Customer Reviews

The Invasion of Falgannon Isle (The Sisters of Colford Hall, Book 1)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought this book full of anticipation but was sorely disappointed. The author tries to be especially cute in her writing style, with all the capital letters, 'The Cat Dudley' - the result is just simply annoying. Besides this, the style is very clumsy and the book is not well written at all.

My greatest problem with this book, however, is the author's completely wrong and inappropriate use of Gaelic words. As a Gaelic speaker myself, this is grating. Such sloppy research is not necessary when there are plenty of Gaelic scholars around. What the author seems to have done is pick the first available word out of a dictionary - and how wrong that can be I don't need to tell you.

Then, there are the Pictish references. Again, incredibly annoying. I don't mind fantasy books, but this book is obviously not meant to be fantasy with the creation of a new world/race. All we know of the Picts is what they have engraved on a few stones - pictures that nobody has yet been able to interpret. Mind you, having looked at the author's website, it becomes clear that she has a very strange understanding of Scottish history. According to her, the Picts were on Lewis! Oh dear!

Hmm, to the discerning Celtic scholar, drawing certain vague parallels to Miss Goodrich-Freer may not be entirely out of the question... How do I back this up? I am friends with the archivist of Canna House; and all those who are able to state that Ms MacGillivray is such an expert on all things Scottish and Gaelic will of course be aware of the importance of Canna House... or not???

Altogether - if I could have given this book 0 stars, I would have.

This book, along with the other 2 in the series, A Wolf in Wolf's Clothing and Riding the Thunder, make women look stupid and gullible. The "heros" are liers, lacking morals and scrupples in their personal lives and business dealings. That the sisters forgive them with little or no argument or concern, having the "I don't care what he does-I love him" attitude, reinforces the idea that women are just ruled by their emotions and whatever the men they love do or say is ok as long as "I love you" is somewhere in the mix. Women are too dumb to know better anyway. I will not read anymore books by this author.

STORY BRIEF:
Long ago, a curse was put on Falgannon Isle. (1) No females would be born to the females of the island and (2) the males of the island would not find love until the Lady of the Isle mated with an Irish man with black hair and green eyes. The curse even applies to men and women who leave the island. BA (BarbaraAnne) is the current Lady of the Isle. She is a descendant of Maeve (the woman who was cursed). She inherited wealth created by her grandfather Sean. She uses her wealth to improve the lives of the men on the island. Recently she set up a matchmaking website inviting single women to come to the island. She pays their expenses to come meet potential husbands. Desmond is of Irish descent and has black hair and green eyes. He comes to the island with plans to build a resort. He also has other motives which could hurt BA. He and BA are lustfully drawn to each other.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
The plot was weak. It seemed most of the story consisted of everyday activities and conversations among the people living on the island. The author used a lot of cute names and references to celebrities and movies which is fine, but I would have preferred more interesting actions, motivations and events. I lost interest and wanted it to be over. I found myself skimming some parts in the middle of the book. The main plot about Desmond's business plan which could hurt BA was not developed. And at the end, details about what happened with the business issues were never explained. I wanted the details. The sex scenes were ok but could have used a little more emotional draw.

The best parts of the story (which surprised me) were BA's actions after she learned about Desmond's plans.

DATA:
Story length: 341 pages. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 8. Total number of sex scene pages: 18. Setting: current day Falgannon Isle, off the coast of Scotland and Ireland. Copyright; 2006. Genre: contemporary fantasy romance.

Having read the second book of this series first, and having loved it and left a good review about it, I delved into this book, the first of the series. Chances were good, I felt, that I would like it. This book got good reviews too.

Now I must admit I am a bit surprised at all the good reviews. There are good things about this book, but I don't think it warrants 5 stars!

I loved the opening scene of our h/h meeting each other, amongst the eccentric villagers. Hilarious! But it seemed to stall out at some point, and became repetitious.

