Lady Miracle

Faulkener Family #2

by Susan King

Diarmid Campbell scours a battlefield in medieval Scotland for the mysterious healer known as "Lady Miracle," hoping to enlist her powers to help his ailing niece, only to lose his heart in the bargain. Original.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Medieval, Historical Fiction, Scotland

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1997

About the author

Susan King, née Longhi, is a multi-published, bestselling, award-winning author and a former art history lecturer. She holds a B.A. in art and an M.A. and most of a Ph.D. in art history, with postgraduate work in medieval studies. Her books are widely praised for historical detail and a lyrical writing style, and she has won multiple honors and awards for her novels written as Susan King, Sarah Gabriel, and Susan Fraser King. Susan visits Scotland as often as possible for research and relaxation, and lives in Maryland with her family.

Reviews

[Alba Turunen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Estrellas. Me da un poquito de pena la nota que le he dado, porque la verdad es que iba con buenas expectativas, y aunque tiene muchas similitudes con el primero, no lo he podido disfrutar igual. No sé si habrá sido culpa mía o del libro, que quizás no era el momento, pero no me ha gustado tanto como el anterior.

Claro que tiene excelentes cualidades para una buena valoración, es un libro de romance medieval muy bien cuidado, trabajado e investigado, y siempre valoro estos detalles. La autora se ha esmerado con la investigación referente a la medicina medieval, y sólo por ello ha ganado un punto. Pero lo que creo que ha fallado es que en algunas partes la trama se ha estancado, se me ha hecho algo pesado, y no sabía muy bien cómo continuarlo.

“El don de Michaelmas” empieza pocos años después de “La leyenda de Kinglassie”. A Michaelmas, la protagonista, la conocimos de niña en el primer libro, tenía un vínculo muy estrecho con Gavin, y lo que era más importante, un don especial para curar. Han pasado unos años, y tras una rápida escaramuza cerca de Kinglassie, Michaelmas acude a atender a los heridos; allí conocerá a un joven soldado con conocimientos de cirujano, Diarmid Campbell, y ése primer encuentro determinará el destino de nuestros personajes.

Por desgracia, Michaelmas y Diarmid no vuelven a verse hasta once años más tarde. Michaelmas acaba de volver de Italia, allí ha pasado sus últimos años, donde estudió medicina en la universidad de Bolonia, una de las pocas que permitía la entrada a mujeres y a su vez les daba un título con el que podían ejercer su profesión. A pesar de ello, los conocimientos y la experiencia de Michaelmas no son bien recibidos en una Escocia medieval y temerosa, y quizás la oportunidad que acaba de darle Diarmid sea una forma de sobrevivir.

En estos años transcurridos, Diarmid ha asumido el mando como jefe del clan, siendo leal a Robert Bruce en la guerra contra Inglaterra. Aunque algo contradictorio con la actitud guerrera de Diarmid, éste se formó en un monasterio como segundo hijo que era, pero al morir el primogénito, hubo de volver para ocupar su puesto como heredero. Fue entre los monjes donde aprendió los conocimientos que tiene de medicina, pero se le ha presentado un reto que ni él mismo puede afrontar: devolverle la capacidad de andar a su joven sobrina Brigit. Una vez, hace once años, conoció a una joven sanadora en un campo de batalla, y está decidido a encontrarla para que pueda darle a Brigit el milagro que necesita.

Michael querría poder ejercer la profesión que ha elegido, pero las estrictas normas morales y religiosas que imperan en la Escocia medieval no se lo permiten. Lo único que le depara el destino es casarse de nuevo y asumir el control del castillo de Glas Eilean, que el rey Robert le ha entregado a Gavin, para que a su vez se lo entregue a Michael una vez se despose; pero hay un problema, el castillo está actualmente ocupado por Ranald MacSween, uno de los capitanes de Bruce, que no está dispuesto a entregar el mando, que para más inri es cuñado de Diarmid, y éste no quiere hacer nada que dañe a su desdichada hermana.

