Helpful Score: 7
I wanted to like this book a whole lot more than I actually did, and the concept had a lot of potential. But absolutely nothing happened for 150 or so pages...the rest of the book was really, really good, but I felt like the author belabored things in getting to the point. I got really tired of reading about what the characters were feeling, and wanted them to act, already!
* Well if you go striclty by reviews (here & Amazon) this is a great book! I just don't happen to agree. And I usually like Ms. Ranney.
* This felt so ho-hum reading it, and when I tried to come up with one thing really great about this book, I couldn't. There's enough interest to peak your curiosity with the characters but they just never seem to fully evolve. (Except maybe for Maisie.)
* On one hand the reader is supposed to accept Dixon as an 'honorable' man while he's being entirely dishonorable. The one redeeming quality or heroic act he performs? Beats me!
* Every situation, Charlotte's reserve then intro to something more, Matthew's wisdom, Nan's suttle hint's of the past or her dislike of Charlotte or anyone English...you keep thinking 'OK, now we'll find out...he'll say/she'll say' something to explain or give you some closure to what you've been given. It never happens.
* I don't usually have expectations when I start reading a book. I leave that to the author to raise. And Ms. Ranney did raise my expectations; she just never answered them.
* Liked Most - Balfurin & the cover
* Liked Least - Dixon posing as dead George to sleep with/get Charlotte & doesn't tell the truth until cornered and forced to.
* This felt so ho-hum reading it, and when I tried to come up with one thing really great about this book, I couldn't. There's enough interest to peak your curiosity with the characters but they just never seem to fully evolve. (Except maybe for Maisie.)
* On one hand the reader is supposed to accept Dixon as an 'honorable' man while he's being entirely dishonorable. The one redeeming quality or heroic act he performs? Beats me!
* Every situation, Charlotte's reserve then intro to something more, Matthew's wisdom, Nan's suttle hint's of the past or her dislike of Charlotte or anyone English...you keep thinking 'OK, now we'll find out...he'll say/she'll say' something to explain or give you some closure to what you've been given. It never happens.
* I don't usually have expectations when I start reading a book. I leave that to the author to raise. And Ms. Ranney did raise my expectations; she just never answered them.
* Liked Most - Balfurin & the cover
* Liked Least - Dixon posing as dead George to sleep with/get Charlotte & doesn't tell the truth until cornered and forced to.
Helpful Score: 2
Was only okay. It was very slow at the beginning and didn't really get pick up until at the very end.
Helpful Score: 2
I loved this book. The hero comes into the story with such sadness and lack of love in his life that he doesn't tell the lady he finds at the castle that was once his home, who he really is. The love story is not too predictable and the side characters are too much fun.
Helpful Score: 1
another very enjoyable book by Karen the charachters show determination and love for scotland with all its bad weather a very good read every page catches you so you want to read on delightful enjoyable smileable read by an excellent author
Good book. I would rate it as a little better than your normal romance novel one or two twist, enjoyable to read.
Helpful Score: 1
I had a bit of a moral problem with this book. Her husbands cousin comes barging into her life and doesn't tell anyone who he is. Other than that, it was a really good book, though I was rather surprised by the ending.
Helpful Score: 1
Great read, especially if you are into historical romances dealing with the highlands of Scotland.
liked it.
I couldn't put this one down! Loved it!
Abandoned by a husband she never knew--left alone in his crumbling Scottish castle--Charlotte transformed her greatest shame into her grandest triumph.
Excellent book.
Excellent book.
Charlotte is abandoned by her husband after only one week of marriage. She travels to his crumbling castle and transforms it into a paying school for girls. Five years later a man arrives at her door. Her husband? Can it be? What does he want? Will he take everything she has built? If he is not her husband, who is he?
Romantic tension is exquisite
Letting Scotch inhibitions go is deliciou reading
Letting Scotch inhibitions go is deliciou reading
Absolutly loved this story.
Abandoned by a husband she never knew -- left alone in his crumbling Scottish castle -- Charlotte transformed her greatest shame into her grandest triumph.
But will everything change when a devilishly handsome stranger arrives, claiming to be her ong-lost spouse?
But will everything change when a devilishly handsome stranger arrives, claiming to be her ong-lost spouse?
Book Description
Abandoned by a rogue
Betrothed to an earl she had never met, Charlotte Haversham arrived at Balfurin, hoping to find love at the legendary Scottish castle. Instead she found decaying towers and no husband among the ruins. So Charlotte worked a miracle, transforming the rotting fortress into a prestigious girls' school. And now, five years later, her life is filled with purposeuntil . . .
Seduced by a stranger
A man storms Charlotte's castleand he is not the reprehensible Earl of Marne, the one who stole her dowry and dignity, but rather the absent lord's handsome, worldly cousin Dixon MacKinnon. Mesmerized by the fiery Charlotte, Dixon is reluctant to correct her mistake. And though she's determined not to play the fool again, Charlotte finds herself strangely thrilled by the scoundrel's amorous attentions. But a dangerous intrigue has drawn Dixon to Balfurin. And if his ruse is prematurely revealed, a passionate, blossoming love affair could crumble into ruin.
Abandoned by a rogue
Betrothed to an earl she had never met, Charlotte Haversham arrived at Balfurin, hoping to find love at the legendary Scottish castle. Instead she found decaying towers and no husband among the ruins. So Charlotte worked a miracle, transforming the rotting fortress into a prestigious girls' school. And now, five years later, her life is filled with purposeuntil . . .
Seduced by a stranger
A man storms Charlotte's castleand he is not the reprehensible Earl of Marne, the one who stole her dowry and dignity, but rather the absent lord's handsome, worldly cousin Dixon MacKinnon. Mesmerized by the fiery Charlotte, Dixon is reluctant to correct her mistake. And though she's determined not to play the fool again, Charlotte finds herself strangely thrilled by the scoundrel's amorous attentions. But a dangerous intrigue has drawn Dixon to Balfurin. And if his ruse is prematurely revealed, a passionate, blossoming love affair could crumble into ruin.
Scottish Romance - 375 pages
