When reading Never Seduce A Scot by Maya Banks, readers must either have a lot of suspended disbelief or an unyielding love of the Cinderella-esque fairy tale. I’m not saying it’s a bad story, it’s just an incredibly sugary sweet love story – the type of story I can read only when I’m in a particular mood. Granted, I was in that mood but Never Seduce A Scot was still a bit too much for me and I rolled my eyes through the entire story.
Eveline Armstrong is fiercely loved and protected by her powerful clan, but outsiders consider her “touched.” Beautiful, fey, with a level, intent gaze, she doesn’t speak. No one, not even her family, knows that she cannot hear. Content with her life of seclusion, Eveline has taught herself to read lips and allows the outside world to view her as daft. But when an arranged marriage into a rival clan makes Graeme Montgomery her husband, Eveline accepts her duty—unprepared for the delights to come. Graeme is a rugged warrior with a voice so deep and powerful that his new bride can hear it, and hands and kisses so tender and skilled that he stirs her deepest passions.
Graeme is intrigued by the mysterious Eveline, whose silent lips are ripe with temptation and whose bright, intelligent eyes can see into his soul. As intimacy deepens, he learns her secret. But when clan rivalries and dark deeds threaten the wife he has only begun to cherish, the Scottish warrior will move heaven and earth to save the woman who has awakened his heart to the beautiful song of a rare and magical love.
I liked how Banks tried to make Never Seduce A Scot different by making Eveline deaf; it’s not everyday that you have a deaf heroine. Except, it caused the first eyeroll for me. Her deafness should have been something she struggled with, except it never was a problem. Sure, she would ignore people calling her because she couldn’t hear them, but when she actually wanted to follow a conversation, she was able to read everyone’s lips and never miss anything. From a reading standpoint, it was nice not to have choppy dialog, but it was beyond unrealistic that she never missed anything.
I neither liked nor disliked Graeme. He did nothing for me. He was the epitome of a highlander hero: strong, protective, incredibly sweet to his woman. But he basically changed his entire outlook on life when he met Eveline. When he first finds out he has to marry Eveline, he was completely against it. As soon as he met her, though, all the animosity vanished and he wanted everyone in his clan to accept her instantly and unconditionally like he did. Even though the two clans had been warring for as long as anyone can remember. No one else accepted her that quickly and he got mad because of it. That was possibly the biggest eye-roll for me because how could he possibly expect lifetimes of hatred to be forgotten over night? And when it wasn’t, he punished his own people. Personally, that’s not the kind of leader I want or respect.
The plot was nothing more than Eveline and Graeme falling in love. They had tiny obstacles, like the fact that his clan didn’t want to embrace her instantly and her deafness. There was a little bit of action when an actual bad guy showed up at the end of the book. There wasn’t any foreshadowing to his appearance which made it completely random; almost as if it was an after thought to the story.
If you like having lots of substance and fighting in a romance story, then Never Seduce A Scot is not for you. But if you do love reading love stories then give Never Seduce A Scot a try. Because that’s what it is, a love story with only hints of conflict. And, despite all the eye-rolling I did while reading it, Never Seduce A Scot is a cute love story that will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.