Heart of Ashes (Hearts of the Highlands, #1)

by Dragonblade Publishing and Paula Quinn

[EBookObsessed]

I was disappointed as I expected a long, drawn out seize of the castle and it truly was a let down.

Some Spoilers

Aleysia d'Argentan is determined to keep her family home, Lismoor Castle, out of the hands of the savage Scots. She has been obsessed with protecting her people since her brother died in battle four years ago. Since she inherited Lismoor, she has been working diligently building traps and walkways through the trees surrounding the Village of Rothbury, so she is ready to defend her people but she has no idea what to do once she is confronted by their leader, Commander Cainnech MacPherson. Cain has as much hatred for the English as Aleysia has for the Scots and no one is more surprised than Cain that he hasn't given Aleysia up to his men as the reason so many of them died seizing the castle.

Let me start by saying that I was disappointed in this story because in reading the description where Aleysia spent four years preparing to keep the English at bay, I was expecting a Coyote/Roadrunner type fight for the castle. With four years to set traps, I expected every time Cain attempted to take the castle, his plan would be defeated with Aleysia thumbing her nose at him. It started out promising but that didn't last long.

Here's some problems: Aleysia sends everyone away so they do not get harmed. All the villagers, all the guards, everyone is sent away once the Scots begin to get closer. Instead of sealing the castle and allowing her traps to work, Aleysia leaves the doors wide open, attacking from the woods. You have to suspend the disbelief on some traps like 100 arrows notched and ready to fly once an army triggers them. How long have been notched there? None misfired and killed Villagers? I don't even think I could get 100 dominoes set up without accidentally knocking them down over and over again but she has 100 arrows all rigged to go off at once.

Aleysia starts off doing well and killing the Scots, but Cain quickly figures out what is happening and keeps any additional men from being killed although he lost about half of his original party of 20 men. Really? 20 men to seize a castle? Once Cain fires back and send Aleysia running, he and his men head for the castle which has been left wide open. What? Why would she not have locked the place up solid? She had a secret way in and out. She also gave up all her other secrets like a hidden key to the dungeon so she could escape and knives hidden everywhere but instead of escaping and running for a safety, she waits and shows Cain she can get out of the dungeon.  Truly, she could snuck up and killed all the remaining men, including a sleeping Cain.  Then if she grabs yet another hidden knife, she keeps fumbling her attempt at attack and then shows him how she keeps coming up with yet another knife until he has his men scour the castle for all her hidden knives.

Aleysia also has one loyal knight who wants her to abandon the castle and flee.  She pretends that she agrees and then returns to the castle after the knight falls asleep. Of course he goes back for her, getting caught by the Scots and is now leverage to get Aleysia to give in.

I also feel like the author must not like Robert the Bruce because in the end, Cain writes to find out what to do about Aleysia and he thinks Robert the Bruce will let her keep her castle if she swears fealty to him, but Robert the Bruce offers the castle and Aleysia as a gift to one of the English lords who already swore fealty, and when Cain, his loyal Commander, says that he already married Aleysia, Robert says No, No and sends him away. So to this very real historical figure, Aleysia is not a person but a prize to give away with the house and as payment for Cain's loyalty and dedication as a Commander of the army, he has his wife ripped away to be given to some Aristocratic turncoat as a reward. If the author is trying to make the Scots the good guys in this fight, making their leader a dickhead didn't make me want to join the cause.

I had high hopes for a great battle of wits and that love would grow out of a mutual respect for the intelligent fighting between Aleysia and Cain.  There wasn't much battle and I can't even give you a charged enemy-to-lovers romance because I didn't feel any passion between them until they suddenly couldn't live without each other.   I was interested in the description for book 2 but after such a let down, I don't know if it is worth the disappointment.

Received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.