What do You think about Highland Destiny (2006)?
J'étais toute pressée de découvrir cette histoire, surtout que je suis une fan inconditionnelle des Highlanders. En plus, c'est le deuxième roman de cette auteure que je lis, Hannah Howell.Sauf que là, je suis restée sur ma faim. Je n'ai absolument rien ressentie pour les personnages.Rien du tout. NADA.J'ai trouvé que la relation entre nos deux personnages principaux (Maldie et Balfour) était vraiment trop rapide. Dès qu'il rencontre Maldie, il en tombe presque amoureux et à peine arrivés au château tous les deux, qu'il se jette sur elle.....lui avoue son amour et blablabla. Je n'ai rien compris.Elle qui le rejette au début, fait la fille coriace, qui ne cédera pas. Pis au final, cède comme une cruche. Juste ça, j'étais déjà à bout. Je déteste cette facilité à vite tomber dans les bras de l'autre.Ensuite, l'histoire en elle-même n'était pas si originale que ça. Il manquait vraiment quelque chose.D'une lenteur à te jeter sur une bouteille de vin, tellement que c'est mou, insipide. Trop de répétitions. J'ai voulu arrêter ma lecture plus d'une fois mais j'ai tenue bon parce que pas le choix, c'est un SP. Quelle torture.En tout cas, c'est vraiment dommage !Hannah Howell n'a pas réussi à me captiver avec sa plume.
—Hamisoitil
Once in awhile you run into a book which drags and drags and DRAGS! I was really disappointed in this book especially with the high rating Highland Destiny received. Maldie is on a mission to fulfill her mothers dying wish, she must find her father and kill him. Her mother, the local whore had some serious mental issues when raising Maldie. She raised Maldie to see the same hatred she had for Maldie's father, told Maldie the secrets to sex as a young child and was basically an acquaintance to Maldie than a mother. So when Maldie's mother died she sets off to kill her father, however, when she finds out it is not easy to kill the Laird, Maldie turns to her fathers enemy, Balfour. Balfour has been feuding with the Beatons for the last 13 years. So when Balfours younger brother, Eric is kidnapped by Beaton he sets out for battle. But when he meets Maldie he is captivated by her beauty and her nurturing ways that he questions his plans for battle because he becomes suspicious as to why she mysteriously appears and is instantly ready to help his brother and his clan. A passionate love affair begins between Maldie and Balfour which is based on Maldie's deception and Balfour suspicions. The first problem I had with this book is that it was VERY repetitive. Yes, we know Maldie feels guilty for not telling Balfour she was sired by Beaton and that Balfour feels guilty for being suspicious of his lover. (I don't believe it needs to be repeated EVERY chapter.) My next issue was the romance built really fast, the attraction was fast which I understand but their was no courtship just fast sex with then pulling their clothes on immediately. The story line was just blah to me and didn't captivate me like many other highlander books I had read recently. Lastly, there were grammatical errors and wrong names put in lieu of another person. (I understand I make errors all the time but you would think the publishing company would catch these mistakes.)I'm so sad, that I found this book such a disappointment.
—Trang Nguyen
Main conflict between the couple for half the book was irrational. There was no interesting character development or dialogue.STORY BRIEF:Beaton bedded many women and produced many illegitimate girls, never a boy. Maldie was one of those girls. Her mother became a prostitute to support herself and Maldie. When the mother died, she made Maldie vow to kill Beaton for revenge. Maldie then traveled to Beaton’s village.Several years ago Beaton’s wife got pregnant by a Murray and had a boy. Beaton put the baby boy in the woods to die. A Murray found the baby (Eric) and took him home. The Murray clan raised him. Beaton has been ill for a few years and needs a boy to inherit his place as laird. He kidnaps Eric. The Murrays attack the Beatons hoping to get Eric back, but they are defeated. The remaining Murrays return home to heal and plan another attack. Maldie sees them on the road and asks to go with them. She tells them she is a healer and can help. Balfour is laird of the Murray clan and agrees to let her stay.While there, she and Balfour are attracted to each other. She does not tell Balfour that she is related to Beaton and wants to kill Beaton. This is her big secret, and she is worried that Balfour will feel betrayed when he finds out. He senses she has a secret, but he doesn’t know what it is.REVIEWER’S OPINION:The first half of the book felt like nothing but “filler.” The main conflict was that Maldie was keeping a secret from Balfour. I found this ridiculous. First of all they had a common enemy. If Maldie was reasonable, she would have told Balfour she was on his side, and they could work together. He wanted Eric back. She wanted Beaton’s death. Also for the entire first half of the book, both Maldie and Balfour spent too much time pondering. She pondered her lust for him and her worry that he might discover her secret. He pondered his lust for her and why she wouldn’t tell him her secrets.Finally some plot developments and action occur during the last half of the book. But it was ordinary, it was predictable, it’s been done before. There was no interesting character development, no interesting dialogue. I can’t think of anything positive to say, other than the second half was better than the first half. I wanted it to be over and almost stopped reading it in the middle. The only reason I finished it was for the benefit of this review.The heroine was “stupid” in some of her thinking and actions which I won’t go into so as to avoid any spoilers. I was annoyed with this.The author wrote all conversation in Scottish brogue. I don’t mind a little of it or occasional use, but this was too much. It was tedious and hard “for me” to follow. For example: Ye make a mon greedy. Ye make me feel verra greedy as weel. Howbeit, I think… I ken that ye can see naught but a woman hurrying away to betray ye again.Minor problem, publisher’s fault, the cover picture is wrong. Balfour has hair to his shoulders. Cover guy does not.This is the first book in the Murray Family series (ten books so far).DATA:Story length: 299 pages. Swearing language: none. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 6. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 11. Setting: 1430 Scotland. Copyright: 1998. Genre: historical romance.
—Jane Stewart
