Rate this book

True To The Highlander (2014)

by Barbara Longley(Favorite Author)

3.9 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1477817441 (ISBN13: 9781477817445)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Montlake Romance

series

Loch Moigh

review 1: I loved this book. The story that unfolds is romantic, and bewitching, with a perfect touch of humor. Furthermore, the characters are all fully developed and relatable; not only the protagonists, but also the support characters, such as Malcolm's cousins, Robley (hero of the upcoming book 2) and Liam, and his sister Elaine. I also enjoyed the author's writing style, and it is obvious the book has been professionally edited (so often not the case in today's world of self-publishing, and much appreciated by this reader.) The story is engaging from the very beginning, when Alethia, a half White, half Native American woman, is sent back to the 15th century, with the dubious assignment of saving someone's life. One minute she's in the tent of a fortune teller, at a Renaissance ... morefair, the next she's laying on the side of a "road" in medieval Scotland.When Alethia wakes up, she finds herself surrounded by several brawny Highland warriors. She tries to bluff her way out of her situation, but when it becomes clear she's all alone, Malcolm--the leader--decides to take her with them. Alethia doesn't go quietly; however, and within minutes of their meeting she has the hunky Scot, swooning, brings him to his knees--literally--and has drawn his blood. LOL As for Malcolm, from the first moment he lays eyes on Alethia, he is drawn to her beauty. Malcolm, son of a Laird and heir to an Earldom, is all alpha-male, bossy, arrogant, and overbearing. I loved him! Almost from the very beginning Malcolm begins to plan a future for himself and Alethia, although, of course, he doesn't tell her his plans! Alethia, however, is not interested in a romance of any kind. All she wants is to find a way back to her century! It doesn't matter that she finds Malcolm attractive, or that his kisses turns her knees to water, she is determined to go home.When she can't find a way back, Alethia then focuses her efforts on completing the task she was sent to do, but first she has to figure out exactly what that is! She's convinced that once she's done that she will be returned home. This is no rush to love romance-- despite the fact that Malcolm seems smitten with the love-at-first-sight bug. The romance that develops between Alethia and Malcolm, progresses at a slow pace--IMO, a realistic pace. As time passes, Alethia begins to realize that she may forever be stuck in the 15th century, so she turns her attention to trying to adapt to her new home, and make her own way. I loved the way the author incorporated Alethia's Native American heritage into the story. Thanks to her upbringing on an Indian Reservation, with her father' people, Alethia has learned a lot of survival skills that stand her in good stead for life in the primitive past (such as trapping, hunting, and the like.)In the meantime, she tries to fight her feelings for Malcolm, who as the son of an Earl must make an advantageous marriage. Nonetheless, despite her efforts, her feelings for Malcolm tumble full into love. This causes Alethia a lot of anxiety, as she now knows that no matter what, her heart is destined to be broken, whether or not she returns to the 21st century--she'll either have to give up Malcolm, or else her family. There is a significant paranormal aspect in the story--aside from the time travel itself, which was the result of magic--in that not only is Alethia a truth-sayer, someone who can tell whether or not a person is lying, but she also has visions at one point in the story, and she has the ability to communicate mentally with a small boy in the MacKintosh clan.For the most part the story is realistic--I'm not talking about the time travel or the magical aspects, which is not real (at least I HOPE time travel is not real)--but, there were a few instances where I had to stretch my imagination in order to accept what was portrayed. For instance, I didn't find it believable, that everyone so quickly became proficient at sigh language. Sign language is a complete language like any other, and takes months, even years, to master (unless, of course, one is submerged in the language, which isn't the case here.) Then there was another time, when Malcolm suffered a severe injury, where we are told the wound was so deep that you could see right down to his shoulder bone, yet within days he is performing activities that weren't the least bit feasible (the nurse in me had to scoff at that.)Moreover, Alethia does get on my nerves a couple of times towards the end of the book, because her actions, IMO, were borderline TSTL. But, to be fair, considering the circumstances in which Alethia found herself, and her belief of those circumstances at the time, her behavior wasn't that stupid (but I was still annoyed. LOL) Nevertheless, this is a fabulous story. I loved it and highly recommend it. I would not say it's a compelling read, but it certainly is dynamic. If I could I would rate this book 4 1/2 stars. FYI, this is not a clean romance. There are a few explicit love scenes, although the sex content is much less when compared to other similar books I've read. Happy reading!
review 2: I really enjoyed this book. There are so many Scottish Highlander/Time Travel books out there, and so many of them follow the same tropes that it is hard to remember which one is which. But Ms. Longley has created a unique spin and a compelling story that will definitely stick with me. I actually laughed out loud a few times as poor Alethia tried to deal with her unexpected issues in the past, and I loved the back and forth between her and Malcolm. She was a delightfully spunky heroine who didn't turn into a complete sap over her medieval man, which seems to happen way too often in time travel books. I will definitely be picking up the next book in the series, and checking out the rest of Ms. Longley's books. Pick up this one; it's well worth it. less

Download links for: True to the Highlander

Advertising