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Falcon Club #1
When a Scot Loves a Lady
London gossips are asking: What use has society of an exclusive gentleman’s club if no gentlemen are ever seen to pass through its door?
After years as an agent of the secret Falcon Club, Lord Leam Blackwood knows it’s time to return home to Scotland. One temptation threatens his plans—Kitty Savege. The scandal-plagued lady warms his blood like a dram of fine whiskey. But a dangerous enemy stands in the way of desire, and to beat this foe Leam needs Kitty’s help…
Kitty never wanted to spend her holidays in a wretched country village! With snow up to the windows, escape is nowhere in sight. A roguish Scottish lord, however, is. His rough brogue sends tingles of heat from Kitty’s frigid toes to her chilled nose, but she’s confident she can withstand that. What she cannot control is the reaction of her carefully guarded heart when she discovers this beast is, in fact, no beast at all…
After years as an agent of the secret Falcon Club, Lord Leam Blackwood knows it’s time to return home to Scotland. One temptation threatens his plans—Kitty Savege. The scandal-plagued lady warms his blood like a dram of fine whiskey. But a dangerous enemy stands in the way of desire, and to beat this foe Leam needs Kitty’s help…
Kitty never wanted to spend her holidays in a wretched country village! With snow up to the windows, escape is nowhere in sight. A roguish Scottish lord, however, is. His rough brogue sends tingles of heat from Kitty’s frigid toes to her chilled nose, but she’s confident she can withstand that. What she cannot control is the reaction of her carefully guarded heart when she discovers this beast is, in fact, no beast at all…
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published February 28, 2012
116 people are currently reading
1572 people want to read
About the author
Katharine Ashe
33 books1,030 followersKatharine Ashe is the USA Today bestselling author of historical romances reviewers call “intensely lush” and “sensationally intelligent,” including two Amazon's Best Romances of the Year. A professor of history and popular culture, she writes fiction because she adores the grand adventures and breathtaking sensuality of historical romance. For more information, please visit her at http://www.katharineashe.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 166 reviews
September 6, 2012
READ it if you're a fan of romantic spy story.
DON'T READ it if you don't have the time to decipher the hero's lines.
Let me explain.
On the back cover of the book, the Scottish hero is described to have a 'rough brogue'. So in order to drill that in, the author decided to make things complicated for readers like me who are not so familiar with that accent. For the most part of the book, the hero's lines are written like so:
"Nou, frae whit woud a wumman the likes of ye be needing tae rin awa?"
"Nae. That's whit a skellum daes wi' a wumman he canna get out o his blood."
"An ye find yerself wi' child, A'll dae the right thing by ye. Ye've anely tae tell me."
"A man's got tae busy his hauns whan there's naight else tae dae."
Having read plenty of highlander romance, I'm familiar with some of the words (dinna, ken, nae, tae, ye, just to list a few). I get that the hero has a thick accent. I get that. The author needs only to mentioned it once (or now and then if she prefers) and I can use my own imagination how the words sounds like coming from his mouth. She doesn't need to misspell the words like 'hands' and 'woman' to fit the hero's accent. It's really annoying.
And I don't like spy stories so that piled up to why I don't enjoy this book at all.
DON'T READ it if you don't have the time to decipher the hero's lines.
Let me explain.
On the back cover of the book, the Scottish hero is described to have a 'rough brogue'. So in order to drill that in, the author decided to make things complicated for readers like me who are not so familiar with that accent. For the most part of the book, the hero's lines are written like so:
"Nou, frae whit woud a wumman the likes of ye be needing tae rin awa?"
"Nae. That's whit a skellum daes wi' a wumman he canna get out o his blood."
"An ye find yerself wi' child, A'll dae the right thing by ye. Ye've anely tae tell me."
"A man's got tae busy his hauns whan there's naight else tae dae."
Having read plenty of highlander romance, I'm familiar with some of the words (dinna, ken, nae, tae, ye, just to list a few). I get that the hero has a thick accent. I get that. The author needs only to mentioned it once (or now and then if she prefers) and I can use my own imagination how the words sounds like coming from his mouth. She doesn't need to misspell the words like 'hands' and 'woman' to fit the hero's accent. It's really annoying.
And I don't like spy stories so that piled up to why I don't enjoy this book at all.
April 5, 2019
3.0 stars
Interesting read about a retired spy. I'm not a huge fan of spy novels, so I was relieved to read that this spy was retired. But there was still a bit of cat and mouse, and an attempted murder.
The Hero's Scottish accent was awful to get through. Thank goodness he reverted back to non-accented english through out the majority of the book.
The plot twist at the end of the book was totally unexpected, so I appreciated that surprise. This was my first Katherine Ashe novel and I look forward to reading more of this series.
Interesting read about a retired spy. I'm not a huge fan of spy novels, so I was relieved to read that this spy was retired. But there was still a bit of cat and mouse, and an attempted murder.
The Hero's Scottish accent was awful to get through. Thank goodness he reverted back to non-accented english through out the majority of the book.
