Do you want a historical romance that’s a break from angst? Something that, while not particularly plausible, is a whimsical good time? How to Marry a Highlander by Katharine Ashe could be just the lighthearted read you’ve been looking for. 

Duncan, Earl of Eads, inherited a broke earldom and the responsibility for seven half-sisters. He also exchanged one meaningful glance with Teresa Finch-Freeworth at a ball which affected both him and her in a way Teresa can’t get over. Her parents’ plan to marry her off to the starchy local vicar puts her over the edge, and she strikes out for London to try her luck with the man she’s only seen once but can’t forget. She strikes a bargain with him. If she can help one of his sisters get engaged, he’ll kiss her. Five, he’ll sleep with her. All seven, and he’ll marry her – but she has to do it within a month. 

The implausibility of this is undoubtable, but if you just roll with it, it has the kind of cheery playfulness of a good comedy of manners (in fact, this would be charming on the stage). A wave of engagements sweeps through the Eads ladies, each different but each a perfect match for the sister in question – many – hurrah! – involving love matches with ordinary working men! But what will happen when one sister confesses she has no desire to wed? 

I have to challenge the fact that Duncan doesn’t want to marry because his previous wife died in childbirth, but he’s wiling to have sex with Teresa. Even a world of suspended disbelief has to be internally consistent. 

I downloaded this book from my library and binged it in one sitting. It’s dizzy, fizzy fun, and right now, that’s just what I needed.  

Buy it at: Amazon or your local independent retailer

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