Emily and the Scot

Emily and the Scot Kathryn Smith

So, I had both Kathryn Smith books out from the library and didn't realize that they were related, so I read Emily and the Scot first, even though it should go second.

I liked this one more. After the scandal Richard caused in Anna and the Duke, Emily's become obsessed with playing by society's rules. Her brother created too much talk and she has too much to overcome to slip up on any rules of propriety. Despite the scandal, she's still determined to marry for love, so she turns down her friend Alexander's offer of marriage... only to find out afterwards that he had placed a wager on her acceptance on the books at White's. Horrified, she flees to Scotland and her brother Ewan's castle.

Which is where she meets Jamie, Ewan's cousin (on his mother's side, and Emily and Ewan are only related on their father's side, so it's not weird. Even though would that have been weird by the standards of the day? If they had been actual cousins?) ANYWAY.

I liked this one more because Emily and Jamie... whoo boy! They are like oil and water and a series of misunderstandings certainly doesn't help matters. The chemistry. Hotcha cha cha.

I think I liked this one more because (a) Scotland! Lovely! (b) I go more for the personality conflict between leads. In Anna and the Duke, they liked each other from Day 1. There were a TON of obstacles in their way, but I enjoy a romance where the main obstacle are the characters themselves. (Paging Lizzy and Darcy!)

Another fun read, perfect for the hot and muggy days at the end of summer.

Book Provided by... my local library

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Anna and the Duke

Anna and the Duke Kathryn Smith

So, I picked this up because I loved God Save the Queen (The Immortal Empire) by Kate Locke and when I heard her speak at ALA, I learned that Kate Locke = Kathryn Smith.

It was also interesting because I hadn't read any teen romance before. WAIT A MINUTE HOLD UP you say. Jennie, you read ALL THE KISSING BOOKS in the world. YOU ARE OBSESSED WITH MEG CABOT, you read teen romance ALL THE TIME. And it's true, I do. I mean, I loved The Season so much that when Sarah MacLean started publishing adult romance, I read it without question and rediscovered how much I enjoy the genre. But what I mean by this, is I haven't read any of the teen series put out by the big romance publishers. (Exception being Harlequin, but none of their teen stuff that I've read has been a kissing book. At least that I know. Sometimes with their teen stuff is hard to tell that it's Harlequin.) And Anna and the Duke is an Avon True Romance for Teens. And, as such, it feels much more like an adult romance novel than the other historical fiction teen kissing books that I'm used to. In fact, it's exactly like a historical fiction bodice ripper (complete with marriages!) BUT bodices don't actually get ripped and it's rather chaste.

Anyway, the story.

Anna is engaged to marry Richard, the heir to the Duke of Brahm. She's ok with it, until she meets a stranger in a bookstore that makes her heart beat in a way that Richard never has. To complicate matters, the mysterious man is the Scottish Ewan MacLaughlin, the recently deceased's Duke of Brahm's secret son and actual and rightful heir.

As Richard's fiance, she sees how unhinged he's become and how far he's willing to go to become the duke he always assumed he'd be. She warns Ewan, and as they try to keep one step ahead of Richard (and Anna's horrible mother, who wants her daughter to be a duchess more than anything) they can't hide their feelings from each other for long.

I never really connected with Anna, but I looooooooooooooved Ewan. He had a lot more going on, as he tries to reconcile the reality with what he had always thought about his missing father. I loved the general story of a small-village Scots trying to navigate London society (even if he already had some titles before Duke). And oh, the verbal dinner table battles between Ewan and Richard were just delicious.

I didn't love it as much as God Save the Queen, but it was a fun and enjoyable read.

Book Provided by... my local library

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.