The plot twist at the end of the book was totally unexpected, so I appreciated that surprise. This was my first Katherine Ashe novel and I look forward to reading more of this series.
March 9, 2017
50 pages in, I wanted to hit myself. I stopped reading.
1. I have issues with the overuse of dialect. It doesn't bother me when it's one or two words, just to remind readers. It doesn't bother me when a secondary character goes hog wild, but I read romance to escape the headaches of being a post graduate history student reading philosophy and eighteenth century documents. I translate French and German for school. I'm not going to spend a great deal of time translating this author's inane idea of a heavy Scottish brogue.
2. The jumping around early on, from 1813 to 1816 was annoying. Was the brogue an affect? Because when he's talking with the ridiculous Falcon club, there's nothing. Every time he's around Kitty, you can't understand him.
3. Kitty is a moron. There's nothing remotely interesting about her in the first 50 pages. I'm supposed to feel sorry for her because she gave her Virtue (the author capitalized it like I'm supposed to be impressed) but there's no explanation of the event, just a statement, and then no information as to how the ton found out. She apparently gets him arrested for treason, but it's all explained in a paragraph. I'm not reading further than 50 pages to find out why a society chit has access to information apparently the government couldn't find.
4. If the reason we start in 1813 and then go to 1816 was to see the first meeting of Kitty and Leam, then perhaps the meeting should have been a little more damn interesting.
5. If this is the first book in the Falcon Club story, then this author is not particularly skilled at either setting up series or explaining what the hell this club is. I've read so many spy novels set in the Regency period, I think they're going to start bleeding out of my ears, and this is, hands down, the worst one I've ever read.
I put this book down at 50 pages. I never do that. Ever. But I'm not spending a day of my life reading such drivel. You don't get me in 50 pages, I'm not going to be hooked in. Slow starts are fine. Bad starts don't keep me going. As it is, I'm never getting back the hour I wasted.
Maybe it gets better. Who the hell knows? I'm never going to find out. Life is short, books cost money. I want mine back.
1. I have issues with the overuse of dialect. It doesn't bother me when it's one or two words, just to remind readers. It doesn't bother me when a secondary character goes hog wild, but I read romance to escape the headaches of being a post graduate history student reading philosophy and eighteenth century documents. I translate French and German for school. I'm not going to spend a great deal of time translating this author's inane idea of a heavy Scottish brogue.
2. The jumping around early on, from 1813 to 1816 was annoying. Was the brogue an affect? Because when he's talking with the ridiculous Falcon club, there's nothing. Every time he's around Kitty, you can't understand him.
3. Kitty is a moron. There's nothing remotely interesting about her in the first 50 pages. I'm supposed to feel sorry for her because she gave her Virtue (the author capitalized it like I'm supposed to be impressed) but there's no explanation of the event, just a statement, and then no information as to how the ton found out. She apparently gets him arrested for treason, but it's all explained in a paragraph. I'm not reading further than 50 pages to find out why a society chit has access to information apparently the government couldn't find.
4. If the reason we start in 1813 and then go to 1816 was to see the first meeting of Kitty and Leam, then perhaps the meeting should have been a little more damn interesting.
5. If this is the first book in the Falcon Club story, then this author is not particularly skilled at either setting up series or explaining what the hell this club is. I've read so many spy novels set in the Regency period, I think they're going to start bleeding out of my ears, and this is, hands down, the worst one I've ever read.
I put this book down at 50 pages. I never do that. Ever. But I'm not spending a day of my life reading such drivel. You don't get me in 50 pages, I'm not going to be hooked in. Slow starts are fine. Bad starts don't keep me going. As it is, I'm never getting back the hour I wasted.
Maybe it gets better. Who the hell knows? I'm never going to find out. Life is short, books cost money. I want mine back.
May 12, 2022
I dislike heroines that give themselves without the benefit of marriage. I understand that mistakes are made. Sometimes they suffered abuse. But there's a difference between committing a mistake and having the syndrome "I cannot control my body" and keep making the mistake over and over again courting scandal.
I really disliked that she didn't have any problems in going after the hero even tho she was in the company of an innocent friend (which she had very little of due to be ruined by scandal already). So yeah, I didn't like the modern feel of the heroine's actions. And when they had sex in a kitchen where all the servants knew what happened afterwards, I just couldn't believe that people would actually do that kind of thing. The whole England would know what happened by morning.
And the hot and cold, I want you but I don't want to want you was very tiring. I don't believe I connected with any character in this book. If you don't mind these things that I mentioned, maybe you will enjoy this book more than I did.
I really disliked that she didn't have any problems in going after the hero even tho she was in the company of an innocent friend (which she had very little of due to be ruined by scandal already). So yeah, I didn't like the modern feel of the heroine's actions. And when they had sex in a kitchen where all the servants knew what happened afterwards, I just couldn't believe that people would actually do that kind of thing. The whole England would know what happened by morning.
And the hot and cold, I want you but I don't want to want you was very tiring. I don't believe I connected with any character in this book. If you don't mind these things that I mentioned, maybe you will enjoy this book more than I did.
