This completes my first full cannonball since 2019! A little while back Cannonballer Tava offered up a few free copies of her book Wyldwood. The description caught my interest and I threw my hat into the ring to get one and I’m glad I did! Part historical fiction, fantasy, and romance Wyldwood is set in Scotland of 1746, several months after the disaster that was Culloden.
Saorsa Macdonald Stuart is the fictional niece of Bonnie Prince Charlie and is on her way to be married against her will, as part of a negotiation between Clans. Saorsa was born imprisoned in an Abbey and has lived there her entire life. She is completely ignorant to her family identity, the politics of the world (and therefore the danger she is in if her identity is discovered) and about most other aspects of living a normal life. She sees a chance to escape and runs into Alexander Scott, a handsome wanted criminal and former quartermaster of Prince Charlie. We quickly find out that neither is what they seem to be. Saorsa’s Abbey is not a traditional Catholic Abbey and Alex has a mysterious preternatural ability to kill.
Alex sees it as his personal mission to return Saorsa to the Macdonald and Stuart Clans. Saorsa just wants to find a place of safety and refuge. Finding kin she never knew existed seems like a good plan. Together they must cross Scotland while avoiding the redcoats and anyone interested in the ridiculously large reward on Alex’s head.
I enjoyed Wyldwood, especially the inclusion of Old Magic and witchcraft. It feels as though Baird may be a modern day practitioner or has done great research. Saorsa is an interesting character and I enjoyed watching her blossom from completely docile and panicky to more self assured and commanding. Alex is everything you want a dashing Highlander outlaw to be, complete with tragic backstory that puts a wall between him and Saorsa. These two are clearly meant to be but it takes awhile for them to come around to happiness. This is the first of several books so I’m sure more challenges to their relationship will come their way but hopefully it ends in a happily ever after!
My only nitpick on the historical front is the frequency of full body baths that Saorsa and Alex indulge in would occasionally take me out of the story. At one point Saorsa has two baths only a few days apart. From my (albeit limited) knowledge of the time this would have been unheard of due to the hygiene of the period and the amount of work to fill a bathing tub. Perhaps I shouldn’t be too fussy though, after all, this is fiction!
