A Thief In A Kilt by Sandy Blair

Yes. I'm avoiding my list - turns out there were more things that should have been on there so I did those today.

Hey!

Napping did not end up on the list!

Obviously, I could use one.

Anyways, we are here to discuss A Thief in a Kilt by Sandy Blair which I'm grading a C.

I have read her two previous books, A Man in a Kilt and A Rogue in a Kilt. I have AMIAK as a B+ and wrote in my tiny journal "Fantastic! Like Garwood. Just needs to be fleshed out more. TT romance". ARIAK was given Keeper status and I remember being very taken by Blair's humour.

Well, let's just say that A Thief in a Kilt was a disappointment.

Cindy Blurb: Kate Templeton is a seer and has been a friend of the rightful Scottish King James while he has been incarcerated in the Tower of London. On one occasion she had a vision of James returning to Scotland and razing the land and the people because he believes they have forsaken him. Upset by this vision, Kate decides to go to Scotland and determine who is a 'friend' of James.

I'm thinking Carrot Top would have made a better spy but whatever.

Ian Mackay is the second hand of the man who has been 'holding' the throne for James. Turns out the man is a traitor but Ian doesn't find this out until way later. Anyways, women fall for him left, right and center so when this Kate doesn't faint at the sight of him he is bewitched.

Ian discovers Kate is a spy (but he doesn't know why and she's not telling) so begins some horse chase scenes that made me smile. Then they go to London, Ian gets caught in the Tower of London and Kate somehow rescues him and they head back to Scotland.

There's a part of me that wants to go back to the earlier two books and see if I missed what bothered me so much in this book. Course, I would have to find them and that ain't happening for a while.

I commented on many of the problems here. The good news is the awking, hmmphing and arrghs did tone down after the half way point. Either that or I had become immune. The middle part of the story was probably the best except for them not trusting each other.

Oh, there is a sex scene that I'm pretty sure defies physics but if any of you have actually made love in a hammock and not ended up on your head, please share. I should mention the hammock is on a ship heaving on the sea. I have that obsessive brain that won't let me forget that they are on a friggin' hammock having wild sex! I couldn't just enjoy the moment, I was waiting for the thing to flip over. I'm just saying. Way too distracting.

As to the events at the end. Not believing it was anywhere near possible but hey, maybe attempts at breaching the Tower of London on a moments notice have happened.

Oh and then there were visuals that didn't come off the way the author was intending them. I mean, I think this next line is to show the way a man thinks but I just experienced more of an 'eww' feeling. "Since he'd been old enough to sprout hair on his balls, women had been seeking him out to share their woes." pg 115

Hair on his balls. Yeah, my obsessive brain wouldn't let that image go. Then there was the skeevy image of him as a teen - not sexy.

So why a C?

There were places that made me smile and near the end I managed to tear up over how they believed they would never see each other again. I just think the story had potential but didn't hit it's mark. It wasn't a 'meh' read but there were too many problems that the story couldn't overcome.

Whether I buy Blair's next book is yet to be seen. I think the book could have been much better with some strict editing of over used words and phrases.

So there's my take.

As to what I am going to read now, it's going to be Cold As Ice by Anne Stuart. It's evident that I need to break myself out of my reading slump. Even still, just knowing all the tasks I have to accomplish in the coming month has made it almost impossible for me to sit still.

Wednesday I'm going to go shopping with my gorgeous cousin (I call her my baby girl even though she is now 20 years old) so I need to whip myself into shape or my house is going to look like it does right now, 25 days from now.

That would kill me.