Book: A Laird Without A Past
Author: Jeanine Englert
Secrets of Clan Cameron, Book #1
Length: 288 Pages
Publisher: (Harlequin)
Overall Rating: 5/5 Stars
Blog Rating: 5/5 Saltire Flags

Scotland 1745

Laird Royce Cameron wakes up blind and with no memory at all! He knows he was attacked but has no idea who it was. All he remembers is the beautiful creature who had helped him except every touch she gives him makes him desire the beautiful Iona MacKenzie even more!

Soon he realizes he has a target on his back and is a wanted man plus he must somehow recover his forgotten memories or it may cost him his life. However not only his life but the life of the bonniest woman who saved him that he has given his heart to. Furthermore if anyone touches the hair on Iona’s beautiful head he will become a berserker and tear anyone apart! After all this is the women he has given his heart to

Read and find out the conclusion to this fast moving, page turning story that any highland fan will love! A new Harlequin author for me that already has me mesmerized from start to finish! A beautiful story that will stay with you long after you have read this breathtaking story! Definitely a book both historical and Scottish lovers do not want to miss!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy from Harlequin publishers. I voluntarily agreed to do a fair review and blog through netgalley. All thoughts, ideas and words are my own.

A sea witch, a laird, and a dog- that right there is all you need. Remote 1700s Scotland for this one - with some boats, murder, secrets, and past trauma. Royce wakes with no memories and is blind after washing ashore after Iona uses her strength and healing to keep him alive. We get tiny cabin, cute dog, bad guys, the sea, and love with this one. It was a super cute romance that went over some deeper issues of self and relearning love and caring.

I cant wait to see where this series takes us!

Good start to the series. The book opens with a prologue as Royce pursues answers to the mystery of what happened to his little sister twenty years earlier. He meets with two men who have promised him a meeting with someone who knows, but the conditions change when he arrives. The next thing he knows, his companion is dead, and Royce is knocked unconscious and dumped into the water.

Iona is a healer on the island of Lismore. Scarred physically and emotionally, she lives alone on the outskirts of the village with her dog and the animals she rescues. While out late one night, she finds a man who has washed up on the shore and takes him to her cottage to treat him. But when he regains consciousness, he can't remember who he is, how he got there, nor can he see.

It is hard for a leader and warrior to find himself so helpless. Royce initially feels that he would be better off dead than being such a burden to Iona. But Iona refuses to low him to feel sorry for himself, and as he heals, she helps him adjust to his circumstances. I liked how she challenged him by using his pride against him, forcing him to prove himself.

Iona keeps herself apart from people, certain that no one wants to be around someone disfigured as she is. It is also a way to protect her heart from the pain of more loss. But because Royce cannot see her, she finds it much easier to be herself around him.

The relationship that forms between Iona and Royce is a slow-growing one. The chemistry is there from the start, but they must learn to trust before anything can come of it. I liked seeing that Royce's protective streak is intact, although his blindness handicaps him. It was sweet to see his kindness and how he tried to help her the best that he could. As his memories begin to return, he realizes he doesn't like the man he suspects he used to be. His time with Iona has changed him. Iona knows she is falling for Royce, but nothing can come of it. He will eventually return to his home, while she is committed to staying on Lismore as the island's healer.

There is danger in Royce's presence in Iona's cottage. Those who left him to die want to be sure that he did, and there are several close calls when they come searching. What is the secret that someone on the island is hiding, and what does it have to do with Royce's quest? A partial memory of a name sends Royce and Iona on a visit that leaves them with more questions than answers.

When Royce regains sight and memory, both must decide their future. Royce must return home and resume his duties as laird and wants Iona to go with him. But Iona's fears prevent her from following her heart. My heart broke for both as they faced a future without each other. I was rooting for Iona to face her fears and take a chance. The ending was sweet and emotional and everything I could hope for.

By the end of the book, some of Royce's questions have been answered, but there are still many more. I look forward to the next book to see how many are answered.

Amnesia, a broach and the sea witch...

