You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO is from Genevieve, who is searching for this historical:
Ok, I need to enlist the Bitchery on a HaBO. I want to read this book again because there was this one part which I found rather cute and sort of melty in the chest area. It probably wasn’t, but I look on it was nostalgia.
What I remember about the book starts with a girl. Pretty sure she was English. Probably with flaxen tresses and blue eyes. She was coming to the United States during either the French and Indian War or the War of 1812. Not sure, but it was before the Revolutionary War. She was doing that whole indentured servitude thing, where she has to wait hand and foot on the people that sponsor her boat ticket or whatever. So, I think, originally, she was placed with a nice family but then something or other happened and she was in a position where some creepy British dude was going to use her contract to perv on her, and she was panicked about it.
In comes Scottish McKilty-NotPants. He was obviously ripped and also worked as a mercenary. I do not remember what side of the conflict he was on, but, predictably, he won in the book’s final showdown. His entire lexicon was comprises of things like “wee lassie”, and “och, aye”, and “bairn”. It was painful to read his speech because it was riddled with apostrophes like a venereal disease, and I remember having to sound it out. He had a friend, who was a pretty terrible caricature of a mute Native American, and there was a whole subplotline about scalping. Pretty sure the bad guy got scalped in the end.
But anyways, more memorable things I remember include a dicking down in a sauna/hothouse, after which the dude giving the girl his dirk for protection against the creepy English dude, a surprisingly in depth and accurate conversation about the Immaculate Conception, and, the part for which I would like to reread the book:
It comes to the heroine’s attention that she is safe from the creepy English dude because the beefcake on the front cover bought her contract out for her and didn’t say anything. I don’t remember if she was upset or not, but she confronts him and asks him why he didn’t say anything. I believe there was also a thought process about why he didn’t use it to coerce her into sex and how sweet that was (yay! Nothing more romantic than not raping somebody because you can!). He then has this mental segue about how he fully intended to tell her when they’d both been married fifty years, and had a cabin that he’d raised with his two strong manly hands on the land that they owned, and he’d show her the old crinkly yellowed papers and they’d burn them together, hand in arthritic hand. And also how he didn’t want that kind of dynamic in their relationship where she knew that he’d bought her, which I remember being surprised by because he was pretty fricking pushy about getting her in bed, getting her wed, and then getting her pregnant (wee bairns!) and probably barefoot.
That’s all I remember. Please help!
The scene mentioned is kind of sweet.
Surrender
by Pamela Clare
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I thought this might be one of Pamela Clare’s McKinnon’s Rangers books sincell they’re set during the French and Indian War, but I can’t remember the details enough to say.
(The Revolutionary War ended in 1783 so the War of 1812 would have been the wrong time period for the setting if the OP’s recollection of the book is correct.)
Agree. Either Defiant or Surrender (my memoriy isn’t what it used to be). But if it’s more about the creepy English dude, then it’s probably Defiant.
Thirding that it’s one of Pamela Clare’s MacKinnon’s Rangers. I think it’s probably the first, Surrender, because that heroine was an indentured servant and the English commander of the fort was a creep to her.
Thank you. You have made my day. I will be stealing Scottish McKilty-Notpants and using it regularly. I am sorry I can not make your day in return. Although, I agree that it does have a Pamela Clare vibe.
after which the dude giving the girl his dirk for protection
I was skimming and did not initially read that as diRk. I slowed down.
His entire lexicon was comprises of things like “wee lassie”, and “och, aye”, and “bairn”. It was painful to read his speech because it was riddled with apostrophes like a venereal disease, and I remember having to sound it out.
— This is beautiful
@Deborah I was about to ask if I was the only one who misread that.
I’m so glad I am not the only one that read dirk wrong. I had to stop and read that sentence four times!
I loved the lexicon note too. I just read something like that and it was awful. I almost gave up. I wanted her to just write – he had an accent and then move on.
sorry I’m not actually helpful, all I can do is agree with the others. I hope you find it.
The scene with the hero buying out the heroine’s indenture and not telling anyone is in Surrender, so I think that’s definitely the answer to this HaBO.
Ah, the immortal question of Scottish Romancelandia: How many dicks can a dirkchuck dirk if a dirkchuck could dirk dick?
And I thought the title of this post was Soot in Pre-Revolutionary War American Historical which made total sense. Of course, there was soot!
I AM DYING FROM THE RIDDLED WITH APOSTROPHES LINE OMG THERE SHOULD BE A LAW!!!
Kindle version of Surrender by Pamela Clare is $2.99. Rather unfortunate cover but it includes new material! (?)
I read it as “dick” and thought it was appropriate . . . oops!
Deborah et al, I too made that misread, I was wondering how his dick was going to protect her in his absence – did it come off and fence? – before I realised I must have misread the word
I don’t know why I thought it was the 1st in Kresley Cole’s historical series…
Just wanted to update everyone that Genevieve confirmed that it was Surrender!