Customer Reviews

A Highlander for Christmas

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One reviewer here has called into question the reviewers who have given this book 4 or 5 stars, hinting that maybe those reviewers only gave the book 4 or 5 stars because they give EVERY book that rating. Well, that may or may not be true for those reviewers, but I encourage anyone doubting the sincerity of this 4 star review to look at my reviews and see that I rarely give more than three stars to any book.

So, why am I giving it to this one?

Simple. For me, it was a great read. I've read all of Sandy Blair's other books, and I have to say that she's great for what her genre is: light, fun reading. No offense to Ms. Blair, but what she writes is not exactly the most stunningly profound, or even the best written. But they're FUN. The characters aren't the most rich and multi-dimensional, but it doesn't matter. I loved them, felt for them, rooted for them. And isn't that the goal of any book? Blair succeeded here, at least for me. It was a light read, but enjoyable. It's a cliché, I know, but honestly, I couldn't put this one down. Well, ok, I probably could, I just didn't want to, because I was just having so much fun reading about Cam and his adjustment to modern life. I wanted him to be able to go home, and yet I didn't. Call me shallow, but I even got a little emotional toward the end.

Were there problems with the book? Yeah. Another reviewer here had a problem with the pacing of the book, and I have to say I agree. There was a BIG build-up, and then all the "good" stuff happened within the last couple of chapters. I also had a problem with Cam's multiple arrests. I mean, you'd think after the first one, Claire would have set him down and explained a few more things to him. Certainly after the second arrest. After the third crime which was for an almost identical crime to the second, I did get a bit annoyed. She should have explained what he did wrong in detail, yet, he goes back and commits basically the same crime over again. What's more, there's a photo of him, everyone knows its him except for the police who had seen him at least twice already, so you'd have thunk they would have recognized him. Go figure.

BUT...

Even after those small annoyances, I really did thoroughly enjoy this book. I was smiling when I finished it, and that deserves four stars.

If you're looking for some sweeping epic, or writing that could win a Pulitzer, you won't find it here. If you just want a light, fun Christmas tale starring a big, gorgeous Highlander, try this one on for size.

Claire MacGregor runs the Velvet Pumpkin, an antique store in Boston.
While preparing for the Christmas season, she learns of the death of
her longtime friend, Tavish MacLean. Tavish leaves her everything,
including a puzzle box that holds quite a surprise.

Sir Cameron MacLeod is preparing for battle with a rival clan in 1745.
Before leaving, he visits his adoptive mother, well known through the
region for her powers. The next thing he knows he's standing naked in
a strange place, and in front of a strange, but beautiful, woman.

Claire's not sure what to make of the handsome highlander who appears
from the puzzle box. They set out to try and find a way to send him
back to his own time. But after studying books and consulting with
witches, they know that he's stuck in 2007. He has lots of things to
come to terms with: the fact that bucks aren't always deer, and the
fact he's falling in love with Claire.

A Highlander for Christmas is a touching, sweet story. Ms. Blair has
drawn wonderful characters. I could feel their pain over the situation
in which they found themselves. I could also feel the love grow
between them. Cam's adjustments to modern day life brought more than a
few laughs. And their love for each other brought quite a few smiles.
A Highlander for Christmas is a great read, at any time of the year.

Amelia
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

I love reading Christmas romances during the Holiday season...
Nothing gets me in the Christmas spirit like curling up with a good Christmas romance and a cup of eggnog!
It's traditional in my home to have books everywhere and during the Holidays almost every one has Christmas in the title! This one was a wonderful start to my Holiday season.

I enjoyed seeing modern day Boston through Cam's eyes.
His thoughts on the "empty-ay", the "teevee" and other things we take for granted were enough to have me laughing out loud. And, of course, the perfect ending always makes me teary-eyed!

I haven't read Sandy Blair's other Highlander books yet, but you can bet they are on my Christmas wishlist now.
Who can pass up a hunky Scot... or two?

Has been penned for our exclusive enjoyment, a grin while you read, endearing story from a very talented and gifted author. ~Affaire de Coeur

I just finished A Highlander for Christmas and can not understand the mind-set of anyone who would disrespect the book. It was fun reading, very descriptive and fast paced. It made me laugh, cry and have hot flashes. I guess I'll never view a reindeer in quite the same way as the picture in my mind of a six and half foot Highlander running across the Green carrying a 150 pound reindeer drapped across his shoulders and going back for the doe because the buck seemed lonesome is so vivid.

A Highlander For Christmas explores what it might be like for a Highland Warrior if he finds himself transported from Scotland in 1745 to Boston in 2007. Sir Cameron MacLeod's foster mother has seen the future and knows the disaster that the Battle of Culloden will be for her clan; consequently with a bit of magic she 'hides' Cameron in an acorn in a box, planning to release him when the aftermath of the battle has settled down. Unfortunately for her she doesn't realise the seriousness of the after-battle events in Scotland and that she won't be able to release Cam. Instead the box with it's secret opening mechanism is handed down through the ages until it eventually arrives with Claire MacGregor, antique shop proprietress, who had befriended an old Scottish man who leaves her his personal effects - including the box. When Claire opens the box and finds herself confronted with a 6 foot 5 naked Scottish warrior her life is turned upside down.

Sandy Blair writes very amusingly of how Cam finds modern-day America. He doesn't know half of the rules, is introduced to cars, trains, elevators, escalators and more. His behaviour isn't appropriate for his situation and soon finds himself in trouble with the law. However his natural charm helps him to make friends with Claire's neighbour and most women who cross his path. Claire's alternate exasperation and friendliness with Cam are well written; she has to spend a great deal of money to keep him out of prison, to clothe and feed him, and yet his sense of honour means he feels he has to fend for himself, often with unfortunate consequences.

