Review: An Oath Broken by Diana Cosby

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

An arranged marriage to a Scot? Unacceptable!

Lady Sarra Bellacote would sooner marry a boar than a countryman of the bloodthirsty brutes who killed her parents. And yet, despite—or perhaps because of—her valuable holdings, she is being dragged to Scotland to be wed against her will. To complicate the desperate situation, the knight hired to do the dragging is dark, wild, irresistible. And he, too, is intolerably Scottish.

Giric Armstrong, Earl of Terrick, takes no pleasure in escorting a feisty English lass to her betrothed. But he needs the coin to rebuild his castle, and his tenants need to eat. Yet the trip will not be the simple matter he imagined. For Lady Sarra isn't the only one determined to see her engagement fail. Men with darker motives want to stop the wedding—even if they must kill the bride in the process.

Now, in close quarters with this beautiful English heiress, Terrick must fight his mounting desire, and somehow keep Sarra alive long enough to lose her forever to another man…

MY TAKE:
I am a fan of the bodyguard trope, so of course I was interested after reading the summary.

In An Oath Broken, Sarra is commanded by her guardian to marry his son. A team of Scottish escorts has come to take her to the castle. However, they are ambushed and Sarra and Giric are separated from the rest. Love soon blossoms between them, but how can it last if Sarra is meant to wed another?

To be honest, during the first few chapters of the book, I wasn't feeling particularly hopeful about the rest of the book. It was mostly because I spotted some phrases that I hate seeing ("slip of a woman", etc.) and there were some moments there that I felt were overtly cliche.

However, things got progressively better and by the time a surprise twist was introduced, I was already interested in what was going to happen next. I enjoyed that twist immensely because it's another trope I love. I thought it was a satisfying way to handle the dilemma and make the interaction between Giric and Sarra more interesting.

I'm not quite sure about the ending, though. I got shades of Mulan 2 and Beauty and the Beast here and there, If you've seen those movies, you'll understand which scenes I'm referring to. I think I would have enjoyed those particular scenes more if I hadn't seen the movies. As it was, I couldn't help but think of the animated characters.

As for Sarrra and Giric, I liked their chemistry, and they're a good match. I quite liked Giric's backstory and his persona. However, I wasn't really a fan of Sarra. She tried to be helpful when she could, but deep down, her character felt like a damsel-in-distress. Sure, she was stubborn, but that doesn't make her less of a damsel-in-distress. I kinda wish she would have been more of a fighter.

THE GOOD:

1. There's a ton of chemistry here.
2. You do get invested in the characters after awhile.
3. There are interesting plot twists, although some may not be hard to predict. 

THE BAD:

1. The beginning isn't as strong as the second half of the book. 

READ IT IF:

1. You like the bodyguard trope.
2. You like lots of drama in your romance novels.
3. You like romance novels set in Scotland or with Scottish heroes. 

RATING:


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