Customer Reviews

The Price of Freedom (The Scottish Crown Series, Book 2)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The Price of Freedom picks up where Circle of Honor left off during the struggles for Scottish independence in the 14th century.

Black Bryan Mackintosh is sent to capture an estate loyal to the English. He finds Kathryn de Lindsay, a young unwed mother, in charge of the keep.

Kathryn is intrigued by the formidable warrior, but she keeps her distance because of a secret she carries. She cannot let him know she had a baby while she was still unwed. Ironically, Bryan is the illegitimate son of the Scottish king. As they learn to trust each other, they both find healing from the past.

This was a very entertaining read and I'll look forward to reading the 3rd book in the series. Bryan and Kathryn are wonderful characters and the author uses them effectively to show that God can extend forgiveness to any who ask and He will always bring something good out of something bad.

Highly recommend this author and this book series. Great development of characters, historical accuracy and well woven story lines.

This book is very romantic and has some action so it is great. Also test of faith in God which only helps us grow stronger in God. I support this author all the way in her writing because she truly is a great writer. To give you more encouragement in buying and reading this book... it has a great ending but you will have to read it to truly see how great it is. Trust me this book is amazingly written.

Circle of Honor, by Carol Umberger, is an exciting historical novel based on the Scottish struggle for independence in the 1290's. It is the first of a series of four novels which follow the times of Robert the Bruce, his family and supporters. The novel is written from a strong Christian viewpoint and is inspirational as well as suspensfully entertaining. We need more novels of this calibre!

It's wonderful I couldn't but it down. This and the first book in this series are the best books I've ever read!

This is an engaging read, with enough adventure and romance to keep you intrigued; a great story!

I love this series. It's well written and packed with romance, adventure and spiritual truth.

Read them all!

One of my favorites! The Scottish Crown Series is awesome!!!

This novel follows much the same pattern as the last one. Two people who appear utterly imcompatible fall hopelessy in love, after thinking they actually hated each other. With a hopelessly stereotypical, cardboard cut-out English aristocrat thrown in as the villian, this book comes reads as a predictable, and somewhat formulaic Romance.

As with the other novels, the Romantic elements (though I believe them weak in this one) are stronger than the historical, and especially so here. There is an account of the Historical battle of Bannockburn, with accurate desriptions of the landscape and some individual incodents involving historical figures, whereas other passages are innacurate, unrealistic and downright silly.

King Edward II, it is claimed, spent the entire duration of the battle sitting on his horse, watching, until said horse was killed by an archer, whereupon he fled from the battlefield upon another person's horse.
In reality such behaviour would have been regarded as cowardly for any Medieval king, and Edward II was actively involved in the fighting, and, initially, refused to withdraw.
In another scene, highly trained and disciplined English knights allegedly flee the battlefield in terror at the sight of half a dozen Knights Templar, in another a knight ventures alone and on foot (after having given away his horse, and in spite of the fact that all knights had at least one spare horse in battle) behind enemy lines to capture a Scottish woman, as this would rescue some semblance of national honour, and gets killed in the process.

Lastly there is the cultural element. In all the novels the Scots characters have rather exaggerated accents, use dialectual terms such as 'lass' and 'aye', and wear Kilts, undoubtedly to emphasise thier national identity. Whilst the accents and other cultural details are plausible enough, kilts were probably not worn in the fifteenth century. Unfortunately the same cultural awareness in not extended to the English characters, who all have silly stereotypical accents, not unlike those in the movies.

Thus when a Scots character is kidnapped and taken a few miles across the border to England everybody speaks with such acccents. No. In reality people in the Northern Counties of England have an accent and dialect that is often similar, and in some areas almost indistinguishable from that which is spoken in the Scottish Lowlands. Although at this time most of the Scootish and English aristocracy would have spoken French as thier first langauge, and conversed with thier peers primarily in this langauge, so would probabaly not have had 'Scottish' or 'English' accents anyway.

All these factors taken together make this novel in particular, and sadly the series in general resemble a cheap and mediocre 'Historical' Drama. This review may appear pedantic and finicky, but is it so unreasonable to expect some level of realism and authenticity in a novel?

I apologise for the repitition, but this book is hideously Anglophobic, and far moreso then the sequel Mark of Salvation.

The English villian, Rodney Carleton, is little more than a one- dimensional caricature. Arrogant, deceitful and avaricious, he likes nothing more than seducing innocent Scottish girls and beating people, and does little else but this.

The other English characters are lewd, ill-mannered, cowardly, and conceited, but then, we are all like that, aren't we?

As always they all speak in the same way, with a similar accent to HRH Queen Elizabeth II, and do very nasty and dastardly things throughout.
Before finally being routed by the ever righteous and wonderfully saintly Scottish army at Bannockburn, then running away.

Lastly there is the incessant crowing about the unchivalrous and dishonourable deeds of the English, such as kidnapping. The evil English fiends are condemned for thier ignoble actions, and so they should be!

It is perfectly acceptable, however, for the Scottish characters to break the code of chivalry, indeed, they are often praised for doing this.
So a Scottish character is acting courageously when he uses trickery and deception to kill an enemy, but it would be a heinous crime if a an English character did the same.
Hmm, do I detect a faint whiff of hypocrisy here?