TO WED A WILD SCOT is Anna Bradley’s second offering in the series. Bradley’s writing can be hit or miss for me, and TO WED A WILD SCOT is unfortunately in the miss category. So much of the problems of our characters could have been resolved by people actually talking to one another through honest communication. 

Lady Juliana Bernard is sole daughter of the Marquess of Graystone, who is in rapidly failing health. Her father, who seems to have developed dementia, has been manipulated by the villain of the story into stipulating that Juliana must marry in order to retain custody of her little niece Grace. Juliana loves Grace fiercely, and so she schleps across Scotland to track down her missing best friend since childhood, Fitzwilliam Vaughan, the sixth Duke of Blackmore. Fitz has discovered his brother and the clan he was separated from at birth and is living in Scotland for the nonce. Fitz and Juliana have had an understanding since childhood that they will be betrothed, and Juliana desperately needs Fitz to return to England and marry her so she can keep her niece out of the villain’s clutches. It’s all a bit havey-cavey, but it makes perfect sense in Romancelandia, believe me.

Enter Logan, Fitz’s long-lost brother. Logan has grown up in the Highlands, and has been the acting laird, keeping his clan together as best he can in the midst of the Highland Clearances. He’s seen Scots killed and beggared due to the greed of English aristocracy, and he’s not above some chicanery to make sure that his newly discovered brother acts for the benefit of his Scottish clan and not for the benefit of his English ducal pocketbook. Logan has burned the letters that Fitz and Juliana have been sending each other, and now Juliana is in a pickle with a rapid need for a quickly-acquired husband.

So doesn’t it make sense for Logan to step up and marry Juliana since he’s the reason that she’s in so much trouble? Having noble reasons that you use to justify your wrong deeds doesn’t excuse your behavior. Logan comes across as a jerk through most of the beginning of the book, to be honest. And neither Logan or Juliana can manage to be honest about their feelings or motivations, which proved frustrating time and time again. So much of their strife and discord could have been dealt with by conversing as mature adults. 

While all ends well, given their behavior separately and together, I found it hard to root for Logan and Juliana as a couple. Nonetheless, I am hopeful that Anna Bradley will give us a couple I have more wholeheartedly cheers for in the forthcoming third book in this series, For the Sake of a Scottish Rake. Bradley’s TO WED A WILD SCOT has some great background material and characters, with a hero and heroine who managed to reach true love despite often standing in their own way.

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