In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks

Maya Banks, like Leigh Michaels, is trying her hand at writing a historical novel. Maya Banks is very successful at writing contemporaries and I was curious about how she would go about writing a historical novel.

I had a hard time finishing this book -- the work felt derivative of other Scottish-themed historical novels and I had to stop and compare Banks' work with those of Julie Garwood and Judith McNaught.

Mairin has a secret and she hides in a convent in order to protect herself and her secret. The convent gets invaded and Mairin is forcibly taken by a clan who knows about her and her secret.

While in captivity, she meets a young boy and becomes his protector. They manage to escape and are found by the young boy's family.

Apparently, the young boy is the son of a powerful laird, Ewan McCabe, and now Ewan has pledged to protect Mairin.

When the clan discovers Mairin's secret, Ewan decides that the best course of action os to marry Mairin. Mairin reluctantly agrees, knowing that Ewan is her only hope to protect herself and her legacy.

This all happens in the first few chapters of the book. The middle part reveals Mairin's life in the McCabe household -- initially, she had difficulty adjusting to her new family and they were also wary of her -- eventually, they all grow to love and appreciate each other.

When I was telling my sister the plot, she also felt that the story reminded her of Julie Garwood's stories. Check out Ransom, Saving Grace and The Wedding.

Sadly, I felt that Garwood wrote it better.

But Banks has a lot going for her -- her characters are wonderful and multi-faceted. Her supporting characters provided color and life to the Scottish Highlands and she was able to lay out the scene for the next 2 parts of her trilogy.

I have already pre-ordered the second part and will read that before deciding to get the last part.