One Night with the Laird

One Night with the Laird by Nicola Cornick

A wicked attraction!

Fashionable society widow Lady Mairi MacLeod cannot understand the dark passion that binds her to Jack Rutherford. He is everything she dislikes in a man, rakish, arrogant and charming, and she would prefer to forget the night of wicked passion that she spent in his arms.

But when Mairi is threatened by a blackmailer, Jack is the only man who can protect her. As they work together to uncover where the danger lies, their passion reignites. Little by little, the masks they wear burn away, and their most private secrets come to light...

I was given this book from NetGalley as an ARC in exchange for a honest review. 

Mairi MacLeod is a widow. Her husband has been dead for a few years and it seems that the love they had has ruined the thought of her ever marrying again. In truth, things are much more complicated than they seem. Mairi is very strong willed and has been on her own so long that she really doesn't want to deal with a man and his demands anymore. She's drawn to Jack though. She hates and wants him with all the same passion. Whomever said there is a thin line between love and hate is correct.

Jack has demons. He feels like all the responsibility of his mother and sister's deaths are right at his doorstep and he can't get over it.  He doesn't want to love anyone, it only brings pain and he is afraid of letting someone that close and in the end let them down. He has a string of encounters, lots of woman. Never letting anyone close.  When Mairi's father in law asks him to pose as her betrothed, he accepts just to be able to stay as close to her as possible and have a reason. 

Their relationship was built on passionate hate. I thought that their story would be much more attention grabbing but I struggled to get through this book. Their love/hate relationship pulled me down and I had a hard time liking either of them. I admired Mairi and her strength, and Jacks protectiveness was admirable. In the end this book was a solid 3 1/2 stars. Not bad, but not enough for me to shout it from the rooftops to read this now.