The Highlander's Irish Bride by Vanessa Kelly

August 23, 2021

Another Scottish tree trunk.

https://www.vanessakellyauthor.com/
I have to ask, are Scottish men really so big? In most all of the historical Scottish Romanceland books I’ve read, the male Scots seem to tower over everyone. I’ve been to highland games. I haven’t noticed a slew of giants wandering around the tents. So, I did some googling. Much to my surprise, I found information that said…yes, they used to be big. Once upon a time, male Scots were the biggest European men around. They used to be 6’ or more, but hey…things have changed. Thanks to junk food, they’re now just like all the other 5’10” guys wondering around. I guess the Scots in the books can still be tree trunks, just not the ones walking through my neighborhood.

Anyway, The Highlander’s Irish Bride, by Vanessa Kelly, is the fourth book in the Clan Kendrick series. Kathleen Calvert is the troublesome heroine, and Grant Kendrick is the stodgy hero. I have not read any of the books in the series, but I may after reading this one. Evidently Grant wasn’t always such a stick in the mud. He and his twin brother used to cause all kinds of trouble. But now, he’s turned over a new leaf, he’s alllll business…no longer running wild. And, his family is worried about him. Evidently, the Kendrick family can never be happy. They were disturbed when Grant was a wild lad, and now they're disturbed when he’s a responsible man. There’s just no winning with this family. In a rather convoluted, contrived plot, Grant is put in charge of escorting Kathleen Calvert to a Scottish estate somewhere in a Scottish forest. Kathleen wants to go to Ireland where the grass is green, because Scotland doesn’t have green grass, or hills, or mountains. There is a bit of a tug-o-war between Kathleen and Grant.

There seemed to be a whole lot of characters connected to other books in this story. Every time someone was mentioned, I had to go to Fantastic Fiction to look their names up. It seemed to me that Ms. Kelly may have connected all of her books. In order for me to find out, I would have to spend a lot of time googling, or reading all of her books. I haven’t made up my mind yet which one I will do. Anyway, there are several characters in this story that are from previous books. While this story is a standalone book, knowing that a plethora of characters had their own stories was a distraction. I’m not fond of distractions in my books.

Road trip. So, wild Kathleen and boring Grant are on the road to Scotland, or Ireland, depending on who has the upper hand. They have adventures on the way to the green hills. There are thieves and villains’ all over the place. I liked Kathleen and Grant. They balanced each other out. Tooooo bad the story didn’t focus more on them. Let’s talk about what drew me out of the story: Angus and Jeannie.

Angus and Jeannie. The difference between a good secondary characters, and an irritating secondary characters. This book has them both. One adds to the story, and one drags the story down. Let’s start with the character who added to the story: Angus. I love characters who are fun. And yes, comedy is subjective. I believe it’s even harder to read comedy. When we watch a funny movie, we see the humor…usually. But to read comic words on a blank page, and pick up on the author’s intend, that’s hard. When I’m presented with a character who makes me smile, and on occasion laugh, I’m impressed. When it came to the eccentric Angus, I chuckled. He made me happy. The author succeeded in conveying written “fun.” Then, there was Jeannie.

Has anyone ever seen the 1956 movie, The Bad Seed? While Jeannie didn’t drown anyone, or burn anyone up in a bunch of excelsior, Jeannie was nonetheless really irritating. You know, irritating is an interesting word. It doesn’t really express my feelings for Jeannie in The Highlander’s Irish Bride. She was more than just spoiled, more than just a brat, but just not quite a bad seed. No one seemed able to discipline her, or even care what she was up to. I see her future life full of tap-dancing on someone’s forehead.  She was a despicable character. She was a character who wasn’t written with any redeeming qualities. Jeannie was a bigggg negative to the narrative of the book. When I was finished reading this story, I didn’t remember how lovely the romance was, or how Angus made me laugh.  No, what I remembered most was how insufferable Jeannie was.  That’s not what I want from a romance.

Bottom line. Sweet romance, funny grandfather, detestable sister.

Time/Place: Road Trip Scotland

Sensuality: Warm

Romance: B-

Angus: A-

Jeannie: F