Customer Reviews

As High as the Heavens

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an inspirational story and historical romance.

Although she is betrothed, Heather Gordon knows she will never love the man she plans to marry. And that's just fine with her. Because of other betrayals in her family, Heather vows never to fall in love.

When her father's plan to rescue Mary, Queen of Scots, requires Heather's help, she gladly agrees-until she meets the braw and bonny highlander, Duncan MacKenzie. Duncan's raw masculinity and tender compassion towards his parents threaten to undo the chains around her heart, much to Heather's chagrin.

Duncan can't imagine a scenario that would allow him to marry the lovely heiress who is acting as his tutor. His strength, forged by working alongside his father in the highland hills, is no match for a simple smile or kind word from Heather. She proves impossible to resist. Duncan protects Heather from outlaws, bad weather, and meddling relatives. But who will protect him from the pain of her impending departure?

Secrets are revealed. Betrayal, danger, and interfering fathers threaten to keep Duncan and Heather apart. Will the love they share be strong enough to survive?

Kathleen Morgan's fiery characters take on a life of their own, thanks to the wishes, hopes, secrets, and hurts that the author gives them. Well-crafted and likeable, the hero and heroine fight for what they believe in, even when the odds seem impossibly stacked against them.

The sixteenth century brogue used by the characters takes a bit of getting used to, but Morgan keeps it consistent throughout the novel and it does add to the feeling of being in the highlands of Scotland.

Morgan's research into this time period shines through by not being obvious. Her gentle touch with the book's setting and fine details are refreshing and draw the reader even farther into the story.

Armchair Interview says: For those who love historical fiction, romance, suspense and sparks, this is a must read.

In 1568 illegitimate James Stewart claims the Scottish throne when he imprisons his half-sister Mary Queen of Scots in Lochleven Castle. Mary's loyal supporters are outraged by this affront and plot to rescue the woman they feel is the rightful English queen.

One of Mary's most ardent defenders Lady Heather Gordon concocts a daring but dangerous scheme to liberate her Queen. To enter Lochleven, which is strongly guarded by usurper loyalists, she must persuade Duncan Mackenzie, who has lived his life in the wilds of the Highlands to masquerade as foppish Colin Stewart who has access to Castle. Pretending to be a tutor, she struggles to convince the rugged Duncan to abet her cause; instead he wants nothing to do with the plot except that enables him to spend time with Heather who tries to teach him to be a fop.

AS HIGH AS THE HEAVENS is an engaging sixteenth century Scottish romance in which the male lead provides a fresh face. Heather is a heroic loyal person, but it is the outdoors craggy Duncan who makes the tale as she tries to polish the diamond in the rough by turning him into an aristocratic fop. Fans of the sub-genre will appreciate the tale of love between the tutor and the student with the royal intrigue in the backdrop.

Harriet Klausner

Dinna fash yerself, there's naught wrong with this Kathleen Morgan book, to be sure. It's a Highland romance with a twist of historical fiction. There's mystery and adventure in the plot to free Mary, Queen of Scotts, but Morgan's own fictional plot is BONNIER than reality.

In 1568, bonny noble lass, Heather, agrees to teach base-raised Duncan,unaware of being a twin of noble birth, the manners, speech and dress needed to assist in the conspiracy. Beautiful Heather, and braw Duncan, both with Godly foundations, find 3 months so closely locked a HUGH distraction. Hormones become as raw as the Highlands, like aught they e'er afore felt. Heather (all woman) is struggling in her faith due to past comments from her dying mother. Och, and the promises to her da afore meeting Duncan. Aye, her grip goes aquiver.

Aye, wi' the author's location descriptions, mayhap ye'll be swept o'er the winds of Scotland, nay akin the verra breeze beneath braw Duncan's plaid. (What do ye wear under ye kilt, aught?) And the constant use of thick brogue (but no Gaelic dictionary needed) enlivens the dialogue, to be sure.

After reading "As High as the Heavens" give a stout shout of the Mackinzie battle cry, and mayhap the author will give readers sequel information about the future of Heather and Duncan. Och, where will the next verra raw braw kiss lead?

