Customer Reviews

Highland Blessings

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My Review:

When I first agreed to read Highland Blessings by Jennifer Hudson Taylor, I was a little apprehensive about the book because of the country setting and brogue issues. I am so glad I chose to read it! It was engaging the whole way through the book, and the whole storyline flowed naturally, particularly for the time era and country setting and clan rules, keeping me intrigued.

Akira had been jilted at the altar, kidnapped on her wedding day, and forced to wed another man from an opposing clan, one that had been feuding with her side of the family for a half-century.

Akira's character was humble and yet strong and steady when necessary, dealing with all the emotions of the circumstances. She relied on the Lord to help her through each situation, and there were many intense moments from beginning to end! Bryce's character was just as compelling, with his deep loyalty to promises he made and his tenderness amidst the tenacity and decisiveness needed for his clan position and enemy threats and murders.

Upon reading the book, I found some similar analogies of Akira to Esther and Joseph from the Old Testament, with testings and trials to bring out Akira and Bryce's characters. The storyline will impress you! Jennifer is one fine writer! I highly recommend her book!

This book was provided free by Mark Yeh at Abingdon Press for my honest, personal review. I consider it a privilege to recommend good novels for your reading delight.

My main problem with Highland Blessings is that is lacks depth. There is very little character development, certainly not enough to make the reader feel invested in the main characters until well into the novel. I was over halfway through the novel before enough was known about the characters for me to want to continue reading to find out what would happen in the end.

I felt as if I was reading a Reader's Digest version of the story with all the details stripped from what could have been a great novel. The story jumps from one event to another without explanation: explanation of either the situation, the characters' thoughts and feelings or why the story was jumping to the next event. For example (warning: slight spoiler): One of the main reasons that Akira trusted Bryce was because he did not force her to consummate their marriage, yet there is no discussion of when she finally decided to allow the consummation...they are kissing, they say they love each other,then at the end she is pregnant.

I also felt that the story was fairly predicable with a Romeo and Juliet storyline (without the death scene). The traitor in their midst was exactly who you were led to believe. So many hints are given, that there is no surprise when you find out who it is. There was no misdirection to make the reader think for a moment that it could have been anyone else. My only surprise was the lack of misdirection.

After making it two thirds of the way through the story, I finally was caught up enough in the story and characters to make me stay up late in order to finish the story. I just wish that there was more depth and detail in the storyline and characters; it so easily could have been a 4 or 5 star novel if a little more time would have been put into the development of the story. Jennifer Hudson Taylor has promise as an author, but needs to work on creating more depth to her characters and storyline.

Considering I got this as a free Kindle download, it was worth reading. If you are looking for substance in your reading, you may not want to purchase this novel...unless you are able to get a hold of a free copy.

Spoilers


How is she pregnant? When did she decide to consummate the marriage? I wasn't expecting a sex scene but I think it was an important fact to be mentioned for us to understand the true turning point in the level of trust and love. Other than that, it was a nice story. I liked the constant reference to the Lord at the beginning of the book because it truly set the stage for the mindset of the characters. However, I felt that the religiousness got heavy handed in the middle and it felt less like part of the story and more about educating the reader on Christianity.

Bottom line:
Would I read it again? No, there was not enough depth to feel I could gain better insight with a second pass.
Was it worth the time to read it once? Yes, it is stylistically well written even if the story itself has a few flaws.

[Originally posted on [...]]

The beautiful cover of this book opens to a great read I didn't want you to miss.
Since this blog is called "She's Got Character" I had to talk about Highland Blessings,, as the heroine, Akira, is a feisty female character you'll love.

Here's my brief review of the book:

Highland Blessings is a surprisingly adept first novel from Jennifer Hudson Taylor. The book serves up a truly likeable heroine, a satisfying romance, and all with a lush backdrop of castles, clans, plaids and a Scottish brogue to boot. A good supporting cast brings depth to the story, and I can recommend this book for a good dose of blessings, indeed. I look forward to seeing more from this new author.