Sólo la posibilidad de que Michael pueda hacer algo por la pobre Brigit es suficiente para que esta acepte malamente seguir a Diarmid, pero sólo con la condición de que Diarmid eche de su castillo a su cuñado.

Más o menos esto es lo que nos encontramos al comenzar a leer este libro. Dos protagonistas que se conocieron hace años y no se olvidaron, pero que el transcurso de los años separó sus vidas, los llevó por distintos caminos, y ahora vuelven a unirse. Son varias las cosas que impiden un romance entre ellos, Michael es viuda y no desea volver a casarse, ni siquiera por asumir el control de su castillo, y Diarmid está casado con una mujer de la cual no puede separarse.

Quizás para mí lo que ha fallado es que creo que la trama ha ido perdiendo fuelle según la leía, esperaba que ocurriesen cosas que no llegan a ocurrir, o que hubiese algún giro o cambio de escenario más atractivo, pero lo que realmente debería haber sido más importante, como la recuperación de Brigit o la cojera del hermano menor de Diarmid, se queda en una mera anécdota, y quizás le ha dado mas protagonismo a detalles que no deberían haber tenido tanto.

Admito que he echado de menos alguna aparición de Christian o Gavin, los padres adoptivos de Michael, me encantaron en el primer libro, y esperaba algo de Kinglassie, pero su presencia ha sido más bien nominal que presencial. En cuanto a los protagonistas, Michael y Diarmid, me han gustado, bastante, tanto él como ella, juntos y separados, pero al igual que ha pasado con la historia, su romance me ha sabido a poco, y habría esperado algo más emotivo o bonito, pero no me ha despertado nada ¿Mi desesperación por querer algo más emocionante? Puede ser.

El libro no está mal en el fondo. La prosa de la autora es muy buena, el detalle, la investigación de la vida medieval, y sobre todo de la medicina son dignos de elogio y es lo que más me ha gustado del libro, pero para mí le ha faltado emoción a la historia y al romance, cosa que sí tuvo el primer libro. Aún así no dejaría de recomendarlo, pues realmente me parecen muy buenos libros de romance medieval de los que ya no se publican, libros que cualquier lectora de novela romántica puede disfrutar, y para mí Susan King se ha convertido en una escritora a la que le seguiré le pista.

[Izzah ꒰Duchess of Cabria ಇ ⭑✧ ᴏɴ ᴘᴀᴛʀᴇᴏɴ ✧ ⋆꒱]

The writing was engaging and the beginning sounded so magical~ I was enchanted and ready for the story when there's this conversation between the hero and his friend:

“Ah. MacSween will be furious! Who is Faulkener’s unmarried sister?”

“A widow. Michaelmas is her name,” Diarmid said.

“The woman in Perth?” Mungo gaped at him. “The one who helped my father when he was wounded on a battlefield?”

“The very one. She owns Glas Eilean now.”

“What a fine mess.” Mungo shook his head. “Now I see why you want her at Dunsheen. Does Gavin know you are wed already? You cannot marry this girl.”

The way my interest plummeted 📉📉📉

Not only has she been married but the hero himself is married? Not in the mood for that sort of drama 👋✌️

[Lau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qué dulce esta historia, el primer libro de la saga me gustó mucho hace años y pensé que a lo mejor con este no me iba a pasar lo mismo, pero la verdad es que me enganché muy rápido.

No diría que es un romance sino una novela histórica con romance, que si bien es muy importante en la trama, hay bastante más ocurriendo aparte de eso. Además de un poquito de fantasía.
Me gustó mucho el desencadenante del argumento: un hombre que quiere curar a su sobrinita postrada. Hay mucho amor familiar en este libro.

Además para mi gusto los personajes están mucho mejor hechos de lo que esperaba. Tienen matices en su personalidad y lados vulnerables, motivaciones interesantes, pasados complicados, traumas lógicos y problemas realistas para la época. Son lo suficientemente modernos para caer bien, pero tienen la cantidad correcta de detalles y actitudes medievales como para no despegarse de su tiempo.

