Jennifer McQuinston - What Happens in Scotland

I will admit, I picked this book solely on the title… it was the best decision I have made in a very long time! From the first sentence I was entranced in Ms. McQuiston’s world and I didn’t want to leave.

Lady Georgette Thorold woke up smelling of brandy, which she hated, and naked, which she couldn’t abide, next to a man who was also naked, who she didn’t even know… and there was a ring on her finger. What had she done? She remembered one glass of brandy the night before with her cousin Randolph, then nothing. The room was full of broken glass and feathers… her clothes… where were her clothes? Then the slumbering giant in the bed started moving, and talking, calling her wife! She did what any self respecting woman would do, she threw the chamber pot at him and ran! She ran into the butcher in her flight who gifted her with a kitten, for reasons that were beyond her knowledge. Then her cousin found her, wanting to marry her to cover her indiscretion. Georgette explained, much to his fury, that she was already married, at which time he took her home. There, in her room she found a woman naked in a bathtub claiming to be her ladies' maid… who was previously a prostitute, until last night when Georgette hired her. Now was the time to take up drink!

James MacKenzie’s brother William woke him up. He found himself bleeding from a head wound, in a filthy room he didn’t even recognize. In fact, James didn’t remember anything from the night before or why his brother was here. He was a lawyer; he would investigate the facts and piece this out for himself. First, who was in this room with him last night? He could smell her perfume on his shirt and instead of being left with Cinderella’s slipper; he is left with her corset! As he was leaving, the proprietor stopped him to settle the bill for the damages… broken windows, room damage, plus the room fee. He reached for his money and it was gone… she had stolen it! The proprietor said he had a lovely lady wife…WIFE? He needed to uncover the clues to find his mystery bride… or was she really his bride? He went to the stable to get his horse and was given a lame mare. Did she steal his horse too? Then to find he owed for damages this horse inflicted upon the stables. His brother kept having to pay his debts, his horse was gone, his money was stolen by a woman he married that he didn’t even remember marrying - this day was going from bad to worse…

After getting patched up by his roommate Patrick Channing, the town veterinarian, James searched for David Cameron the magistrate, to swear out a summons for theft against his alleged wife, and to see if he might have his horse returned. It appeared that the cantankerous mare belonged to Cameron, but his stallion was nowhere to be found. Things just seemed to go downhill from there.

I just loved this book! It wasn’t the typical hit and miss love story; this was a wild romp from the first word to the last. I kept thinking, what ELSE can go wrong? And laughed or groaned as something happened. I didn’t realize that this was Jennifer’s first published novel. Usually they are “a little shaky” in parts, but she wrote like a seasoned pro, keeping me glued to the pages as we raced through streets, woods, windows… well you name it, these characters were probably there! She also very subtly has set up at least 3 maybe 4 books in this series and I am anxious to read their stories! Oh, I did have one big challenge with this book. You see, I’m not one to embrace facial hair. A mustache is ok, but a full beard, nope. James had a full beard and I just couldn’t get next to him till the end of the book… you’ll understand when you read it, and I do recommend you do!

I am definitely putting Ms McQuiston on my auto buy list. The next book (yet untitled) is about David Cameron, once friend of our hero James. I can’t wait to see if they become friends again.

Until Next Time!
xxoo Terree

Book: What Happens in Scotland
Author: Jennifer McQuinston