I truly enjoyed this story.
Contains spoilers.
The heroine is young, about 19 years old, but she has already rejected many suitors. She is waiting for her "champion". I think she is measuring every man against the one she grew up with, the hero. He was sent to her adopted father to train when he was 15 years old. She is two years younger and had always tried to get his attention, make him laugh, get him to see her. He went away for 6 months to his clan and when he came back, she realized he had grown. He also noticed she had blossomed and when they ran into each other on the stairs that night, he had stolen a kiss. A kiss that she kept close to his heart and didn't tell anyone about. But from that moment, she was more aware of him, but refused to see it.
Her adopted father had been gravely injured during a raid and at the same time, her adopted parents and her were summoned to see the king. There was no reason, so her adopted mother sent her, along with the captain of the guard, the hero, to see the king because the summons could not be refused.
They went and was surprised the king was not there, but his best ally was. An older man, known for his mean and nasty disposition. He claims the heroine is his long lost duaghter because of a birthmark on her neck. But in reality, he isn't her father,but the man who molested her mother until her mother ran away. During the escape her mother and nurse drowned and she was adopted by another family who also died from the fever and that is how she was adopted by her current parents. The man, who claimed to be her father, attacked her ship and the hero was ready to die to save her. She stops the battle by jumping in and agreeing to stay until it could be sorted out. She is taken on the man's horse and he is holding her possesively and she is sickened by it. He then takes her to the hall and kicks out the servants and his men and tries to attack her, but he passes out drunk. His half brother helps her escape and she runs into the woods where she finds the hero. He did not leave with the ship. They have to travel to the king to resolve this mess.
I enjoyed reading this book. I appreciate the similar age and the appropriate manners and characteristics they had. They both acted like impatient young people, and that tended to show with some of their decisions. They did not have any patience to wait where an older couple would who have practiced restraint. Because they are a similar age, it is easier to believe that they will have similar ways of thinking. If there is anything I can't stand is a young lady wooed by an old man who acts like a teenager who can't control himself.
But this book was filled with all kinds of interesting plot lines. I have only given a synopsis of about the first third of the book. There was a lot of action, adventure and romance. I enjoyed reading this book and it left me with a good feeling. I give this book 5 stars and recommend reading it.

This definitely isn't a tale of instalust. David and Sorcha have known and disliked each other for years. I appreciate that they fall for each other gradually as it's much more realistic than the typical meet, fall in lust, declare undying love, start a family in a week story. I do wish that we had a little more insight as to what triggered the change in their relationship, especially for David, who continually points out Sorcha's beauty but not any other redeeming characteristic. He's a good guy--hardworking, loyal, protective--her champion, and there's lot to protect her from: a long lost father, a controlling king, and a demented suitor. Sorcha acts as his champion too. Watching their story unfold is lovely.

I really am so glad that I found this author. So far her heroes have been good men, faithful and honest and very 'braw' highlanders to boot! Lol who doesn't love a Scot now honestly. Interesting book in an interesting series.

I wish I was a bigger fan of this book than I ultimately ended up being. Unfortunately, the major pitfall of the book is that for a romance the two lead characters don't seem to ever really... like each other. The love they develop for each other comes up for both of them so randomly and without much actual evidence in the novel for it that it feels tacked on and unearned, especially from Sorcha. While David comes to his love for her quicker, it was also very hard to believe that he actually felt that way given that Sorcha mostly acts like a brat towards him for kind of petty reasons. Meanwhile, Sorcha's grievances towards him become more clear as the book goes on and it feels more like her feelings for him are a childhood crush than actual love that develops in the book itself.

The conflict was interesting but so little time is actually paid to it that it kind of feels lost within the book. There's a secondary conflict that's so utterly random that it pops up with about 20 pages left in the book and is dispatched within three pages... no idea as to the motives of it, no real resolution. It was odd and felt like a bygone of some plot that might have been in a first draft but is in no way actually developed in this book.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.