Laurin Wittig

GENRE: Highlander romance, Historical romance

SETTING: Southwestern Highlands, Scotland Spring 1307

CENTRAL FEMALE CHARACTER: ELENA LAMONT, daughter of Fergus, chief of Lamont; a healer

CENTRAL MALE CHARACTERS: SYMON MacLACHLAN, chief of Clan Lachlan; a man plagued with extremely extreme headaches and dizziness.

SYNOPSIS: Dougal of Dunmore attempting to steal position of clan chief by forcing Elena into marriage. Seeing Elena being hunted down, Symon of MacLachlan fights Dougal in hopes of her healing his madness.

I give this book (THREE) stars because too much repetition of events and too much whining in the story.… (lisätietoja)

Elena Lamont escapes her home, chased by the clansman Dougal who wants her so he can become the new laird. She runs into the Devil of Kilmartin, Symon MacLachlan, who saves her and takes her home. Elena is a healer, one of those Scottish women who can heal through 'magic' heat in their hands. Symon discovers Elena can cure his madness, which is the result of a poison. The two fall in love but Elena comes up with all sorts of reasons why they can't be together.
Symon was an alright hero, but Elena dithered and made so many wrong choices that I quickly found her unlikeable. Healers should want to heal, but she had to be forced into taking care of a burnt child. There were also too many convenient solutions in the plot: tunnels appeared that no one knew about, the means for the poison was unrealistic, and so on. Still, it's a quick read. I just thought there was potential for much more to this story.… (lisätietoja)

3 stars / 2 flames

This was an enjoyable historical romance set in the Highlands during the reign of Edward Longshanks, Hammer of the Scots. I got this book off Kindle Unlimited, and it offered free audible narration with the download. I haven't tried any of the audible narration on Kindle Unlimited yet, so I thought I would give it a try. I started off reading the book, then switched to the narration when I had to do some mindless computer work. Unfortunately, I did not care for the narrator. He was not engaging enough to keep my interest and cost me some enjoyment of the book, so I ended up turning off the narration and going back to reading. Though I think that the time when I was listening disconnected me from the story and I couldn't quite get that connection back.

The romance between Rowan and Nicholas was slow-building without a lot of steam - a couple kisses and one light intimate scene at the culmination, but that's about it. The story included more action, drama, and a touch of the supernatural than it did romance, but it was also light on the historical details. I think I would have liked either more romance, or more details - I'm not sure which. I find the medieval period fascinating, so I think additional historical details would have brought the story alive. There was not any "highland brogue" in the writing (which I know some people hate, but I happen to like). I really wish I didn't have that disconnect during the audible portion. [sigh]

There is a slight cliffhanger at the end of this book because the story arc is going over all 3 books of the trilogy. So we will definitely being seeing more Rowan and Nicholas in future books, even though there will be different main characters and love interests. I am looking forward to seeing how this Highland clan bands together to defend itself against old Edward Longshanks. I have a feeling the supernatural element will be expanding to encompass the three women as well, but we'll see. Happy reading!… (lisätietoja)