Month: December 2018

The Laird’s Christmas Kiss by Anna Campbell

On By TracyIn Christmas, Novella, Regency Era (1811-1820), Scottish/Highlander, Top Pick - Highly Recommended, Tracy's Reviews, Yearly FavoritesLeave a comment

The Laird’s Christmas Kiss (The Lairds Most Likely, #2)The Laird’s Christmas Kiss by Anna Campbell
Tracy’s rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Lairds Most Likely, #2

Release Date: October 27, 2018

In this installment of the Lairds Most Likely Series, rakish Brody Girvan, Laird of Invermackie meets his match in the shy, bookish Elspeth Douglas, sister of his friend Hamish.

Elspeth Douglas is with her family at Achnasheen with Fergus and Marina for the Christmas holidays. Brody is also there, but this year will be different, Elspeth has decided that the handsome laird will never be interested in her and is determined to end her silly girlish infatuation once and for all.

Brody has grown tired of his libertine lifestyle and has come to Achnasheen to spend the holiday with his cousin and his new wife, see them so in love just reiterates his discontent. When he meets Elspeth in the breakfast room, she ignores him – WHAT? Lassies NEVER ignore him, why that intrigues him, he doesn’t know, but he wonders how he missed really seeing her in all the years they have known each other. He flirts with her and invites her to go for a ride, but they are interrupted by her cousin Diarmid before she answers. Later Elspeth has a conversation with Marina that ends with an offer to give Elspeth a makeover. The results are amazing – gone is the little brown mouse, now she is dressed to emphasize her lush figure and her gorgeous hair. Everyone notices, especially Brody.

For days Brody has been consumed with thoughts of Elspeth, he even asked her brother for permission to court her. He is not sure what he feels for her, but it is like nothing he has ever known before and he can’t imagine marrying anyone else. But his reputation will cause problems, with Elspeth and their family and friends. When they are caught in a heated kiss and he proposes, she turns him down flat – even at the risk of being disowned by her mother.

Can Brody prove to Elspeth that his proposal was more than duty? That she is the light of his dark life and without her, nothing seems to matter? Or will her insecurities blind her to his love?

I absolutely loved this novella, it was well written, paced nicely, gave glimpses of Fergus and Marina’s HEA, had witty banter, steamy love scenes, great secondary characters and a sigh worthy declaration. It is the second book in the series, but it can easily be read as a stand alone title.

The Lost Traveller by Sheila Connolly

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Mystery2 Comments

The Lost Traveller (County Cork, #7)The Lost Traveller by Sheila Connolly

Barbara’s rating: 3 of 5 stars

Series: County Cork #7
Publication Date: 1/8/19
Number of Pages: 336

I have loved this quirky series since the first book, but I have to say that this one was my least favorite so far. The story was slow and repetitive. You have Maura asking questions or being in a situation and then repeating all of that to the next three or four people she encounters. The Maura in this book didn’t seem like the Maura in previous books. This Maura just seems to be floating on the surface of life without really participating in it. She has employees she has worked with for over a year, and they have become very close, but she doesn’t even know where they live – in a very, very small community. She owns the pub, but she seems more like an employee than the owner. I don’t mean she should be dictatorial, I like the participative management style, but she seems to let the employees just manage things and she shows up to work. What I think is that she should know how to do all of the jobs (including the internet, etc.) whether she is the one who actually does them or not. In this book, she also appears very indecisive – should she do the kitchen or not, etc. She seems to be leaving all of that in the hands of a seventeen-year-old girl rather than being responsibly and actively involved. Anyway, if this is your first book in the series, please don’t judge the series by this book. The series really is better read from beginning to end because you get the full character development and come to understand the relationships.

One of the things I love is the way the writer manages to write regular, every-day English and makes you swear you ‘hear’ an Irish lilt there. I love the descriptions of the Irish culture and countryside. Makes me want to move there and visit with Billy, Mick, Rose, Bridget, Sean, and Gillian.

The mystery in this book seemed a bit flat. It seemed to be more about discovering the identity of the dead man rather than what happened to him. I think it could have been much more interesting if the Travellers had played a more central role in the whole thing. Just as an FYI – the title is misleading. Maura seems to just leap to the conclusion that the murder has something to do with illegals entering the country rather than it being a crime of passion or a vendetta or – well – just anything else.

Maura wanted to enjoy the sunshine on a beautiful day and took her lunch outside to eat. As she’s sitting there thinking, she looks up toward the bridge that crosses over the ravine that gave the small town of Leap its name. She’s amazed that she sees a bag of garbage that has been dumped near the midpoint underneath the bridge. Well, since it is on her property, Maura supposes she is the one who should clean it up – until she takes a closer look and discovers that it is a dead body. She immediately calls her friend at the local Gardai (police) station, Garda Sean Murphy.

Not only was the body dumped on Maura’s property, but the face had been mutilated so that it was impossible to identify it. Was someone trying to send Maura a message? Could it have something to do with her staff or a local patron of the pub? Was it maybe even meant to be a message for the previous owner Old Mick? Lots of questions, and few answers.

I am already anxiously awaiting the next book in the series and hoping that it will be better than this one. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the book, but it just isn’t the quality I have come to expect from this author and this series.

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“I requested and received this e-book at no cost to me and volunteered to read it; my review is my honest opinion and given without any influence by the author or publisher.”