Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch

March 18, 2019
Romanceland Plan Alert
 
http://www.suzanneenoch.com/
Even though Suzanne Enoch is one of my auto-buy authors, I must issue an alert for another Romanceland plan. Not only is there a romanceland plan in this book, it’s a dreadful one.

Ms. Enoch has been one of my go-to authors since she was knee-high to a grasshopper – that’s a very long time. As with all authors, no matter how much I love them, every once in while a clinker comes along. As much I as I wish otherwise, It’s Getting Scot in Here didn’t work for me. Why is that? As I mentioned before, it allllll boils down to Francesca’s Romanceland Plan. This plan makes everyone in the story look odious.

Once upon a time, Angus MacTaggert, Earl of Aldriss, and Francesca Oswell meet, fell madly in love, married, and left for his ancestral home in Scotland. It isn’t long before the bloom is off the rose (or whatever that saying is). Soon Francesca and Angus are having marriage problems. He hatesssss London, loves Scotland; she loves London, hatesssss Scotland. Eventually they have four children, Coll, Aden, Niall, and Eloise. When Francesca gives birth to her daughter, the youngest of her children, she decides she cannot take it any longer.  Yes, she’s had enough peace and quiet in the wilds of Scotland – what a horrible place to bring up a daughter. Her daughter will never turn into a refined lady by living among the trees. Oh yes, something very important to the plot line: Francesca controls the money from the Oswell family. It is the Oswell family coffers which are keeping the Aldriss land afloat – I guess.

As I was saying, Francesca’s had enough, she’s mad as heck, and she’s not going to take it anymore.  She makes an agreement with Angus. She will leave her sons behind with Angus and return to London with Eloise. Angus lets her, as long as she continues to pump money into the land. What a great set of parents. Did you notice something? What about the boys? Let me repeat Francesca’s actions again for you. When she agrees to Angus’ demands, she is choosing life in London’s society over her three young sons. Francesca leaves her three young sons behind to be raised by their father in the wilds of Scotland. Coll, who is the eldest, is twelve at the time; the other two are just a few years younger.  What a traumatic experience that must have been for those abandoned boys. What does that say to those boys? It says that their mother loved the social swirl more than she does her own sons. Seventeen long years pass with nary any communication between Francesca and her sons. There is also no contact between Eloise and her father, nor Eloise and her brothers. While Angus is to blame for some of this, Francesca’s choice of society over being with her sons is a betrayal. Francesca is never going to win the mother of the year award. As far as I was concerned, this was a selfish act which would take a lot to be redeemed in my eyes. But wait, there’s more! Someone puleeeese make it stop! Seventeen years have passed, and she’s got a plan! Yes, Francesca has a Romanceland Plan – and, it’s a doozy.

Francesca’s plan. She is going to stop supporting her husband’s ancestral home/farm/estate/village/tenants in Scotland (Aldriss Park) unless her sons come to London and marry English women. One of those women has to be someone she chooses. This plan didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. I’m not sure what she was hoping to gain. She doesn’t seem to be aware of just how much her sons have grown to resent her over the years. Not only has she been out of their lives for seventeen years, she abandoned them for something frivolous.  She has ignored them, and never been there when they needed her. Now, not only is she forcing them to separate from their father, she is threatening their livelihood, the place which they love, and the people who depend upon them. Talk about bullying. Her plan was baffling; it didn’t make any sense to me. It was a cruel, heartless plan, and I was disgusted with her. Did she think this plan would create some kind of bond with her sons, that they would learn to love her?  It was all very confusing.

The more I thought about this plan, the less it made any sense. So, what if the sons allllllll married women of their mother’s choosing? Did that mean that once they were married, they would remain in London with their wives? Not likely. Wouldn’t the sons pack their wives off to Scotland? None of her sons liked the city; their lives were in a different country. They would still resent her, and probably the women she selected. They would still live away from her, as would any future grandchildren. Of course, she could always threaten them again. Francesca and her plan made me fume throughout most of this book, and writing this review is making it allllll come back.

Francesca’s chosen bride. Francesca has picked a suitable match for her eldest son Coll: Amelia-Rose Baxter. I thought Amelia-Rose had possibilities in the beginning, she was spirited, and spoke her mind – sometimes. She turned out to be unlikable, and hey, she didn’t like barbarous Scots. But wait! She has a horrible mother too! Her mother wants a title for her daughter and she doesn’t care what has to be done to get it. Her mother has no love for her daughter; she is overbearing, and mentally abusive to her. Amelia-Rose will do almost anything to escape from her mother’s control, even marry a barbarous Scot. You know this book was jam-packed with unpleasant women. But, it’s not just the females who had me grinding my teeth. Let’s talk about the so-called future heroes.

Coll, Aden, and Niall’s plan. Yes, there is another plan in this story. The guys have decided to make things as unpleasant for their mother as they can. That includes a bagpiper and a stuffed giant animal. They plan to be rude, insufferable, and completely obnoxious. They plan on showing their mother just how uncivilized they are. Even though Coll is the son who is picked out for Amelia-Rose, it is Niall who steps in to smooth things over. He is the one who escorts Amelia-Rose to the opera, dances, picnics, etc. And, he is the one who falls in love with her. Why is that? Well because Coll is a big bonehead, intolerable jerk through out most of the book. He disappears at the beginning of the story after he finds out that Amelia-Rose isn’t the shy, reserved woman he will accept as a wife. No, Amelia-Rose insults him almost right away. Evidently the tenants in Scotland don’t mean all that much to Coll, because he leaves Niall to cover for him. Of the three brothers, Niall was the most likeable, but they were all pretty much childish clods. But then, they were being forced to do something by a woman who abandoned them and now was trying to win them back. Here comes my rage again. AAAAaaaarrrgggg.

The more I think about this book the less I like it. While this story was supposed to be a romance, that part of the story was lost among many hateful, unpleasant people. There wasn’t any chemistry between Niall and Amelia-Rose, and I found allllll the parents in this book appalling. Every time I try to talk about the hero and heroine in this story, I become distracted by the “plan.” I am disappointed that this book came from the pen of one of my favorite authors. I’m not sure if the future books in the series will be able to redeem the main characters. I had such a strong reaction to Francesca’s dreadful plan I cannot recommend this story.

Time/Place: Regency England
Sensuality: Hinky-dink without chemistry