Cam's mission is to return to his own time to try to change history and he and Claire spend a lot of effort trying to locate a witch to reverse the spell. However, Claire may find as the time comes for him to return that she doesn't want to be without him - and what about Cam?

The characterisation in the book is fairly basic (Cam is an alpha warrior, charming but also rather apt to put his foot in it; Claire is an independent but lonely woman who has doubts about her own attractiveness) and neither of them particularly change. The interest in the book is how Cam learns to adapt to his new time and whether he will be able to return. The romance is one of propinquity and lust rather than any deep connection between the two but it's reasonably well written and is believable.

There was one disappointment with this book, which was the pacing. Right until the end of the book the plot unfolded at a good speed, always keeping the reader's interest and giving the characters time to get to know each other and to accommodate to the change in circumstances. However at the very end the plot suddenly speeded up with almost an entire year covered in a dozen pages and an important family reunion glossed over within a few paragraphs. It felt rather as if the author had lost interest and it also rather changed the relationship between hero and heroine (who apparently barely speak to each other for a year, despite being deeply in love). I felt that this part of the book should have been fleshed out some more, and some explanation given as to how Cam felt about hiding his job from Claire for the best part of a year so that she felt abandoned.

Still, all in all it's an enjoyable enough read with some amusing moments and it certainly gives the reader the chance to imagine the huge differences in the daily lives of people in today's world compared to Scotland of the 1740s.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, www.curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2007

In A HIGHLANDER FOR CHIRSTMAS, Sandy Blair takes her readers on another time-travel. This time she brings her Scottish hero, Sir Cameron MacLeod, out of the 18th century Scotland on the eve of the Battle of Culloden, to modern day Boston.

Antique-store owner, Claire MacGregor's world changes the night she opens a puzzle box. She awakens later to find a very handsome, naked and rather angry man in her room. Once she realizes he's neither from this country or this century, she promises to find a way to send him home.

From one adventure to another, some of which involve bailing Cam out of the local jails, Claire falls further and further in love with the big Scot. Cam, whose own heart is falling for Claire, refuses to act upon his desires since he plans to find some way to return to his own time and home.

The ending is such a satisfying happily ever after for the brawny Cam and the tender-hearted Claire that old and new fans of Ms. Blair's work will sigh with contentment.

This is a MUST read for any Scot-o-phile. Filled with Ms. Blair's humor and witty prose, you will NOT be disappointed.

A Highlander for Christmas

What Happens When A Struggling Boston Antique Dealer Do When She Inherits A Four Thousand Year Old Wooden Box That Changes Her Like Forever? Claire MacGregor Never Left Well Enough Alone, As Her Curiosity Got The Better Of Her And She Unleashed A Six And A Half Feet Naked Highlander Warrior Appears In Her Bedroom!!

Sir Cameron MacLeod Suddenly Awoke In The Twenty-First Century Instead Of The War Against His Enemy As He Had Prepared For This, But Awoke Naked As The Day He Was Born! What Manner Of Magic Was This? How Did He Get Here In A Place So Strange But More Important, How Did He Go Back?

Sandy Blair Tells A Wonderful And Funny Tale As Cam Gets Trouble After Trouble Trying To Fit In! This Is A Great Book To Keep You Laughing!!!

I discovered Sandy Blair when I purchased her new book, A King's Mistress, which I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend. As a result, I started looking for more books to read and chose this book. I usually read a more erotic romance but Ms Blair has a definite flair for telling a story, telling a romance story and infusing historical information. I have read all of the previous reviews and agree with all of them except for the derogatory ones. Highly recommended!

With only days left before Christmas, the antiques business should be going great guns. Unfortunately, bad weather and bad luck leave dealer Claire MacGregor with more debts than deals. Things go from tricky to downright dangerous when one of her friends dies, leaving Claire more trouble than money. A part of his inheritance is a Celtic box that has been in the family since Culloden. But when Claire attempts to unravel the puzzle of the old box, a strange man--a naked man--suddenly appears in her shop.

He'd been at the point of marching out for battle, along with the Highlander armies of Prince Charles Stewart, when Highlander Sir Cameron MacLeod was bespelled, sent away from the coming disaster of Culloden, but also locked away from everything he knew, everything he loved. When Claire MacGregor undoes the spell that held him, Cameron finds himself on another continent, hundreds of years in his future. There's a lot to admire about the future, most especially Claire MacGregor's fine hurdies but not even they can make him forget his duty. When he learns of the disaster of Culloden and its aftermath, Cameron swears he'll return to Scotland and protect his family.

That the best looking man she's ever seen wants nothing more than to get away from her doesn't surprise Claire. What does surprise her is how much trouble one man can get into. Cameron's Highlander-warrior instincts lead him to take what he needs, to fight back when attacked, and to have precious-little respect for men of the law. Keeping Cameron bonded out of jail would be a full time job--even if Claire's business had been doing well enough to cover the expenses.

While attraction draws the two together, Cameron's burning need to return to the past and set it right, along with Claire's certainty that a man like Cameron needs more than a woman like Claire, seems doomed to keep them apart.

Author Sandy Blair spins another sexy and funny light paranormal romance in A HIGHLANDER FOR CHRISTMAS. Cameron's misunderstandings of the present always lead to disaster and watching disaster unfold as Cameron blithely pushes forward is plenty of fun. Earnest Claire MacGregor makes a great foil for Cameron's always-wrong decisions and despite herself, she's drawn into adventures that are clearly doomed from the beginning. Blair has outdone herself in HIGHLANDER--I'm happy to recommend this one.