This was every bit as good as the prequel! I LOVE this series! ( )

Rating: 4* of five

One quote to rule the book:
A man will fight for hate for a long time, but he will fight for love to the death.

Every single moment of this entry into the series is about Murdo's hate for the way his world wants him to behave, and his love for David, which is (he very much fears) unreciprocated.

It is also about how deeply David detests his weakness of character that forbids him to turn his face to his true love and say, simply and directly, "I love you, Murdo."

These men fight like wounded Spartans at Thermopylae for the victory of love...for others...and end up with a situation neither could've planned, predicted, laid a course for, and that perfectly suits their almost desperate hunger for space and time to revel in the love they share.

And can't admit they share because Rules and Reasons.

The historical aspects of the series please me, the characters are limned economically if, at times, a bit repetitively...one more of Murdo's "fractional relaxation"s and Imma cut a bitch....and the timelessness of men's cowardliness in the face of vulnerability makes volume 3 a must-read. Reviewer Heather_k described the series as one long novel. I concur. Start at the beginning, read to the end; unless, of course, like a certain other reviewer who has vanished into the memory of pixels, the story makes you "rageface" by the 20% mark in which case Kindle it not. ( )

This is the second of the books about David Lauriston and Lord Murdo Balfour in Scotland in the early 1820s. The King is visiting Scotland and David unexpectedly gets to take part in the proceedings, which also involves meeting Murdo again and trying to help a friend. The book kept me hooked and I really like both the main characters. ( )

3.5

'Provoked' opened the road and set the pace for this historical M/M couple - David is an unsure man who, while dedicated to his career, is convinced he'll probably end up alone forever. Still, he's come a long way since the first book. Years have passed, and he runs into wealthy, confident Murdo. Of course the relationship resumes again.

The relationship isn't the only focus of the book, however. There is Elizabeth and the boiling pot she's landed herself in since the last book. Sweet David tries to come to the rescue, and some of the moments with her and her father (who has become close to David) are some of the best parts of the book. It removes it being a romance or an erotica story and makes the characters feel more real, fleshed out, obtaining more of a drama piece with very real romance on the side.

While the couple's moments are sweet, they only push my erotic buttons once or twice. There's something sedate about them, I can't put my finger on it, but it works for a gratifying romance rather than a steamy one.

There's been character development, but unfortunately most of it was off page. I prefer no time gaps between series, but it fits into the author's timetable of how she wanted to set things up. Still, it makes me a little distant at the start and I have to work a little harder to get back into the "I care" mix.

Overall a good sequel worthy of the original, but not as many erotically enticing moments, the relationship grows sweeter but not urgent, and there's not quite that intensity of interest I held before. ( )