Customer Reviews

Isle of Lies

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

 

 

Setting - Scotland 1513. Moira Maclean has spent 17 years in a convent her father took her to at the young age of 12 years old. Moira has adjusted well to convent life and has learned to be strong and independence. She, however, does not know about love.

Ian Cameron, laird of the clan Cameron of Glencoe, is a warrior and proud leader of his people. Moira's father battles Ian and his clan and sees Ian as his mortal enemy.

Ian goes to the convent and tells Moira that her father has died - she must marry him to end further fighting between the clans. They are immediately wed and their marriage is consummated quickly(not with much skill or pleasure for either). Immediately after, Moira's father arrives at the convent very alive and furious that Moira has wed his most hated enemy.

Moira's father tells Ian to leave his daughter at the convent - she is too old and barren to satisfy her young husband's needs(Ian is 25 years old). Ian reluctantly agrees and leaves, but two months later comes back for Moira and she has a surprise for him....she is pregnant!

With a troubled beginning to their marriage, Ian and Moira struggle to make their marriage work. There are several obstacles; someone is trying to kill Moira, Ian wants a real marriage while the naive Moira doesn't understand all that he wants, and problems with facing her father again.

Ian and Moira's relationship is wonderful in this story. Moira is a multi-layered heroine who is strong and has knowledge about numbers, agriculture, etc. that help manage their lives. She is a vital part of the success of their relationship and proves that intelligence is just as exciting as outer beauty. Ian, though feeling guilty of how their marriage started, cares and loves Moira as his wife and his partner. The exchanges between Ian and Moira are fun to read and challenging to both parties. There are interesting secondary characters, Anne and Blair, and Ian's sister Brianna which compliment the entire book.

If you have read Donna Fletcher's Irish Eyes books - The Irish Devil and Irish Hope, you will love this book! Don't miss it!

Donna Fletcher is one of my favorite authors, so I bought the book right away. Isle of Lies is a fairly good book, but... it annoyed me a little that Moira is five years older than the hero. She is 29 and throughout the book is referred to as "old, barren". I know she is considered old for medieval times, but still. Furthermore, she is fainting all the time. Once is enough, thank you. The story in itself was okay, but nothing special or original. I expected something more.

This is the first book by Donna Fletcher that I've read but I will definitely read more. She's got quite a talent. I enjoyed the book from the beginning to the end. Ian's deceit and Moira's trust....lovely.

I have read almost all of Donna Fletchers books. Normally it is easy to fall in love with the characters and feel like you are in the story. This book was very slow moving and left me feeling disconnected to the hero and heroine. I kept waiting for the book to pick up and draw me in, but every chapter seemed to disappoint immensely with the end making me feel empty and wanting a complete rewrite to add more substance to the characters and the very thin plot. I would recommend reading other books by the author, but definitely not starting with this one as you will soon lose interest quickly.

I have read several of Donna Fletcher's novels and have never found them lacking in the least. Isle of Lies does not disappoint, in fact it ranks as my favorite of all time. I fell in love with Moira and Ian from the start. I truly enjoyed watching their love for one another grow. Ian's concern over his wife's condition was touching. Moira was strong willed and determined, the way a heroine should be. I did want the story to end as I could have continued to read more about Moira and Ian. I anxiously await Brianna's story which will be out sometime in early 2003. Keep up the good work Donna. I am captivated by stories set in Ireland and Scotland - I do hope you continue to write more.

Despite a great beginning, the plot of Isle of Lies quickly loses steam after Moira and Ian return to his home. "Come quicky Moira has fainted" seems to be the extent of the storyline for half of the book. Over and over again, she feels poorly, faints, is told to lie down, acts defiantly, repeat preceding steps. Moira's quest of knowledge could have been an interesting side story, but instead the author only applys non-specific references to Moira's concern for others finding out about her experiments. Perhaps Donna Fletcher should have engaged in her own search for knowledge and researched what advances in science were unfolding circa 1513. Chemistry between two people cannot carry a story for 150 pages, and it is precisely what is happening in this book.

At the age of twelve and after her mother's death, Moira Maclean, who is the daughter of a Scottish clan leader, is sent to a convent. Although devastated, she slowly slowly adapts to her life in the convent, especially because the Mother Superior shows her love and supports her thrive on knowledge. Their peaceful existence is to be interrupted after seventeen years when in the middle of the night some warriors appear in the convent and their leader, Ian Cameron, claims that her father's last wish on his deathbed was for her to marry him. The vows are hastily exchanged and the marriage even more hastily consummated, when Moira's father and her brothers appear in the convent and accuse her of having married their enemy. Why did Ian deceive her? Moira isn't given the chance to find out what really happened because her newly wed husband abandons her in the convent and leaves, however, only to return a few weeks later and order her to travel with him to her new home. Moira is devastated because she doesn't know how life is beyond the convent's wall, she doesn't know anything about love and she is deeply shocked that she has to co-exist with the man who has deeply deceived her.