July 9, 2012
Delightful, passion-filled and OMG Amazing. If you enjoy historical romance and have yet to discover Katharine Ashe...who obviously spells her name WRONG... LOL... Then you must read her books.
Seriously, what are you waiting for?
Okay...you need more. Let's see. Alpha heros who have their flaws, Heroines who are not TSTL (too stupid to live) and do not fit the trend of the Ton. Add regency dresses and the wagging tongues of gossips and you have a romance in the making.
This is a steamy historical that you will not be able to put down.
Seriously, what are you waiting for?
Okay...you need more. Let's see. Alpha heros who have their flaws, Heroines who are not TSTL (too stupid to live) and do not fit the trend of the Ton. Add regency dresses and the wagging tongues of gossips and you have a romance in the making.
This is a steamy historical that you will not be able to put down.
September 3, 2017
Lady Katherine "Kitty" Savege, in the middle of Revenge, makes Life-Altering Eye Contact with the barbarian Uilleam "Leam" Blackwood, Earl. Three years later they are stranded together during a snowstorm. With nothing better to do, they do each other. After being unstranded, they do it again but with feeling. Additional plot beats: my wife passed my brother's baby off as mine; my former lover ruined me so I ruined him; barren wombs proven wrong; treason!; bonus spouses; SPIES SPYING SPYFULLY; etc.
1. The brogue was a thing that was not a good thing.
2. This felt like it had too many things happening to cross purposes. Like, Leam comes with a backlog of angst: there's the my-son-is-actually-my-nephew thing, and a dead wife, and a dead brother, and a boatload of guilt and regret and relief to go along with those plot points. And the five years of Secret Service while he pretended to be a Scottish buffoon mourning his late wife dreadfully.
And then Kitty who was ruined by a man who wanted to destroy her brother, and then spent quite a few years as that man's mistress in order to gather information to destroy him. And her mother who was trapped in a loveless marriage while her father paraded his mistress around town. And her believed barrenness, which was another parting shot from the former lover/asshole.
It's just a lot.
3. And both of them are so hesitant about wanting / moving towards anything more than the physical which I understood but jesus fuck does it make for a drag of a read. Like, it's just angst-angst-angst-sex-regret-angst-angst-sex-angst-sexy angst-sex. I was tired by the time I finished this book.
4. The Drama Llamas were Out in Force for the closing chapters. It was like a 1-2-3 punch of PLOT POINTS coming at you from all sides. Yikes.
5. I've glanced ahead so I know Yale and Emily aren't partnered up and I'm already kind of disappointed. :\
6. IDK: Spy clubs are kind of silly and a club of birds is even sillier. But it was not an unenjoyable romp? So I'm confused and angsty and that sounds about right for this particular novel.
1. The brogue was a thing that was not a good thing.
2. This felt like it had too many things happening to cross purposes. Like, Leam comes with a backlog of angst: there's the my-son-is-actually-my-nephew thing, and a dead wife, and a dead brother, and a boatload of guilt and regret and relief to go along with those plot points. And the five years of Secret Service while he pretended to be a Scottish buffoon mourning his late wife dreadfully.
And then Kitty who was ruined by a man who wanted to destroy her brother, and then spent quite a few years as that man's mistress in order to gather information to destroy him. And her mother who was trapped in a loveless marriage while her father paraded his mistress around town. And her believed barrenness, which was another parting shot from the former lover/asshole.
It's just a lot.
3. And both of them are so hesitant about wanting / moving towards anything more than the physical which I understood but jesus fuck does it make for a drag of a read. Like, it's just angst-angst-angst-sex-regret-angst-angst-sex-angst-sexy angst-sex. I was tired by the time I finished this book.
4. The Drama Llamas were Out in Force for the closing chapters. It was like a 1-2-3 punch of PLOT POINTS coming at you from all sides. Yikes.
5. I've glanced ahead so I know Yale and Emily aren't partnered up and I'm already kind of disappointed. :\
6. IDK: Spy clubs are kind of silly and a club of birds is even sillier. But it was not an unenjoyable romp? So I'm confused and angsty and that sounds about right for this particular novel.
June 18, 2015
This was an interesting read and not your typical fare, which is what Katharine Ashe excels at. I almost never read books with the Scottish brogue written in because it drives me nuts. I will pretend in my head, but reading it on the page jerks me out of the story because I have to slow down to figure out what the character is saying. In this book, the accent is part of an act and does not last the entire book so don't give up if you're like me.
This story was a slow burn attraction between Kitty and Leam that built up into a fast paced ending with unexpected twists. The emotions were strong, especially the angst which is a specialty for Ashe. This was not my favorite of Ashe's but it was good and it introduced the Falcon club really well. I'm definitely interested in the characters' stories!