Ahora quiero seguir otra saga de esta autora que empecé hace años (ofertas de supermercado), y leer las novelas con menos enfoque romántico que escribió como Susan Fraser King.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long ago, when the hero was younger, he had a chance encounter with an angel. Little did either of them know but that meeting changed both of their lives forever. The hero saw a magical being heal a broken leg right before his eyes. The heroine saw a capable surgeon use science and medicine to save countless lives. Both were instantly enchanted with each other but life drove them apart. The heroine was sent to the middle east where she apprenticed with an accomplished doctor who later became her husband. And the hero, receiving a wound to him hand as well as being unable to save his brothers wife in childbirth, married the wrong woman and imprisoned himself in loveless marriage. Now, some years later they have met again. The hero seeks out the angel where she now works in a church hospital as he knows without a doubt her magic is the only thing capable of healing his disabled niece.

The heroine has given up on her gift long ago when she was almost convicted for witchcraft and killed, instead, thanks in large part to the hero, she now uses her gift for medical knowledge to help people. But even that is hard to do when your a woman. When the hero comes to her and demand she travel with him to his keep, she refuses. Not out of spite but out of fear that he'll make her use her gift, or even worse, that she'll discover she no longer possesses that gift. But the hero is stubborn and refuses to be denied, so he kidnaps her. Not much of a kidnap, if the heroine is honest because she feels save in his company and instantly becomes drawn to the handsome man's soul. At his home, she uses all her medicine knowledge to help the enchanting little girl who believes her uncle to be a fairy king and the heroine to be an angel sent to do miracles. As the time passes, the heroine feels so at home with the strange family who seem to have the worse luck. The one brother is crippled, the little girl is losing function on one side of her body, the hero's hand is badly scarred and trembles and the sister has lost 6 babies before they even have a chance to draw breath. The heroine long to help them all, she even tries to use her gift but it doesn't seem to be working. The hero believes different. He sees the change in his niece and he sees the change in himself. He laughs more and is generally happy most of the time. But its a challenge to deny himself the growing love he feels for the heroine. He's bound by marriage but he can't seem to stop himself from touching the heroine, from falling more and more under her spell. They travel to the heroine's castle-now under the control of the hero's step brother- to help save his sister when she goes into labor. It's there that the hero discovers the smuggling ring and the treason the step brother is committing against his king. It's there that he's told the truth about his wife and the plot to see the heroine forced into marriage but there's nothing the hero won't do to protect the woman he loves. He's waited for her so many years and he'll be damned if he'll wait any longer.

This was a middle of the run book for me. It was rather boring and monotone in the plotline as well as the character interactions. It wasn't bad, let's be clear, but I rarely if ever becomes so enraptured with the story that I lost all sense of time. Rather, I found myself reading...and looking at the clock...and skipping forward to see when the chapter would end. It was just not exciting. It had good chemistry. It had goo characters with torment and ghosts in their past to over come. It had good forbidden love. It had a good villain who was not quite a villain...but was a villain. But that's just it...It was only ever good. Not great! I think it deserves a 3 star rating but only just. Okay, maybe a 2.5 but it's only fair to round up in these sort of situations.

[Sherry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable romantic story exploring the contribution of individuals to miracles and also people's fear of the unexplained as heresy. The seeds of this couple's love was sown on the aftermath of a bloodied battlefield. Michaelmas became enthralled watching a surgeon repair a significant wound and Diarmid was entranced by Michaelmas stopping the bleeding of his uncle. Then 11 years later, Diarmid, full of belief in her gift, spirits her away from frustration with the hospital's refusal to let her work as a physician so that she can heal his lame niece. However, her gift is gone from disuse. Both of these characters have deep emotional wounds. The holder of her castle refuses to relinquish control and Diarmid is pulled by family ties not to directly confront him. This conflict drives the non-medical aspects and the dangerous situations of the story.
I was somewhat baffled at the end by the abrupt turn-about of the antagonist and there were peripheral, but significant plot points that were left unresolved. Fortunately, this did not damage the fundamental story. I received this book for free from eBook Discovery and this is my voluntary, honest review.

