Lady Lilias and the Devil in Plaid (Scottish Scoundrels: Ensnared Hearts Book 2)

Compared to the other two in the series, this one was simpler but equally engaging and heart warming! A beautifully told story that encapsulates you within its folds. I loved it!

Lilias & Nash.... sighI’ve read most of what Julie Johnstone has written & have NEVER been disappointed.She takes you on a ride you can not imagine, where you laugh & cry, real tears & where you moan in frustration & cheer loudly even as the tale comes to an end, sadly.

A trio of three.. Lilias and Owen, fifteen and Nash, seventeen. Owen was besotted with Lilias and when they met Nash, Lilias brought him into the group because knew he needed a friend. I fell in love with Nash in the first few pages. Yes, I will admit it, I wanted to comfort that young man and all of his sorrow and brokenness as Lilias was determined to accomplish. "She blamed the obsession on two things. First was her love of Gothic romance novels. Nash was mysterious, and just like a Gothic hero, and absurdly handsome, and she could admit to herself that she'd fantasized once or twice or a thousand times about being the heroine in a book with a gentleman who looked like Nash. (call me Lilias, she knows my feelings!) The second reason "she did have a need to fix broken animals and people... It had started long ago, when she had tried to help her father..." Oh how I felt for Nash and Lilias and how well Julie pulled these emotions out immediately! But then tragedy strikes and we are pulled forward seven years.This is one of the most heartfelt stories I have read this year and so... wonderful, while also hard at time due to the longings of Lilias and Nash. Owen tries to keep them apart so that he can win Lilias, so there are secrets and lies but a love that transcends it all.I want to tell you the entire story so I will stop here. But know, Julie has taken her amazing pen and wrapped her words around my heart that I will not soon forget.

Will they let covetous people take what was destined only for them ...I have always a problem with tale of people being bullied or cheated of their right happiness, and Lilias and Nash are both victims of abusive persons, persons who believe it is their duty to take what does not belong to them just because they feel they are entitled to it, without even questioning the pain they cause in their wake.Lilias is a lady who never conformed to society’s rules, and she does not mind. For years, she was sustained by the hope her love for Nash might be returned. Until he dashed everything by denying any shared sentiments for her.Thus to try to let him go from her thoughts and dreams, she involves herself more in her secret group’s activities, when in fact it seems to bring her more and more in his focus.Lilias is a fixer, she feels the need to help others overcome their past wounds, to mend their broken soul. She tried with Nash, but he is not a willingly cooperating man, so set on his guilt. So she tries her hand on rescuing misses from rogue’s clutches.Nash is drowning in his culpability, so much he believes he is unworthy of any kindness and when tragedy struck again, he assumes just it is fate showing him he has no right to happiness. Why he let himself be exploited by his so-called friend who ill-use him for his own gain.Usually I feel sorry for the left behind lover in a love triangle (why I much dislike this trope), but this tale is no love triangle, Owen is a selfish fellow, he does not fight to win Lilias’ love, he cheats and betrays both persons who thought him a friend.This book kept me on edge at every turn of pages, shouting at them to not listen, to open their eyes. Luckily for them, they have very devoted and meddling friends.In all, the author narrates here a lovely and tense tale of a second shot at love for these star-crossed sweethearts.4.5 stars

This is book two in Julie Johnstone’s Scottish Scoundrels: Ensnared Hearts Series. Having loved her Scottish Medieval series of books I was unsure how I would like the return to the regency period, I can honestly say they are great. For me the fact the hero Nash, is dark, brooding and a ruggedly handsome half Scot, has a lot to do with it. He is tortured by his past which draw our heroine Lilias to him. Lilias is light where he is dark, she too lives with a painful past but is determined to not let it break her. They are drawn to each other when they meet as children, but outside forces keep them apart until they meet years later. They are both determined to fight the pull towards one another, each believing the other has wronged them. As secrets are revealed to them they realize a love that has never died and they are incomplete without the other. Julie is one of only a handful of authors that writes from the heart, her characters have depth and are believable. Her heroines are strong, independent women who find heroes that give them the freedom to be who they truly are in a time where most women had no voice or say in their lives. The series gets better and better, I cannot recommend this book enough. A fabulous read from a very talented author.

I truly enjoyed the prologue. It helped to set up the backstory of the H and h and Owen. It made the angst the H let ruin his life bearable. Barely. How he couldn’t know how Lilias felt about him was almost unbelievable.The subplots of the manuscript, Owen’s treachery, Lord Kilgore’s secrets, Lady Lillian’s mother’s secrets, and those of Nash’s own mother made this a page tuner.Heat level is a one, however. So, it’s good that the storytelling is excellent because there isn’t really much romance except internal longing.