Review: The Whisky Laird's Bed by Donna MacMeans

The Whisky Laird's Bed by Donna MacMeans
Publication date: July 15, 2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
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~~Reviewed by Debbie~~

Claire Starke is a member of the Women for a Sober Society.  The fellow lady members are her family now that her father had died.  She loved being active in the cause of spreading the word of the evils of drink.  Also, she was involved with the Rake Patrol (Donna MacMeans's previous series), a group that warns and rescues innocent women from being duped by fraudulent and misleading personal ads placed in the paper.  This was the situation Claire found herself in after she returned from passing out pamphlets against drink. A Miss Townsend was determined to go to Scotland to an answer an ad looking for a wife.  She had come to ask advice from Claire. Claire and her friend, Faith, were convinced it was a fraudulent ad.  Miss Townsend was determined to go as it might be her last chance to be wed.  Faith accompanied her to Scotland.  When Claire found out, she followed to save both ladies.  

In Scotland, Cameron Macpherson was tired of his mom placing ads, luring society ladies to his home to get him a wife. He was too busy trying to build up Ravenbeck Whisky distillery.  Since it had burnt down a few years ago, he had scarce money and the last thing he needed was to be hunting for a wife.  

Determined to save her friend, Claire burst into the room, to find Miss Townsend and Faith in the presence of Lady Macpherson, Cameron’s mother, along with Cameron.  Before realizing her friends were in no danger, she had insulted Cameron, accusing him of luring innocent women to Scotland and being a white slaver.  

Cameron was drawn to Claire, as she was unlike all the other London ladies his mom had invited to his home.  But he was a whisky maker and that was everything Claire was against.  As the ladies prepared to return to London, Faith twisted her ankle.  Knowing Faith would need her, Claire stayed to take care of her.

The more time Cameron spends with Claire, the more the attraction grows.  Claire was fighting her feelings for Cameron, as he stood for everything she opposes.  He owed it to his clan to rebuild the distillery.  But that wasn’t an easy thing to do.  Someone was sabotaging the distillery.  Was Claire really having feelings for Cameron, or was she behind the sabotaging?  Was  she really growing to love Scotland and it’s people, or did she have alternative motives? 

I loved that Claire was a strong, independent, and vocal lady.  She stood by her conviction, but yet was open minded enough to see another side of the problem with drink.  You will fall in love with Cameron. His sense of humor, from teasing Claire to his teaching her to drink whisky.  The romance between her and Cameron kept you wondering if they ever would see that they loved each other.  Each had their secrets from their past.  As their secrets are revealed one by one, will it draw them closer or tear them apart?

All through the book, Donna showed a great knowledge of distilleries in Scotland’s history.  She wrote a wonderful book, filled with facts from the time period in Scotland’s history.  I have enjoyed all the books Donna MacMeans has written and THE WHISKY LAIRD’S BED is added to that list. I highly recommend her The Rake Patrol series. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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