(4 / 5)
I love almost anything to do with European History (a love started back in my AP European History class in high school) and in particular England and Scotland. This novel was very historically attuned and told a lesser known story of the Stewart line trying to reclaim their right to the Scottish throne in 1708.
But it’s not just about the Scottish Invasion. Half of the book is about a modern day writer composing a book about the Scottish invasion. Her story is cute but lacks a certain grounding component. Everything happened to fall into place a little conveniently for her, even her own love story. Did I enjoy the parts with her? Yes. Did I have a stupid smile on my face when something cute happened? Yes, of course. Was there anything particularly memorable about her part of the book? Not really.
The real gem lies in the other half of the book (the historical part). The heroine is minorly flawed and likable and most of the secondary characters are enjoyable as well. And of course it has thoughtful history and a love story to match. A word of caution: I’ll admit there was one part that I sobbed my eyes dry (much to the astonishment of my husband). Finally, you know you’ve found a good book when you intentionally put the book down more often only so you can prolong it’s completion.
The only real problem I have with it is that it isn’t masterfully written. There was nothing challenging or fun or creative about the prose-in a word, “blah”. But if you like historical fiction, don’t let that stop you, you’ll probably still enjoy it anyway, as I did.
Violence: Medium Language: Low/Medium Adult Content: Medium