Legacy [Paperback]

Jeanette Baker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2011

"Tantalizing...Ms. Baker kept me intrigued and enthralled...a thought-provoking novel not to be missed."
-Rendezvous

The last of the Murrays...

Christina Murray is elated to inherit her family's ancestral home in Scotland. But upon her arrival she is confronted by her breathtakingly handsome new neighbor, Ian Douglas...and an ancient family curse that comes with the castle.

A violent legacy of passion...

Seduced by Ian's easy Scottish charm by day, Christina dreams at night of three raven-haired beauties, ancestors who fell victim to the curse one generation after another: Katrine, the fiery Jacobite supporter who lost her heart to an Englishman; Jeanne, an accused witch; and Mairi, who shared a forbidden passion with the King of England.

Now it's Christina's turn to lie in that cursed bed... and loving Ian might just cost her life.

What Readers Say:

"One of the most fascinating books I've ever read...Kept me up until 3 am!"

"I'm delighted with Ms. Baker's style. It isn't often you find an author so adept at storytelling who also has a unique and beautiful command of the English language."

(20110304)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jeanette Baker has penned a classic Gothic novel, complete with a mysterious ancient home, an uncertain hero, and even a Mrs. Danvers-style housekeepe (Fresh Fiction 20110310)

A page turner full of surprises... Legacy is fascinating and spellbinding, imbued with the love of the Highlands, their history and lore. (BookLoons.com 20110316)

A great mystery that transcends generations. (Literary Litter 20110318)

A story that contains suspense, romance, time travel and Scottish history can only be a winner. (Queen of Happy Endings 20110328)

Baker did a great job of really capturing the Scottish legends and lore. (Debbie's Book Bag 20110328)

Fantastical fun all around. (Broken Teepee 20110331)

Enchanting... Quite entertaining and thought provoking. (The Long and Short of It Reviews 20110331)

The reader is instantly taken to Scotland and delivered to the midst of the settings, both past and present, feeling the 4 star work of this talented author (Reviews by Molly 20110404)

The story is well so researched and written that as each woman's story was told I felt as if I could imagine myself right in the story. (Celtic Lady's Reviews 20110405)

A multi-layered story that doesn't lose it in the details. Equal parts of mystery and romance, I enjoyed it thoroughly. (Chick with Books 20110415)

Baker kept me intrigued and surprised, completely living in the moment of the story. (Dark Diva Reviews 20110613)

A wonderfully engaging story. (Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf )

A real page turner and a great story... a wonderful novel full of romance, mystery, and a family curse that will leave you reading way too long into the night. (Laura's Reviews )

What made this book so fabulous, besides the writing, historical detail, believable and lively characters, sensuality and intriguing tension filled plot, was that we got to experience FOUR different time periods! (History Undressed )

About the Author

Award-winning author of fifteen novels, including the RITA Award winning Nell, Jeanette Baker has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as a forceful writer whose novels are "irresistible reading." Jeanette lives in California during the winter months where she teaches literature and writing, and in County Kerry, Ireland during the summer.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca; Reprint edition (March 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402255837
• ISBN-13: 978-1402255830
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Time Travel

More About the Author

Jeanette Baker is the award-winning author of fifteen novels, most of them set in the lush countryside of historical and contemporary Ireland where she lives and writes during the summer months. Her ancestors, the Flahertys, hail from Inishmore the largest of the Aran Islands located off the coast of Galway. She takes great pride in the prayer posted by the English over the ancient city gates, 'From the wrath of the O'Flahertys, may the good Lord deliver us.'

Jeanette graduated from the University of California at Irvine and holds a Masters Degree in Education. For the remainder of the year, Jeanette teaches in Southern California and enjoys the company of her grown children. She is the Rita award-winning author of NELL.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read, March 24, 2011

By 

LAS Reviewer "The Long and the Short Of It Re... (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legacy (Casablanca Classics) (Kindle Edition)

I just finished reading my first book by Jeanette Baker, Legacy, and now have another author to add to my favorites list. This book was enchanting and kept me up reading late. The author's style is elegant, which added to my enjoyment of the book. Her words flowed with beauty. The characters are three dimensional and well written. It was easy to be drawn into their situations and care a great deal about them.

