Author: Lynn Kurland

Guest Review: Ever My Love by Lynn Kurland

Posted April 3, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Ever My Love by Lynn KurlandReviewer: Tracy
Ever My Love by Lynn Kurland
Series: MacLeod series #10
Also in this series: Till There Was You
Publisher: Jove
Publication Date: April 4th 2017
Genres: Time Travel
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Two people are caught up in love—and in time—in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Stars in Your Eyes.

In search of a fresh start, Emma Barton has traveled to Scotland to try to forget her rocky love life. Luckily, the gorgeous Highlander who owns the house up the path from her rental cottage might be exactly the kind of distraction she needs. But there’s more to his intriguing qualities than she can explain—and she certainly isn’t buying into the local legends of Highland magic.

Nathaniel MacLeod is a man adrift, all thanks to the unwanted gift that forces him to continually jump between centuries. He never knows if he’ll wind up in the present day or the fourteenth century, but when Emma follows him back through time, he suddenly has more to worry about than keeping his separate lives straight…

Someone has started to notice Nathaniel’s travels and now, no time period is safe, for him or for Emma.

Nathaniel MacLeod has been traveling back in time off and on for the past 5 years.  When he hears or sees a certain date he feels the time portal open and he knows that he must get back to medieval Scotland as soon as possible.  He doesn’t know why it’s him that has to go or what the purpose is of him being there but he’s determined to figure it out.

Emma Baxter is in England to get away from her life in England.  She’s pretty much hiding from her ex-boyfriend an trying to figure out what she needs to do next in her life.  She meets Nathaniel because his is a neighboring home to the cottage she’s staying in.  They are instantly attracted to each other but Nathaniel seems to have so many secrets.

When Emma ends up stepping through a time gate and ends up in a dungeon it’s Nathaniel that has to save her.  When she does it again and the exact same events occur Nathaniel knows that he needs to figure out what part Emma plays in his time traveling but he’s not sure he can fix it and keep her with him at the same time.

This was another good book by Kurland.  I’ve only read a few books in the MacLeod series but I think after reading this one that I might have to go back and take care of that lack as meeting Nathaniel’s relatives, Patrick, Ian and Jamie was awesome. They helped both Emma and Nathaniel in many ways and seemed to be very good men.

While I really liked Both Emma and Nathaniel in this book and liked watching their relationship develop, there was a certain disconnection I felt with the book.  I’m not sure if the term is “disjointed” but I felt like the story was all over the place.  It may have been the lack of information we received about Emma and her situation back home as well as the secrets that Nathaniel was keeping about his work and family.  This issue definitely got better as the book went on and we got more info on them.  The latter part of the book was what saved this one for me.

I also was a little disappointed in the physical contact between Emma and Nathaniel.  Yes, I know that Kurland’s books are clean – no sex – but this one had them kiss once.  Once!  And that was a peck if I remember correctly.  I don’t mind clean books but I definitely think the H/h need to have a bit more contact throughout the book – at least more than a peck. But that’s just me. 🙂

While definitely not my favorite book in the series it was a good one that I found entertaining.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars


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Guest Review: Stars in Your Eyes by Lynn Kurland

Posted November 27, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Stars in Your Eyes by Lynn KurlandReviewer: Tracy
Stars in You Eyes by Lynn Kurland
Series: de Piaget series #14
Also in this series: Dreams of Lilacs
Publisher: Jove, Penguin
Publication Date: November 24, 2015
Format: eARC
Genres: Historical Romance, Time Travel
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three-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Imogen Maxwell is on a hunt for rare, antique items to use on a period movie set. The last thing she expects to discover in the peaceful Scottish countryside is a pristine medieval sword...or to suddenly find herself facing its very vintage owner in a far too authentic castle.

Phillip de Piaget has run out of patience with his recalcitrant Scottish betrothed and is determined that she will join him, once and for all, in front of the altar. Only the lass he captures fleeing his would-be keep seems more interested in running away from him than talking to him. In fact, she seems to have no idea who he is.

Imogen finally gets to Scotland after an incredibly long journey from America.  She is in Scotland to try and find inexpensive yet authentic looking medieval antiques for use in a movie that she’s a part of.  She heads into one store and is approached by a woman who she learns is named Heather.  Heather invites her to her castle which she says is chock full of authentic medieval antiques.  Imogen is excited and takes her up on her offer to visit. At one point in the tour of the castle Heather invites Imogen to touch a sword that’s been stuck in the floor of the great hall since (supposedly) the 13th century.  Imogen again takes Heather up on her offer and ends up being knocked over.

