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Border #2
Border Bride
An Unforgettable Past
Lady Alpin MacKay despaired at the terms of her late guardian's will. In a sweeping move of tyranny, her childhood nemesis, the Scottish lord Malcolm Kerr, had stolen her property. Fiercely determined to reclaim her home, she stormed Kildalton Castle.
A Scandalous Present
Malcolm Kerr stared at the beautiful woman who dared to invade his sanctuary. Citing Scottish law, she announced she was now his possession, along with her guardian's estate. Gleefully, Malcolm smiled at the scheming little minx. She was right where he wanted her, under his roof, under his thumb, and eventually, under him...in bed.
A Glorious Future
Malcolm vowed to have his revenge on this alluring lady; Alpin planned to trick this cruel lord into forfeiting her land. Yet together would learn that a man's long-forgotten needs and a woman's secret yearnings could ignite a love fierce enough to last for all time.
Lady Alpin MacKay despaired at the terms of her late guardian's will. In a sweeping move of tyranny, her childhood nemesis, the Scottish lord Malcolm Kerr, had stolen her property. Fiercely determined to reclaim her home, she stormed Kildalton Castle.
A Scandalous Present
Malcolm Kerr stared at the beautiful woman who dared to invade his sanctuary. Citing Scottish law, she announced she was now his possession, along with her guardian's estate. Gleefully, Malcolm smiled at the scheming little minx. She was right where he wanted her, under his roof, under his thumb, and eventually, under him...in bed.
A Glorious Future
Malcolm vowed to have his revenge on this alluring lady; Alpin planned to trick this cruel lord into forfeiting her land. Yet together would learn that a man's long-forgotten needs and a woman's secret yearnings could ignite a love fierce enough to last for all time.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1993
18 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Arnette Lamb
19 books66 followersArnette Lamb was an American writer of 13 romance novels from 1995 to 1998. She was born in 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. and she died prematurely from cancer on September 18, 1998. Her funeral service was held in the Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 7, 2019
Una lectura que disfruté muchísimo y que terminé casi sin darme cuenta. La trama avanza de forma muy ágil y la autora envuelve al lector igual que a la pareja principal, haciendo que todas las maquinaciones que cada uno urdió en contra del otro, pasen a segundo plano frente a los sentimientos que van redescubriendo cuando vuelven a verse después de 20 años. Los recuerdos de las travesuras que realizaban de niños son geniales y es muy fácil imaginárselos.
Buenos personajes, bien armados; él un poco obtuso, pero ella con la capacidad de reconocer que las circunstancias desfavorables de su vida, no siempre son culpa de los demás. Los secundarios también muy bien trabajados y aportan con lo suyo a la historia.
Como telón de fondo, las terribles circunstancias de la esclavitud en Barbados del 1700 y el conflicto de los jacobitas en Escocia (en el que ya no me pierdo gracias a los libros de Diana Gabaldón!)
Buenos personajes, bien armados; él un poco obtuso, pero ella con la capacidad de reconocer que las circunstancias desfavorables de su vida, no siempre son culpa de los demás. Los secundarios también muy bien trabajados y aportan con lo suyo a la historia.
Como telón de fondo, las terribles circunstancias de la esclavitud en Barbados del 1700 y el conflicto de los jacobitas en Escocia (en el que ya no me pierdo gracias a los libros de Diana Gabaldón!)
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June 22, 2012It's been so long since I read this book - 20 years probably - but Arnette Lamb was the first Scottish romance writer I discovered and I devoured all of her books in short order. She's responsible for me focusing my own writing on Scotland. I need to find her books again and reread!
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September 2, 2013"Historical Romance"
March 19, 2022
I got the premise of this book stuck in my head and asked around to find out what book it was. I honestly thought I wasn't going to get an answer for a while. Luckily someone managed to help me out with the title.
I almost want to rate this 5 stars but I usually reserve those for books that I want to read again right away.
This book has a reread value to it, but it's not one that I'll read often.
It's book two in a series and I've honestly never read any of the others. Now that I know child Malcolm was in the first, I want to read it more.
So here's the story of our heroine Alpin. Her mother died when she was very young, and she didn't know who her father was, apparently he hopped on a boat and sailed away somewhere.
