The Scot Beds His Wife

Starred review from September 11, 2017
Byrne’s passionate fifth Victorian Rebels historical (after The Duke) is a competitive match between a rough, tough Highlander and a fiery American outlaw, with an ocean-spanning plot that works quite smoothly despite a profusion of fortuitous meetings, secret identities, and hereditary feuds. Sharpshooter Samantha Masters saves heiress Alison Ross by shooting her own husband during a train heist gone wrong. She dodges authorities who have questions about the heist and the killing, and, with Alison’s permission, flees to Scotland with Alison’s identity, the rights to her Scottish ranch land, and instructions to keep the ranch out of Mackenzie hands. Alison trusts that tough, savvy Sam will have no trouble fighting off the Mackenzies. Scoundrel Gavin St. James wants the land as a way to escape his sadistic Mackenzie family, but finds it impossible to convince competent Samantha-as-Alison to sell it, despite his best efforts at dominance and seduction. Sam’s refusal shifts into a mutually convenient marriage proposal when she finds her American trouble has followed her. Byrne builds a powerful dynamic of attraction, rage, and the urge to win—kisses become battles of will and dramatic demonstrations of shooting competence seem nearly erotic—but she still leaves space for the couple to grow into mutual tenderness. Agent: Christine Witthohn, Book Cents Literary.

Starred review from September 1, 2017
Gavin St. James earned his wicked reputation as a womanizer. Samantha Masters stumbled into hers as an outlaw and murderer. Will fate and mistaken identity allow them to redeem one another?Samantha didn't know she was marrying a thief when she and Bennett Masters tied the knot and she incidentally joined his gang. Robbery is one thing, but when Bennett tries to murder a woman who saw his face during a train robbery, Sam shoots him dead. The woman she saved, Alison Ross, left Scotland years ago and was raised by her mother and wealthy stepfather in San Francisco. She was on her way to be married when she encountered the Masters Gang, and she offers Sam an escape to her family's estate, Erradale, in Scotland. But the catch is that Sam must impersonate Alison. Alison has no desire to return to Scotland, but her estate has been declared abandoned and is about to be sold to Gavin, a member of the Mackenzie family, whose patriarch was responsible for her own father's death--and she's sworn never to sell to a Mackenzie. Since she was a child when she left Scotland, no one will know that Sam is an imposter. Gavin doesn't want to buy Erradale to please his father--he bears his own scars, and not just physical ones. After being tossed out a window and hearing his mother beaten so badly she was blinded, Gavin has spent his life trying not to be his father's son. Buying Erradale will allow him the means to emancipate himself from his clan. When Sam discovers that she's pregnant with her late husband's child and Erradale is attacked by Bennett Masters' brothers, she suddenly needs Gavin as much as he needs her land. A marriage of convenience is struck between them, which allows their attraction to grow and evolve. There's a lot to love about this awesome book--a foulmouthed heroine who takes no guff, an unexpectedly gentle hero who has to handle his baggage to be with the woman he loves, a pair of gay farmhands whose banter is as charming as it is hilarious, and some seriously hot sex. Byrne's sexy scoundrels and complex heroines deliver, as always.

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