Ian was an interesting main character, who was forced by the circumstances to marry Moira. OK, surely marriages of convenience were standard practice at the time being but I had my difficulties to accept his initial reasoning why and when he fell in love with Moira. Anyhow, I came to appreciate his patience and open mind, especially when taking into consideration the time frame of the book. In any case Moira definitely overshadowed Ian. She was absolutely adorable. I liked the way she tried to cope with her different blows of fate, her patience, her intelligent and sometimes even "manipulative" ways to achieve her goals were very entertaining. The fact that she couldn't trust Ian and that he had to win her confidence, especially in "bed related issues" made me more than once smile.

The story line was simply arranged and didn't really offer any twists or turns. There was a sub-plot which introduced a suspense element, but according to my opinion this didn't really offer anything to the plot, especially because I felt that this part wasn't well enough integrated in order to support the plot.

The book started off really intensely but the elaboration of the plot didn't go beyond the expected. In any case, a nice read without being something special.

This book was shocking at the start! The way everything began was fast paced and exciting to say the least. All I can think to describe what was going through my head at the begining of this book was "What the Hell is going on?" It MADE me want to read more. It was very hard for me to grasp the idea that 29 was considered Old!?!?! But during this time period it was, I just couldn't wrap my mind around that idea! I thought the Characters were great, although, I did get the feeling that the heroine had a big better than attitude b/c SHE was educated and SHE had to keep up her studies and SHE had to keep up with her 'experiments'. Her constant questioning EVERYTHING got annoying sometimes. She was so methodical about everything she did, she seemed cold. Other than the heroines little funkiness, I would say it was a good read, an interesting story, and it kept me turning the pages.

This is my first of Donna Fletcher's and though it was an OK read, I expected more.

Moira Maclean has been in a convent for 17 of her 29 years. She is content with her life as it is however fate has other plans. A stranger by the name of Ian Cameron comes to the convent in the dead of the night bringing a message from her "late" father that they wed. Why she asks and Ian explains that this union will unite the clans and save lives. She is apprehensive and questions him about her age. He is well aware of her age and to her surprise he is only 25!

Moira gave in and they were married fast followed by an even faster marriage consummation. Soon she hears a voice she thought dead, it was her father! He was not dead after all and to her dismay, she has just married his enemy. He is furious with her. She feels betrayed. As if her feelings aren't wounded enough her father tells Ian to abandon Moira because she is contempt with her life. Furthermore she is too old and barren, she will never give you a babe he says. Ian reluctantly leaves and further damage is done. He abandoned her, without a word but he did leave her with something. Two months later, her father is proven wrong.

We start to learn how smart Moira really is, how the convent depends on her knowledge to thrive. Though with child, and no sight of her husband she is content with life. Out of the blue, Ian comes back to claim his bride and to remove her from the convent for she is not safe. A fellow nun called Anne whom has not yet taken her vows is also going along for the trip. It is from her, in a sudden outburst to set Ian straight that he finds out his wife is with child. Sparks fly and emotions run raw all the while, someone is trying to kill Moira, but why?

Readers will see that Ian has a good heart. A little too soft for a laird but a nice hero all the same. He is very romantic and appears to really want things to work out with his wife. Moira is strong, intelligent and unforgiving. She struggles with how their union came about for she feels betrayed. Used. No matter how much Ian makes her blood boil, she can not forgive him, or can she? Secondary characters Anne and Blair, Ian's right hand man is just what the book needed to give it a boost.

Now my problem with the book, it starts out really fast, then its as cold as a fish. Not much action. The h/h don't have sex again until MUCH later in the book, closer to the end even. Then in a burst of energy, the book becomes interesting again towards the end. It appeared that the conversations between the characters were redundant at times. Her age was constantly spoken of with the word "barren" hand in hand. Also, the fainting got really old. I was hoping that there would be some reason for such frequent swooning. There is mischief but it soon becomes evident. Bottom line, an OK read but not the best. I'll try her Highlanders Bride before giving up on this author.

Likable h/h and great secondary characters give this book the edge with a 3.5

I liked this book, but reading it once is enough. If you enjoy historical romance novels it is worth the money, but buy it used.