She wound up being taken in by an uncle? who hated children and took in literally all the children that were relatives because he thought it was his duty. She wound up being ignored, hated, and slept in the stables. Until she ran away to Kildalton castle where Malcolm lived. This is when she's 6 and he's 7 and they were apparently horrible little turds of children. Reading about the things they did as kids was actually pretty funny.
This ended when the hero's father shipped her off to Barbados to live on a plantation with a relative and his wife who had no kids of their own. The heroine's somewhat happy life there ended when the wife died and the husband drank himself to death without caring about anything. That took 10 years. So basically when the heroine was 17 years old and now she's 27.
The only thing the heroine cared about at that point was owning the plantation and being able to free the slaves that worked there. Through her own hard work and brains she'd taken over the running of it and made a profit from it.
At the death of the relative that raised her, she finds out that he'd already sold out from under her and left her a stipend and passage back to Scotland to be with her uncle.
In a plan to get back her home with all the people counting on her, she makes her way to Scotland and presents herself to Malcolm, now a man, who'd bought the plantation out from under her.
And Malcolm had plans of his own, he wanted to get back at Alpin because some of the horrible things that she'd done to him as a child included an incident with bees which he thought left him sterile. His stepmother didn't believe it would happen but he'd pretty much bedded some women with the intent to get a few children off them and failed miserably. He believed he couldn't marry because he couldn't give his wife children.
So Alpin and Malcolm meet at Kildalton castle both with secrets and plans of their own. She plans on him trying to marry her and giving her the plantation as a wedding present where she's promptly leave him. He thwarts that with a handfasting ceremony that will turn to marriage when she becomes pregnant. Something he believes can never happen.
Honestly, I liked the fact that this was a lowland border story instead of all the romance novels I've read that are about "highlanders" who absolutely despise the lowland traitor scots. So it was fun, and I enjoyed it.
You just can't really hate Alpin or Malcolm, they were both equally stupid and smart at the same time. I think the fact that we never really delve deep into Malcolm's plans for Alpin, it made the book slightly less but slightly better. I might not have forgiven him for what his plans were, but they were pretty much by the wayside really quick.
Between them you couldn't really feel that sorry for either since they both had their deceptions.
The book could have easily had another hundred pages or so to flesh out the ending, not just the ending but the end. I thought it was a little too abrupt an end from the heroine trying to escape. And the hero never really sits her down and asks?
The characters weren't overly stupid, the situations weren't overly comical and they actually did manage to use their brains throughout.
I liked that the heroine realized she harbored resentments for things that weren't the faults of others, and the hero realized he harbored resentment against a girl who was 6 years old and didn't even know what had happened.
I almost want to rate this 5 stars but I usually reserve those for books that I want to read again right away.
This book has a reread value to it, but it's not one that I'll read often.
It's book two in a series and I've honestly never read any of the others. Now that I know child Malcolm was in the first, I want to read it more.
So here's the story of our heroine Alpin. Her mother died when she was very young, and she didn't know who her father was, apparently he hopped on a boat and sailed away somewhere.
She wound up being taken in by an uncle? who hated children and took in literally all the children that were relatives because he thought it was his duty. She wound up being ignored, hated, and slept in the stables. Until she ran away to Kildalton castle where Malcolm lived. This is when she's 6 and he's 7 and they were apparently horrible little turds of children. Reading about the things they did as kids was actually pretty funny.
This ended when the hero's father shipped her off to Barbados to live on a plantation with a relative and his wife who had no kids of their own. The heroine's somewhat happy life there ended when the wife died and the husband drank himself to death without caring about anything. That took 10 years. So basically when the heroine was 17 years old and now she's 27.
The only thing the heroine cared about at that point was owning the plantation and being able to free the slaves that worked there. Through her own hard work and brains she'd taken over the running of it and made a profit from it.
At the death of the relative that raised her, she finds out that he'd already sold out from under her and left her a stipend and passage back to Scotland to be with her uncle.
In a plan to get back her home with all the people counting on her, she makes her way to Scotland and presents herself to Malcolm, now a man, who'd bought the plantation out from under her.
And Malcolm had plans of his own, he wanted to get back at Alpin because some of the horrible things that she'd done to him as a child included an incident with bees which he thought left him sterile. His stepmother didn't believe it would happen but he'd pretty much bedded some women with the intent to get a few children off them and failed miserably. He believed he couldn't marry because he couldn't give his wife children.
