How to Train Your Highlander

October 31, 2016
English’s charming third installment in her early 19th-century Broadswords and Ballrooms series (after How to Wed a Warrior) pairs up a hoydenish young Scottish woman and a proper English duke. Mary Elizabeth Waters’s family wants her to marry, but she is determined to travel back to Scotland from London to live out her days as a spinster. That determination wavers when she meets the handsome Harold “Harry” Charles Percy, Duke of Northumberland, after arriving at his rural estate. The attraction between the pair is mesmerizing from the start, even though Harry doesn’t correct Mary Elizabeth’s assumption that he is just a stable hand. Mary Elizabeth’s effervescent personality and her lust for life are refreshing given her era’s expectations of highborn women. The fast-paced story and the humorous and sensual love scenes make up for some lack of character development.

November 15, 2016
As English continues her Broadswords and Ballrooms series, feisty Mary Elizabeth Waters gets her own romance after memorable appearances in her two brothers' stories. Mary Elizabeth finds comfort only in her conversations with stable hand Harry as she and her brothers are forced to attend a house party hosted by an old friend of their mother's. She knows that she should try and find a husband at the ball held in her honor, but she wants only to enjoy the outdoors at this estate before heading back to her beloved Scotland. Harry, who is actually the reclusive duke who owns the estate, is trying to avoid choosing a wife as his mother is pressing him to do. He becomes increasingly attracted to Mary Elizabeth, who refuses to believe he is a duke when he finally admits it. Neither feels that Mary Elizabeth will be able to live away from Scotland and be happy. Mary Elizabeth is a fantastic character, and readers will overlook a somewhat contrived conflict in this otherwise fun romp.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)