Highland Solution (Duncurra, Book One) by Ceci Giltenan #review
Today, I review Ceci Giltenan's debut novel, Highland Solution, Book One in her Duncurra Series of Three
Pages - 274
Publisher - Duncurra, LLC; 2 edition
Published - June 5, 2014
Sold by - Amazon Digital Services LLC
Series - Duncurra, Book 1 of 3
Genre - Medieval, Historical Romance, Scottish Highlands
Language - 1/5
Sexual Content - 3/5
Narrative - 3rd
Laird Niall MacIan needs Lady Katherine Ruthven’s dowry to relieve his clan’s crushing debt but he has no intention of giving her his heart in the bargain.
Niall MacIan, a Highland laird, desperately needs funds to save his impoverished clan. Lady Katherine Ruthven, a lowland heiress, is rumored to be “unmarriageable” and her uncle hopes to be granted her title and lands when the king sends her to a convent. King David II anxious to strengthen his alliances sees a solution that will give Ruthven the title he wants, and MacIan the money he needs. Laird MacIan will receive Lady Katherine’s hand along with her substantial dowry and her uncle will receive her lands and title.
Lady Katherine must forfeit everything in exchange for a husband who does not want to be married and believes all women to be self-centered and deceitful. Can the lovely and gentle Katherine mend his heart and build a life with him or will he allow the treachery of others to destroy them?
Highland Solution is a romance about a married couple and thus contains several mildly explicit love scenes, as one might expect to occur in married life. If you want more steam than that, you might be disappointed. If you prefer to stay out of the bedroom this title is available in an Inspirational version.
If I only reviewed Cover Art, this would get a -1 from me.
Yuck!
The story, however, is another thing entirely and hardly reflects my opinion of the lame book cover.
IN a nutshell, this is about two strangers who are forced together by an arranged marriage, and while both agree the arrangement is far better than they could imagine, their personalities hold them back from becoming friendly, well-adjusted mates any time soon.
He's a wary man and she is lost in a sea of grief and confusion, only to be tossed into another sea of cut-throat, conniving schemery that eventually leads to more mistrust, stupid decision-making, and some questionable outcomes.
There is, however, a HEA.
The reviews at Amazon were all over the place, but I only read the negative remarks and I have to say most of them concur with my own.
And yet I still give this one higher marks than normal because the story itself proved interesting.
I became engaged for the duration, and this having occurred made me also want to read the next in the series.
Now, as for the negative reviews...
The Hero is, indeed, a bit of a bumbling ass, a distrusting, narrow-minded fool, and a childishly temper-tantrum throwing tyrant.
Yep.
The author seems to know how these types of men behave, because she did a terrific job of characterizing Niall start to finish, and sadly, he finished nearly as badly as he had begun.
It was pointed out several times that Niall suffered from a broken heart and, therefore, did not trust women at all.
"He knew very well what master manipulators women could be."
He had no intention of marrying, much less falling in love again, and yet his spiteful stepmother forced the issue of marriage upon her disliked stepson by squandering his late father's money until the clan was practically impoverished.
The king decreed that Niall marry a wealthy young lady whose abusive uncle wished only to seize her land and holdings, leaving Katherine with a substantial dowry with which to help Niall refill his coffers.
Yes, I had difficulty trying to figure that one out as well.
I didn't much care for Niall, either, but as I mentioned, the author seems to know how these types operate, and I found that a bit fascinating to read.
He was mouthy, stubborn, and distrustful of not just his new bride but his closest companions, his faithful younger brother, and even his council.
A lot of readers had difficulty trying to understand why Niall distrusted Fingal as much as he did, but I thought it was mentioned very early in this story that, because of their shared stepmother (Niall's stepmom and Fingal's birth mother) that Niall had been fed a lot of horse crap from her ABOUT Fingal, but...
Anyway, because of the way Fingal read throughout the story, it was really hard to understand Niall's stupidity about Fingal.
An, "If We (the readers) Can See It, Why Can't He?" kind of thing, I believe.
Again, I know this is hardly the kind of material that works to make a true Romance great, but the way the author wrote this man proved too interesting for me not to just follow along and lap it up.