Kitty and Leam meet while they are both traveling north and get stranded at an inn during a snowstorm. There is a lot of sizzling attraction between the characters and a bit of mystery since Leam is being followed and threatened but no one knows why. Kitty is a fallen woman who trusted the wrong man and has remained aloof since. She got her revenge on the man that ruined her by uncovering and meticulously collecting information that exposed him as a traitor. Those skills were noticed by the home office who wants to pull her in to work on a task for them, much to Leam's dismay. Leam is just trying to get out of the Club, but ghosts from his past resurface and with Kitty's help, truths finally come to light, not all of them good. The ending was not what I expected at all. It took me a while to read the first half and then I flew through pages in the second!
There were a few loose ends that didn't get wrapped up and the romance was angsty until about 2 pages from the end (when my kindle said the story was over, I was surprised), but I'll definitely be reading the other books in this series. I'm really looking forward to Wyn's.
This story was a slow burn attraction between Kitty and Leam that built up into a fast paced ending with unexpected twists. The emotions were strong, especially the angst which is a specialty for Ashe. This was not my favorite of Ashe's but it was good and it introduced the Falcon club really well. I'm definitely interested in the characters' stories!
Kitty and Leam meet while they are both traveling north and get stranded at an inn during a snowstorm. There is a lot of sizzling attraction between the characters and a bit of mystery since Leam is being followed and threatened but no one knows why. Kitty is a fallen woman who trusted the wrong man and has remained aloof since. She got her revenge on the man that ruined her by uncovering and meticulously collecting information that exposed him as a traitor. Those skills were noticed by the home office who wants to pull her in to work on a task for them, much to Leam's dismay. Leam is just trying to get out of the Club, but ghosts from his past resurface and with Kitty's help, truths finally come to light, not all of them good. The ending was not what I expected at all. It took me a while to read the first half and then I flew through pages in the second!
There were a few loose ends that didn't get wrapped up and the romance was angsty until about 2 pages from the end (when my kindle said the story was over, I was surprised), but I'll definitely be reading the other books in this series. I'm really looking forward to Wyn's.
November 22, 2022
Dit is deel 1 van een nieuwe serie maar de vrouwelijke hoofdpersoon Lady Katherine Savege is de zuster van Alex Savege die de hoofdrol had in deel 2 van de vorige serie: Captured By a Rogue Lord . In dat verhaal kwam zij ook al voor en in dit verhaal wordt er gedeeltelijk voortgeborduurd op die verhaallijn .
Ik vond dit verhaal niet altijd even logisch en daardoor wat lastig te volgen maar pas op het allerlaatst komt de aap uit de mouw en dacht ik ooh zit dat zo .
Ik vond dit verhaal niet altijd even logisch en daardoor wat lastig te volgen maar pas op het allerlaatst komt de aap uit de mouw en dacht ik ooh zit dat zo .
January 13, 2018
2/5 aunque más bien 1.5. Horroroso. Ni uno más de está mujer. Ya no se si es que escribe así de mal, es por la traducción o yo me estoy volviendo tonta, pero de muchas partes me he enterado fatal, me han parecido confusas. Esto me ha hecho que no me meta en la historia para nada y no me haya interesado. Además un giro final que no me he creído para nada. Totalmente prescindible
dnf
November 11, 2018I do find this one rather dull, lots of talking and thinking of something that sounds way more interesting, but we only got a paragraph of that. Instead the story is about being stuck at an inn
I can not understand what the Scot is saying!!!!!
I checked a few reviews and even in writing I can not decipher it
I can not understand what the Scot is saying!!!!!
I checked a few reviews and even in writing I can not decipher it
January 14, 2018
leído en Abril 2013
Estuvo bueno y algo divertido!!
Estuvo bueno y algo divertido!!
December 3, 2016
RETO ESCOCIA: C de Cuando un hombre se enamora
Fue complicado leerlo. Gran parte del libro se sostiene sobre unos personajes (Leam y Kitty) al parecer carentes de cualquier tipo de sentimientos, emoción. No solamente su relación es fría, si no que sus interacciones son breves y basadas en un aprecio más "íntimo" que otra cosa. Kitty parece ser una persona muy cerrada, completamente ajena al mundo y hastiada de todo, así que si ella no podía disfrutar nada yo que la leía tampoco. Leam es un alma en pena por la vida, que ve todo toscamente pareciese, cansado también de una vida de secretos y tampoco llega a agradar del todo, porque digamos los dos son de pocas palabras y directos a la acción, y lo que les atrae el uno al otro es ese misterio que nace por sus silencios y terrible falta de profundidad en personalidad.
Es algo que me costó leer, no lo dejé porque necesitaba esa C para mi reto Escocia, y hacia el final mejoró bastante. No te digo que sueltan a la pasión y viven con los sentimientos a flor de piel pero casi. Es como si la autora se hubiera soltado de ese bloque de hielo que le aplastaba la espalda y la forzaba a escribir personajes tan secos y hastiados y hubiera dicho a la mierda y se tiró de cabeza por ponerle sentimiento a esa pasión que se desataba (así de pronto) entre ambos.
Capaz que sí, capaz que no. No terminé fan de ninguno, seguramente mañana olvide de que trataba esto pero se leía aunque costó bastante.
