It's a complicated situation when Graham McKinnon falls in love with Hope Sharpe, no matter how hard he tried to resist. She loves him, but has misgivings about his feelings when a secret is revealed in relationship to her inheritance, formally his family home. When Hope's ex-suitor shows up, it leads to heartfelt confessions.
Mild descriptive sex.
I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book from NetGalley.

I love a good Highlander romance, and this one was great to read. My only wish is that it were spicier and the MCs had more moments alone.
4 stars

This is a delightful and emotionally rich start to a historical romance series that blends Highland charm with Regency drama. With a plot rooted in family legacy, scandal, and forced proximity, the novel offers both heartache and hope in equal measure.
Graham McKinnon is a brooding hero with a tragic past and a deep connection to his ancestral home, Lismore Hall—a place lost to a royal mistress and the consequences of his father's recklessness. His quest to reclaim the estate brings him face to face with an offer he never expected: marriage to a stranger in exchange for his birthright.
Enter Hope Sharpe, a spirited and resilient heroine escaping a string of misfortunes. Her arrival in the Scottish Highlands sets the stage for a slow-burn romance built on banter, emotional healing, and undeniable chemistry. Despite their arrangement being born from manipulation, Hope and Graham’s relationship evolves naturally, with moments of vulnerability that give the story genuine warmth.
The tension between freedom and obligation, love and pride, adds depth to what could have been a straightforward marriage-of-convenience trope. Overall, this is a promising debut to a historical romance series filled with longing, laughter, and lush Highland scenery. If you love grumpy-sunshine pairings and slow-burn love stories, then you will be glad you picked this one up!
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Graham McKinnon would love to get back the home his father gambled away on the day he was born. Hope and her sisters endured much from their grandmother's death, a failed engagement, and public scandal. They decide to go to their great-aunt in Scotland. Lady Belle owns the house that Graham would love to buy back. Lady Belle offers him Lismore Hall, but only if he marries Hope.
I really enjoyed this easy fun read. There are wonderful characters, espcially Lady Belle. This story was about the many different types and definitions of a home. Graham realizes the importance of finding the one person in your life with whom you feel at home. Home is wherever that special someone is by your side.

Very typical of the trope, but a fun escape read and set in Scotland, which I always love. Not a deep or “make you think” read by any means, but enjoyable.

ARC received for exchange of honest review

Hope and her sisters left London for Scotland after the passing of their grandmother and a scandal at a party. Graham has been trying to get back his home after his father had lost it in a bet. The new owner agrees to give it back to Graham under one condition: he must marry her great niece, which he adamantly refuses to do.

I like the relationships that all of the three sisters have. Yes, they are all different in their own ways but at the end of day, each person just wants what’s best for each other. You would think that after a few unsuccessful tries to get your home back, one would have stopped but not Graham. He’s been trying for 10 years to get his home back. Considering how their great aunt came into possession of her home, Graham’s relationship with her is odd but sweet.

There were two things that I had a “what are you thinking, Hope?!” moments:
1. The fact that she thought it was a good idea to go see her no good ex fiancee (by herself) to tell him that she doesn't want to marry him. She should have just sent a letter that said “FU and your proposal”.
2. The thought that she would settle for her no good ex fiancee, who she knows only wants to marry her now that she’s to inherit everything from her great aunt after she dies (yes, she was hurting after finding out about the deal with Graham and her great aunt, but still!)

Overall, it was an okay read but I am still excited for the next book in the series. We’ve already gotten some bits and pieces of Faith and her potential hero.

Thank you once again to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a really well done start to the Seduced in Scotland series, it had that element that I wanted and enjoyed in this type of book. It had that historical romance feel that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of this. Matilda Madison wrote this perfectly and am excited to read more in this world.

In my Scottish era and I'm loving every part of it!

I need to go to Scotland and watch the Highland games, and find a kilt maker so I can make a tartan of my clan and put it in a brooch.

I loved this, I thought it was great. The regency era has so many nuances: courting each other and finding castles and hunting parties.

I did wonder about the doctors and how they operated. Overall, loved it and I really hope theres more in the series about the sisters!

Hope and Graham are perfect for each other, and I love him and his protectiveness and his brash but playful side with Belle.

