Highland Magic

Highland Dream #3

by Tess Mallory

The only thing more heated than Dr. Samantha Riley's arguments with time-traveler Duncan Campbell is the one passionate night they shared, a night Sam longs to forget. But when lightning strikes the time crystals at Jacob's Well, she ends up trapped in ancient Scotland with the irritating and irresistible Scotsman. Mistaken for the Queen of the Fairies, Sam claims Duncan as her consort, and delights in ordering him around..until she learns he is there to save a Scottish princess. If he is, why does he take Sam in his arms nightly, stealing kisses and caresses, before turning away with a groan? The whole tangle makes her head and heart ache.

Genres: Time Travel, Romance, Historical Romance, Fantasy, Historical, Time Travel Romance, Scotland

353 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2005

About the author

Tess Mallory still believes in fairies, so she strives to make her books as magical as possible, filled with romance, humor, history, fun, and fantasy. Her life has been pretty magical, too. Not perfect, but truly blessed. She's a breast cancer survivor married to a guy so understanding, his name should be in lights, their three children love her in spite of the dragon shirts she loves to wear, and she has a precious granddaughter. Tess and her family live in the Texas hill country. Make her day by dropping her a note at tessmallory@yahoo.com.

Reviews

[TINNGG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm... Ok, the biggest issue I have with this story is, what makes Sam tick? And the reason for this is, there's a huge question mark about it. You see, in the beginning, we're told that when Sam's mother died, her father told her to stop crying and she's resented him ever since. We're also told that he was always asking her why she didn't do better on her grades, etc. So we get this impression that he's emotionally distant and can't be pleased. But he wants what's best for her, so the apparent emotional abuse is justified (well, at least in the H's mind - his father apparently physically abused him). So, after feeling somewhat sympathetic towards her and often wanting to smack him for more emotional abuse, we find out that well, no; her father wasn't distant and he was proud of her - she remembers things now like him playing with her and being v. happy about her graduation (what - she had amnesia?!)

So which is it - is Sam a justifiably resentful daughter who has been in a half-assed state of rebellion since she was 6, or is she just a spoiled brat?

I think the fact that the author seems to have changed her tune about dear old dad really takes away from this one. See, if you follow the entire book, and the H's insulting her at every turn, then you find yourself wondering why she wants to save her dad, only to shrug it off as a last ditched effort to seek his approval, and you also wonder why the H doesn't stop digging at her and actually think for a minute (I frankly wondered if some of the h's issues towards the H didn't stem from his getting dear old dad's approval so easily). And then, after all that, ::poof:: the h just ignored/forgot how much her daddy had been there for her and approved of her. Yeah.

And now that I've psychoanalyzed the h, and the author's motivation for a complete turnabout with regards the h and her father (yeah - nice to make me dislike dad throughout the book, then suddenly say "naw; Sam's just a bitch"), I'll give you a rundown on the story. I like time travel *to a point*. I do not like it when the time traveler is in danger of getting burned at the stake, etc. The H/h were saved at the nth hour by a miracle and someone staying the execution. Prior to that, they were pretending to be the sidhe queen and a human consort. While the motivation for this was justified, it was essentially a huge con job on poor villagers. They seemed to have few qualms about demanding better food from people who probably were doing well to feed themselves, as an example. And in between this, they were either arguing, or avoiding each other. I get that Sam was difficult. I do. I just don't think it was necessary to have them in constant conflict.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the final book in a series involving three friends who travel back in time and end up finding husbands. In the first two books Jix & Chelsea have found hunky Scottish husbands, and in this title stubbornly independent Samantha finally finds hers. While she'd had a one night stand with Duncan (one of the hunky Scots they met while time traveling) in an earlier book, she chalked it up to weakness, only to find herself continually succumbing to his charms after they are transported back in time yet again - this time to 9th century Scotland, where the locals believe Samantha is the Fairy Queen and Duncan her consort. When Duncan explains his mission to save a woman in this time period, Sam tries to deny her feelings for him, believing he doesn't love her, but then why are they always trying to jump each other whenever they aren't fighting? Yeah, that's a really tough mystery to figure out.

[Gypsie Holley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An excellent read! Duncan and Samantha. Duncan had the patience of a saint when it came to spoiled and selfish Samantha. I was glad to see her change by the end of the book, because I don't know if even the character of Duncan could have put up with her for another chapter. I could so go for a man like him, yummy!




No quotes from this book.

[Kelly]

3rd bk

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just have two words for this review LOVED IT!!