The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

This book seduced me from page one. I already liked Jennifer Ashley’s contemporary shifters, but this was my first historical romance of hers and I was captivated. 

Ian is a hero like no other. From collecting Ming pottery (but only after “tasting”/testing the glaze) to his personality quirks (he’s on the spectrum, but that certainly wasn’t something being discussed nor understood in the 1800s), he is fascinating. Match him with a strong-willed woman who has her own opinions and desires? And I found this to be the recipe for a thoroughly entertaining and memorable read.

I’ve often wondered what happened to people who didn’t comfortably fit into society prior to modern psychiatry. A condition we now might label as “on the spectrum” was viewed as madness during the Regency. Families would often place their loved ones in asylums thinking they were being kind. Needless to say, asylums were not nice places during the 1800s. Jennifer Ashley tackles the scenario beautifully in The Madness of Lord Mackenzie. After spending many years in an asylum, Ian’s brothers rescue him. But Ian is lost in a world that makes no sense until he meets Beth. Oh! The… show more.

I fell in love with Ian Mackenzie in about ten seconds and kept falling in love with him over and over throughout the book. Written as a character on the spectrum living in a time when such things were not well understood, he has a very difficult time connecting with people, which makes his bond with his brothers, and his bond with the heroine Beth, all the more delicious. Beth, too, is a character to love. She’s swept off her feet just as quickly as I was by Ian’s intense infatuation, but she’s such a strong character, willing to go… show more.