Fue complicado leerlo. Gran parte del libro se sostiene sobre unos personajes (Leam y Kitty) al parecer carentes de cualquier tipo de sentimientos, emoción. No solamente su relación es fría, si no que sus interacciones son breves y basadas en un aprecio más "íntimo" que otra cosa. Kitty parece ser una persona muy cerrada, completamente ajena al mundo y hastiada de todo, así que si ella no podía disfrutar nada yo que la leía tampoco. Leam es un alma en pena por la vida, que ve todo toscamente pareciese, cansado también de una vida de secretos y tampoco llega a agradar del todo, porque digamos los dos son de pocas palabras y directos a la acción, y lo que les atrae el uno al otro es ese misterio que nace por sus silencios y terrible falta de profundidad en personalidad.
Es algo que me costó leer, no lo dejé porque necesitaba esa C para mi reto Escocia, y hacia el final mejoró bastante. No te digo que sueltan a la pasión y viven con los sentimientos a flor de piel pero casi. Es como si la autora se hubiera soltado de ese bloque de hielo que le aplastaba la espalda y la forzaba a escribir personajes tan secos y hastiados y hubiera dicho a la mierda y se tiró de cabeza por ponerle sentimiento a esa pasión que se desataba (así de pronto) entre ambos.
Capaz que sí, capaz que no. No terminé fan de ninguno, seguramente mañana olvide de que trataba esto pero se leía aunque costó bastante.
March 14, 2017
I read this book when it first came out, before I knew how important reviews are to authors. I can't believe the 1 star reviews.
This is the first book of the Falcon Club series and I loved it. For those who have said his Scottish accent was bad, did you not understand he was exaggerating for a reason?
Katherine Savege, the heroine, feels unworthy of love due to a mistake when she was young and naïve and she wants revenge. She met Leam Blackwood at a ball once and encounters him a few years later at an inn, where she and her friend, Emily Vale, are stranded. He and Wyn Yale, members of the Falcon Club, are also stranded on their way to meet a contact. While snowed in, Kitty and Leam fall in love and face danger. There is also someone trying to keep them apart. I do not write plot spoilers, but this is one of my favorite books. Why? Because it is well written, with a good plot and wonderful characters, some we get to know better in future books. Give it a try.
This is the first book of the Falcon Club series and I loved it. For those who have said his Scottish accent was bad, did you not understand he was exaggerating for a reason?
Katherine Savege, the heroine, feels unworthy of love due to a mistake when she was young and naïve and she wants revenge. She met Leam Blackwood at a ball once and encounters him a few years later at an inn, where she and her friend, Emily Vale, are stranded. He and Wyn Yale, members of the Falcon Club, are also stranded on their way to meet a contact. While snowed in, Kitty and Leam fall in love and face danger. There is also someone trying to keep them apart. I do not write plot spoilers, but this is one of my favorite books. Why? Because it is well written, with a good plot and wonderful characters, some we get to know better in future books. Give it a try.
October 29, 2017
I read something else by the author and loved it enough to add a bunch from her backlist to my TBR. If this had been my first book of hers I never would have read another. Stilted writing. Overly metaphorical and confusing foreshadowing through short interjections. I had no idea who was thinking what or what they were referring to. And then the big twist just appearing in the middle of a park at a completely random meeting of other people in an already dramatic scene lost me. If I had been reading an old fashioned real paper book I would have thrown it at the wall. Not to mention Kitty and Leam didn't really do it for me as a couple. They hurt and lied each other too much for me to like them together.
February 16, 2015
3 1/2 stars (rounded down to 3 stars, because (a) Leam's Scottish brogue drove me nuts in the first half of the book and (b) the plot twists near the end were too OTT)
April 26, 2018
Siento que hubo cosas de relleno y cosas en las que no se profundizo lo necesario.
Hubo más momentos de fantasía que en un libro de fantasía
Hubo más momentos de fantasía que en un libro de fantasía
May 26, 2018
Am really enjoying Katharine Ashe's books. I did not see the end coming! I don't mind the brogue or the premises. Just a good story.
August 15, 2020
I like the covers on Katharine Ashe books and I must have forgotten that the last one I read was a 2 star for me, so I reserved this one at the library.
I had no problem with the Scottish speak, but I get how Americans might have an issue with it.
But man, her plots are just crazy sauce.
Our hero Leam is the dour Scot. His wife ran away and was found drowned in the Thames and according to gossip, he has been mourning her for five years; he’s flirty but never serious with other women. His son is left in Scotland with his family. Meanwhile he’s been busy spying for the Falcon Club with various other people, all of whom are main characters in this series.
Our heroine Kitty is getting to the ‘on the shelf’ age of 25 and was ‘ruined’ by an old lover. But years later she ruins him by collecting information that sends him down for treason. [I think all this happened in the Rogues of the Sea series - I haven’t read them, but it feels like a book worth of back story]
She met eyes with Leam at a ball and decided to change her life, [what?] and then runs into him three years later snowed in at an inn without servants.
Sparks fly.
Strip piquet is played.
Kitty is shot. [it miraculously heals in days and is never mentioned again, or barely.]