[Susan Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5. I found parts of it very engaging but I think it had too much going on and should have concentrated more on Michael (I hate that male name for a female), Dairmid and the healing of Diarmid's niece. Instead we have so many other issues going on: Diarmid's pregnant sister whose babies never reach maturity in the womb, her treasonous husband, our hero's estranged wife, his injuries, etc. etc.

Michaelmas is a gifted healer and physician. Diarmid is a gifted surgeon and warrior. The two met treating the injured on a battlefield when young and made an impression on each other. Since then, Michael married an elderly reknowned Italian physician and lived in Italy, and Diarmid married an adulteress. They meet again when Michael's husband dies and she returns to Scotland and works in a hospital. The nuns and priest there refuse to acknowledge her medical training. Diarmid comes to get her to cure his niece's bad legs with her healing powers and training. Then it takes off all over the place from there.

[Dora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diarmid Campbell had met Michaelmas Faulkener in dire circumstances and never had forgotten her. As a young woman with a healing gift that she had been hiding, she was surprised and not willing when Diarmid found her and asked for her help to heal his niece. With a deep attraction for each other they had to struggle with intrigue, their strong feelings, a close enemy and ailing familiars that kept they worried and doubting their skills. There was much information about medieval and medical issues and as I had not read The Angel Knight had no previous knowledge of the characters background. Some scenes were intriguing with dangerous situations and others made me emotional with the intense and suspenseful descriptions, romance, some violence and a battle of wills. Voluntarily reviewed this book that I received free from eBook Discovery.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diarmid Campbell, Laird of Dunsheen castle and Michaelmas Faulkner meet on the battlefield, in the aftermath of war.
Diarmid is tending to the wounded. He has learned the skills of a physician, but not the title.

Michaelmas Faulkner has extraordinary healing powers. She can heal by just the touch of her hand. They are both in awe by each other.
Diarmid searches for Michaelmas again, when he needs her healing power for his niece, Brigit. This is book 2, in the series The Celtics Lairds.
An entertaining story with subplots to keep you engrossed, with a touch of magic.
I received this book for free from ebook discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review.

[Debby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michaelmas Faulkener has the gift of healing. Diarmid Campbell saw it when they were on a battlefield caring for the wounded when he was 18 and she 13 or so. Years later, he enlists her help in curing his niece. She's become a physician in Italy, but it's not recognized in Scotland. His surgeon days were limited by an Irish sword to his left arm. They overcome previous marriages, traiterous in-laws and the elements to be with each other.

[Sharon Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has the promise of being exciting. But the lengthy descriptions of herbal remedies and medieval medicines/surgeries made the story drag. There was too much sex in this book for me. I received this book for free from ebook Discovery. I voluntarily review this book. This is my honest review.

[Judy Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cliffhanger?

With no information of a book to tell about the surgery on his brothers leg. I hate cliffhangers. The sexual content was not terrible but too much. Language not horrible but some misuse of the Lord's name. Please let me know if there is a book telling about the surgery and the healing of Diarmids hand. some things were definitely not consistent.

[Marina P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice love story but drags on too long. It was as if a nun and a priest fell in love with each other, both were rather innocents, even the villain was weak (as a character and in his being ‚bad‘). Three stars only because I finished the book!

[Fiona Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Totally swept away into a family saga. Highly recommended.

[Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dammi mille baci, che sappiano di miracoli.

Decido di inaugurare questa mia breve recensione con due versi.
Uno è la celebre poesia di Catullo e l'altro è tratto direttamente dalla storia stessa.

