About the Book:

A week to be wicked…

Widowed Selina Martin faces another marriage founded on duty, not love. When notorious libertine Lord Bruard invites her to his isolated hunting lodge, he promises discretion – and seven days of hedonistic pleasure before she weds her boorish fiancé. All her life, Selina has done the right thing, but this no-strings-attached chance to discover the handsome rake’s sensual secrets is irresistible. She’ll surrender to her wicked fantasies, seize some brief happiness, then knuckle down to a loveless union. What could possibly go wrong?

In a lifetime of seduction, Brock Drummond, the dashing Earl of Bruard, has never wanted a woman the way he wants demure widow Selina Martin. When Selina agrees to become his temporary lover, he soon falls captive to an enchantment unlike any other. He sets out to slake his white hot desire until only ashes remain, but as each day of forbidden delight passes, the idea of saying goodbye to his ardent mistress becomes more and more unbearable.

When scandal explodes around them and threatens to destroy Selina, Brock is the only person she can turn to. After so short a time, can she trust a man whose name is a byword for depravity?

Will this sizzling liaison prove a mere affair to remember? Or will their week of passion spark a lifetime of happiness for the widow and her dissolute Scottish earl?

Click on title below for direct Amazon buy link:                                                                       The Highlander’s Forbidden Mistress

My Review:

Selina Martin, now widowed, is ready to once again do her duty and enter a second marriage of convenience.  Her father arranged her first marriage to Roderick, who turned out to be a gambler, who left her in a poor financial situation upon his death.  It was not a happy time for Selina, and her son, Gerald, is the only good thing to come from it.  Now she can’t even afford his school fees, and has therefore agreed to wed Cecil, a wealthy man nearly thirty years older than she.  With only two weeks until the wedding, the couple is attending a house party, and Selina can tell that marriage number two is going to be just as unfulfilling as the first.  When a notorious libertine makes Selina a surprising offer, she’s inclined to accept.

Brock Drummond, Earl of Bruard, finds that he’s terribly attracted to one of the guests at the house party, the fiancée of another man.  When his hidden position allows him to hear a private conversation between the engaged couple, he can see that Selina is in for a miserable life.  When Cecil leaves, Brock confronts Selina, questioning why she would marry such a man.  Selina is usually quite reserved, but finds herself confiding her circumstances to Brock, who is truly sympathetic to her plight.  When Brock observes that his attraction to Selina is mutual, he offers a no-strings, pre-wedding fling, a holiday away from reality to experience genuine passion for the first time in her life.  Amazing even herself, Selina agrees, badly wanting to do one thing totally for herself and her own pleasure.

Selina and Brock spend their week together in one of his secluded properties.  While their physical relationship goes way beyond what either expected, they find themselves becoming emotionally connected, as well.  Their short time together flies by, and neither wants to let the other go.  As Brock returns Selina home in his carriage, they are both troubled, confused, and sad.  And, as fate has a way of doing, their secret rendezvous becomes known, jeopardizing Selina’s upcoming marriage, even possibly impacting her custody of her son.

Anna Campbell really turned up the heat in this installment of the Lairds Most Likely series, which easily reads as a standalone.  Both Selina and Brock are sympathetic characters, with Brock being not so wicked, and Selina living a sad, dutiful life.  I loved how Selina bloomed and came alive in Brock’s company, and how he found peace and satisfaction with her.  THE HIGHLANDER’S FORBIDDEN MISTRESS is an emotionally satisfying romance which provides a lovely happy ever after for a deserving couple, and plenty of steam along the way.    ~Rose