Imogen has been transported to a different time but her brain can’t even think that way.  She thinks, for a bit too long imho, that she’s on a movie set and that eveyone is method acting and not breaking character. The other possibility is that her evil siblings have once again played a trick on her and their filming the prank.  She finally has to come to realize that she’s been transported in time but it’s almost too much for her mind to contemplate.

Phillip de Piaget is the eldest son of Robin and Anne de Piaget and has been engaged to Heather of Haemesburgh for the past seven years.  He made the contracts with her father and without even meeting Heather in person.  Phillip is interested in the Haemesburgh castle and it’s position long the border of Scotland and England more than anything else.  He has tried to see Heather over the years but he’s gotten nothing but flack and even how dung thrown at him. He’s ready to marry and he’s not taking no for an answer this time.

When Phillip arrives at Haemesburgh right when a woman, who he at first thinks is Heather, hanging from the drawbridge that is going up.  He saves the woman, who is Imogen, and ends up watching over her.  Phillip is mystified by everything he finds at Haemesburgh  – including the absence of Heather – and then even more mystified when he heads to his uncle’s house and finds out that the “paranormal oddities” that he’s heard about most of his life are much more involved in his family than he ever would have thought possible.

This was a cute book.  With Imogen and Phillip falling in love pretty quickly I found it to be more about Phillip’s discovery of time travel and what that meant for his family than I would have expected.  Yes, the romance was sweet and I loved Phillip to death but I didn’t feel it as strongly as I have in past de Piaget books.

Imogen was an interesting woman.  She thought non-stop about being in a movie (as that’s what she thought happened when she time-traveled) but she did it for so long I found it to get a little old after a while.  I was happy when she finally started accepting the facts and seeing the incredible opportunity for what it was – a chance to see medieval life in person.

Overall it was pleasant read but I definitely had my issues with the blending of the romance with the rest of the story.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars


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Review: Dreams of Lilacs by Lynn Kurland

Posted April 23, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Dreams of Lilacs by Lynn KurlandReviewer: Tracy
Dreams of Lilacs by Lynn Kurland
Series: de Piaget series #13
Also in this series: Stars in You Eyes
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: April 29th 2014
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Isabelle de Piaget is determined to elude her overprotective family by means of a hasty escape to France. But instead of making a surprise visit to her brother there, she winds up shipwrecked on the French coast with no memory of who she is or how she came to awaken in the dark and forbidding castle of an equally brooding lord.

Gervase de Seger rescues—very reluctantly—the bedraggled urchin he finds on the road and puts her to work where he can ignore her. Unfortunately, he soon realizes that her brother is an intimidating lord who is going to be absolutely furious when he learns that his beloved sister has been laboring as a scullery maid. Yet Isabelle may be the one who holds the key to solving Gervase’s most pressing problem: that someone has been trying to finish the task of separating him from his title and his lands.

Finding the truth propels Gervase and Isabelle from the buried secrets of half-ruined keeps to the glittering French court, and to the realization that love can blossom in the most perilous circumstances—and in the most unexpected places of the heart . . .

Isabelle is pretty much a homebody. Not that she doesn’t want to go anywhere, but it seems that she just never does. She feels like she’s almost on the shelf as she’s 22 and the only men that have wanted to court her were cast off who actually wanted Amanda but then find out she’s married. None are excited to actually marry Isabelle – she’s just “the one who’s left” and she’s female and a de Piaget. Most don’t even know her name. When Isabelle gets a letter stating that she needs to head to France or her whole family will be killed she doesn’t know what to do. Yes, she’s wanted adventure but this isn’t exactly how she thought it would come about. She decides that she’ll head to France dressed as a boy but tell no one. She does tell Miles she’s going to France but not about the letter.

Isabelle manages to get on a ship to France but then is shipwrecked. She’s also then robbed and roughed up. Gervace de Seger is out riding when he sees her, only he thinks she’s a he. He gets her to his healer but when she wakes up she can’t remember who she is or where she’s from. Thinking that she’s a peasant boy he puts her to work in his kitchens. He soon starts to rethink his decision (about her job as well as the fact that she’s not a lad) and after she’s almost accosted in the kitchen he puts her to work mending. Soon she is teaching his half-brothers their sums and Latin.