I agreed with the others who commented that this does not fit in the Christian category. It felt like a toned-down Harlequin romance, and most of the romance was deeply steeped in lust.

Here are just a few examples of the prevailing tone of the book:

"His mouth descended, claiming hers in hungry, demanding possession."

"And she ached for him. Ah, how she ached!"

"Lips she frequently, as she ate, licked with a small, pink tongue, moistening them until they glistened, making her mouth appear even fuller and more ripe. Ripe...like a lush, sweet berry...a berry all but begging to be devoured."

Seriously?? If all of this type of writing was removed, the book would be half as long, and all that would be left is a couple of angry people who nobody would believe could EVER end up together.

Nobody weaves a rich, Highland tapestry more vividly than seasoned storyteller Kathleen Morgan, and in her latest work of art, As High as the Heavens, she soars to new heights.

Oh, what a story when spirited Heather Gordan of sixteenth-century nobility is enlisted in an intriguing plot to free the imprisoned Mary Queen of Scotts. Heather's mission? To make a gentleman out of rugged Highlander, Duncan Mackenzie--no small task, and no tame one either! With vibrant prose and rich historical threads, Ms. Morgan gives her readers another wonderfully engaging read that will have them turning the pages faster than sparks fly between Heather and Duncan. Ms. Morgan is, without question, one of my favorite authors.

I've tried numerous new-to-me Christian authors over the past two years and haven't had much luck at finding a new author to love; quite the contrary, most of them have been very disappointing. So when I decided to give Kathleen Morgan a try, I was quite honestly expecting to be disappointed once again. Happily, I was wrong and very pleasantly surprised.

There really isn't anything all that original about As High As The Heavens; romances set in the Scottish Highlands have become ubiquitous. And the main story line -- gorgeous hunk meets beautiful girl, makes her angry, and they then spend the remainder of the book sparring with one another while becoming more and more mutually attracted -- is so over-used it's a cliche.

And yet, Kathleen Morgan is a skilled enough writer to take even these tired and over-worked elements and turn them into a story that, if not deep or emotional, is yet very readable and entertaining. Her plot centers on one of the numerous attempts to return Mary Stuart to the Scottish throne, and her main characters are all (fictional) people who find themselves caught up in this plot. Although I found parts of it highly improbable, again the author was skilled enough to keep me from ever rolling my eyes (no small feat when a plot starts to feel contrived to me!!) and to actually, by the book's end, convince me that something like this probably actually could have happened. After all, men like Robert Gordon, who are so self-centered and ambitious as to sacrifice anyone on the altar of their own twisted motives, have always existed; he was the scheming, deceitful glue that largely held the story together and made it work.

This is a historical romance, with the historical elements being fairly light. So if you're looking for historical fiction you'll probably be somewhat disappointed. However, Morgan does salt her story liberally with details of 16th century Scottish life that gives it an authentic flavor. She does use some Scottish dialect but not too much -- there is no glossary of terms (which I don't like, anyway, as I find flipping back and forth between story and glossary too distracting) but there really isn't any problem figuring out what the terms mean by the context.

A note of caution concerning the romance element; Ms. Morgan was formerly a successful writer of secular romances for the mainstream market before she began to write Christian fiction (as was another Christian author, Francine Rivers). And while this no doubt accounts for her writing skill, it also accounts for the book being more "ardent" than Christian romances typically are. The book is clean -- the main characters never do anything more than kiss -- but the way the kisses are described, and the way the two main characters continually fixate on each other's physical attributes, makes for reading that is more "steamy" than what many readers of Christian fiction may expect or be comfortable with. And I confess that I wasn't totally comfortable with it myself, and couldn't recommend this book to any of my Christian friends. Apparently As High As The Heavens was originally one of Ms. Morgan's mainstream romances that was cleaned up and re-released for the Christian market; I am somewhat surprised that the publishers didn't have her tone it down even a bit more. The combination hyper-physical attraction (i.e. lust) + chastity felt strange: like a wannabe bodice-ripping romance that was clean only because it was forced to be.