So Alpin and Malcolm meet at Kildalton castle both with secrets and plans of their own. She plans on him trying to marry her and giving her the plantation as a wedding present where she's promptly leave him. He thwarts that with a handfasting ceremony that will turn to marriage when she becomes pregnant. Something he believes can never happen.
Honestly, I liked the fact that this was a lowland border story instead of all the romance novels I've read that are about "highlanders" who absolutely despise the lowland traitor scots. So it was fun, and I enjoyed it.
You just can't really hate Alpin or Malcolm, they were both equally stupid and smart at the same time. I think the fact that we never really delve deep into Malcolm's plans for Alpin, it made the book slightly less but slightly better. I might not have forgiven him for what his plans were, but they were pretty much by the wayside really quick.
Between them you couldn't really feel that sorry for either since they both had their deceptions.
The book could have easily had another hundred pages or so to flesh out the ending, not just the ending but the end. I thought it was a little too abrupt an end from the heroine trying to escape. And the hero never really sits her down and asks?
The characters weren't overly stupid, the situations weren't overly comical and they actually did manage to use their brains throughout.
I liked that the heroine realized she harbored resentments for things that weren't the faults of others, and the hero realized he harbored resentment against a girl who was 6 years old and didn't even know what had happened.
April 18, 2023
I've read this book several times and would have given it 5 stars years ago. But now I am older and have a different perspective.
Our 'hero' is motivated soley by revenge. He, now 30 yrs old, harbours a grudge against a 6 yr old orphan who lived with a neglectful uncle and sought solace and companionship at our hero, Malcolm's, home. Because she, Alpin, was angry at the world she would lash out with inappropriate behaviour. One of her misdeeds is an event that Malcolm blames for his lack of children (who BTW would be considered bastards since he's not married). So what does Malcolm do? He secretly buys the plantation that Alpin hoped to inherit so she is left with nothing. An adult is taking revenge on something a child did to him 23 yrs earlier.
Things go very wrong for Malcolm when Alpin worms her way into his home. Her goal is to convince Malcolm to marry her and give her back the plantation as a wedding gift. She then plans on leaving him and returning to the Caribbean to free her slaves.
Unfortunately for them both, they begin to have strong feelings for each other.
There's political intrigue as well, which is not my favourite topic.
Alpin ends up running away from Malcolm numerous times which I found ridiculous.
Nevertheless, I think people will enjoy this book if they look past the logic of a someone holding a grudge for 23 yrs.
Our 'hero' is motivated soley by revenge. He, now 30 yrs old, harbours a grudge against a 6 yr old orphan who lived with a neglectful uncle and sought solace and companionship at our hero, Malcolm's, home. Because she, Alpin, was angry at the world she would lash out with inappropriate behaviour. One of her misdeeds is an event that Malcolm blames for his lack of children (who BTW would be considered bastards since he's not married). So what does Malcolm do? He secretly buys the plantation that Alpin hoped to inherit so she is left with nothing. An adult is taking revenge on something a child did to him 23 yrs earlier.
Things go very wrong for Malcolm when Alpin worms her way into his home. Her goal is to convince Malcolm to marry her and give her back the plantation as a wedding gift. She then plans on leaving him and returning to the Caribbean to free her slaves.
Unfortunately for them both, they begin to have strong feelings for each other.
There's political intrigue as well, which is not my favourite topic.
Alpin ends up running away from Malcolm numerous times which I found ridiculous.
Nevertheless, I think people will enjoy this book if they look past the logic of a someone holding a grudge for 23 yrs.
December 29, 2021
(Explícito). Básicamente era un reencuentro de parte de los protagonistas, con Alpin en busca de su independencia y un hogar permanente y de Malcolm tratando de hacer cumplir una venganza después de una broma de parte de Alpin cuando tenían como siete y seis años respectivamente, donde pensaba que por esa broma había quedado estéril y por eso a sus, como, 28 años aún no se había casado.
Alpin, con toda vida de desgracias, sin hogar y malos momentos finalmente veía que tanto sufrimiento iba valer la pena porqur tendría un hogar en Paraíso, la plantación de azúcar en Barbados e iba a poder liberar a los esclavos, sólo que al morir su tutor, Charlie creo, le dejó la plantación a Malcolm y a ella una asignación anual, por lo que otra vez Alpin se encontró sin hogar y bajo la custodia de alguien más, y decidió ir a Malcolm a tratar de conseguir de que Paraíso estuviera a su nombre.
