Customer Reviews

My Heart Stood Still

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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

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.

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.

I loved this book. It proves that you can write a wonderful romance without steamy sex scenes. The hero has an unusual gift which allows him to see ghosts, which is how he sees the heroine. This gift can also lead to amusing situations.

I won't ruin it for others, but the secondary characters are great. They bring a lot of humor to the story. I also loved how Kurland tied these characters in with those from "Dance Through Time." I can't wait to read more of her books.

I so much wanted to enjoy this book and the blurb on the back sounded terrific. I gave it a fair go - up to page 86 but I'm sorry to say it's childish and unreadable. I really hate romance novels which go out of their way to be 'zany'. They hardly ever pull it off and this one is no exception. After a very well written and exciting prologue, it suddenly moves into modern day with a ghost of a medieval Scot wearing Mickey Mouse ears. That's just silly. Then we hear about ghosts drinking ale, threatening to run people through with swords(er hello... they're ghosts!)and the ghosts of old men getting up to all kinds of zany things. Oh and the ghosts appeared to have this major social network. I couldn't help cringing. I also lost sympathy for the heroine, especially how her name was such a controversial mystery. Whoopee. I just couldn't get what the big deal was. Oh and when she first meets the hero he hardly says two words to her and she immediately blabs her closely guarded secret (why was it such a secret I asked myself), then dramatically bursts into tears cursing him with 'And damn you for making me tell you'. It just reeked of overacting! I barely got past that bit. Sorry, I can suspend disbelief if the writing is any good but this was just insipid. If only the style of the prologue was kept up. It felt like it was written by a totally different person.

The story: 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. She gives up on her dreams of a man coming to rescue her and spends the next 600 years haunting the castle were she was killed. However, when Thomas McKinnon arrives to see the castle he purchased in 2001, she recognizes him as the man from her dreams. At first all Thomas wants to do is restore his crumbling old castle, but he 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.

This is my first book to read by Lynn Kurland, and to be fair, it would have been better if I had read her other books first. She has a whole series on the MacLeods/MacKinnons/De Piagets. However, I do think that books in a series should be able to stand on their own and this falls a little short. There are too many back stories that need to be explained, and a lot of loose ends that are not tied (presumably these will be explained in later books).
This story does invovle time travel, and ghosts, so it requires a lot of imagination on the reader's part. The relationship between Thomas and the ghost inhabitants of the castle is quite funny and some of the supporting characters are quite likable. I loved the part where Iolanthe uses Thomas's computer to teach the garrison how to read. The part of the story where Thomas rescue's Iolanthe is also quite exciting and romantic. There are no love scenes in this book, only a few kisses and embraces. There is some violence and descritpions of battle scenes. If you like books in a series, I would recommend this book, but if not, then you may want to skip this one.

JBogue
paper-and-lace
Specializing in paranormal romance and fiction

In the fall of 1382 Scottish bride Iolanthe MacLeod, newly wed would be taken away frm her home to England and die by the sword of the Englishman who wed her when she refused to reveal the secret of the clan McLeod. It would be in this landlocked keep on the English moors, the place of her death, far from the sea she loved, where she would be doomed to roam and haunt for six centuries.

It is now 2001 and not knowing why, only that he felt compelled, Thomas MacLeod MacKinnon has bought the castle with the intention of restoring it. Since a child, Thomas had been `fey', with the sight and while expecting to find a ruin of a castle he was not disappointed - but to find a garrison of assorted ghosts residing in this same castle did give him pause. It was the sight of Iolanthe that he was quite unprepared to deal with and his feelings for her - not only did she take his breath away but he was stunned when after a short time he realized that he'd fallen in love with her.

Although Iolanthe was somewhat content with having Thomas in her `life' such as it was he wanted more - to hold her in his arms. Through a chance encounter with other McLeod kin he realizes that the only chance he has is to find a way to go back in time and prevent her death--and his kin can help him to achieve it.

My Heart Stood Still is a terrific story with a splendid cast of secondary characters `ghosties' if you will. It is exciting, poignant, romantic and funny. The plot is wonderfully robust and I found myself comparing this to the `Ghost and Mrs. Muir' (with the roles reversed) which was one of my favorites - only this has a much better ending! The delightful humor of Thomas dealing with the ghosts and their `ghostly squabbles' was hilarious! A most warm, fuzzy, and excellent novel I highly recommend

If you're familiar with Lynn Kurland's work, you're good to go with this book. The author recycled her ghosty hero from 'Stardust of Yesterday' and time-travelled concepts. But this time, Thomas McKinnon, a wealthy, handsome, sentimental gentleman (who, of course, is a descendant of McLeod line) accidentally bought a medieval english castle near Scottish border. However, he never knew that, coming along with this ancient keep, is a beautiful, head-strong spirit, Iolanthe McLeod, with her entired ghosty garrison!!. Well, as you can guess, Thomas fell in love with Iolanthe but.. one problem still remained. As long as Iolanthe's a 'ghost', he would never, ever have a chance to hold her in his arms.. So Thomas set off for a little quest to rescue Iolanthe,... to make her his!!
The storyline of this book sounds good, isn't it? However, you should previously experience other of Lynn Kurland's works, specially, 'A Dance Through time', 'The very Thought of You' and a couple of her novellas before starting this book, in order to understand the content of the book more.
So if you're just looking around for something good to read but still a newbie for Kurland's work, look for something else!! or start out with her previous works, as indicated. But if you're already familiar with the author's work, well, this book is worth your money for something to read on your 'stress free' day!! It can put smile on your face!

I have loved the time travel romance genre for a while, but this one had a new twist...a pair of star crossed lovers, one of whom was a ghost. I did find the plot a bit unbelievable, but it was entertaining and delightful. My only criticism has little to do with the story but with the character of Iolanthe. I just had a hard time with her continued hostility towards Thomas...who was truly a "knight in shining armor".

This was the first Lynn Kurland book that I read, but now I plan to read many others.

A new Kurland book is not only a "must-buy" for me, but also a "must-keep." This latest tale takes its place among all her others on my shelf. Wonderfully creative, poignant, human, and PG-rated, I definitely recommend "My Heart Stood Still." Thomas and Iolanthe are strong, believable leads and their supporting cast (both ghostly and living) is sure to make you smile. My one critique would be that the book should have been a lot shorter. It sometimes seemed to me, especially near the end, that new challenges were being invented merely to fill pages and not to advance the story.
One last burning question: where were Kendrick and Genevieve de Piaget? As the stars of Kurland's original ghostly romance ("Stardust of Yesterday"), I expected that they would make an appearance along with all her other modern-day couples. Do Kurland's other de Piagets not realize there is another relative living in modern England? I also wondered about Zachary. Poor guy - the doorkeeper role's gotta end soon!
In the end, a great book, definitely a keeper, but not at the top of my Kurland list.