Isabelle starts to remember things but not why she’s in France. She isn’t sure if she can completely trust Gervase as he has a bad rep so keeps her identity to herself. Gervase is hurt from a murder attempt so is mostly in a foul mood daily. Isabelle, he finds, has the power to make him happy and he’s not sure what to do with that information. When he finds out who she is he returns her to her family but he doesn’t want to let her go. He also starts to believe that the person who is after her family and the person trying to kill him are one in the same.

This was a very sweet story. Gervase is a wounded hero and his crotchety disposition was almost humorous. Kurland did a great job of describing him and his moods so that I could see that underneath the scowls and glares that he was a good, good person. He loved his family but doubted his own capabilities to take care of them. Isabelle lightens his heart. She doesn’t put up with his crap and kind of walks all over him – in the best possible way. He soon finds himself in love with her but having to return her to his family just about broke his heart.

Isabelle was a fierce heroine. It’s not that she was kick-ass or anything but she loved her family and would do just about anything for them – I loved that about her. She also showed such care and kindness to Gervase’s siblings (I loved little Yves!) as well as Gervase himself. He was in constant pain from almost dying in a fire in his hall. His right hand had been crushed and his leg had been broken from an arrow being shot at him. Isabelle, after helping to take care of her sister-in-law, Anne, had knowledge of herbs that would help Gervase. This was her way of soothing the snarling beast and it worked. She was showing her love to him, whether she knew she loved him at the time or not, in helping him recover.

Again, I loved Gervase. Seriously, that man was wonderful. After having been a much lauded knight he was then brought to his knees, quite literally. In his recovery he realized what an arrogant man he had been at times and it humbled him. He was a better man for being injured and I loved that he realized that. He held his own with Isabelle’s brothers as well as her father and that endeared him to me as well. He also saw Isabelle for who she was and not just part of the de Piaget family or Amanda’s sister. He loved her for her and that warmed my heart.

Gervase and Isabelle were a perfect couple and I loved their story. It was sweet and romantic, funny and sometimes sad. It had a wonderful sense of family – both Gervase’s and Isabelle’s – and made me love the de Piaget’s more than I already did. This is a very good book and I definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Lynn Kurland

four-stars


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Guest Review: Till There Was You by Lynn Kurland

Posted April 24, 2009 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 7 Comments

Guest Review: Till There Was You by Lynn KurlandReviewer: Tracy
Till There Was You by Lynn Kurland
Series: MacLeod series #8
Also in this series: Ever My Love
Publisher: Jove, Penguin
Publication Date: April 28, 2009
Format: eARC
Genres: Time Travel
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars


Zachary Smith is finished with high-maintenance women, impossible clients, and paranormal adventures. But when he walks through a doorway into a different century— and meets Mary de Piaget—he knows his life isn’t going to turn out quite the way he planned.

Zachary is no stranger to ending up in a different century. He spends his weekends with his brother-in-law finding “gates” and marking them on maps. Sometimes these gates just show up and you’re not sure how it happened. One such gate appears when least expected and Zachary is thrust into the 13th century – in a hallway in someone’s castle. He tries to get away but ends up a guest in the castles dungeon. He’s not quite sure how he’s going to manage to get out of the dungeon much less get back to the 21st century.

Maryanne de Piaget is trying to find a way out of her father’s castle. She’s 27 years old and has managed to get her father to refuse all the offers for her hand in marriage. But this time she’s pretty sure her father will accept the offer from Geoffrey of Styrr and she wants no part of it or him. She feels if she can free the prisoner in the dungeon then he can help her get away. Unfortunately things don’t always turn out the way they’re planned.

This was a wonderful story. The romance that ensues between Maryanne and Zachary is touching yet heartbreaking. Zachary has finally fallen in love and now he has to leave this woman 750 years in the past and go home. He knows that he cannot have this woman he loves and can’t explain to her his reasons – he can’t leave a “footprint” in the past that might affect the future. He falls back on the “I’m not titled therefore not acceptable to your father” excuse and tries his darndest to leave. But in the end he just can’t find it in him to leave her to Geoffrey of Styrr and the horrible things that he feels Styrr will do to Maryanne.

There are so many different issues going on with this story – Maryanne’s father, Maryanne’s cousins, her brother, time travel, murder, intrigue – but it was just a great story and a sweet romance. At first I didn’t think that not having read the previous books was an issue but as the book went on I found myself wondering who all these people were that were involved in the story. The author does give a good description of everyone’s roll in the story but there were some holes that I needed filled. Despite that the story didn’t suffer for lack of my information.

I think this is a great book and would recommend it to anyone who likes a story that contains contemporary, medieval and paranormal elements.

Rating 4 out of 5

four-stars


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