This first book in the Seduced in Scotland series was delightful, engaging, and well written. The characters were complex and likable. It tells of a lack of judgment that creates a scandal, a death, a scheme, a fresh start, past indiscretions exposed, a lost inheritance, and much more emotional issues, drama and action that kept me very entertained. I enjoyed how a charming romance began, and despite obstacles, it became a beautiful love. The ending was lovely. I highly recommend reading!

What if home is a person not a place!?
Graham is a Scottish hero with whose father gambled away his birth home the day he is born. Hope is an Englishwomen thought to be a spinster! The two meet under angsty circumstances, Hopes meddling Aunt Belle and a slew of misunderstandings leads to some delicious tension, searing kisses!
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, It’s a very quick read, with a little spice sprinkled in! The author has set up a cute series about the Sharpe sisters that I’m looking forward to finishing.

Thank you for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

“Hope in the Highlands” starts Matilda Madison’s new “Seduced in Scotland” series, which is off to an entertaining start with this book.
Hope Sharpe and her two sisters move to Scotland to live with their rich great-aunt, Lady Belle, who is the owner of Lismore Hall – the former ancestral home of Graham McKinnon. Belle concocts a plan for Lismore Hall to return into the hands of the McKinnon family if Graham agrees to marry Hope. He refuses before he has a chance to meet Hope, and their unexpected attraction makes Graham’s refusal all the more difficult to manage.

I’m a sucker for Scottish historical romance, and together with the cover of this book, I was predisposed to enjoy this story.
I loved the setup of the book, but thought even more could be made of the fact that Belle’s proposal interferes with the couple’s ability to trust one another’s true intentions with respect to their affection and their future.

I wanted a more drawn out confrontation between Hope and Belle – a sort of “he didn’t take the money” moment (like in the cartoon movie Anastasia, if anyone knows the reference), in which Hope realizes that their relationship was never about Lismore Hall. Madison does emotional and psychological character development so well that I just wanted a wee bit more angst.

There is a great side story between Belle’s personal secretary and Graham’s cousin that I would have loved to read more about.
I do think it’s sometimes hard to write accents in romance, which can come across as cheesy – but I would have loved a bit more flavour of Scotland in the story. I enjoyed the tidbit of Graham not wearing a kilt, but could have had more historical context and English business influence related to this issue (ex., how can Graham, without his home and without connections to his culture fit into a changing Scotland, especially with an unwanted attraction to an English woman?).
I am already in anticipation of the Sharpe sisters’ stories, and would recommend this as a fast, enjoyable read from an indie author whose books I anticipate reading every time.

Three sisters have to leave London due to their grandmother dying but also a scandal, so they go to their great aunts up in Scotland. They arrive to find out more about Lady Belle’s background and their new life in Scotland. In comes Graham McKinnon who wants back his ancestral home, Lismore Hall. But there is no way he will want or even like an Englishwomen. The chemistry of Hope and Graham starts to sizzle along with understanding and empathy from Hope. These two are cute, have to work through their pasts, learn about their future, and deal with a meddling Lady.

I really enjoyed the sisters and side characters. Lady Belle is a super fun aunt to also have in the story. I can’t wait for more of this series and enjoy the setting of the Highlands!

This book was really heartwarming. Kind of like a warm bowl of soup on a cold day. It's also the perfect length for HR. I hope at some point we get a prologue book or novella about Aunt Belle and Willie. I want to know more!

I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Omg, I loved this cute little historical drama. I, for one, cannot resist a broody Scotsman. Then you add his alpha personality, and the whole proper etiquette thing he has to follow in order to get his girl? TO DIE FOR.
The FMC, the eldest of the Sharpe sisters was easy to relate to and I adore how the author has two more books, focused on the other two sisters.
I found myself REALLY into the storyline, like when Hope went ALONE to see a dude who just wanted her for the inheritance!!
All in all, I really loved how this started as a marriage of convenience but grew into true love.
The spice was NOICE (under the stars, against a tree—You go, Hope!)

I loved this book so much that I read it almost in one sitting! The three Sharpe sisters are very, very intriguing and since the beginning I knew I wanted to read their stories. And then they went to the Highlands and it was even more interesting!!! Because who can resist a broody, grumpy and gorgeous Scotsman? And of course it was sweet Hope who captured his heart. I really loved that she was finally able to surrender to her desires with the right man! So, the story is captivating, the characters intriguing and vivid and the writing gorgeous as ever: a very satisfying read from one of my newest favorite authors!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Dragonblade Publishing for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I love that this has a more accurate account of what the highlands would have been like at the time than most books set in the highlands. The two mmc’s are likeable and not too over the top.