Utter crazy sauce.
Oh and I forgot the side visit to her friend Emily’s place to pretend that Leam’s friend Wyn Yale is courting Emily to get her out of an arranged suitor.
I looked, and Yale and Emily are not end game for book 3. Don’t do that; don’t set readers up like that.
I’m forgetting the whole OTHER side story of her mother and her father’s mistress…
Oh, and DO NOT do the ‘I’m barren, I saw a doctor - oh no I’m pregnant’ thing, either.
Look, I might borrow another one if I see at the library, get halfway through it and go ‘oh, that’s right!’
3 HR soap opera stars
I had no problem with the Scottish speak, but I get how Americans might have an issue with it.
But man, her plots are just crazy sauce.
Our hero Leam is the dour Scot. His wife ran away and was found drowned in the Thames and according to gossip, he has been mourning her for five years; he’s flirty but never serious with other women. His son is left in Scotland with his family. Meanwhile he’s been busy spying for the Falcon Club with various other people, all of whom are main characters in this series.
Our heroine Kitty is getting to the ‘on the shelf’ age of 25 and was ‘ruined’ by an old lover. But years later she ruins him by collecting information that sends him down for treason. [I think all this happened in the Rogues of the Sea series - I haven’t read them, but it feels like a book worth of back story]
She met eyes with Leam at a ball and decided to change her life, [what?] and then runs into him three years later snowed in at an inn without servants.
Sparks fly.
Strip piquet is played.
Kitty is shot. [it miraculously heals in days and is never mentioned again, or barely.]
Utter crazy sauce.
Oh and I forgot the side visit to her friend Emily’s place to pretend that Leam’s friend Wyn Yale is courting Emily to get her out of an arranged suitor.
I looked, and Yale and Emily are not end game for book 3. Don’t do that; don’t set readers up like that.
I’m forgetting the whole OTHER side story of her mother and her father’s mistress…
Oh, and DO NOT do the ‘I’m barren, I saw a doctor - oh no I’m pregnant’ thing, either.
Look, I might borrow another one if I see at the library, get halfway through it and go ‘oh, that’s right!’
3 HR soap opera stars
July 12, 2012
This new book by Katharine Ashe was excellent. I really enjoyed this book. It's about a Scot and a Lady. Of course the scot is Lord Leam Blackwood who has been a secret agent for the Falcon Club. He has returned after five years of service and retire to his home in Scotland. He only wants to leave every thing behind him and raise his son. But his plans are interrupted when the weather hampers his journey and is forced to stay at an inn. When Leam meets fellow travelers at the inn, he doesn't expect to find the one woman who he desires the most:Lady Kitty Savege .
Kitty couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the one man she desires the most: Lord Blackwood. Boy do the sparks fly when these two people come together. The author does an excellent story telling of two lost souls who are meant to be. I can't wait until the next book comes out titled "How to be a Proper Lady" in June 2012.
Kitty couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the one man she desires the most: Lord Blackwood. Boy do the sparks fly when these two people come together. The author does an excellent story telling of two lost souls who are meant to be. I can't wait until the next book comes out titled "How to be a Proper Lady" in June 2012.
April 5, 2013
DNF - I think I had the same issues with this book as the previous book I read by this author. There are so many details that are omitted from the story and initially I wondered if I was reading a book that was the second or third in a series, because it seemed that I was expected to have a passing understanding of who the characters were. The narrative jumps awkwardly and characters behave strangely, and I found I was continuing more because I was perplexed than because I was interested. Ultimately I decided to put it down because the writing style just is not for me.
April 24, 2012
While the idea for the plot was most likely a good one, the implementation of it was terrible. The author appears to have left some details in her head and not transferred them to the paper. Illogical jumps were made and assumptions of knowlege about the characters and their emotions made the book very difficult to follow.
September 11, 2016
An ok read. I didn't buy the love story. A ruined woman and a widower whose late wife lied to him. They had a lot of personal baggage which wasn't properly explored. Ashe threw in this whole spying business which took up a lot of space. I didn't believe that they had any lasting affections toward each other. But if you go in not expecting a great love story, it's not a bad book.
September 18, 2013
I couldn't finish it.... And, I rarely ever quit a book. But, 11% in, I just didn't want to spend anymore time on it. I didn't enjoy it, and I wasn't willing to continue. Other people really enjoyed this book, but it just wasn't for me.
February 6, 2022
DNF 17%
I was confused and bored. The characters have complex backstories that were being teased in a convoluted way that just left me scratching my head.
On top of that, I was super bored. Nothing was happening and even their interactions were boring.
I was confused and bored. The characters have complex backstories that were being teased in a convoluted way that just left me scratching my head.
On top of that, I was super bored. Nothing was happening and even their interactions were boring.
October 8, 2019
Una maravillosa novela de época que nos demuestra a una mujer decidida a ser lo que sea necesario por salvar la vida de su hermano de un desgraciado que también a jugado con ella enamorandola, por lo que ha decidido no volver a creer en ellos y quedarse soltera aunque sea mal visto, hasta que una noche de fiesta ve aún escocés que le cambiara la vida.
