A #review of The Enemy by J. L. Jarvis, Book One of Four in the Highland Soldiers #series

Pages -  418 

Publisher -  Bookbinder Press 

Published -  May 23, 2014

Sold by -  Amazon Digital Services LLC

Genre -  Historical Romance/Highlander

Series -  Highland Soldiers Book One of Four

Language -  1/5

Sexual Content -  0/5

Narrative -  3rd P

Only an enemy soldier could save her life–and her heart.
Highlander Callum MacDonell battled lowland Covenanters at the service of the King. Now charged with hunting an assassin, his journey will lead not to justice, but to a murderer’s passionate Covenanter sister, Mari McEwan.
Betrayed and abandoned by the man she loved, Mari faces judgment by a tribunal of her people demanding she name the father of her unborn child, or be exiled from her beloved home and family. Sick and trembling, she knows that she must refuse. And yet, if she does so, a cruel fate awaits her.
Book 1 in the Highland Soldiers series, Scottish historical romances set during the turbulent Covenanter times of seventeenth century Scotland.

Thumbs-up on the Cover Art, yes.

Also, kudos for the intrigue of the story line and having chosen something as random as Covenant-ers for the central theme.

The Lead Male (Callum MacDonell) rang partially true for me time-period wise, but then he also read like a modern-day, emasculated 'feels' as well.

The Leading Lady (Mari McEwan) did not appeal to me, nor did she sound or behave credible for the time period or her circumstances.

Lastly, and while I'm pretty sure this is a bone of contention topic (but, then again, what ISN'T in today's opinionated and butt-hurt mentality world?)...

the choices for Surnames, especially if you're going back as far as the 1600's, needs cleaning up and realism to my mind.

First-name choices are far worse, of course, but from what I've been told and already understood about this part of the world in a historical context, if your last name was Mc and not MAC, you were either Irish, of Irish descent, or a thief and had the lower-case 'a' removed as a shaming tactic.

I'm NOT saying McEwan isn't a Scotch name!

I just don't think it was as COMMON a Scottish name for the time in which this story occurs.

Back then, if you were a Mc you were Irish, and if you were a Mac, you were Scottish, period.

Trying to mesh today's world into our history is a form of corruption as far as I'm concerned, and it really bugs me!

On with my Review.

This is about a young soldier working for the King's Army in order to eradicate a growing sect of dissenters known as the Covenant(ers) who broke away from the then Catholic church and later became known as Presbyterians.

Very little is actually explained to the reader about the subject, the situations that arose as a result of this dissent, or enough back story about the one family that eventually goes against these soldiers in their blasé fight for what they believed to be a more true form of expressing their faith.

And, with this being listed as a Romance, it stands to reason the story would centralize itself on the two leads from differing backgrounds and beliefs.

Sadly, it wasn't much of a Romance.

Insta-love occurs within minutes of their meeting one another, and while Mari is willing, eager, and able to walk away from her family and her past in order to cement the insta-attraction to a soldier she spent much of her life FEARING, she still easily and without any fanfare or complaint just molded herself into a new set of beliefs, living conditions, and thought processes.

What bothered me most, though, was the obvious fact that the author isn't really aware of psychological outcomes which often infuse themselves into the lives of those who are raised with such rigid and frankly terrifying belief and values.

It would be far more likely for a girl from that type of a background to end up pregnant as a result of being raped, trust me.

From the cradle to the grave, women especially, are told their devalued contribution to society is the reason why men are superior, and that they are the bane of a man's existence, not their salvation.

(which, by the way, is the exact opposite of Catholic doctrine)

That their body is what causes grief for not just men but the entire world, and that women are the ones to be shamed, feel shame, remain covered up, and behave righteously self-effacing if they ever hope to get into heaven.

So, for Mari to consciously wander off with the minister's son and let him have a poke at her on the earth's carpet is just too crazy to be believed.

Why would the author make it a point of having everyone shun her and scold her for being too outspoken and happy?

Why would the author make Mari's older brother judgmental and a hypocrite about his own sister's sexuality yet give him a fiancé of his own... to walk with while holding hands and gaze into her eyes with longing?

The contradictions just kept coming at me until I had to force myself to ignore the obvious in order to get through to the bitter end of the story and find out how it all works itself out.

The only thing that really rang true with me was Mari's brother (Jamie, I think?)

He came off as a judgmental overlord with too many strong opinions and objections to his own sister's personality, and a 'fighter' for the faith who would go so far as to KILL for his beliefs.

Sure, by today's standards, it is likely easier to see the nonsensical aspect of that line of thinking.

"So, it's taboo to have sex before marriage, but taking another's life in the name of your god is okay."

That kind of thinking made sense since it still occurs in today's society.

However, this wasn't about Jamie but his younger sister, Mari, and yet Jamie read truer and more realistic than Mari throughout the novel, which is sad.

Jamie stuck to his original convictions, and that's fine.

Mari had been persecuted for making a horrific decision that nearly cost her her life, and while it makes perfect sense that she would 'eventually' embrace another way of life as a result of having been freed and then shown that not all religions are bad... it just seems childish to think I will believe something that big will occur at the flick of a light switch.

Mari, as far as reality would be concerned, is what we'd call Damaged Goods and in need of some serious few YEARS of therapy in order to fully recover from all of the brainwashing and terror tactics she'd lived through before considering her fully functional again.

Which is why I have a hard time enjoying or wanting to continue to read HISTORICAL novels that are infused with completely incongruous MODERN mentality.

The twain shall never mix!

Anymore, I have to conclude the sad but ever increasing fact (based solely on reading experience) that no one is really interested in ACTUAL historical fact.

There is also the sadder conclusion of History (World History) not being taught in the Public School system anymore.

That sad fact of life is what produces this willy-nilly attitude in a lot of Historical Romance, creating an adverse affect on the reality versus imagination conundrum.

Anyway, besides the insta-love aspect that made me groan and know, immediately, that the rest of the story wasn't going to amount to much, there is still a Happy Ending.

Not much in the way of sexual content, and the way that they got 'married' was entirely made up and fantasy as well (especially within the Catholic church).

I believe Gretna Green was created for just such a purpose as a result.

Not much of a Romance, either, since the author devoted a great deal more time on the other soldiers, one in particular, and Mari's becoming overly useful to them as the days wore on and nothing much in the way of action ever occurred throughout.

Lastly, it wasn't poorly written but did include more of the Scottish spelling of words and phrases I do not understand, cannot pronounce, and with zero in the way of explanation, and that irks this reader almost as much as finding a lot of GPS issues.

A majority of the down-vote reviews left at Goodreads and Amazon agreed that the writing felt stiff, dry, and boring.

Agree 100% and felt like it went on, and on, and on with no real direction or purpose.

If you are interested, there are Four novels total in this Highland Soldiers series.

I'm actually a bit interested to read The Betrayal: Highland Soldiers II, which is about Duncan, who had a pivotal role in this first book.

I found myself to be more attracted to and interested in hearing more about Duncan than the two leads in Book 1.