A mischievous old lady is at the heart of this historical romance. She is the great aunt to three young women and is only too happy to have them come to live with her.

There are a lot of giggles and adventures ahead for all the sisters

One, our heroine finds more than she hoped for.

Our hero tries to be stubborn, he refuses to be manipulated, and stands on his principles. More fool him.

If the rest of this series is as amusing as this one, I will be very happy to read them.

Great fun.

It was the Season, all of London seemed to be at the ball when all of a sudden Hope’s life turned from one of mild satisfaction and content to one of uncertainty and loss. It all happened in a matter of hours, perhaps not even an hour; Either Grace or Faith or both are involved in a scandal at the ball, Hope’s not-yet-official fiancé, the very proper, very social aware Malcolm Pennington, broke with her when she refused to dissasociate with her sisters and, on arriving home, Grandmother is dead.

Not very long after, great aunt Lady Belle, who lives in the Highlands, is visited by a neighbor, Graham McKinnon. McKinnon’s father put his house on the table at a game of cards while at the same time his son was being born. Belle was the one who won the game and therefore the house. Nevertheless Graham never held grudges towards the older woman and remained friendly with her. But now Belle is about to become the guardian of her sisters’ granddaughters, and Hope being the eldest will become her heiress. What better oportunity for Graham to recover his old family house and at the same time Belle finding someone to look after the girls whenever she’ll be gone? It’s the perfect solution for both! But when she tells him about her plan, Graham refuses to be manipulated. Little did he know that he’s going to fall in love with the very woman he’s refused to marry.

“Hope in the Highlands” is the first installment of a new series set in the Highlands by Matilda Madison. I presume it will be the story of the whole family, sister after sister, although I think maybe aunt Belle will have a story too. At least she has potential. I love starting new series and imagining who is going to be paired with whom. It’s fun. This book is about Hope and Graham, an Englishwoman and a Highlander.

I loved both characters. They both have had circumstances in the past that make them believe themselves unworthy but after a first clash on meeting, they open to each other little by little and it’s the small details and their personalities that tell the reader about their enormous inner strength. But the insecurities they carry are the cause for a miscommunication later in the story that although it was well resolved, for me it was a bit frustrating. Perhaps because I don’t like that trope as it almost never works for me. In this case I could let it go because of the resolution so in the end I found the writing incredibly sweet and romantic, just like old times’ historical romances. And I’m so thankful for that.

Hope's story....

Hope is left n a bit of a scandal with her sisters. When her grandmother passes away, its time to get out of London for the highlands and more meddling older ladies in the form of her very managing great aunt, who also is totally fine with managing Graham. He's the grumpy highlander who is trying to get his estate back from her. Of course he's going to fall for Hope.

Hope in the Highlands by Matilda Madison is the story of two meddling elderly women and three young women in need of husbands. The younger women are Hope, Faith, and Grace, who live in London with their grandmother. Hope is the eldest and has been on the verge of an engagement for several years. The others are not looking, but their grandmother is. They have gone to the ball of the season when Hope quarrels with the almost-fiance and one of the young women is seen kissing a rake. The problem is that she was seen from behind so no one really knows which one it is. The on dit travels like wildfire and they find themselves embroiled in a scandal before they arrive home, only to find their grandmother has perished. The almost-fiance arrives to insist that Hope leave with him immediately and let her sisters fend for themselves. She refuses and he is off, with the almost-engagement a thing of the past. After their grandmother’s death, they travel to Scotland to stay with their great-aunt, a wealthy widow.

Great-aunt Belle has determined a husband for Hope but rather than let things be, she manipulates and almost ruins everything. Graham McKinnon is a self-made man. He had to be as his father gambled away everything, including the family home, which Belle now owns. He refuses to be manipulated even when he falls in love with Hope. This is a fun story, full of Scottish mythology and tradition. We go to highland games, and hear fairy stories. It is an entirely entertaining story with a few rocks thrown in the wheels along the way. Good characters, all of them, and entertaining situations, plus a little heat. First of a series as there are three sisters. Fun!

I was invited to read Hope in the Highlands by Dragonblade. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #Dragonblade #MatildaMadison #HopeInTheHighlands