Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts

Thursday, August 24, 2023

The Highlander’s Kilted Bride by Vanessa Kelly (TLC Book Tour)

 


Do you play an instrument?  I used to play the piano and clarinet, but I haven’t played in quite some time.  Now I enjoy listening to my children play the piano and their other instruments. 

Music plays a key role in The Highlander’s Kilted Bride.  In 1828, Kade of the Klan Kendrick has recently returned home to Scotland after a worldwide tour playing his music and also spying for his country.  He is annoyed at being roped into attending a wedding and perhaps playing a concert of his music rather than getting to spend his time working on his latest piece that has been commissioned by the king.  While on the way to the wedding, his carriage is nearly crashed into by a feisty lady riding a white horse, Charlotte “Charlie” Stewart.  The two met as children and have a shared love of music.  Charlie is meant to marry another, but will Kade and Charlie forge their own path?

I thought The Highlander’s Kilted Bride was a delightful escapism read.  It’s been a very busy week at work and in life and it was fun to be able to settle down each evening and read this novel.  I loved the characters in this novel.  The story starts with a prologue where Charlie and Kade meet as children and Charlie defends Kade by punching another boy in the nose.  This sets the tone for their relationship, and I loved it.  I loved Charlie’s spunky personality and also enjoyed their shared love of music.  All of the other characters were great, but I think I would have loved them even more if I had read the first five novels in this series and knew their back stories.  I always enjoy a Scottish setting and loved the highland setting of this book.

The story was very fun with a wedding, a loss of a family heirloom, and the search for a treasure all with love blooming in the midst.  I enjoyed the mysteries.  I especially loved feisty Grandpa Angus.  He has great love for his family and hilarious anger towards other families for past historic misdeeds.  The book had great humor and had me chuckling often.  I loved all of the family interactions.

Favorite Quote:  “One need not trick oneself out in the latest styles or simper about as a ninny to be a woman, and a lovely one at that.”  I loved the message of being yourself in this novel.

Book Source: Review Copy from author Vanessa Kelly and NetGalley.   Thank-you! I received a complimentary copy of this book as part of the TLC Book Tour.  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.  


About The Highlander’s Kilted Bride

Publisher: Zebra (August 22, 2023)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages

The youngest brother in Clan Kendrick has become a charismatic force in his own right—especially when the perfect woman gallops into his life—in the latest novel in USA Today bestselling author Vanessa Kelly’s sparkling Scottish Regency series.

Charlotte “Charlie” Stewart would rather don a kilt and ride her horse than simper in a ballroom. But with her younger sister about to be wed, she can’t escape the pressure to be next. A husband has been chosen, and Charlie’s fate seems set. Until an afternoon gallop sends her horse colliding with Kade Kendrick, the broad-shouldered Highlander who was once her childhood pal . . .

As a youth, Kade felt overshadowed by his older siblings. Now he’s a renowned musician whose fame provides cover for his other work—as a spy. Home from his latest mission, he’s annoyed to be roped into attending the wedding of a family friend—until it reunites him with the fearless tomboy who has become a breathtaking beauty. And though his thoughts should be on a new concerto, Kade is soon distracted by rival suitors, a dangerous quest—and the unconventional woman who fills his soul with music and his body with desire . . .

About the Author

Vanessa Kelly is the award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of The Improper Princesses series, the Clan Kendrick, The Renegade Royals and The Stanton Family series, in addition to other historical romances. Named by Booklist as one of the “Stars of Historical Romance,” her books have been translated into nine languages and published internationally. In graduate school, Vanessa specialized in the study of eighteenth-century British fiction and is known for developing vibrant Regency settings, appealing characters, and witty story lines that captivate readers. She lives with her husband in Ontario, Canada. Visit her at VanessaKellyAuthor.com or join the Clan Kendrick Facebook Group at Facebook.com/groups/ClanKendrick.

 

Sunday, February 19, 2023

The Blackhouse by Carole Johnstone

 


Title:  The Blackhouse

Author:  Carole Johnstone

Narrated by:  Joe McFadden and Eilidh Beaton

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 13 hours and 41 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

 Do you believe in reincarnation?  If you could be reincarnated, what would you like to come back as next time?  I’ve always thought it is an interesting concept and love to read books about it.  

Maggie Mackay has moved back to Kilmeray in Scotland to try to solve a mystery from her past.  When she was five years old, she announced that she was a reincarnated man who had been murdered on Kilmeray. "I am Andrew McNeil, and I was murdered." The problem was, no one of that name had died on the island.  As Maggie investigates, she starts to uncover many secrets on the island.  Will she find what she is looking for?

In the 1990’s, Robert Reid and his family have moved to Kilmeray to make a fresh start.  Robert grew up on the island, but after his father’s death at sea, he has decided to be a farmer and to forget the past.  The past hasn’t forgotten him though.  What will his fate be?

I liked this dark and gothic novel.  It had many twists in the storyline.  Maggie and Robert were both narrators of different chapters and both were unreliable narrators.  I loved the atmosphere of this novel and the terrific setting.  I also enjoyed getting to know the community and all of the characters in town.  The buildup of the way of life on Kilmeray is a large part of the story and the reveal which I don’t want to spoil.  This book had a bit of everything – romance, thriller, suspense, grief, revenge, and a bit of the supernatural.  I enjoyed it.

Monday, December 12, 2022

The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan

 


 

Title: The Christmas Bookshop

Author:  Jenny Colgan

Narrated by:  Eilidh Beaton

Publisher: Harper Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 23 minutes

Source: Checked out from the Kewaunee Public Library through Overdrive.  Thank-yo

Have you ever shopped at a Christmas shop?  What about a Christmas Book Shop?

I’ve been to Frankenmuth Michigan over twenty years ago and it was filled with beautiful Christmas stores. I need to go back someday.  I’ve never been to a Christmas Book Shop, but I would love it.

In The Christmas Bookshop, Carmen has lost her job working in retail when the store she works at closes for good.  With no prospects in her town, she goes to live with her sister Sofia and her children in Edinburgh.  Sofia is a lawyer with a client who owns a book shop that is going to close.  Sofia hopes that Carmen can help the shop to make a profit over the Christmas season.  Carmen is not sure she can do it, but she decides to give it a try.  Along the way she meets two potential suitors.  What will Carmen do with life and which suitor will she chose?

Jenny Colgan is one of my favorite authors and I love her Christmas stories. I love that her stories often involve a woman down on her luck who manages to find out what her passions in life are and make a fresh start.  I love bookstores so reading about how Carmen is able to spruce up the store and reinvent it as a Christmas Bookshop was delightful.  I was also intrigued by the vivid descriptions of Edinburgh.  It made me really want to visit this city and see the architecture.  It sounds like a beautiful place to visit at Christmas.

I also loved that Carmen and Sofia were two very different sisters that didn’t really get along, but they are able to really understand each other and have a better relationship in this story.  I also loved Carmen’s relationship with her nieces and nephew.  I also loved the bookshop owner, Mr. McCredie.  I loved how his story slowly came together piece by piece. 

Eilidh Beaton was a soothing narrator who gave the characters a good voice.  Each character had a different voice from her, which I enjoy.  This overall was a very enjoyable and charming Christmas story.