Para el final, todo muy apresurado y muy conveniente de que Alpin fuera parte de un clan de las tierras altas y por eso fue confuso para Alpin confiar en que Malcolm no se casaba con ella nada más por conveniencia política.
Narrado en tercera persona y ofrece los puntos de vista de los protagonistas.
Alpin, con toda vida de desgracias, sin hogar y malos momentos finalmente veía que tanto sufrimiento iba valer la pena porqur tendría un hogar en Paraíso, la plantación de azúcar en Barbados e iba a poder liberar a los esclavos, sólo que al morir su tutor, Charlie creo, le dejó la plantación a Malcolm y a ella una asignación anual, por lo que otra vez Alpin se encontró sin hogar y bajo la custodia de alguien más, y decidió ir a Malcolm a tratar de conseguir de que Paraíso estuviera a su nombre.
Para el final, todo muy apresurado y muy conveniente de que Alpin fuera parte de un clan de las tierras altas y por eso fue confuso para Alpin confiar en que Malcolm no se casaba con ella nada más por conveniencia política.
Narrado en tercera persona y ofrece los puntos de vista de los protagonistas.
June 23, 2021
Easy read that fulfilled my reoccurring Highland romance needs. Not a book that I will keep for any emotional attachment, but a fun and quick pastime. I wish there was a bit more “enemy” in this enemies-to-lovers story, but that’s because I have been on high with this trope for a while so I am always looking for something new added to it.
As for the plot, I found it a little silly how stupid Malcolm was to not realize why he didn’t have a kid up until then, but I guess men had even less emotional intelligence in the 1700s than today.
As for the plot, I found it a little silly how stupid Malcolm was to not realize why he didn’t have a kid up until then, but I guess men had even less emotional intelligence in the 1700s than today.
July 25, 2022
Es entretenida, tiene muchas cosas ocurriendo en simultaneo, la protagonista si es un poco odiosa, pero terminas por dejarle pasar muchas cosas y pues el protagonista tiene un gran corazón, así que tiene su encanto el libro en general
September 17, 2022
Loved this follow up to see Alpin and Malcomb as adults. They were feisty as friends when they were little and it just carried over into their treatment and caring of each other as adults.
January 31, 2022
Alpin and Malcom's story was exactly what we needed to continue the series. It was a good read.
March 8, 2008
Maneuvered out of her inheritance by her childhood nemesis, Malcolm, Alpin takes charge and presents herself in front of him, stating that she is part of his property, all the while scheming to take back what is hers.
Alpin and Malcolm are both weirdly intent on vengeance, but it's a very half-hearted vengeance. Neither ever is really cruel, but they don't quite click.
Alpin and Malcolm are both weirdly intent on vengeance, but it's a very half-hearted vengeance. Neither ever is really cruel, but they don't quite click.
May 21, 2014
Una bonita historia de amor con malos entendidos y secundarios; unos graciosos que aportan a la historia ligereza y otros que le dan el punto de madurez y reflexión.
Me ha gustado el personaje femenino por su entereza y capacidad de compromiso. No por ello Malcoim me ha gustado menos. La autora consigue crear en el a un hombre sin demasiadas miras estrechas y capaz de los gestos más nobles.
Me ha gustado el personaje femenino por su entereza y capacidad de compromiso. No por ello Malcoim me ha gustado menos. La autora consigue crear en el a un hombre sin demasiadas miras estrechas y capaz de los gestos más nobles.
June 14, 2015
Love it
As the second book, it was more than wonderful. I was glad that she got pregnant for Malcolm. They needed a child to untie their bond as lover and friends. Well done, Arnette Lamb.
As the second book, it was more than wonderful. I was glad that she got pregnant for Malcolm. They needed a child to untie their bond as lover and friends. Well done, Arnette Lamb.
November 21, 2008
Not bad, easy read
May 19, 2014
I haven't read any of the other books in this series, but this is the first romance novel i ever read and it got me hooked on the highland romance genre. This is just an awesome book!
October 17, 2014
enjoyable book
February 19, 2015
3,5 stars
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March 24, 2018I liked Malcolm so much as a boy in the previous book, it was difficult for me to accept the heroine he received in this book. She was and is a bully. Just because she could justify her actions to herself and plead "poor little orphan" didn't change my mind.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews