Review - In Bed with a Highlander by Maya Banks

Ewan McCabe, the eldest of three brothers, is determined to rebuild his clan and castle while setting about the downfall of his enemy.  Everything looks to fall into place when he comes across Mairin Stuart.  Mairin, the illegitimate daughter of the king, has been kidnapped from her sanctuary and will be forced to marry.  Escaping, she finds herself in Ewan's control and facing marriage once again.

I wanted to like this book, I really did.  I don't dislike, but I didn't love it.  The book just left me feeling meh.  Ewan was too perfect, he was tall, dark, and handsome.  A warrior who was gruff but had a heart of gold.  Mairin was too much of a Mary-Sue.  Everyone loved her the instant they met her.  Even Ewan's son Crispen adored her and called her Mama the second Mairin and Ewan were married.  She is very reminiscent of Julie Garwood's heroines, except here she annoyed me.  The book is set in the time that King David was on the throne.  His nephew, Malcolm was also trying to lay claim to the thrown.  Mairin was very important politically because her first born would be given some land (Neamh Alainn), which would help either one keep the throne somehow (I forgot how).  But if she was so important, why was she left alone at an Abbey to basically fend for herself?  You would think that her uncle (King David) or half-brother (Malcolm) would keep her close to marry her off to an ally. 

Anyways, the majority of the book is spent on Mairin getting to know the clan, getting into mischief, and almost getting killed twice.  The book did pick up near the end when Mairin and Ewan are called to court, but I felt that everything was too rushed by this point.  Overall, the hero and heroine were too perfect and the villain was too "villainy".  I also felt that Banks' voice was too modern.  Looking at her backlist on Amazon, I only found contemporary romances.  So I think this may be her first medieval, and it shows.  It wasn't in your face obvious, but every once in a while it would pull me from the book.  Like every time Mairin rolled her eyes.  I would stop and think, would someone during that time roll their eyes?  I have no idea, but for some reason it strikes me as a modern gesture.  In the end, I don't think this is a horrible book, but it isn't an outstanding one.  It was like all Scottish medievals rolled into one.  I definitely will not be keeping this book.  More than likely I will take it to the used book store for credit.  Having said that, I am still contemplating reading the next two.  But I think that is my little OCD coming out and feeling the need to finish the trilogy because I know there are two more books.