I was also a bit surprised by the use of two "b" words; yes, they were used in their technical sense (a pregnant dog and a person born out of wedlock) rather than their modern expletive sense, but still it was unexpected for Christian fiction.

I have always appreciated the high standards maintained by the publishers of Christian fiction, and that I have always felt safe reading any work by a Christian publisher no matter who the author or what the subgenre. I hope this author is not the start of a trend in another direction. That being said, Kathleen Morgan is a talented writer and I plan to try at least one more of her books. As High As The Heavens is a light, entertaining book that reads quickly; it doesn't tap into your emotions, but it is a fun read that makes for a nice break in-between meatier books.

As High as the Heavens has an amazing storyline:
Heather Gordon is a woman of high upbringing and her father asks a serious task of her: to teach a highlander how to be a gentleman. Heather is a bit mortified at first, especially because the highlander is actually the twin brother of the wealthy Collin. Heather eventually agrees to do what her father asks, but only because it is part of a plot to save Queen Mary who is being held in a tower. When Heather travels to the highlands everything turns out different than planned and Heather must spend much time with the highlander she thinks is rude, and unmannered. As the 3 months that Heather as left to change the highlander goes by, she begins to fall in love despite her father's hatred of him and her being betrothed to another man. Will love conquer all? Or will Heather's father and betrothed get in the way?

I enjoyed the storyline to this book, but I thought it could have been written much better. I am a huge fan of Kathleen Morgan's books and some of her other books are much better than this. Although Kathlen Morgan tried to re-sell this book as a Christian novel, there was very little mentioned of Christ or being saved. I also felt like the romance between Heather and Duncan took over the story and instead of helping along the plotline. I would have enjoyed more about the daring rescue of Queen Mary as well instead of the rushed ending. Altogether this would have been a better book if she had gone back and re-did some parts. It's a great start for a storyline though and an interesting read.

I really enjoyed reading As High As The Heavens. Set in 16th century Scotland, the historical background is almost as important a character as the two main characters in the story. Heather is a feisty girl who finds herself torn- torn between her loyalty to her father and the man she loves, torn between preconceived ideas and the people she is faced with, torn between following her heart and following her head. Duncan is a complex man- he seems almost out of place in the Highlands, drawn to things of higher thinking and wondering if his life will hold more. Thrown together in a plot to save Queen Mary, Heather and Duncan are drawn to each other and the sparks fly!
If you enjoy historical romance and well written characters, As High As The Heavens belongs on your bookshelf!

When her father concocts a desperate plan to free Mary, Queen of Scots, Heather Graham doesn't anticipate being its key to success. However, loyalty to her Queen and family finds Heather devoting her time to teaching the loutish and brash Highlander, Duncan Armstrong the airs and graces of the nobility.

Living in close quarters with Duncan and his family, Heather's initial disdain for Duncan slowly turns to a grudging respect and then blossoming affection. As danger edges ever closer, Heather realises how fragile love can be.

Kathleen Morgan's name is synonymous with quality Scottish historicals and As High as the Heavens maintains the same calibre of her past offerings. Duncan and Heather both have independent spirits that clash at first instance and their interaction is mercurial and passionate. Kathleen's descriptive prose places the reader amongst the heather and streams of the Highlands at the same time as the political intrigue and romantic tension enthralls. While the conclusion it forgone, it doesn't detract from this engaging story which will have historical romance readers clamouring for more.

This book is sold as inspirational fiction, but it should be more accurately billed as historical fiction. It was previously released under a different title before the author began writing Christian fiction. It shows. In one description of the hero Duncan, she describes him as 'one fine piece of man flesh.' That is hardly a work of Christian fiction in my opinion. If you took all Morgan's references to God and grouped them together, they might take up 3 pages in the entire book. The books she has written recently are much more spiritual in nature and very good.

She is very good at her research and her Scottish descriptions of life in the sixteenth century, however. I truly enjoyed the historical aspect of the books. But Christian fiction it does not really meet the criteria. At times I was ashamed to be reading it.