THE GROOM WORE PLAID is a marriage of convenience story
set, as you may be able to surmise by the cover and
title, in the Scottish Highlands. It concerns Maggie and
Owen who are from rival tribes, and their marriage is a
peace agreement of sorts. However anyone who knows
actual peace agreements knows, such arrangements are
rarely smooth sailing. Each party always has things they
neglect to tell the other, always has secrets they feel
they need to keep as future bargaining chips. This peace
agreement is no different.
Maggie is an instantly compelling character. She gets
these visions that seem to come true and one now involves
Owen dying on their wedding day. Her love for him and her
faith in her gift mean she is convinced they cannot
marry. Add that emotion to some good old fashioned
Scottish stubbornness and you have one of the core plots
of this book. Owen adds some of his own stubbornness to
the mix. He's convinced to his bones they should
marry—not only because of the peace accord but
because
he wants her. Plain and simple, he's wanted Maggie in his
bed for absolute ages and is not going to let something
silly like dreams get in his way.
If that description makes you go "ugh, just get over
yourselves", then you may want to give this a pass. This
book is built on the fact that these two folks have no
living idea how to communicate, both with themselves
and with each other. I enjoyed watching them figure it
out—through loads of trial and error—but I know
there
are other folks who are going to call shenanigans on
that. I refer to this as the White Christmas
Principle (White Christmas starring Bing Crosby and
Rosemary Clooney): if you spend the latter half of the
movie
angry at the housekeeper and the magic is slightly ruined
because the whole thing comes down to people
miscommunicating, this book may not be for you.
Saying that, I usually get super freaking frustrated when
an adult conversation could fix the main tension, but
this one still worked for me. It could be because I
understand that Highland stubborn is a different breed
altogether, I don't know. For example, one of my Scottish
friends once told me that logic was the currency of the
Lowlands and passion the currency of the Highlands and as
hyperbolic as that may be, my personal experience lends
me to understand the kernel of truth it contains.
I think folks who like Highland stories in general should
definitely check THE GROOM WORE PLAID, especially if you're
down for
touches of mysticism and magic that often come with those
stories. Anyone who likes dudes slowly realizing that
lust and love are different but interconnected will also
enjoy this.
Falling in love means tempting fate in this passionate
new novel in USA Today bestselling author Gayle Callen's
Highland Weddings series
Maggie McCallum's dreams about her new fiancé aren't the
romantic sort. It's not just that she was bartered to
Owen Duff like a piece of property to end a clan feud.
She's also haunted by premonitions of his death on their
upcoming wedding day. Yet the exasperating Highlander
won't let her call it off, even though his life and his
clan are both in jeopardy.
Owen has wanted Maggie in his bed since he first glimpsed
her years ago. If their union restores peace between
their clans, so much the better. But while lusting after
another chief's sister had its risks, growing to trust
Maggie is far more dangerous. Owen is falling deeply in
love with the one woman he cannot hope to claim . . . and
survive.
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