Customer Reviews

Seduced by a Rogue

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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When this book came in the mail I saw the cover and squealed a little at the chance of reading about sexy scottish men with kilts and no underwear. Alas, Seduced by a Rogue makes no mention of kilts or lack of underwear, yet it still gave me an entertaining read.

Lady Mairi is the apparent heir to her father, Lord Dunwythie, as her step mother has produced no sons to take her place. Because of this her father begins teaching her the things a Baroness would need to know to manage the estates. Unfortunately trouble is brewing with neighboring clans who wish to make Lord Dunwythie submit to their leadership.

Robert Maxwell first sets eyes upon the Lady Mairi in a barley field while he is on his way to deliver a message to her father. The attraction between them is instant, tho both are resistant to acknowledge it. In an effort to prove his clan loyalty and to prevent blood loss, Robert Maxwell kidnaps the Lady Mairi intending to use her to secure her father's submission to the Maxwell Clan's authority. Once in his captivity, things do not go as planned and Robert finds himself enamored with the Lady. Adding to the problem, tensions between clans grow and clan war seems imminent.... can these two crazy kids find a way to be together and prevent a clan war at the same time?

Seduced by a Rogue was my first foray into the world of historical romance. As much as the thought of hot scottish men in kilts, without underwear, intrigues me.... I had never attempted to read anything from the genre! Because of that, I have to say I stumbled a bit at first. The old style english/scottish was distracting and hard for me to grasp. I read the first 10 pages before I realized I was going to have to use the google. So, being a rather resourceful book reader, I made myself a cheat sheet and thought I would share it with you. Here are words you must know if you want to read about sexy scottish dudes, with or without underwear.

gey: very/quite
ken: know
nocht: nothing
nowt: nothing
summat: something like that
aught: anything
nobbut: only
prithee: please
troth: pledge

Now that I had crib notes, and had them memorized, I was able to bury myself into the world a bit easier. In fact it wasn't long before I found myself speaking with a scottish accent in my head.

I found Lady Mairi to be an interesting girl. She was oh so proper and controlled, but also determined. She was always in control, except when in the presence of Robert Maxwell. He was aggravating and infuriating and pushed all of her buttons. I actually did a little cheer when she lost her cool and threw a stool at him on page 98. I loved the dialogue and interactions between Rob and Mairi. Their pokes and prods at each other were easy to understand even with the Scottish thrown in. They were funny and brought life to the story through their relationship.

The story that brings Rob and Mairi together was interesting and realistic for the time period. I expected to take issue with a lead character falling in love with her kidnapper, but was happy to find it was done well and did not seem unnatural or unrealistic. I did find myself getting lost trying to figure out who was related to who and how.... who owned what lands and where they were located.

In the end I was torn about the ending. The ending to the romantic story arc was fine, however the resolution of the clan tensions wasn't clear enough or climactic enough. I expected more fight from certain factions and was left slightly confused as to what had happened and why it was over so quickly. Even with my few complaints, I liked the story and enjoyed cuddling up with it whenever I could. I may even pick up the next book to see what happens.

In 1375, his beloved older brother Alex, the Sheriff of Dumfries, sends Rob Maxwell to collect money that clan Maxwell believes clan Dunwythie owes them. Lord Dunwythie rejects the claim stating he pays his fees and taxes to the king. He returns home empty pocketed to the admonition of his sibling.

Rob meets the heir to the Dunwythie estate, Lady Mairie. Though attracted to her, he places his clan above his libido and concocts a plan to use her as a pawn to obtain the money due his kin. He kidnaps her expecting her father to pay ransom for his beloved daughter. Alex offers to rescue Mairie from the unknown "stranger" for a fee. He knows that his brother is the kidnapper but his adversary does not know the identity of the abductor. Outraged by the mercenary demand, Dunwythie calls in a favor from Clan Douglas. With war brewing between the clans, Rob and Mairie fall in love, but both place their clan above their personal needs.

Seduced by a Rogue is another great Scottish medieval romance (see Tamed by a Laird) as the lead couple finds love amidst their battling clans. Filled with fourteenth century history, the story line is fast-paced from the moment Mairie and Rob meet and never slows down as readers will wonder whether this pair will share the fate of Romeo and Juliet.

Harriet Klausner

Robert Maxwell the Laird of Trailinghail had the purest of intentions of preventing a war not starting one by kidnapping the daughter of their family enemy. He thought if he kidnapped the beautiful 19-year old Mairi Dunwythie her father would give up his resistance to letting Rob's brother, Alexander the Sheriff of Dumfries tax the Annandale holdings and all would live peacefully. It was a great idea in theory but once Rob had her back at his keep the feelings that he had for her were not one of capture toward a hostage but more primal and ran very deep to his core. Could he continue this game and see who won or would he let her go?