As for the heroine, Katherine... I had more trouble warming up to her than I did Niall, believe it or not.
Yes, she was abused (horse whipped, even) and had a huge heart (Polly Pureheart) who even saved an adorable, little stable boy (Tomas) from being left behind for her ruthless uncle to abuse by taking him with her and her new husband.
Even more (un)believable about her is the way she spoke, carried herself, and dealt with all of the garbage tossed at her every other chapter.
I just think she read more like a woman in her fifties than a young, early twenties.
It seemed to me as if she was a grandmother or a (modern) mother with college-age children than a young lass in the bloom of life.
Her mannerisms, her speech, and her wisdom far exceeded that of anyone younger than fifty, and it just made me think the author injected herself and her own ideals into the story instead of harking back to her earlier days... to make the character a bit more realistic... believable.
Odd, that.
She knew precisely how to write a disgruntled, one-directional man going on thirty, and yet she couldn't figure out how to write a young twenty female?
I would not label Katherine as being (TSTL) or weak, either.
The author simply chose to have their turbulent relationship be the catalyst for their increasing love for one another, and I don't know that there is anything inherently wrong with that, nor do I find it to be incredulous or insane.
Yes, today's woman would be quick to scream, Divorce! or Run Away! from someone like Niall, but that wasn't an option back in the 1300s, so readers need to DEAL WITH IT or switch to reading contemporary romance and avoid butt-hurt syndrome at every level.
So, I don't like my heroes to be caustic and dumb any more than I want my heroines to give me creepy, way-too-old vibes when I'm reading Romance of any genre.
Let me re-phrase:
I don't like my heroes to be caustic and dumb IF they are not going to learn from their mistakes and CHANGE throughout the course of the story any more than I'd like for the heroines to remind me of my grandmother, or the soccer mom who lives a few doors down from me.
HOWEVER
This still proved to be a worthwhile effort on my part, and I think that the author did a terrific job for her debut novel, too!
Very few issues with GPS, although they did crop up near the end.
- He panted as, his head dropped
- Her eyes shown with excitement
- so I will be here with ye here for a while.
- After Katherine left Niall spent the day
- would be tragic, if after all this, Malcolm
At least you won't find insta-love, insta-sex, and... well, I was also going to type insta-resolutions but, sadly, a few of those did occur.
Not very noteworthy stuff, but there were a few instances where something cropped up to instigate the masses only to have the problem resolved within a few paragraphs before the next issue arose.
Another 'issue' the negative reviewers harped on had to do with the lack of native vernacular being spoken throughout the story aside from the occasional 'ye' and, to be honest, I wondered about it as well.
I'm still on the fence, though, because I've read overkill and didn't care for it, to include outlandishly spelled names impossible to pronounce (and the author's NEVER bother to give us a head's up going in, either).
I'm not poking fun at Scottish names or their Burr, but it would be helpful if the authors who choose to go full-blown authentic would be kind enough to include a Glossary of Terms right after their Table of Contents.
I, for one, would be grateful.
So, with this novel, it did seem a tad on the modern vernacular side, but that didn't detract from the story or take me out of the time period.
Katherine did that for me -- in the way she behaved, sounded, and thought.
To give you an idea of how I felt trying to relate to her, replace the young lass on the ugly cover with a picture of the author and you will get where I'm coming from.
(shiver)
Okay, so regardless of what I just mentioned, YES, I still found this to be a story worth reading, reviewing, and recommending.
I have the second book in this series and fully intend to read it and discover how our dashing Tadhg (Ted? Tad?) Matheson fairs with his lady love.
I'm also just as anxious for Book Three because, as mentioned already, Fingal MacIan did not receive a fair shake in Book One, and I would like to know that he eventually ends up in Happy Land with some Bonny Lass to keep him warm and comforted through life.
Sadly, the Cover Art for these two are just as bad as with Book One.
To me, it appears as if someone with Photoshop experience super-imposed a regular female dressed in period costume beside a regular male (?) with extensive (photoshopped) cosmetic surgery done to him.
I don't get it!
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