Iona, is an outcast in her sea village of Lismore. She has a scar on her check and is thought of as a sea witch, a healer and is terribly lonely, living on the fringe of society. She does have a dog, Jack and a menagerie of animals. She rescues Royce, a stranger. Royce has lost his memory and his sight. He is dependent on Iona, who saved his life. There's a lot of mystery, who is he? Is he married? Why was he atatcked? Royce is looking for answers, answers that he went looking for and found a knock in the head and almost drowned, and Iona, who changes his life for the better. They both change each others lives.
Recommend.

Royce wakes up in an isolated cottage without his memory or his sight. It turns out that the owner of the home, Iona MacKenzie, single-handedly dragged him from the shore and nursed him back to health. Royce believes that whatever cause him to wash up half dead on the bank of the loch might as well finish the job since he became such a burden to the kindhearted woman. However, Iona won’t let him give up that easily and is determined to teach him that he still has worth. When trouble finds them again will Royce be capable of protecting them both?

I loved this story and it was so nice to see a male lead who has issues that are taken seriously and with kindness. I liked the contrast of what Royce once was versus who he now is due to his environment and being in a “safe” space. Iona’s self consciousness was spot on and very relatable to everyone who has dealt with similar issues.

Rating: 5/5

When Laird Royce Cameron sets out from Loch’s End in Argyll to get answers about his youngest sister Violet/Catriona’s disappearance years ago and his father’s possible involvement, he never expected to be ambushed or to be thrown into the loch and left for dead. But that is exactly what happened and Royce would have died if not for the intervention of Iona MacKenzie.

While swimming, Iona MacKenzie hears voices on the shore and sees some drunk men picking over what appears to be a dead body. She is enraged, her dear father’s body had received the same treatment and she won’t let this man be disrespected in such a fashion. She scares the men away and approaches the man, who to her surprise is still alive. As a healer, Iona can’t just walk away and manages to get him back to her cottage. She tends to his wounds and realizes that someone attacked him, not sure who or why, she keeps him hidden. It is days before he wakes and when he does, he has no memory of who he is, other than the name Royce and if that was not bad enough, he is blind! Iona helps him adjust and when bits of his memory return, she is there to comfort and encourage him all while trying to keep her own secrets and her heart intact. It soon becomes clear that the people who tried to kill him are still looking for him – but why? And the more time they are together the closer they get to finding the answers and the harder it is to face the fact that they will soon have to part. Will Royce regain his memories and his sight? Will he find the answers he is looking for? And will he leave with Iona or a broken heart?

This was such a great story and a fabulous start to a new series! I loved the connection between Royce and Iona and was delighted with their character development. This story has wonderful characters, warmish love scenes, secrets, danger, surprising revelations, a bit of heartache, hard choices, meaningful character development, an ongoing mystery, and finally a HEA with an epilogue. At the end of “Wed to the Laird”, the last book in the Falling for a Stewart series, I hoped that Ms. Englert was going to give us the Cameron siblings' stories and she did not disappoint because this story was even better than I could have hoped for! This is the first book in a new series and it does have ties to the last book in the previous, while I think you could start this series without reading that series, I would highly recommend at least reading “Wed to the Laird” before starting this series – you won’t regret it.

4.5 stars, rounded up

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own.*

A Laird without a Past is a great little Scottish historical romance which I really enjoyed even more since I just returned from Scotland a month ago. Both Royce and Iona had hurts and fears from their past they must overcome in order to be happy together. This made for a nice easy afternoon read and I will be looking forward to the next one in this series.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date 25 July 2023

An enjoyable execution on this trope. At first I had a little trouble getting into this story but I pushed through and am so glad I did. Soon enough the story opens up and engulfs the reader in a enchanting world with exciting plot points and believable character development. I highly recommend this book.

This is the first book I've read from this author. I really wanted to enjoy this novel much more than I did. The heroine is a healer and the hero needs healing, which is one of my favorite tropes in Scottish romance. Unfortunately, the writing was trite and heavy-handed. The story was cheesy and the love scenes faded to black. There's an audience out there that would love this, not me though!

The Laird without a Past by Jeanine Englert

This was my first book from Jeanine Englert and I'm a fan. She writes so beautifully, and the overall flow of the book is wonderful. Such emotion and honestly, I was hooked from the first page. Love, love, love - an absolute delight.


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