The Highlander's Hope: Highland Heart, Book 1

I read all 3 books in this series back to back, and for the most part I enjoyed them. Romance and mystery combined in all three.There were however a few things that disappointed me. I enjoyed the first story (Highlander's Hope) more than the others. It seems to come alive more than the sequels. It is professionally written with only one typo that I noticed.In the 2nd book (A Highland Home) I had hoped to see at least a bit of the characters from book one, but they were rarely (if ever) seen. I forgot to make a detailed notes about this book but I found one thing quite strange in that there were 10-15 typos. Most of them were in a very short section of the book leading me to believe that the editor forgot where she was in the book and skipped about 5 pages or so... still an enjoyable story.The third story (A Highland Heist) does have the characters from the first 2 books put in a cameo appearance, but again, this book is a story based on the expansion of one of the characters from book # 1. My primary complaint about this book is that I feel that the author should have gone into more detail about the kidnapping and the crooks, and what happened with those folks at the end of the book.In all of the books, they seem to end quickly, fall in love, end of story. I wish the author had either expanded the endings more in each book to see a bit of how their lives went on, or at least did it in book 3. There are more books in the series, but it does not look like the previous characters are going to be in them at all either.I would have preferred if the author would have given all the characters from all of the books a bit more attention. When you buy a book in a series you are hoping to see what happened with the characters after the ending (at least I do)...but each book is totally separate from the others, which to me was a disappointment. I wanted to see more about the characters from the other books interwoven into the books that followed. I suppose I was spoiled by Diana Gabaldon in her Outlander series which tells you from book to book what is going on with everyone. (It is also a Highlander series, and one that you cannot put down).So while I enjoyed these books, I feel the writer could have done better....but then Diana writes books that are about one thousand pages long or so as opposed to a few hundred. You definitely get some "bang for your buck".I wish more writers would take after her, and write intensive and long novels that totally bring you in and let you know the characters and read about their lives as they interact over a prolonged period of time.Many writers these days seem to churn out short books, never giving their characters and their stories the intensity and thorough treatment they deserve.I enjoyed these books, but I suspect the writer can do much better. She shows a lot of promise. I hope we get to see her grow and become a great writer...I think she has the potential.

I tend to avoid contemporary romance as I prefer historical, but I read the plot description of The Highlander's Hope, was intrigued, and decided to give it a go.The heroine, Catriona, is an American scholar looking for the fabled Highlander's Hope, a necklace that was to be used to fund the Jacobite rebellion but was lost after the battle of Culloden. She is still recovering from her betrayal at the hands of her ex-lover and research partner, James, who stole her research on their last project and passed it off as his own, to great acclaim. She thinks the necklace may be hidden somewhere on the MacCraigh family lands, where she meets Iain, the current Laird and Scotland's most eligible bachelor. Iain has reasons of his own to find the necklace, vaguely having to do with some trouble his no-good younger brother has gotten into that may or may not involve the mob. They team up and decide to look for the necklace together, leading, presumably, to romance.Iain was a likable enough character, I didn't really get a sense of his "playboy image" or how Cat changed him from those ways, save when the author flat out told us that she had. Cat I found to be mostly annoying. She was constantly waffling with her emotions, and her thought patterns sometimes bordered on the ridiculous. Case in point, near the climax, she and Iain are being forced underground at gunpoint where the find of her lifetime is likely to be stolen and the two of them violently murdered, and all she can think about is what the tabloids will make of everything if she decided to marry Iain. The actual find of the necklace was seriously anticlimactic, and little to no words are spent on how much such a find would actually mean to the people of Scotland, which, I think, would hugely overshadow any marriage plans the hero and heroine made. So much time is spent on the characters and what they might or might not feel for each other, that little romance is actually happening. I just didn't feel any connection between these two supposedly lovestruck people. There was little passion either between them or on the pages.More description couldn't have hurt. They're traipsing about in a huge manor house in the wilds of Scotland, a partially ruined manor house at that, and there's little description of the house or the landscape at all! Setting the atmosphere would have helped immensely.A few nitpicks as well:- People are constantly "perking their eyebrows up", smiles are constantly "tugging at their lips/mouths", and their hearts are always "tripping over themselves". With a page count that fails to hit 200 pages you'll want to be careful how often you use certain words and phrases.- Avoid talking about lice in your romance novel. Even if it's just an analogy. It threw me right out of the book.- In November, on the northern beaches of Scotland, high enough to see the Northern Lights, it would be FREEZING. A blanket would NOT cut it against that kind of cold.In the end this was an okay book. I wouldn't rate it any higher than 3 out of 5 stars and that might be generous, depending on what you yourself expect out of a romance novel.

