Europe with her parents. But even at the beginning, when the families decide to marry them, nobody thinks they should meet at least once. While they are neighbors! But they can send each other letters and gifts… Certainly if they had seen each other in real life instead of only seeing miniatures a good part of the story would have been shortened…

Thirdly I thought the heroine’s behavior a bit daring for a young woman of this period. She feels a strong attraction for the amnesic stranger she thinks must be her fiancé and she doesn’t hesitate to kiss him at the first opportunity. Likewise the way they talk about claiming and giving each other kisses in the letters found at the beginning of each chapter seems a bit daring too for me, even for a betrothed couple, especially considering the age they are when they start talking about it. What’s more there’s a scene <spoiler> where the hero and the heroine grown up but not married yet, leave the table during a family diner to “go and talk.” They spend the night together and the only reaction from the heroine’s parents we can see is the morning after when the father mutters they have spent too much time together alone.</spoiler> These parents are really tolerant!

Each chapter is preceded by a letter from one or the other (or both) in a chronological order, allowing us to see the evolution of their relationship. It was interesting in that it shows why Greer feels she really knows Ewan, but at the same time all these flashbacks tended to take me out of the main story.

Greer is a determined heroine, who can get angry perhaps a bit fast, and quickly she’s convinced of the stranger’s identity. At the same time she tries to make the image of her betrothed she created in her head match with the stranger without getting swept by false hopes.

Ewan is the most difficult to understand because of his amnesia. He doesn’t remember anything, not even his name, and his anxiety because of that is quite well done. Little by little memories come back but few and slowly which understandably frustrates him and makes him doubt his senses. In fact I’d say he’s the character the better done of both, and seeing him falling in love again with Greer without ever remembering her was sad and pleasant at the same time.

The story is interesting even if from the start we guess what happened and why because one character is so annoying. The whole is pleasant in spite of its flaws and I had a good reading time.

Ewan Cameron, 5th Duke of Crieff has his future carefully laid out. Heir to a great estate, he’s been betrothed to Lady Greer Douglas since childhood. After years of correspondence, the date is set they will meet, marry and be happy. Then on the way to his wedding, a vicious attack steals everything he holds dear his home, his future, his bride, and his very self.
Lady Greer Douglas has been faithfully writing to her betrothed, the Duke of Crieff for ten years. Finally, the day she has waited for is at hand but fate has unkind plans. When her wedding day turns into a funeral, Greer must leave the past behind, and embark on a future without her bridegroom.
While mourning her lost love, Greer is drawn to an injured stranger she encounters on the moor. Compassion leads to friendship, and friendship leads to love that reopens the doors to his shuttered memories.
Another brilliant, engrossing read from the author. About another of the Four Cees has his story, this is the fourth book in the series & could be read on its own but why would you when they are all so very good. I’ve read most of the authors books & now know to clear the decks before starting one of her books & never ever start it late at night as I soon become totally drawn in & don’t put it down until it’s finished

My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Epistolary-based story featuring a young couple whose respective families arranged their marriage, while they were still children. Over the next 10 years, they forged a friendship then a blossoming courtship and love over hundreds of letters, with samples of these letters opening each chapter. The book started with the heroine, Greer, the daughter and heiress of the Earl of Shee, travelling with her parents to finally meet and marry her betrothed, Ewan Cameron. the Duke of Crieff. Despite residing on neighbouring lands, various events and commitments in the past had kept them apart all these years. Shortly before arriving at Crieff, they came across a severely injured man, whom they saved and left in the care of the local moorkeeper. At the Castle of Crieff, Greer's excitement over her impending wedding turned to shock and grief, when she learnt that Ewan had been killed during a night of debauchery and that his staid cousin, Malcolm, was now the new Duke. Barely left alone to tend her broken heart, Greer found herself the subject of Malcolm's attention, with him swiftly making his intentions clear that he was more than happy to fill Ewan's role in their marriage pact as well as in the ducal duties. However, Greer refused to believe Malcolm's tales of Ewan's supposedly irresponsible conduct prior to his passing. In fact, Greer refused to give up hope, that the man she had come to know and admire so well over the years might still be alive. She had not been shown his body and then there is the matter of the other very virile and mysterious male body recuperating in a remote cabin between their lands - a body she found herself strangely drawn to. Unfortunately, the injured man's brain was even more damaged than his body, and his lasting post-traumatic amnesia prevented the answering of Greer's many questions.

While it's not a bad book, it wasn't anything noteworthy also. I wasn't really convinced of the affection between the two protagonists. The letters didn't move me at all, and I do normally love a good romance-by-letters tale. I cannot believe that two friendly, betrothed neighbours failed to meet for 10 years until almost their wedding day. There were a few other scenes I found a bit flimsy and questionable also.

Be still my heart... sigh. Love found through letters over many years yet they have never met. How romantic can you get? I was snared from the beginning and not let lose until the end of this wonderful story. Lady Greer Douglas and Lord Ewan Cameron have been betrothed for many years yet only "met" though correspondence. Yet love seemed to fill their hearts as they got to know each other and they looked forward to marrying. Of course as fate or evil forces sometimes have a way of changing lives, Greer is met with being told Ewan was dead as she shows up on her wedding day. How could this be? She just refuses to believe his is gone and in her grief goes to a special place to her and Ewan and finds an injured man who has lost his memory. As their relationship builds she comes to think this man might be Ewan or is it only wishful thinking? Elizabeth Essex is an expert at pulling the reader in with her well defined characters and descriptive settings. This is part of a series that I have not read yet and can be read as a stand alone story. But I cannot wait to read the rest and I am sure you will feel the same!!

Heroine and Hero betrothed as children... fall in love over letters written throughout the years... only to have some obstacles thrown their way on the day they are to wed (evil cousins, mistaken identity, assumed dead persons, amnesia...) if you've ever seen a soap opera, than you'll be very familiar with the plot devices used here in this novel. Our heartbroken heroine is pursued by her rightful fiancee's cousin until she stumbles upon her fiance in a state of distress... and sets about putting him back in his rightful place as Duke of Crieff.

To put it bluntly: I wasn't too thrilled with the love affair between our hero and heroine. Having just come off of reading Meredith Duran's "A Lady's Code of Misconduct", wwhere both heros suffered from amnesia for a while, I couldn't help but compare the two stories- which is never a fair position for a book to be in. Our heroine, Greer just paled in comparison to the heroine in the other. She didn't assert herself, didn't wait for Ewan to step up and do anything (anything!) to earn her loyalty and passion and undying love. She started off madly in love with him. Continued to hold on to that emotion throughout the novel, even when she thought him dead. And fell even more in love with him when he had amnesia. It wasn't that Ewan wasn't worthy...I didn't find him morally reprehensible. He just didn't do anything to earn this passion, in my opinion. Some more suspense between our hero and heroine, just a little push and pull on both of their sides as they got to know each other again and built a relationship based on trust and maturity rather than the fairy tale both had concocted throughout the years of letter writing. It's the difference between the relationship you have at 16 and the one you have at 30.

I suppose some may find her unwavering love to be an endearing sign of her character- it just wasn't my cup of tea, so I'm rounding 2.5 stars up to 3. I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.