Leam nuestro sexy escocés a decidido regresar a sus casa después de un largo tiempo de separarse de ese lugar y su familia por una tragedia ocurrida con su esposa y hermano, hasta que en un viaje donde se ve detenido por una tormenta de nieve se reencuentra con una muchacha que hace que su corazón vuelva a latir.
Será que el destino les tiene preparado a estos dos algo más que una ayuda mutua.
Leam nuestro sexy escocés a decidido regresar a sus casa después de un largo tiempo de separarse de ese lugar y su familia por una tragedia ocurrida con su esposa y hermano, hasta que en un viaje donde se ve detenido por una tormenta de nieve se reencuentra con una muchacha que hace que su corazón vuelva a latir.
Será que el destino les tiene preparado a estos dos algo más que una ayuda mutua.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 2, 2017
I really loved the characters. The storyline, however, baffled me at times. But I quit trying to figure it out and just kept on reading. That worked since everything gets tidied up at the end. Definitely some elements of the story I didn't see coming. Kitty and Leam were very well matched. He had influenced her life even before she really knew him just by a chance encounter at a ball. It changed her direction in life. So this book allows us to see what that encounter led to. I'll for sure read the next installment in the series.
November 18, 2019
4.5 stars
After losing her innocence – in more ways than one – Lady Katherine Savage has given up any real hope of finding love. Then a snowstorm lands Kitty in a country inn, trapped for the holidays. Among those snowed in with her is Lord Leam Blackwood, a roguish Scotsman who tempts her, though for the life of her Kitty cannot understand why. What she does know is that Leam is more than he seems, and with no end to the snow in sight, she’s determined to ferret out his secrets. But will her quest cost Kitty her heart?
When a Scot Loves a Lady has danger, intrigue, and passion to spare! Katharine Ashe’s first Falcon Club book is an engaging story fans of historical romance are sure to adore. Kitty is a character I’d love to have for a friend, were she real. She’s smart, fun, and a great friend. There’s a series of events in her past that have hurt her and the vulnerability in Kitty made me want to see her find happiness. Leam, in turn, is a former agent that’s ready to quit and go home to Scotland. He’s tired of playing a role all the time and it’s easy to see why when he’s very unlike the persona he presents. I loved seeing the true Leam and watching him fall for Kitty (and her for him) made When a Scot Loves a Lady an enchanting read. A dash of danger and a healthy dose of intrigue add spice to When a Scot Loves a Lady, making it a well-rounded book.
When a Scot Loves a Lady is the first book in Ms. Ashe’s Falcon Club series, but fans of Ms. Ashe will recognize Kitty from a previous book, Captured by a Rogue Lord. There’s definitely some crossover between the Falcon Club series and Ms. Ashe’s last series, the Rogues of the Sea, but so far all of Ms. Ashe’s books can be read as standalones.
In my opinion, Ms. Ashe’s books have been getting better and better. I absolutely adored When a Scot Loves a Lady and I cannot wait for Ms. Ashe’s next Falcon Club book!
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
After losing her innocence – in more ways than one – Lady Katherine Savage has given up any real hope of finding love. Then a snowstorm lands Kitty in a country inn, trapped for the holidays. Among those snowed in with her is Lord Leam Blackwood, a roguish Scotsman who tempts her, though for the life of her Kitty cannot understand why. What she does know is that Leam is more than he seems, and with no end to the snow in sight, she’s determined to ferret out his secrets. But will her quest cost Kitty her heart?
When a Scot Loves a Lady has danger, intrigue, and passion to spare! Katharine Ashe’s first Falcon Club book is an engaging story fans of historical romance are sure to adore. Kitty is a character I’d love to have for a friend, were she real. She’s smart, fun, and a great friend. There’s a series of events in her past that have hurt her and the vulnerability in Kitty made me want to see her find happiness. Leam, in turn, is a former agent that’s ready to quit and go home to Scotland. He’s tired of playing a role all the time and it’s easy to see why when he’s very unlike the persona he presents. I loved seeing the true Leam and watching him fall for Kitty (and her for him) made When a Scot Loves a Lady an enchanting read. A dash of danger and a healthy dose of intrigue add spice to When a Scot Loves a Lady, making it a well-rounded book.
When a Scot Loves a Lady is the first book in Ms. Ashe’s Falcon Club series, but fans of Ms. Ashe will recognize Kitty from a previous book, Captured by a Rogue Lord. There’s definitely some crossover between the Falcon Club series and Ms. Ashe’s last series, the Rogues of the Sea, but so far all of Ms. Ashe’s books can be read as standalones.
In my opinion, Ms. Ashe’s books have been getting better and better. I absolutely adored When a Scot Loves a Lady and I cannot wait for Ms. Ashe’s next Falcon Club book!
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
March 12, 2012
Will I ever know the real you when you refuse to reveal your secrets?
