Customer Reviews

Highland Scandal

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

 

 

I was eagerly anticipating this new series from Julia London, because I am a highland romance junkie. I mean what's not to love, men in kilts, the oftentimes romantic Gaelic language, the raw beauty of the landscape, and did I mention men in kilts...I think you get the picture. I have read many of Ms. London's romances, and have never been disappointed...until now. When I read the teaser line "You deserve to know what it is like to be wholly seduced" I thought, "wow", which unfortunately turned into more of a "huh".

I'm not going to go into much into detail about the book, because frankly the blurb on the back cover pretty much covers it all. It wasn't until I got to about page two hundred, that the story finally started to become somewhat interesting, but even then their story wasn't scandalous. It all seemed like words on a page, and most of them boring & forgettable. The emotions and the characters of Jack and Lizzie never really seemed to come alive for me. I thought the story might become more interesting when it is revealed that Jack's father was an emotional and physical abuser, and Jack fears becoming like him. Yet very little is done with this fact. Lizzie is "almost" engaged to another man, but she and her almost fiancé give each other up without too much thought, or guilt. The few romantic scenes came off to me more "cheesy" than heartfelt declarations of love. But the biggest revealing disappointment for me was the moment Jack decides to appeal to the king on Lizzie's behalf, knowing by doing so he could be sent to his death. This kind of sacrifice almost always gets to me (we're talking major tears and heaving sobs...I'm a sucker for it), but in Highland Scandal this element failed to induce any sense of loss, or sacrifice, which is sad.

The story that I wish Julia would have written was the secondary romance between Lizzie's handicapped sister Charlotte and the highlander sent to protect her, Newton. Charlotte was the family beauty, sophisticated and charming, with her pick of eligible and wealthy suitors, whose world came crashing to a halt after she became paralyzed from a horse riding accident. After the accident she becomes reclusive and bitter, mourns the loss of her dreams, resents the fact that she is dependant on the people that she loves, and feels guilty for being an added burden on their meager resources.

Newton is a modest highlander, who is sent to protect Charlotte when Lizzie is taken to her Uncle's castle to become hand fasted to Jack. Despite Charlotte's abrasiveness, a friendship blossoms between these two unlikely people, and Newton finds endearing ways to bring happiness back to her life. The reader is given very brief glimpses into their romance, but the few scenes we are gifted with are sincerely touching. I wanted more of Charlotte and Newton's romance, and less with Jack and Lizzie. Unfortunately, the epilogue written at the end of Highland Scandal concludes both love stories, so sadly we will never get to fully enjoy the more compelling love story between Charlotte and Newton, and that for me is truly scandalous.

Booklover1335 for Seductive Musings

The main heroine, Lizzie, is everything I hate in a heroine. She is uncommunicative, uncompromising, and whiny. Her horridness is even more obvious since the hero is so reasonable and likeable. He acknowledges the situations and makes the best of it while she whines and attacks him more than once. Both are being forced into this relationship, but she makes it all about her. Oh, I find her so annoying I can't put it into words.

I won't describe the book as others before me have already done so. I am a big fan of Julia London and have not read any of her books that I didn't like. I made it through about 6 chapters of this book before I couldn't stand it anymore. The heroine is self-centered, cruel and whiny and treats Jack, the hero, terribly. The two are forced into a handfasting yet she treats him as though it's all his fault. Jack could be hanged if he didn't accept this handfast, but she could care less. She does whatever she can to get away from him and her uncle even though the uncle has said Jack will be handed over to the bounty hunters if she gets away.

Even her sister is a shrew so I can see how they're related. You wouldn't know these women were 23 and 25 years with such nasty behavior. Jack, on the other hand, looks at the situation with a clear head and resolves to make the best of it. He treats her well while she attacks him with a dirk, kicks him under the table, has him locked up in a shed and on and on.

There was no depth to any of the characters. They seemed fairly one dimensional. I can't believe Julia London wrote such a terrible story and used such miserable, mean female characters!

I love Julia London stories and I think that can be a blessing and a curse -(it's the same with Lisa Kleypas). I have such high expectations for her books, and as a result, I find myself comparing Julia London to Julia London.

I am usually captivated by London's stories from page one, but this one didn't pull me in so quickly. I found it an entertaining read that got better as the story progressed. The romance got much better. I had a hard time feeling the connection between the hero and the heroine in the beginning and I felt as though I didn't know the heroine as well as I needed to. I never wanted to put the book down and not finish. It was more like I was reading an interesting book but I just wasn't enthralled by it. Although the latter half of the book was much better in my opinion, the resolution of the problem in the end was a little abrupt. There was no explanation of what took place that brought about the conclusion - the reader was told things were getting worse, not better. Also, the reader is not told very much from the heroine's POV of what she was doing and thinking during those final two weeks. So I was left with a little, "hmmm, okay...". There had been such an exhaustive, expensive effort on behalf of the prince, yet we are told very little in the end of what transpired to get to the conclusion...(bear with me, I'm trying to avoid any spoilers).