Things that really drove me nuts: the MANY references to music - specific songs by specific bands, and all the music is that awful, mainstream stuff of the late 80's/early 90's which, to me, does not feel conducive to romance. Rather the reverse. It drives me nuts. It's akin to J.R. Ward's constant referencing brand names for the clothing her characters wear. I'm not interested, and it is distracting.

The Cat Dudley, who was cute at first, became a CONSTANT companion/irritant. I love cats, but I don't want one biting my lover's ankles every 5 minutes. Just too much. Not funny after a certain point.

And finally, WHY was the heroine BarbaraAnne ("B.A." is her nickname, which also bugged me cuz all I could associate that with was Mr. T from "The A-Team") drawn to our hero Desmond? I can see why Desmond would like B.A. - she was kind, smart, pretty, did a lot for the community, etc. I could not figure out what the draw was for her though. Sure, he's gorgeous, but what else? The story went on for so long without them really learning much about each other. The sexual scenes felt unfounded, forced, and not romantic to me.

Also, I must mention, Desmond must have said to B.A. "do you want to look into my eyes?" about 10 times by page 126!!! Did everyone who left 5-star-reviews miss this? I would not be attracted to a man if he kept repeating himself, thinking he was being cute. I'd bring him to the ER for a brain scan for crying out loud!

Things I really liked: the eccentric village characters, the location of the story. There are some really funny moments peppered throughout the story.

I could not finish this book. I tried so very hard to finish it, but I ran out of patience and couldn't manage it.

I'm hoping the third book is as good as the second, and nothing like the first. Perhaps the author worked out all the kinks in this first book? I hope so.

I love Deborah Macgillivray's Dragons of Challon books and I expected the same level of talent in this book. I got somewhat of a mixed feeling with this one. Don't get me wrong it was a good book. I just felt like the heroine was OVERWHELMINGLY nice and trusting. I couldn't believe her reactions at times. Yeah she did give the hero a taste of his medicine..but not enough! Especially at the level of betrayal that he did. So what if he suffered? Tough. Life sucks that way but he didn't have to take it out on the heroine...especially when she was soooo nice--not only her but the isle's inhabitants treated him like family. He wasn't cruel up front..so that betrayal really took the heroine by surprise. Which is worse. I could also have done without the cheesy love songs that she managed to throw in. It made me grimace. I'll still continue on to read the next book. In fact, I have it in my TBR pile...I just won't do it right this second. That says something..since I tend to devour books.

I bought this book and its sequel [...], and feel very misled. I was expecting them to WOW me, but I found both to be below average. Weak characters, lame dialogue and distracting subplots made them difficult to finish. [...]

I read this book when a friend told me about it. I thought it was contrived and stupid. Boring at the least. [...]

I enjoyed every minute I spent with this book. I consider it exceptional in that it gives you romance and a fabulously strong leading lady and it brings about the ''catharsis'' of the hero in a believable way. I wish to thank Ms MacGillivray for this book. It made my month.

B.A. Montgomerie owns Falgannon Isle, home to 213 bachelors and her. Though in her late thirties and very pretty, none of the male residents will court the widow or other women for fear of the Curse that they all believe in except perhaps her. Before any of the men can find their true love, B.A. must meet and fall in love with the green-eyed, black-haired Outsider.

Desmond Mershan arrives claiming the late grandfather of B.A. made a deal with him giving him ownership of part of the isle. The men are stunned as he has green eyes, black hair, and is an outsider. They feel certain he is the answer toe end the Curse because, besides his physical attributes, B.J. seems attracted to him. To his chagrin he is falling in love with his hostess; feelings he does not want as his plan is to destroy any Montgomerie.

This is an amusing whimsical romantic fantasy with the lead couple providing the love and revenge subplots while the support characters especially Cat Dudley bring matchmaking humor to the delightful mix. Readers will enjoy Desmond's INVASION OF FALGANNON ISLE where love competes with hate for relational supremacy.

Harriet Klausner

Oh I just loved this book the people are so much fun. readed it 3 times so far each time it get better the people in the book are so fresh so full of life. you feel for everyone.this writer Is the Best I have ever read she going to go far.