Review: You Found Me by H K Carlton

Injured, lost and alone, what more could a girl ask for than to be rescued by a roguish Scottish Laird and a proper English Duke?

Marcus Sunderland, reared in England, groomed from birth to be the Duke of Carlton, is everything a proper English gentleman should be. Unwaveringly loyal to his liege and childhood playmate Queen Elnor, devoted to his people and his country.

Laird Niall Lummisden of Clan Logan in Lomond, Scotland, is everything a roguish Scottish Laird should be. Dedicated to his clan. Friendly, easygoing, born with confident swagger, he is the complete antithesis to his English half-brother Marcus.

As the brothers travel to a royal engagement they discover a woman left for dead in the road, beaten beyond recognition. It is decreed by his Queen that Marcus must take the stranger back to his estate to recover from her injuries. The unidentified woman not only survives the vicious attack but, as she begins to heal and communicate, struggling to recall her life before they found her, both men are intrigued and attracted to her.

The Duke and the Laird have survived a lifetime of cultural and political differences, but can the brothers survive her?

Series:
Release Date: February 25th 2013
Publisher: MuseItUp Publishing
Source: Manic Readers
Reviewer: Michelle
Rating:

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Reviewer’s Thoughts

I’ll just say up front that this book might not be for you if you don’t want to read about forced sex (rape) and severe physical abuse. I almost stopped reading this book a couple of times because the descriptions of abuse were so graphic. I kept going, and I’m glad that I did. This book has a lot of depth to it with multiple lessons and many plot twists.

Niall and Marcus are brothers that discover a young lady, Rose, beaten in the middle of the road. Niall is determined to save her, and Marcus reluctantly agrees. The author weaves a very interesting story with themes of jealousy, greed, loyalty, betrayal, and love. I particularly like the way she laid out the parallel between real love and counterfeit love (lust). She really did a great job of examining sibling relationships. By the time the author unraveled the mystery surrounding the queen I was totally hooked. Romance wasn’t the centerpiece of this novel, but there were certainly some passionate love scenes.

There weren’t really any standout characters. All of them were flawed in or damaged in some major way. Marcus cried so often that I really wanted to slap him and tell him to grow up and get a grip. I think my favorite would be Niall. Niall was the constant in the story, and he was really the backbone for Marcus and Rose in very different ways. I felt like Rose was the helpless victim up to the very end of the book, and even when she had an opportunity to be feisty she caved. I really wanted her to take her power back, and I never saw that. Even though I didn’t particularly fall in love with the characters I can say that long after I finished the book I was thinking about the lessons this book offered.

This book is not light reading to pass a few hours. It is intense and dark. However, you’ll find it time well spent.