I would say this book was a solid 3 star read for the most part. I found the beginning a bit tedious and I'm not sure whether it was because I hadn't read the first book in the series or if the beginning just wasn't great. That being said, the book continually improved the longer I read it. What ultimately made me give it an extra star was the secondary romance between Guaire and Niall. Having the two highland warriors fall in love was an unexpected but extremely pleasant surprise.