My Heart Stood Still [Mass Market Paperback]

Lynn Kurland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 2001

"I dare you to read a 'Kurland' story and not enjoy it!" (Heartland Critiques)

In this exquisite new ghost story-set in a castle on the English moors-a handsome American falls in love with a beautiful Scottish woman. There's just one problem: she's been dead for centuries...

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Betrayed by her new husband, lovely Scottish bride Iolanthe MacLeod dies by the sword in the fall of 1382 in a landlocked keep on the English moors, far from the sea she loves. Doomed to haunt the castle, little does she know that it will be nearly seven hundred years before the man of her dreams will come to rescue her. When Thomas MacLeod MacKinnon appears in 2001, Iolanthe isn't quite prepared to deal with her feelings for this modern man. And Thomas, although he grows accustomed to seeing and talking to ghosts in the castle, is stunned to realize that he's fallen in love with one of them.

Beautiful and desirable though Iolanthe is, he can't hold a spirit in his arms. Thomas has to find a way to go back in time and prevent her death--and he knows just how to accomplish the feat. Now if only saving the young Scotswoman's life proves to be as easy--and if he can rescue her, he'll be faced with having to convince Iolanthe that she loves him in another time and place. No medieval knight in shining armor ever had a quest quite this tough.

My Heart Stood Still is a tale that's absorbing, adventurous, and downright delightful. Kurland deftly juggles a cast of ghostly secondary characters with wonderful humor and a dry wit that makes for hilarious moments without losing the warmth and emotion of a compelling love story. All in all, an excellent novel. --Lois Faye Dyer

From Booklist

After an Englishman murders her in his castle in 1382, Iolanthe MacLeod gives up her dreams of a man coming to rescue her and spends the next 600 years haunting the place where she was killed. However, when American businessman Thomas McKinnon arrives to see the castle he has purchased in 2001, Iolanthe recognizes him as the man of her dreams. At first all Thomas wants to do is restore his crumbling old castle, but he soon finds himself falling in love with a ghost. Now all he has to do is find a way for Iolanthe to become a permanent part of his world. Written with poetic grace and a wickedly subtle sense of humor, Kurland's latest paranormal is the essence of pure romance. Sweet, poignant, and truly magical, this is a rare treat: a romance with characters readers will come to care about and a love story they will cherish. John Charles
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Berkley; mass market edition edition (October 10, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425181979
• ISBN-13: 978-0425181973
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #127,635 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engaging ghostly love story, October 10, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Heart Stood Still (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1382 on the Border, her half-brother and their father tell her to go with the Englishman because she has been bartered to forge an ally for the clan. They insist he will treat her right, but instead all he wants is the secrets of her father's keep. Since she knows nothing, the Englishman murders Iolanthe MacLeod even as she lies thinking will nobody remember her name. As she dies Iolanthe believes that one day her love will come to free her.

In 2001 Maine, Thomas MacLeod McKinnon feels he can do anything. His college degree at twenty, his Manhattan multimillion-dollar business, and his feats at mountain climbing prove he is right. He now owns a dilapidated Scottish castle, which he has decided to renovate. However, when he arrives at his new abode, Thomas surprisingly meets the ghost of Iolanthe. The Yank and the medieval Scottish spirit fall in love, but though he may be the man she waited for all these centuries, their chances for a relationship together seems impossible.

Lynn Kurland is attaining quite a reputation for her paranormal/time travel romances. Her newest entry, MY HEART STOOD STILL, is an engaging ghostly love story that her audience will devour. The tale is warm as Thomas struggles to find a way to be with his soul mate, who shares his desperate feelings. Ms. Kurland provides another powerful notch to her high standing among sub-genre readers with this entertaining novel that showcases her abilities to provide fans with quite a story.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars To love a ghost!, March 14, 2002

By 

Phillip Schoppy "nightraven14" (Marion Hts, Pa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Heart Stood Still (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the first book by Kurland that I have read and it was indeed a good story that kept me interested for the most part. The romance between Thomas McKinnon and Iolanthe MacLeod is a good old fashioned love story with a twist--Iolanthe is a 600 hundred year old ghost!

The story begins quick and alot of characters (some ghosts)are introduced in the opening chapters and add substance to the story. Thomas has the ability to see spirits that other people cannot and he strikes up friendships with many of them. The setting is England/Scotland and after reading this tale I have a strange desire to learn Gaelic!

However, there are some bad points in the tale. For one stories that were being developed in the beginning were left hanging in the end and many questions went unanswered (I hate loose ends!). The story also seems to speed up near the end and some good ideas were never fully developed. Since this is part of a larger story by Kurland, I am thinking that maybe these questions were answered in previous books or will be answered in future ones. I do highly recommend this novel and I will probably read more Kurland in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too long, February 13, 2008

By 

B. Kirby (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Heart Stood Still (Paperback)

A hundred pages could have been snipped out and the story would have been a better read. It was easy to see why Iolanthe would be attracted to Thomas, afterall, she was a ghost and had never received any such attentions from a man before. But, I didn't really see why Thomas fell so quickly and completely in love with Iolanthe.