Il sole tramonta e poi risorge,
ma noi, una volta che il nostro breve giorno si è spento,
dobbiamo dormire una lunga notte senza fine.
Dammi mille baci, poi cento
poi altri mille, poi ancora cento
poi altri mille, poi cento ancora.
Quindi, quando saremo stanchi di contarli,
continueremo a baciarci senza pensarci,
per non spaventarci e perché nessuno,
nessuno dei tanti che ci invidiano,
possa farci del male sapendo che si può,
coi baci, essere tanto felici.

Perchè ho scelto i versi di Catullo? Perchè non vengono espressamente citati nella vicenda ma perchè la storia sa di baci, di amore e di teneri sentimenti. Non quelli travolgenti e tafferati che possono inebetire i sensi e portare subito al sodo la vicenda, ma di sentimenti profondi e dolci, dove Diarmid scopre l'amore sincero ancor prima della passione. Dolcemente e serenamente, anche se non può dare sfogo al suo sentimento.
Sarei il tuo occhio, il tuo orecchio, il cuore che batte nel tuo petto,Diarmid Campbell, se solo tu me lo chiedessi.
Queste invece, sono le parole d'amore di lei, di una Micheil fatta di miracoli, di buoni propositi e di tanto calore quanto può un cuore esprimere e covare dentro di se.
E' questa loro, una storia "serena" fatta per essere amata e coccolata, non per passare nella storia ma per portare dolcezza tra tante frane. Piacevolmente carina e letta. Un sei e mezzo pieno! Diciamo che come primo impatto con l'autrice non è stato niente male.

[Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diarmid and Michael. In this case, Michael is a girl's name. They first met in the aftermath of a battle, tending to the wounded. Each was awed by the other's gift, but they passed like ships in the night.

Years later, they are reunited when Diarmid is looking for a miracle for his lame niece. Diarmid tracks down Michael to ask her for help. Though she makes no promises about miracles, she accompanies him to his home.

In the intervening years, each has married. Michael to a doctor in Italy while she studied medicine herself. The doctor has left her widowed, so she returned home to Scotland. Diarmid is separated from his wife, but forced by the church to remain married to her. As they get reacquainted, they feel the growing love between them, but they know they can never be together.

Michael is trying to regain her property in Scotland, but as an unmarried women, she is not allowed to take possession of it. It is in the hands of MacSween, a man who's loyalty to the King is questioned.

Susan King tells a fine tale of love and intrigue. It is well written with a good plot and plenty of sub-stories to keep the reader entranced. Lady Miracle is a lovely historical romance with a touch of magic. Though it takes place after the events of the novel The Angel Knight, it is a completely stand alone novel. However, if you like Lady Miracle, you will also like The Angel Knight - and vice versa. I recommend them both!

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another book where the author follows her strict formula. The characters always have a particular skill or talent that has been 'interrupted' or frustrated for some reason, and the character must develop or recover it throughout the story. These activities sometimes get a bit tiring, but I have to say, I'm impressed by the thorough reaserch the author does in every book concerning these skills. She includes a lot of details which she clarifies at the end, showing she did her homework and has a good understanding of the time and intriguing customs.

Another thing I love is how characters from other books keep popping up. Like Eva and the MacArthur clan of The Sword Maiden. I wasn't lying when I said I thought Susan King probably had a gigantic family tree where she ties all the characters form her book cause seriously, all are related with each other somehow.

Finally, and like every other one of Sk's books: simple but nice. Some people might find these a bit "meh", cause nothing much happens, but what can I say? Their are all in my guilty-pleasures shelf.

[joy *the clean-reader extraordinaire* · Rating 1 out of 5]

my library listed this book as by the same author as "lady macbeth" -- i'm not so sure. this is a trashy supermarket romance novel. i would never have even picked it up at the library if i'd known that. in summary, stupid, stupid, stupid. i didn't even finish the first half.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sister of the Angel Knight 4 1\2 STARS****

A young woman with a healing touch is taken from a convent to help a Laird's niece who is lame. Hope brings them together, but love may tear them apart.

[Misfit]

This is just too silly and too much wall paper for my tastes. Moving on.