Under an Enchantment - Anne Stuart

Ailie MacBride has convinced everyone on the tiny island of St. Columba that she's daft -- it's the only defense she has against her wicked relatives. When a mysterious, beautiful man emerges from the cold ocean she finds herself caught in his wicked gaze and his dreamlike smile, until all thoughts of her ordinary life vanish, and she is his.

A novella by Anne Stuart is something that I just can't resist. She wrote one of my favourites funny novellas of all time - The High Sheriff of Huntington.

This one revisits a familiar theme - a bad boy hero - and since it is set on a Island of Scotland - the possibility of him being a Selkie. The heroine is a widow who pretends to be daft to avoid her scheming relatives. As the story develops we find out that the hero's plans are to avenge is mother, mistreated by some of the men on the Island. As this is a novella things happen fairly quickly, with them being attracted to each other and with the hero planning to get his revenge through the heroine at the same time that he feels guilty for doing so. So guilty that he is ready to give up his happiness, fortunately we have a very determined heroine who doesn't hesitate to take matters in her own hand.

While was suitably entertained while reading, it ends up being just more of the same in terms of Anne Stuart's writing and plotting. She is still better than most but, because of that, my expectations are always very high.

Grade: 2/5