Like a moth to a flame, I couldn’t resist the lure of another time travel romance set in Scotland. Maybe I’m looking for the Holy Grail of Romanceland (read: Diana Gabaldon writing under a pen name to fill time between Outlander novels). Or maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment. I wouldn’t call Master of…
Such is Diana Gabaldon’s talent for characterization, that even when her plots meander, she still holds my interest. When I first started readingLord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade, I was completely caught up in the story and quickly rushed through almost half the book. Unfortunately, it was a few days before I managed…
While the title Rivals for the Crown adequately captures the major historical backdrop for this book, it somehow does not do complete justice to the rich tapestry formed by the lives of Isabel de Burke, Rachel de Anjou, Henry de Boyer, Rory MacGannon, and Kieran MacDonald. From the opening scene in which the reader is…
The picture on the cover of The Great Scot is a wonderful bit of eye candy and I wouldn’t mind having a poster of it. The story inside the wonderful cover is okay, but I never lost myself in it as I often do in a particularly good one. Erin McGregor is the location coordinator…
One of the major topics surrounding romance lately – and one of the challenges facing the historical genre – has been the heat factor. When dealing with strict societal rules, how does one sex up a story? Kresley Cole chose to do so by making the heroine of If You Desire a hellion, part of…
Patricia Potter has all of her Ts crossed and Is dotted in the final installment of her Beloved series. There can be no argument that she can write well, with wonderful description, good pacing, and three demensional characters. However, in romance, if there isn’t a spark between the leads, and the plot is of the…
Lucy Monroe really sets the stage in Moon Awakening with an interesting background for her shapeshifters. The mighty Picts with their blue tattoos are more than legendary warriors; their tattoos identify the animal they can become. Their king betrayed them, and they eventually joined the clans in Scotland, although no shifter clan is ruled by…
Autumn in Scotland is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand, Ranney’s usual sure hand is at play in her creation of complex characters and stirring emotions. On the other hand, these characters are done a disservice by a couple of inexplicable and extraneous plotlines. Charlotte dutifully married an impecunious Scottish nobleman,…
Margaret MacDonald is two weeks away from her wedding day in Kathleen Givens’ On A Highland Shore when she finds her betrothed in bed with her best friend. Heartbroken, she swears she will not marry Lachlan, but he is cousin to King Alexander and her family needs the alliance her marriage will bring. Her father…
Don’t you just love it when a big, braw, kilt-wearing, Medieval laird is knocked for a loop and completely flummoxed by a small, feisty redhead? I know I do. But when the laird in question has been dead for 700 years, romance becomes a very complicated proposition. Victoria McKinnon, who produces and directs a small…
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