Highland Tryst

by Jean Canavan

The grief within Kathlyn's heart soared to joy when Alex appeared before her eyes, alive! Now, she must betray her vow to gentle Duncan, or lose again the only man that she could ever love.

312 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 1986

Reviews

[Wendy, Lady Evelyn Quince · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me spoil this turkey and save anyone who's even contemplating reading this awful mess of a book their valuable time. As far as I know, we only live one life, and there's no reason to spend a moment of it in undeserved agony.

(It's also about 30 years out of print, so I don't feel too bad about hurting anyone's career.)

Kathlyn and Alex are from warring Scottish clans. When the book begins, they are already lovers, meeting frequently for very intimate encounters. They've seen each other naked, inside and out. They know what the other looks like, sounds like, smells like... Just to be totally clear: they've HAD SEX WITH EACH OTHER MANY TIMES.

Their families discover the affair and Kathlyn and Alex are separated. Kathlyn flees into the wilderness and is rescued by Duncan, an ugly, deformed stranger. Kathlyn is repelled by his looks at first. Duncan is kind to her and eventually they fall in love. And HAVE SEX.

So now, Kathlyn is torn between her former handsome lover, and the kind, ugly stranger who's saved her.

Guess what? There's a twist...Duncan is really Alex! He was in disguise the whole time: a little mud here, some padding there, a change of facial expressions, and viola! A new secret identity that only the plastic surgeons of the 21st century could master.

The only heroine as stupid as Kathlyn is India Lindley from Bertrice Small's where she is enslaved in the the harem of Bey Caynan Reis, a bearded Arab and becomes his lover. Then India is separated from Caynan and forced to marry Lord Deverall, a clean-shaven Englishman. Guess what? They're the same person in that one, too. The only difference is Caynan has a beard and speaks with an accent. Oops, now I've spoiled another sucky book for you. My apologies. @@

Dumb...just dumb.

0 1/2 stars/F

[J · Rating 1 out of 5]

What even was this book? The story is complex and whiplashy. The blurb is bad, and the book's title is even worse, but overall the book is terrible anyway.

This story has a twist which makes it hard to comment on or compile the tags for without ruining it. But, a few non-spoiler things that readers should be aware of:
- the FMC spends most of the story pregnant, and then there is a baby for the rest of it. Also involves lactation during sexy time.
- there is a graphic scene where the FMC's father beats her horribly. Like, she should have died, or at least gotten a disfigured face or not been able to walk away on her own two feet.
- The FMC is young (I think 18), and frequently described as small. It was weird.
- there is very little page-time between our actual, true couple.
- the book opens with a sex scene between the main couple, but they spend most of their frisky time talking about her brother, and how the MMC met the FMC when she was 8 and he was 18. Again, the whole scene was very weird.
- There's a questionable scene of dub-con but I think she at least admits that she was wrong. I think.

Why this book sucked: The MMC Alex is propped up as this wise, courageous, and noble hero while he's actually afraid that the woman he's screwing (Kathlyn) is going to betray him one day because an old wise woman told him so, and then he threatens that he will kill Kathlyn if she is ever untrue and she finds this romantic. Their clans hate each other, and he refuses to run away with her, but the smart hero gives her an unmistakable ring from his clan. Her father finds out the next second, slut-shames her and beats her to death, and kills Alex in front of her and Alex's family. But her dad just has anger issues, no biggie. She is sent to an abbey to cure her depression, but runs away when she finds out she's pregnant because she worries her father will kill the child. She wanders out into the snow and, without a map, magically finds Alex's friend the old wise woman's house who nurses her back from a mysterious illness with the help with of disfigured young man named Duncan.

Kathlyn is repulsed by Duncan when he proposes marriage and basically humiliates him, but realizes that he's about the best she's going to get while a single mother in the highland wilderness so she does a 180 and accepts his marriage but makes it clear, over and over, that she will never love him and always love the father of her child, and... he graciously agrees to protect her and raise her child while telling her that if she loves another man, she can leave because he knows he's repulsive. Duncan wants her but promises to never force her to have sex with him since she finds him revolting and he doesn't want her pity. After he gives her one-sided orgasms, she feels sorry for him and seduces him in a scene of some dubious consent, while also telling him she'll never love him.

Then her father finds her and forces her to marry a wealthy man who was painted as an awful person but his only real flaw was that he didn't want to cause a scene at dinner when she told him that he would never give her as much pleasure as Alex did, right after they said "I do." Controlling his temper was described as weak and unmanly.

Then Alex shows up in the flesh at her wedding and poor Duncan is forgotten in an instant. They run away together but then she tells Alex that she can't be with him, either, because she married Duncan. She runs back to Duncan's house and they make up, while she tells Duncan that she will always love Alex and never love him, but she returned to him because of her vows and his "friendship."

But GUESS WHAT?? Alex and Duncan are the same dude and he was just testing her this whole damn time. She hates him, they make up, their families make up, and we get a HEA. Now, the Alex-Duncan split doesn't make any sense because when we see them each on the page, they don't ever hint that they are the same person, almost I think the point that Alex doesn't acknowledge things that he should know because he was there as Duncan. Also, he somehow pulled off this incredible disguise for months and she never once thought he was her dead boyfriend, once, even after she had sex with Duncan. Like, HOW do you not recognize your former lover?

[Jeanette Kostiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book if you like historical romance read , easy to read , good characters , love highlands reads , won't want to put it down