A good story with lots of potential but found the dialogue a bit stilted and for an author with a Scottish name there seemed to be quite a few 'American slip ups'. Or maybe that was at the editor's or publisher's insistence. And would an elderly Scottish laird really say 'Dinna fash yourself, girl'? Surely 'Dinna fash yersell, lassie'. I was also concerned at the number of serious injuries (possible concussion and hairline fracture to name but two) which were 'ignored' for the most part because of the distance away from a hospital. Lots of paragraphs that would, to my eye, have run more smoothly and naturally without using repeated words within sight of each other. Sorry that's my English teacher talking. And did the hero need to use the endearment 'love' quite so often when referring to his female friend? Again, a gaelic equivalent would have seemed so much more natural and realistic. But hey this lady is a bestselling author so what do I know?

I originally purchased this from Amazon on 6th March 2013 as a freebie Kindle download. However, when I clicked back in to the book from my orders the link was broken. I do know the probably reason for that though, as when I downloaded the book originally it had a completely different cover and was written by a different author. When I went into the download to read it, the other cover was in front of this one, and the book was this contemporary offering by Cali MacKay. It could be, of course, that they are one and the same person, or have the same publisher that screwed up the upload .... only they or Amazon will know the answer to that one I'm afraid. Amazon Guys, it would be awesome if you could give me Verified Purchase status for this one too, you can check my orders!!!!!Anyway, I digress, back to this version, the a fuller Review of which is on my Blog under post #381 in March 2013, which also gives details of any errors and bug bears found:This book was mediocre I'm afraid to say. It wasn't truly terrible, but neither was it truly good ..... or better still, awesome.Characterisation and plot with on the thin side, and the pace I found to be a little slow. Of course, the hot weather did help the fact that the going was slow, but the actual writing has to take some of the blame as well.No more than a 3 star rating, which on my Blog is the official Okay read rating. To be honest I'm not sure what I can suggest to improve on that.

Dr. Catriona Ross is a historian from Cambridge, visiting Scotland on the trail of the legendary "Hope Necklace" On the way to meet the owner of the lands it could be on, she is almost hit by another car after hers breaks down. In steps Iain MacCraigh, son of the owner. He is well known to Cat as a playboy love them and leave them type so she is determined not to fall for him.They have chemistry almost from the start and cannot seem to avoid the growing attraction and feelings between them. Both are focused on finding the necklace, but it is not all smooth sailing as Cat's ex-boyfriend and love rat/thief is on her trail. Word soon gets out about what Cat and Iain are searching for and they are not the only ones interested in finding the necklace.I liked the storyline, it was a bit "National Treasure" with deciphering clues so it made a good adventure/romance story.

Whilst Iain is probably in his mid-thirties the way his character speaks makes him sound like a mid 70s grandpa. And what's with calling Cat "love" all the time and using "Aye" ? found this very annoying but I digress. The basic storyline is good if somewhat under-developed. The ending was rather rushed and I would have liked to see more information on the lesser characters and particularly Malcolm and how he got into difficulties. The "nationalists " also seemed to appear and disappear just as quickly. And what happens to the Hope or is that for a later book - the whole story is just too tenuous but nevertheless I enjoyed it. I also liked the fact that the love scenes did not overpower and left something to the imagination. Pity about the stereo-typical Scotsman!

While this story is excellent and the characters well described and easy to get to know I was left disappointed..why? Because the book is closed as a romance with a steamy (if, in my opinion very bad) cover..you just get to the kissing..and them it's the morning after. Annoying after such a great build you you want to see things through with them to the end. Such a shame!! I did buy the next book but again, good story..frustrating read. So sorry to say won't be buying any more!!!