I am absolutely thrilled to be sharing my review for; The Laird’s Runaway Wife by Sarah Mallory. I am guttered that this is the last book in the Lairds of Ardvarrick Trilogy, but what a finale!!🥰
The Laird’s Runaway Wife by Sarah Mallory
A gripping marriage-reunited story set between the Highlands and London. Finding his wife…Puts them both in peril!
When they were newly married, their lives had been full of joy, but tragedy has struck, and Grant Rathmore’s wife has run away to her father—a dangerous Jacobite sympathizer. Fearful for Madeleine’s life, Grant finds her at a London ball, looking more beautiful than ever and dancing without a care in the world. Now Grant vows to do whatever it takes to keep her safe…
Review
On, Gawd, I am a blubbering mess!!
What a finale!! What a fitting ending! It’s weird to say but this does feel like the end of an era, the way Sarah Mallory has left the trilogy is very final. We have been with these characters for the past year or so and now we are saying farewell and leaving them in a beautiful and peaceful place and I hope for Grant and Maddie that their peace remains.
But, saying that I do have hopes for the next generation of little Ardvarricks.
I have been right behind this trilogy from day one, this book is a beautiful ending to what has been a real epic trilogy. Don’t worry though if you have missed out on any of the previous two books, you can very easily read them all as stand-alones everything you need to know from the previous books is mentioned, but I cannot say it enough, do read the full trilogy in order, it will give a real insight into characters and what they have all gone through over the years.
This is very different to the previous two books; firstly it’s been taken away from Scotland and moved to London and secondary we aren’t meeting a new couple, we are returning to see where Grant and Madeleine are four years after their wedding.
I was so pleased to be able to return to Ardvarrick and see how my favourite couple have been getting on, but then I got very teary when it comes to light that Logan is no longer around (sobs😭) and that final scenes…..by Gawd, that tugged at my already stretched heart-strings, it felt right to have Ailsa have the last word seeing as it was with her with started this trilogy.
I must give a warning this does mention miscarriage and stillborn, there is a lot so grief that is a constant for the characters throughout the book, so do take care it could be triggering for some. But as with all tough subjects which have been mentioned in Sarah Mallory’s books she handled this with the utmost care, compassion and sensitivity – I wouldn’t have expected anything less from her.
This book is set four years after the closing of the previous book; Rescued by her Highland Soldier, Maddie and Grant are ‘not-so-happily’ married, everything has gone wrong for them and they have not only drifted apart but Maddie has run away, back into the clutches of her manipulative and no-good-un’ father, a man who is playing with fire and now is dangling his daughter into the Jacobean flames.
Cue a fuming pot of boiling larva which is about to bubble over in the form of an irate highlander who is on the warpath. I know, I know he is angry and grieving and pissed off with his wife running off and his father-in-law putting them all in jeopardy and he has every right to be in a rage, but by Jove, he is as sexy as hell.
Is there anything sexier than an angry highlander??🔥🤩
No matter how angry Grant is, no matter how much he wants to storm into that ballroom, throw his wife over his shoulder and drag her kicking and screaming back to Scotland, he knows that he must tread carefully, there is far more at stake than his wounded male pride. Deal with the threat at hand, rip off any heads that need to be severed first and then talk…and maybe more?!… with your wife. Sounds like a plan. right?
Every part of my heart went out to both Grant and Maddie, they have had a pretty rotten hand dealt with them over the last four years, they had survived – not so much lived – through their agony, but they have drifted apart. This couple was made for each other and I found it very emotional and heartbreaking to see them go through so much and to bear witness to the pain they have both suffered. Their relationship is fraught with sadness and drama, yet simmering beneath the surface is a tender and eternal love.
In parts this is quite a heavy read, it’s angsty and full of emotion, but there is also light relief come mostly comes in the form of the epilogue, those few pages soothe every ounce of the heartache that the characters (and the reader) go through and proves that this couple are destined for each other and I absolutely loved it!!
From start to finish this packs a punch, it’s sweetly poignant and hugely satisfying, a definite must-read, this is why I read romance (and why my bank account screams at me to stop buying books,😉 )
Chicks,Rogues and Scandals 