Legacy is a book with parallel stories, a main one set in the late twentieth century, and three others set in different and fascinating eras in history. The present-day heroine, Christina, and her new love, Ian, are in serious danger due to an ancient curse on Christina's bloodline. Christina must get to the root of things, going back seven hundred years in discovery, or she is doomed.

Technically, this book can be considered a time travel, but Christina only goes to the past for about five minutes.

As she delves into the past and gets to know the stories of her tragic ancestors, she gets drawn deeper and deeper into their sad legacy. Can she possibly escape their fate? Their stories were heartbreaking, and as I read, I kept hoping she wouldn't follow in their footsteps.

The setting is important to this book: Scotland, present day and past. The reader is in for a treat, getting such an excellently drawn picture of this beautiful country and its exciting history. An author with a mastery of the language provokes a gorgeous but tragic atmosphere with her words.

Magic, love, and misfortune are themes woven well into the plot. It's quite entertaining and thought provoking. The various elements of plot are top notch. The subplots create great tension as the book races to its climax. Dialogue is realistic and exposition is excellent.

There may have been one or two small questions I had about the characters or scenes that didn't seem to be answered, so I read between the lines.

This is a wonderful book, and I'd highly recommend it.

Originally posted at The Long and Short Of It Romance Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fantastical Fun, March 18, 2011

By 

P. Woodland "Broken Teepee" (Superior, MT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legacy (Paperback)

I will start by saying I don't think this cover did this book any good. If I had been book shopping I would have walked right by without picking it up and that would have been a shame. I would have missed out on a very enjoyable book.

I love time travel books and while this is technically not time travel it does involve people from the present tied to actions from the past and the need to correct wrongs to live happily ever after.

Fantastical fun all around.

The story is told in back and forth fashion starting in the past and bouncing between there and the present. Events surrounding the heroine, Christina Murray call her to the mysteries of her ancestors and how that past is impacting her present. Christina finds out that she has inherited an 800 year old Scottish manor house and has no idea why. She meets her neighbor, Ian Douglas and falls in love with him not knowing that his motives might not be pure.

The characters were very likeable - well except for the evil ones - and I found myself whipping through this book to get to the end. The mystery was quite satisfying and the magical aspects were fun. I would definitely seek out more books by Ms. Baker.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Legacy by Jeanette Baker, March 26, 2011

By 

Kathleen Kelly "Celticlady" (Rhinelander, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Legacy (Paperback)

I knew that I had read this book back in 1996 when it was first published from the moment I read the first chapter. I usually do not re-read a book but I wanted to read this one again as I am fascinated with anything to do with Ireland and Scotland as I am a bit of both and the history portrayed in this book kept me turning the pages. The story takes place in four different time periods, late 1300's. 1500's, 1700's and 1993-95. The story revolves around The Stone of Scone and the Traquair House, which is said to be the oldest inhabited house in Scotland.

"The Stone of Scone , more commonly known as the Stone of Destiny and often referred to in England as the Coronation Stone, is an oblong block of red sandstone, used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, later the monarchs of England and since 1603, British monarchs. Historically, the artifact was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland." source: wiki

The Murray and Maxwell families lives and history's are intertwined with all the women in the Murray/Maxwell family's having a curse put on them, that each female member would have terrible hauntings and nightmares and eventually die horrible deaths. The story is well so researched and written that as each woman's story was told I felt as if I could imagine myself right in the story, which may be silly to some, but I often feel that way when reading a great historical story. I had to have the tissue box close by also..I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in the history of Scotland/England in the four time periods portrayed.