There were a couple of plot points I stumbled over a bit, but the good far outweighs the bad in this medieval Scottish tale.
Click the title of this blog to learn more about the author, Jennifer Hudson Taylor, and congratulations to you, Jennifer, for a strong debut novel.

I enjoyed the overall storyline of this book. One issue I had is the dialogue between characters. Besides a few period appropriate words, the over all feeling of the characters interacting was modern, not how people would talk to eachother in the 15th century. It threw me off when Akira talks about dying her hair. Was that so common in the Scottish highlands in the 15th century? The first half of the book was a little so so, it became a page turner for me half way through. A few holes in the storyline, like how Akira is all of a sudden with child, when I didn't read, or get the impression that their relationship had developed to that level. The author shows great potential though, so I'll probably check out her next book too.

I love historical novels set in Scotland. I don't care which time period, I just love novels about Scotland! And, for the most part, I enjoyed this one. It has feuding clans, kidnapped brides, heroes and villains. The characters are a bit one-dimensional, but still likeable. Akira is strong in her faith and in her belief that marriage to Bryce will unite their clans and end the feuding.

One minor pet peeve was that there was never any mention nor implication of the marriage finally being consummated. We understand in the beginning that Akira refuses to consummate the marriage because she was married by proxy. At the end of the story, she is pregnant. Now, I don't expect, nor do I want a sex scene in a novel like this. However, I do think it would have been a good idea to let the reader know the relationship had changed between the Akira and Bryce.

Still, this is a great debut novel. I think that Jennifer Hudson Taylor is only going to get better and I look forward to reading more. I enjoyed the fascinating Author's Note at the end of the book which talked about kilts and plaids.

It's an ok book and I like the way it's written. The settings are also appealing. What I had trouble with was understanding what and who I was supposed to care about in the story that was going to justify the time I took to read it. Worse yet, by the end and after reading it, I still can't answer that question.

Scotland 1473

Akira MacKenzie's wedding day has turned into a nightmare. First, she shows up for the ceremony, but her bridegroom doesn't bother. Then, even as she stands heartbroken by the abandonment, she's kidnapped by Bryce MacPhearson, a highland warrior from an enemy clan. She's hurt and angry, but her allegiance to a forgiving God dictates that she also forgive the man who took her from her family. But it isn't an easy thing to do, especially when she's forced into an unwanted marriage with her kidnapper.

Bryce MacPhearson is determined to honor a promise he made to his dying father. He has no intention of harming Akira, but neither has he any plan to set her free. She will be a MacPhearson bride. As his new wife's life becomes a witness to him of her faith and an indomitable spirit, he finds himself falling in love with her and drawn to her God.

But when a series of murders points to Akira's disloyalty, will Bryce trust her enough to protect her from a hidden threat? Can they find the murderer ... before that murderer seeks revenge on the new MacPhearson bride?

A young lad's promise. A bride's broken dreams. A woman's faith. Can God use them all to unite two feuding clans and bless two hurting Highland hearts?

Highland Blessings is an engaging look at Scottish history, with its customs and traditions--some familiar, others not-so-much. It offers a captivating storyline with a wonderfully three-dimensional cast of characters--some to love and some to...well, only to love because God would. The heroine is endearing, with an admirable show of pluck for a female during the century in question. This young woman's courage and stamina at a time when women were expected to have neither is itself a Highland blessing!

Definitely well worth the read.

This book was not as well developed as I would expect considering the period. There could have been a lot of details and segues from scene to scene. It would have helped in the character development general fleshing out of the story.

I found it odd that Akira had access to the copies of the bible in latin, even when they were so rare for the time. There was no explanation how she got to be such a biblical scholar. That is one example.

The protagonist of the book were not as well developed as they could have been and felt like they had been "tossed" in at the end because it was time for the book to be over and how are we going to get out of here?

It wasn't a bad read since I got it free but I would be more than a little annoyed if I had spent $10 on it.

So well written with strong, yet sensitive characters. Not the usual hate-love & you know how it's going to end genre. I got out of my comfort zone and found a new cuddle zone!