Tuesday, January 24

Book Review: Betrothed to the Bear by Sky Winters

Author: Sky Winters
Title: Betrothed to the Bear
Genre: Historical Romance & Paranormal
Pages: ebook
First Published: October 2nd 2015
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Amazon freebie)

Lord Thomas Selkirk is the brutish ruler of the highlands. He is rumored to be a warrior who fights like a beast. Despite his handsome looks, he exudes a cold and heartless demeanor. When he sees the beauty and innocence of Lady Ceri he is willing to enter into a peace treaty for her hand in marriage. 

Lady Beatrice Ceri is from the Lowlands. Her family has forced her to marry a lord from the highlands in order to restore peace to their warring clans. The gentle Beatrice agrees to sacrifice her happiness to protect her clan, but will Lord Thomas ravage her heart? 

Gertude Selkirk is the sister of Lord Thomas. She has an odd protection and control over the Lord, and keeps hold of his darkest secret. She is immediately jealous of Lady Ceri, so much so that Lady Ceri must use her powers of intuition to protect her own life.

This had so much promise to be good, but it was eh. 

The story follows Beatrice who is forced to marry her family's enemy in order to restore peace. There is something off about Lord Thomas, her hubbie to be, and his sister Gertude. Lord Thomas keeps weird hours and is very distant. Gertude is oddly protective of her brother and oddly jealous of her to-be-sister-in-law. 

Beatrice was okay. 

Lord Thomas had promise as a good character, but ugh. 

Gertude was the most interesting out of the three main characters. I was totally surprised by her reveal at the end. Good twist there!

The premise sounds fun, but the execution is was a letdown. 

First, Beatrice's parents decide they cannot afford to get protection to escort their daughter to Lord Thomas' home. What???? There is a war going on between the two clans....I think they need a couple soldiers to escort her. Heck she just has a dog and a coach man with her. Sighs.

Second, Beatrice and Thomas had only met once before this agreement. They only said a couple of words to each other when she arrives. Somehow they just happen to fall in love each other. How? I get love at first sight and all that jazz, but none of their meetings seemed to be romantic or loving or even friendly. Them falling in love seems odd and not convincing at all. 

Third, that ending. Yes, they get their HEA it but something bad happens (like super bad) and then they pretty much shrug it off and go on kissing and making out. 

This had a lot of potential, but it was a total let down for me. I'm glad this was a freebie. The only good part of the story was Gertude and her crazy reveal. I was totally taken surprised by that. The rest of it was meh though. I'm going to give this 2 stars. That reveal gave it an extra star.






5 comments:

Blodeuedd said...

Really a dog and one man? HA. Well it was better than that book which sent out the woman alone

Melliane said...

I'm not a fan of the cover ut sorry it wasn't more

Carole Rae said...

B, valid. I guess it is something? LOLL

Melliane, the cover is lame. LOL

Anachronist said...

I'm sorry this one was as bad as its cover...

Carole Rae said...

Sighs. Can't always get a good freebie. :/