The Exile of Sara Stevenson by Darci Hannah

Tags

historical romance, scotland, time slip

Edinburgh, 1814. Sarah Stevenson is the pampered daughter of Robert Stevenson, builder of lighthouses. Whilst on a boat tour, Sara meets and falls in love with sailor Thomas Crichton. Since Sara’s parents would never consider Thomas a suitable match for her, the two plan to elope – but Sara ends up waiting in vain as Thomas never shows. Did he truly love her or was he just using her?  A pregnant and broken-hearted Sara is banished by her family to the remote lighthouse at Cape Wrath, along with her maid Kate – the one who betrayed her secret lover to her parents and because of that Sara and Kate’s relationship is somewhat tense – let alone her up and down relationship with William Campbell the current keeper of the light.

Just when Sara believes she might let Thomas go and regain some balance in her life, a package arrives for Sarah that upsets her new-found peace. Who is Alexander Seawell and how did he come in possession of Sara’s gift to her beloved Thomas? Will Alexander be able to solve the mystery of Thomas’ disappearance? Which man is destined for Sara, William or Alexander? Or will she find her true-love Thomas once again?

Well, you know I’m not telling. While I did enjoy this, the author just took too long getting to the big tah-dah and things started to drag on a bit.  Written in the first person narrative (not my favorite) resulted in a wee bit too much of Sara’s constant snooping into other people’s business and searching their rooms. Bah. I really didn’t warm up much to Sara, instead of the vibrant, independent lass she should have been she came across a bit too whiny and, well, annoying. Big as a house pregnant and she’s walking the moors at 3:00 AM? Standing at the edge of those big cliffs over the sea without wondering if she just might slip and fall?

I’ll pass on standing on the edge, thank you very much. In the end, I found this to be a good book just not great. As noted, I didn’t warm much to Sara, nor pick up on any real chemistry between her and Thomas either, nor any emotional investment in any of the characters. The northern Scotland setting was lovely, but I would have like to see that developed more as well – see Mary Stewart’s Wildfire at Midnight and how she set the mood on the Isle of Skye.  A nice first outing for a new author, but to compare this to Dame Du Maurier? I think not. 3.5/5 stars.

FTC? I picked it off of the Amazon Vine.

Lord of the Isles by Debbie Mazzuca

Tags

historical romance, scotland, time slip

 Medical intern Ali Graham travels to The Isle of Skye in Scotland to be in a photo shoot and somehow manages to end up at Dunvegan Castle instead of the hotel (how does that happen?). The keeper welcomes her and gives her a bit of the legend of the MacLeod clan and the legend of the fairy flag – a flag with the power to grant three wishes to the clan when most needed. After settling into her bed, Ali dreams of making love with a studly Scot to awaken and find it’s not a dream – there is a man in  her bed! Well actually she’s in the bed of the current Laird Rory who was mortally wounded in battle. His clansmen *waved* the flag and the fairy magic brought the good Doctor back to the past and to the rescue. 

Ali bears an uncanny resemblance to Rory’s first wife, whose death he still grieves and he finds it hard to let go and love again. Ali charms most of Rory’s close associates, although her *doctor skills* spook the superstitious clan and they fear she’s a witch. Will the evil priest succeed in having her convicted and burned at the stake? Can Rory rescue her in time? Will Ali find the hidden fairy flag and wish herself back to the future or will she stay and find love in Rory’s arms? 

Hmmm. Woman doctor, Scotland, back to the past. Suspected of witchcraft. Where oh where have I heard that one before? I know – Outlander. Nah, it couldn’t be, Claire was a nurse then. Just a coincidence. 

The rest of the book is filled with the usual Big Misunderstandings and heated sexual play (a bit too heated IMO, I did not need to know everything Rory was doing with his fingers, let alone all that tongue sucking and hardening of you-know-what).  It’s on OK romance and might do in you’re in the mood for a mindless fluffy (very fluffy) romance but it did border on silliness a bit too much for my tastes, particularly her *escape* from the castle tower via knotted bed sheets with not much damage outside of a sprained ankle and bumps and scrapes. You tell me, 

No problem at all escaping from that tower, no indeed.

