Great second book in the series. Such great romance and danger. The king is lucky to have such a force on his side.

Unloved by her heavily indebted father, Lucy Livingston has always tried to impress him with her fighting skills as a son would. But he only sees her as a tool for trade and agrees when she is betrothed to Laird Reid Douglas, a member of King James' elite guard. Lucy might be hopeful for her future given the spark between herself and Reid, but she's being blackmailed: if she wants to keep her sister Esme's epileptic fits a secret and keep her from being tortured and executed as a witch, Lucy must use her husband's position to get close to the king and assassinate him.

Lucy and Reid should be on opposite sides but she soon wonders if she might be able to trust him with all of her secrets and rely on someone else to help her for a change.

I liked that we saw conflict for our hero: his king is not that great and the hero disagrees with the witchcraft mania the king has started, yet he is sworn to protect him and still honors this pledge. I didn't like this one as much as the first book in the series, but it was still enjoyable.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This novel occurs during the time of King James' reign in Scotland, were Catholics were persecuted and witch trials, where women who seemed different were condemned. Lucy is to be the bride of Laird Reid Douglas, arranged by the king. Lucy has no choice in the matter, since her father cannot wait to be rid of her. However, to protect her sister, Esme, she must also assassinate the king. Lucy is skilled with weapons and defending herself, for she tried to show her father she can do things a man can since he had no sons. Lucy is surprised by Reid, who is more than he appears to be. Reid serves the king and cares deeply for the people under his care, which now includes Lucy. Some of Reid's past hinders him from moving forward in some ways. Lucy is no meek women and Reid is greatly attracted to that. However, when Reid discovers the truth of Lucy's deception, he agrees to help her so they can discover the traitors to the king. This means using Lucy to draw the traitors out. However, there is a deeper plot, one that has been brewing for a long time.

was the premise good? not really
but, was the execution good? not enough to redeem anything no.
the best part of the book was the fact that i learned scots would sometimes lay down and roll themselves into their kilts.
but the rest of the book was very bad. the dialogue didn't fit with the time period, the characters were bland and boring, there were moments that could've had great feminist rallying cries, but were pushed aside by the "supposed" love interest. the whole family feud part was equally overplayed and underdeveloped, and then was suddenly supposed to be fixed by an arranged marriage. the betrayal of her maid came out of nowhere and wasn't believable at all, and then her sudden death because some idiot got punched in the nose? when Lucy kept stabbing people and shooting them with arrows and nothing happened to her?
and the whole Esme story line was irritating. somehow, one stupid herb fixed seizures that nothing else could fix and the queen wants a 14 year old dumbass to become a spy. whatever.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was looking forward to reading this romance since I'm a big fan of Highland warrior romance but found this novel disappointing. Although Lucy was fiercely brave, I wasn't drawn to her as I have other characters. The dialogue between her and Reid did not sound natural or true to the time period. Their interactions felt forced and uninspiring.