Mairi had been raised to take over her father's property and one day will be a landowner in her own right. Having no sons to take his place Mairi's father may have been late in teaching her but he was giving her the education any heir would receive. She followed his directive but still had her own mind and when she wanders from the keep she learns too fast how venerable she is when in a blink of an eye she becomes Rob's prisoner. But he does not treat her as such and the emotion that is flowing between them is not anger or resentment at the situation but passion and lust - both things Mairi never anticipated having.

But a change in plans occurs when Alex discovers what Rob has done forcing Robert to return Mairi to her father. The sequence of events that follow will change every aspect of their lives and relationship forever. So much has happened in the short time Mairi was away with her sister running off with a wild and impetuous boy not of her social standing, her step mother swearing she is carrying the true heir and her father suddenly out of the picture. Robert's brother decides the opportunity has presented itself and he plans to seize the property and by doing so forces Robert to choose which side he will stand with. Is blood stronger than love or will his loyalties to his family win out and have him lose the one love of his life - Mairi.

Decisions are made, destinies created and history written all in a well laid story. This book is a great mix of history, a tender love story, the sadness of battle and the turmoil of being female in a male dominated time and place. The details are exacting but do not take away from the read and the pleasure of watching Rob and Mairi work through who they are to one another as well as how they can find their place in their individual family structure.

Mary Gramlich ~ ("The Reading Reviewer") ~ [...]

It was really difficult to get into this book right from the beginning.

Indeed the reader uses old scottish language within the character dialogs (which gave me a bit of a headache just to get through and understand the conversations)in order for one to get a feel for the era, but other than that it really didn't provide any quality to the story.

The heroine and her hero were totally mismatched. The romance between the two didn't look genuine nor fruitful at all. They were not of equal social standing and other than the heroine getting her way all the time with the hero, she came across as a complete wimp; she never stood up to her family but manages to be too politely loose-tongued with the hero while in his captivity. Also, writers need to become more creative in their stories as it gets very mundane and boring when the heroines are most often than not, kidnapped by their heroes resulting in the two falling in love with one another (PA-LEASE). The hero also manages to return his love interest back to her family at the whim of turning a page without much strategy and suspense. Also, their first night of romance came and went and lacked magical spark between two lovers.

The author failed to capture my attention and I was eager to be interrupted to put this book down many times. I managed to get through this book, but felt that the ending was as lacking as the night the lovers came together. The ending appeared rushed and unfinished as readers were not informed as to whether the heorine's sister truly eloped with her love or was kidnapped; maybe the writer will put this in a story of its own, but how these characters will redeem themselves does not seem to be easily unfolding, as the lady didn't even attend her father's funeral when summoned by the heroine. Finally, what could've been a great battle scene involving clan wars and betrayal, also ended as quickly as the first night of the sexual encounter; no major clan war and betrayal ever happened and the hero and his brother made up in a tiny spark within a mere sentence. Again, the writing is very rushed and lacking in imagination, suspense and romance.

I hope this author redeems herself in other books before I consider writing her off my shelf just as I did with Hannah Howell. Other than good book covers and heroes with beautiful eyes, these authors lack suspense, intrigue and good imagination.

As a girl with Scottish roots, I was instantly drawn to this historical romance by Amanda Scott. I love the way the Scottish language sounds and this book is full of "lasses" and "dinna kens". Seduced by a Rogue takes place in Scotland during the late 1300s during the time when Clan Maxwell was trying to gain control over southwest Scotland.

Mairi and Rob are caught on two different sides of the clan wars and sparks ignite as they fight the attraction between them. Rob kidnaps Mairi to try to convince her father to accept Maxwell's demand that he pay taxes to the Scottish King. The book is based on actual hisorical events although I doubt it's completely historically accurate. It includes enough history to keep me interested and enough romance to to keep me turning the pages for more.

This isn't a hot and heavy romance book. You won't find a lot of heaving bosom's in Seduced by a Rogue. The romance is more subtle but no less important. The book is rich in history and that in itself drew me into the story . The attraction between Mairi and Rob was icing on the cake.

If you're a fan of Scottish history or historical romances, you'll love the latest book by Amanda Scott, Seduced by a Rogue.

she is a great storyteller and hard to put down,kilts ,sex and intrigue,with a cup of tea just plain fun on a rainy afternoon

Another fun highlander romance, Seduced by a Rogue gives us family intrigue, a strong and honorable heroine, a misguided and handsome romantic lead. As Rob Maxwell tries to balance his clan obligations with his sense of honor, the story takes an interesting turn.

Seduced by a Rogue is a fun, quick read. Amanda Scott works her romance magic yet again.

ISBN-10: 0446541346 - Mass Market paperback $6.99
Publisher: Forever (January 1, 2010), 400 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.