I really enjoyed the book. It features a Romeo and Juliet-type love story. The hero, Drew, is from England, and the heroine, Josselin, is from Scotland. They live in a time when their Queens (Elizabeth and Mary) are tentatively and warily at peace, yet engaged in spying on one another and any attempts at assassination or overthrow of one another's thrones. To further complicate the environment of enmity and animosity they were born into, the star-crossed lovers will eventually discover and have to deal with the fact that his father killed her mother when England and Scotland battled one another when the h/h were just children. Each of their lives were greatly influenced by their parents' deaths and the nature of their deaths. How they chose to deal with their losses and the events surrounding them very much determined their personalities and the differences between them. Jossy lived for war and revenge. Drew, however, rejected his uncles' training as a warrior who they raised to avenge his father's death and chose a more peaceful pursuit of competing in golf tournaments to satisfy his need to make the Scottish pay for his loss. Regardless of these huge obstacles, they were willing to fight all odds to be together.
The h/h were very likable. Jossy was very feisty, and Drew was very open in his admiration of her early on in the story. The story was centered around an interesting environment that involved the Scottish people's great love for golf. This was an unlikely setting for an adventure story to take place, but it worked and was fun learning about the history of the sport and its place in the lives of the Scottish. It was also interesting to learn of Queen Mary's love for the sport. I liked Drew's desire for peace, while at the same time being very masculine with his great skill at swordsmanship and his courage that was alluded to on the battlefield. He was very confident in himself and did not feel the need to prove his masculinity by fighting or being the instrument for his uncles' revenge. He did step up, however, and protect Josselin from any threats, proving his love for her. At the same time, he honored her desire to fight her own battles and respected her skill and cleverness to defeat her enemies herself. It ended up being a fun love story to read.
The h/h were very likable. Jossy was very feisty, and Drew was very open in his admiration of her early on in the story. The story was centered around an interesting environment that involved the Scottish people's great love for golf. This was an unlikely setting for an adventure story to take place, but it worked and was fun learning about the history of the sport and its place in the lives of the Scottish. It was also interesting to learn of Queen Mary's love for the sport. I liked Drew's desire for peace, while at the same time being very masculine with his great skill at swordsmanship and his courage that was alluded to on the battlefield. He was very confident in himself and did not feel the need to prove his masculinity by fighting or being the instrument for his uncles' revenge. He did step up, however, and protect Josselin from any threats, proving his love for her. At the same time, he honored her desire to fight her own battles and respected her skill and cleverness to defeat her enemies herself. It ended up being a fun love story to read.