Oh and she got the bars on the window loose all-by-herself with the knife she had hidden under her skirt. My last quibble is the redundancy in the text, I’m smart enough to figure out that Rory is a finely chiseled hunk and Ali is beauteous beyond compare the first time around and I didn’t need to be clubbed over the head with it over and over again.  I.e. just say he grabbed her wrist and not “he grabbed her delicate wrist”. Or, Rory’s thighs and not his “thick muscular thighs”.  2.5/5 stars and a shame the author didn’t take advantage of the beautiful setting of The Isle of Sky and weave it into her story – if you’d like to see how a master does it check out Mary Stewart’s Wildfire at Midnight. 

 

I’m I’m ready to go, how about you?

A Love Through Time by Terri Brisbin

Tags

medieval, scotland, time slip

Pleasant reading

This is bit of a take-off on the Outlander premise of a circle of “singing stones” that can transport through time, albeit these stones were removed from the circle and built into an archway of a building. Our hero and heroine meet at a clan gathering, get shoved through the archway and are transported back through time. I could never figure out what year it was, I recall Edward III being mentioned as England’s king, and King David being the son of Robert the Bruce, so my research says sometime in the 14th century.

Anyway, our hero Alex is a double for the laird’s son and heir Alesander who has been away for five years in London with the Scott king David (who was being held as a hostage by the English). So he is mistaken for the young heir, and Maggie is taken as his leman (mistress). Lots of ups and downs follow our H&H as they try to understand what’s happened, and try to find their way home without being killed for pretending to be what they’re not.

All in all very entertaining, but you do have to suspend some disbelief. I am sorry, but no man of the our times (most especially an ACCOUNTANT!!) could go back to the 14th century and pick up a sword and even have a clue to what he was doing, let alone convince his peers that he was adept at it. Also, the author wrote the story so that Alex picked up a Scottish brogue and Gaelic when they went back in time, but no one noticed Maggie’s lack of English accent, let alone that she was from New Jersey. For those and a few other discrepancies I give it 4 stars instead of 5.

Note: if you are looking for something for a younger reader, this would not be a good choice. It’s a bit of a bodice ripper, with more sexual content and descriptions than is appropriate for a young teen. I believe there is a sequel but I haven’t tried to hunt it down.

Kingdom of Shadows by Barbara Erskine

Tags

barbara erskine, england, scotland, time slip

  Basic Erskine regression story

Kingdom of Shadows is a parallel tale of Clare Royland in the 1980′s and Isobel Buchan in Scotland at the time of Robert The Bruce in the latter 13th and early 14th century. Clare is married to stock broker Paul Royland who gambled with insider trading and lost and needs to sell Clare’s Scottish Castle Duncairn to raise desperately needed funds. Unhappy in her marriage, Clare turns to yoga and meditation and she begins to see visions of the past as Isobel Buchan of Scotland relives her past through Clare.

The retelling of Isobel’s life in Scotland, an unhappy marriage and her ultimate affair with Robert the Bruce and capture by Edward I and imprisonment in one of those infamous cages on the castle wall is interwoven with that of the present day Clare whose husband intrigues to have her proven insane so that he can lay claim to her property. Erskine does point out in her notes at the end of the book that Isobel, her crowning of Robert at Scone and capitivy are historical fact, but the affair with Robert is merely supposition by the author.

I did find the story entertaining enough and it kept me reading, but this is definitely not one of Erskine’s best — that would be Child of the Phoenix or Hiding from the Light. While I enjoyed the story set in the 13/14C, I really didn’t particularly care for Isobel, she was a little too self centered for me and as for Clare — likeable enough but bordering on TSTL for putting up with that pompous pig of a husband and not seeing him for what he really was. If you’re an Erskine fan and can get your hands on a copy somewhat cheaply go for it, but don’t go out of your way either.