Once a Laird by Mary Jo PutneyMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Two and a half stars.
Kai Ramsay has spent years away from his home in Scotland's remote Thorsay Islands being a spy and an archaeologist. Then he receives a letter to tell him his only living relative, his grandfather the Laird of Thorsay, is dying and he must come home. The letter is sent by his dead fiancé's little sister Signy, who has blossomed from a child to a beautiful woman (Nordic goddess is mentioned far more than necessary). Signy has been the Laird's estate manager and general support for years and still blames Ramsay for her sister's death.
Despite their rocky start, Ramsay and Signy soon bond over their love for the Laird and the islands, together they discover an ancient settlement which has been uncovered by a strong storm, but the financial burden of years of hard winters puts Ramsay in a difficult situation.
I'm sorry but I'm bored just writing this summary. There are two half-hearted attempts at binging some dramatic tension to the story but frankly they are both damp squibs. Everything interesting seems to happen off-stage so the reader is simply presented with a fait-accompli - like they used to say at school, show your workings!
This is the sixth (possibly last) book in a series and (not having read the other five books) it feels as though Mary Jo Putney had to write a book for the final member of the group but wasn't feeling the love ... and neither was I. I felt that Mary Jo Putney had read a lot about ancient sites on remote Scottish islands and wanted to put it in a book. As a consequence neither Ramsay nor Signy felt like fleshed out characters, their 'romance' was laughable and the tension was non-existent. (view spoiler)
Okay, I was under the impression that I liked Mary Jo Putney's books and that this was an aberration but looking at Goodreads my highest rating was only a three, so maybe this is me persisting in requesting an author who doesn't really work for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.
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