Customer Reviews

Fair is the Rose (Lowlands of Scotland Series #2)

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

FAIR IS THE ROSE captured my heart and didn't let go even after the last page was turned. Ms. Higgs transported me back in time to eighteenth-century Scotland with such excellent storytelling skill and historical accuracy that I was THERE, walking beside Leana, Rose, and Jamie on their heart-wrenching journey. Leana's example of sacrificial love and triumphant faith is with me still. This is an absolutely stunning sequel to THORN IN MY HEART.

After the first book, Thorn in my Heart, I was living Leana's every emotion except her love for her sister. This book showed me how selfish I often am in the secret place of my own heart. I read all 3 books in 5 days time - I could not put them down! They got me through a rocky spot in my own life and drew me every closer to the Savior. I plan to read them again and to give them as gifts to many "sisters" who I strive to love as Leana loves Rose! If you want to get lost in a story, this series will not disappoint!

Okay, I liked *Thorn in My Heart* better, but this is still a wonderful book. I kept trying to figure out how Ms. Higgs was going to "modernize" (to the 1700s) the biblical story of Leah, Rachel, and Jacob and still make it ring true. She succeeded. However, I wouldn't mind her straying a bit from the bible story so that all of these characters could get their own happy endings. I like them all too much not to want to see them each find love. Hey, it's fiction! Indulge me.

Very seldom do I feel such emotion when reading a book. From peaceful joy to deep anguish, I felt everything the characters did. It's a hard read, but one that makes readers examine their own heart. While I enjoy a book that ends in a neatly wrapped package, real life doesn't always work that way. The true story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel didn't either. Mrs. Higgs has used her God-given talent to bring us an updated version of the bible story and it's amazing to me how she was able to do that. The only problem I have is that I now have to wait nearly a year for the conclusion!

This Rose is now forever embedded in my heart. I felt a lot of emotions over
her, identifying totally with her somewhat thorny, self-centered beginnings
as well as her hunger for transformation. Leana comes through as very real,
as Jamie and their hateful father. I am staggered by the research required
to produce this level of authenticity. I can almost smell the kitchen, hear
the noises in the house, feel the crisp, damp air, watch Leana mix her
medicines, feel her wrenching sorrow at losing those most dear. I hope the
world recognizes
what they have here--a series worthy of becoming classics.

I feared Rose wedging her way between Leana and Jamie in this sequel and that was exactly what she did. I was so mad I wanted to spit. I wanted to slap Jamie and tell him to be a real man and stick by his true wife. Leana suffered way too much in this story and it ripped my heart out. So, if you want to feel very strongly about something, this sequel to Thorn in My Heart will definitely stir you. In my case I debated on whether or not to even read the final book in the series. So, while this was well written and more interesting that the first book (in the beginning,) I read every page hoping that Leana wouldn't get hurt and was bummed to see that my fears came true. I couldn't stand Rose by the end of the book and hoped bad things would happen to her (hey, I'm just being honest, here.) If she were a real person I might feel differently. But this is fiction. When you are emotionally involved in a story sometimes that is easy to forget. Liz is an amazing writer and her ability to capture emotion is excellent, but unfortunately I felt too much on the negative end on this one.

This book was wonderful. I could not put it down (except when I was sobbing and had to get kleenex). This book is so good and I can't wait for the 3rd one. I've tried to figure out in my mind what is going to happen but guess I'll have to be patient and just wait - this book and Thorn in my Heart (the 1st in the series) are both great - highly recommended!!

After reading Thorn in My Heart, I was excited to read this book, and I wasn't disappointed. The only issue I had with the book is that the plot with Jamie switching his love from one sister to another and back again seemed slightly unplausible. However, I was drawn into the story, and couldn't let go until the end. I commend Ms. Higgs for her ability to tell such a tricky story, even in Biblical times, in a more 'modern' setting. How difficult it must be! No matter what faults I find with the book, the characters all jump off the page, and I bond with them. How my heart aches for Leana, you ken? I eagerly await the third in the series.

I stayed up most of the night to finish this excellent book - and though I'm tired today, I do not regret a moment of it!!!! A compelling, exciting, unpredictable read. If you liked "Thorn in my heart" - you'll love this book!! Lots of excellent detail about Scotland intermingled with a heart-wrenching story. I can't wait for the third in the series to come out next March! I commend Mrs. Higgs for her fine work - she's made a fan out of me!

It's been a while since I read the first book in this series, and I'd forgotten how distracting the Scottish vocabulary was. Some of it, like "ken," I could easily figure out, and could skim through without detracting from the flow of the prose. However, a lot of it just seemed sprinkled in there for no good reason, and made the book seem pretentious. I'd have to stop reading, flip to the back of the book, and look up a word, only to find out that frequently, there was a modern English synonym that would've worked just as well. Don't use "kintra-side" or "speeritie" when "countryside" or "spirited" will do just as well.

Aside from that, I found the switching sisters plot, and as they went through the kirk session, kept thinking, "There's no way they're going to tell him he's got to sleep with the other sister, and even if they did, there's no way he would do it." And yet just a few (2?) months after the alleged love of his life (who he spent months learning to love) leaves, he's all excited about having a baby with her sister and praising her for being a good mom to Ian.

I was really disappointed by how this turned out, and that Leana would stand aside and leave both her husband and her son. I realize that social and religious codes were very different in the time the book's set in, but still, the unbelievability of the characters' actions make it very difficult to think any of the main characters are doing the right thing, or to root for them. I'll probably skim through the 3rd book just to see how it ends, but I'm frustrated with how the 2nd book went.