Recent Reads - Laiden's Daughter

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Laiden's Daughter by Suzan Tisdale - I should probably have gone with my gut on this and not read it. It was one of those free books on Amazon, the kind where I look at the description and think, "betcha this is a cheap bodice-ripper" because apparently that's what Historical Romance means to BookBub and the like. When I'm not sure, I read the negative reviews, because that's where you'll find out if it's simply a historical setting for bedroom scenes - and if that's indicated by the negative reviews, I take a pass. I didn't see any of those types of comments on this one, and I believe there were even a couple of comments in the more positive reviews that it was "clean". However, "clean" is a relative term. It is cleanER than most of this genre, but NOT what I would call clean; although the author did wait until about halfway through before getting graphic.

But long before that, I had some criticisms. In the first chapter (or perhaps it is a prologue), the main character is referred to only as "the bairn" all the way through. "The bairn this... the bairn that... blah blah the bairn..." and there really wasn't any point in doing that, other than to emphasize that she was only five years old or so. There was no reason to withhold her name that I could tell. I found it irritating and immature, and hoped it would get more interesting. In the next chapter, her name (which is Aishlinn) is given and the chapter is devoted to a wicked English earl's attempt to rape her and the beating she endures before she finally escapes. I found a little bit of hope here, because although the earl's violent and lustful intent and actions are clear, it wasn't done so with graphic description. Aishlinn was somehow able to remain conscious during the vicious beating and seized an opportunity to stab the earl with his dagger, and then escape. In the next several chapters, during her flight towards Scotland, she is captured by a band of Scots who care for her wounds and take her to their land, vowing to defend her against the English who will surely be searching for her.

The author goes to great lengths to continually talk about how frail and delicate Aishlinn is, and how amazed the Scots are that she has survived. For some reason, their leader, Duncan, begins falling in love with her, which I still haven't figured out because really all she did for the first several weeks of their acquaintance is sleep. Apparently that was because of the severity of her injuries. During the entire journey to the clan's holdings, she rides on Duncan's lap and sleeps. I did feel some sympathy for Aishlinn because she had endured an entire life of abuse and neglect, but all the same, I thought it was completely ridiculous that she was so convinced that she was ugly and stupid no matter what anyone said. She was understandably timid, but I found much of her humility and poor self-image rang false; and she was incredibly naive. Then there was a sudden and miraculous transformation when one day she decided that maybe she wasn't as plain and stupid as she'd believed and vows that she will not be pushed around by anyone. So the reader is expected to believe that her entire character change was the result of a fifteen minute conversation. 

Then there is her lover, Duncan. He is honorable enough that he fiercely protects Aishlinn and won't bed her until they are married, but I could never figure out why he was so reluctant to tell her that he loved her. Except, of course, the sense I had that his affection was based mostly on lust. After all, she didn't do anything worthy of his affection other than sleep on his lap. 

I've been pretty hard on this, but as I did finish the whole book, it wasn't so bad that I decided to cut my losses before finishing. I don't know anything about the author and how much writing experience she has, but I have been left with the impression that this novel is rather amateur because of the shallow and inconsistent characters, and rather unbelievable scenarios, and historical anachronisms. For my part, I have no desire to read anything else by Ms Tisdale, and I am glad I didn't spend any money on this one.  It's not horrible, but I don't recommend it.

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