I liked the hero and his struggles but I also often wondered that if he were so fabulously wealthy, why did he not at least buy the heroine some dang peat so everyone in the house would not freeze. I was just confused by some of it - what I felt were a lot of loose ends. At the same time, I did not doubt his love for her. I guess that's why I rate this a "liked," not "loved." I believe there are some who will really like this book and others who won't. I bet we will see a mixed bag in the reviews. I don't consider it is one of Julia London's best books, but she certainly will remain an auto buy for me.

Let me start by saying that this is the first Julia London book that I have read. Therefore, I am unable to compare it to her other works.

I won't detail the plot since it has already been summarized far better than I could have done (especially since I skimmed most of the book).

Thankfully, I picked up a copy from my local library. The back cover seemed interesting and I believe that the plot no matter how implausible had serious potential.

My main problem was the heroine. If I were the hero I would have rather taken my chances with the Prince and risked being hanged than spend an hour with her. She was utterly unlikeable, whiny, and demanding. Not to mention how all the other characters in her household treated Jack, shutting doors on him, not feeding him. As if he had a choice in the matter! Perhaps she wouldn't have seemed so bad if it hadn't been for the fact that Jack was one of the nicest men you could imagine. He was always trying to make the best of the situation, very charming and patient with her and her household.

I will give this author another chance and look up some of her higher recommended works. But...if the exerpt from the next book is any indication it seems that it will be the same problem with the gender reversed. (ie. charming, sweet girl with a horrid man).

Bottom Line: Please, save your money for another book. If you have to have it check it out from the library first.

I agree with many of these opinions. Thank god I got the book from the library. I loved Jack but truly disliked Lizzie because the first half of the book it's all about her and her problems and whining and acting like whoa is me. She was so selfish and self-absorbed that the "turnaround" of her character in the middle of the book was not credible. The way Jack was portrayed, he deserved someone far better than "Lizzie." To me Lizzie realized Jack was a far better catch once she got a glimpse of he majestic London home. And the way Gavin bowed out so quickly after "declaring his esteem" for her is also very, very convenient for the author. Very shabbily written.

This is the most boring, uninspired book I've read thus far. I will be adding Julia London to my list of writers to avoid. I kept waiting for something to happen, and guess what IT NEVER HAPPENED!!! I found myself trying to figure out how many chapters were left. I'm really disappointed..

I was distracted by the concept of the handfasting. The author does not explain what it means. I looked it up and didn't find out much, but it seems to be a betrothal that could turn into a marriage if the relationship was consummated - thus Jack and Lizzie would have been considered married when they slept together. But the book goes on as if the relationship could still be dissolved.

I found myself more concerned with young Gavin's eventual happiness than with the hero and heroine's. Just didn't like the position he was in - he was a good young man and didn't deserve the lack of honesty - Lizzie did not come clean with him until the end.

Lizzie was a little brat at the beginning. At the end, Jack was annoying; he had no good reason for not just marrying Lizzie (and he was in fact married to her under the rules of handfasting).

Slow and repetitive at first, it picked up after a while, but the hero and heroine are actually not as interesting as the heroine's sister and her lightly touched upon romance and the young man who Lizzie originally wanted to marry.

The mystery surrounding Thorntree was also more interesting, but again, lightly touched on in favor of sexual scenes where of course they just have this mysterious connection to each other and instantly wonderful sex.

I really enjoyed this story, but I probably would not buy it to add to my collection. The main problem with the book is that the hero is wonderful, and it seems so unbelievable that the heroine, Lizzy, would not totally thank God for being handfasted to Jack. He is good looking, rich, willing to do manual labor, and he knows how to get her engine going!!!! I'm not really sure why she would have continued devotion to a man who never officially asked her to marry her, especially since he did not previously offer any help for her financial situation. This is the second London book that I have read. Both have been good, but definately have a WTF moment at the end which threatens to derail the story. Maybe this is a pattern, hopefully not. Definately check this book out at the library first. ollection.

I have read other books by Julia London so I didn't hesitate to purchase this one. But it was terrible! I could barely make it three chapters in. Either this book was written very early in her career and she just submitted it to her editor to make a deadline without revisiting it, or she wrote this haphazardly. The dialogue is dicey and ill-formed, the character descriptions seem elementary and character development was hazy at best. I would save my money if I were you...