Lady Katherine Savege has given up on finding any match, let alone a love match after her heart had been so violently broken. Her mother has let Kitty do as she pleases and that has always pleased Kitty very much. Kitty has made more than a few poor decisions and vindication always comes at a high price to everyone but freedom is worth the issues that come with it.
Setting off with her friend Kitty and their entourage the group find themselves snow bound with a wide variety of personalities, one more mysterious than the other. The only person Kitty finds intriguing though is Leam, the Earl of Blackwood who speaks out of several sides of his very kissable mouth. Kitty wonders about who Leam is as much as she obsesses about the possibility of kissing him. Several days pass before she is able to let go of her fears to have Leam show her the pleasure of being in his arms is like yet she feels she can never completely trust him.
Kitty is a tough one though and she survives a number of near misses only to discover that the secrets Liam has been keeping run deeper than she could have ever imagined. He swears he is not a spy just part of a recently disbanded group of rescuers. He cannot prove any of this and Kitty is so weary by the doubt. The trouble is once she took the step to go farther with her feelings turning back is not an option.
Katharine Ashe is the master of setting the storyline in the book you are reading as well as tease you with what is coming next. The first book in a new series is always the most complicated to lay out but Ms. Ashe knows exactly what to say, never giving away too much but always making sure as a reader you are well informed.
Lady Katherine Savege has given up on finding any match, let alone a love match after her heart had been so violently broken. Her mother has let Kitty do as she pleases and that has always pleased Kitty very much. Kitty has made more than a few poor decisions and vindication always comes at a high price to everyone but freedom is worth the issues that come with it.
Setting off with her friend Kitty and their entourage the group find themselves snow bound with a wide variety of personalities, one more mysterious than the other. The only person Kitty finds intriguing though is Leam, the Earl of Blackwood who speaks out of several sides of his very kissable mouth. Kitty wonders about who Leam is as much as she obsesses about the possibility of kissing him. Several days pass before she is able to let go of her fears to have Leam show her the pleasure of being in his arms is like yet she feels she can never completely trust him.
Kitty is a tough one though and she survives a number of near misses only to discover that the secrets Liam has been keeping run deeper than she could have ever imagined. He swears he is not a spy just part of a recently disbanded group of rescuers. He cannot prove any of this and Kitty is so weary by the doubt. The trouble is once she took the step to go farther with her feelings turning back is not an option.
Katharine Ashe is the master of setting the storyline in the book you are reading as well as tease you with what is coming next. The first book in a new series is always the most complicated to lay out but Ms. Ashe knows exactly what to say, never giving away too much but always making sure as a reader you are well informed.
September 9, 2018
The unexamined life...
One thing I really like about Katherine Ashe is that her books are not only great romances, they delve into other areas of life—such as unraveling the past and looking at it through older and more experienced eyes, realizing that at the time characters weren’t necessarily as central to the happenings in the universe as they thought they were, and that they weren’t necessarily to blame for things that happened. I think that’s something a lot of us carry around with us, guilt and/or feelings of blame, guilt, or worthlessness for things we have entirely no responsibility for. Katherine and Leam have these things in spades, and the only way they can possibly have a proper relationship is to work their way through that, with lots of side-roads, snow, and bumps along the way. But they do help each other out. Even though they spend a lot of time carrying on façades while doing it. I really enjoyed this book, the depth of the characters, and the development of secondary characters. Highly recommended.
One thing I really like about Katherine Ashe is that her books are not only great romances, they delve into other areas of life—such as unraveling the past and looking at it through older and more experienced eyes, realizing that at the time characters weren’t necessarily as central to the happenings in the universe as they thought they were, and that they weren’t necessarily to blame for things that happened. I think that’s something a lot of us carry around with us, guilt and/or feelings of blame, guilt, or worthlessness for things we have entirely no responsibility for. Katherine and Leam have these things in spades, and the only way they can possibly have a proper relationship is to work their way through that, with lots of side-roads, snow, and bumps along the way. But they do help each other out. Even though they spend a lot of time carrying on façades while doing it. I really enjoyed this book, the depth of the characters, and the development of secondary characters. Highly recommended.
April 12, 2012
I was really into this book until the addition of about three crazy plot twists at the end. It's a bit like mental whiplash - ha, there is this, but wait this other thing, and then, blam! surprise! Oy. So many twists as a set up and then the actual reason for all the drama and danger...taken care of by a good right hook and a magistrate. Meh, what a let down and it really didn't have much to do with anything in the end. A lot of characters were introduced over the course of the plot who are fairly two-dimensional (Leam's entire family, Constance, Emily/Marie Antoine/whatever name she's going by now, Viscount Gray) so if Ashe continues the series I hope many of them were set up to return (otherwise that's a lot of set-painting for nothing).
That being said Kitty makes a great romance heroine (smart, crafty, pretty, and completely hurt by society because of an awful male though she did get revenge on said male) so you want Leam to rescue her. And he needs rescuing, too.
That being said Kitty makes a great romance heroine (smart, crafty, pretty, and completely hurt by society because of an awful male though she did get revenge on said male) so you want Leam to rescue her. And he needs rescuing, too.
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