Customer Reviews

The Scottish Rose

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

 

 

The gift of the story-teller is to enable the reader to experience the same wonder and awe of the 'what-if?' as does the writer at the moment of inspiration. In her third book, Jill Jones demonstrates anew both her superior imagination and writing skills.

If you've ever wondered what Scotland in the 1650's was like, here is perhaps more than you really wanted to know. For the very 1990's television personality Taylor Kincaid, the experience comes as part of her search while filming the lore and legends surrounding the Honours of Scotland which were part of the Majesty surrounding Mary, Queen of Scots. Did Mary really provide an additional treasure to accompany the crown, sceptre and sword? If so, where is it? And, what happened to those Honours during the Civil War? Further, what -- if anything -- does the rock structure known as the Ladysgate have to do with the long-deposed Queen?

Taking her crew from New York to Scotland, Taylor uses the opportunity to ! check out an inheritance from a relative of whose existence she hadn't known. Handed down through the ladies of the family, there is a diary and letters detailing Mary's chalice, The Scottish Rose, as well as its hiding place during the Cromwell era.

Duncan Fraser is a widower who has turned into himself after the deaths of his two young sons. Such fulfillment as his life has now, is as the chief of the coastal rescue mission. Although in his opinion he has rescued entirely too many fool-hardy wanderers from the rough North Sea around the Ladysgate, he can't imagine quite why he is so concerned about someone who hasn't even asked for his help. Instinctively, he senses her plea for help over time and distance, and plunges into the past after her. Together, they, along with the deaf-mute boy, Pauley, contrive to become a part of history without distorting it.

The research required for this marvelous book is simply mind-boggling, not to mention the intriguing way in wh! ich it is presented. How many of us, after all, are that w! ell acquainted with any history of three or four hundred years ago? It is a tribute to the author that no single thread of this complex tapestry is allowed to overshadow any other, yet the result is so vivid and so satisfying that you'll wish you could hang it on your wall.

What a thrill when this book finally came out. Once again, Jill Jones has done an excellent job of entwining history with the present. While holding the reader's attention with an interesting plot and descriptions that paint vivid pictures with words, she titilates the desire to study the history of Scotland and England. An entertaining and informative writing that makes it easy to get involved with the characters.

What a job well done by an emerging new writer! Jill Jones not only captivated thousands of avid readers just like me but also provided a very interesting tapestry of a time when Scotland is besieged by the Puritan leader, Oliver Cromwell. Miss Jones actually "turned back the hands of time" when she showed the readers how is it like to live in a world chiefly governed by ignorance. Imagine a boy of ten such as Pauley who don't even know how to speak accused of being the "bairn" of a witch, and modern-day thrill seekers being transported back in time through the Ladysgate burned alive! What a nice place to be! But most of all, aside from the "timeless fairy-tale love stroy" of Duncan and Taylor (Mrs. Janet Fraser), lies a "truth" somewhat rejected by almost everyone reading the pages of history: the innocence of Mary, Queen of Scots. The story is not much about Greta's stupidity, Robert Gordon's "thievery", the Ogilvies' loyalty, and Lady Keith's long lost relative but rather on how history for so long looked down on a woman who's purely a victim of treachery and odd circumstances sorrounding her tragic life. "Queen Mary is innocent!", that is the message of the fabled chalice. A must-read book of a very talented writer!

This book pulls off the difficult task of creating a realistic relationship in a never-never-land setting. Taylor and Duncan are a refreshingly natural pair of lovers who deal with their extraordinary circumstances in a genuinely compelling way. Except for the standard happy all-the-loose-ends-tied-up-a-bit-too-neatly-ending, a really fine romance. I am English myself and can vouch for Miss Jones' historical homework - I have always wondered when someone was going to write a novel about the Honours of Scotland.

If I have ever read a novel that should be made into a movie this is the one. It has everything to make it appealing. You almost forget you aren't there with them on their exciting journey. Jill Jones has a way about her that just makes you feel you are there. She is just great. Review by D. Robinson.

I agree w/ the reviewer who thinks this novel deserves to be a film. The writing was rich, the plot was exciting, and the love story was romantic. This is one of the best time-travel novels I have read--fantastic, yet realistic. Very enjoyable.

I enjoyed The Scottish Rose as much as Jill Jones' other historical novels. I recommend it to you.

I loved this book, it kept me enthralled for hours on end, I had a hard time putting it down, I wanted to read it straight through.

I read these kinds of books purely for their trashy entertainment value, and boy was this ever entertaining!

The book has some genuinely good points - it's an intriguing plot including time-travel and magic and a sweet sort of love story. It's also an interesting account of history and (living in the part of Scotland where this book takes place, at the moment) it does a good job of evoking the atmosphere of the Scottish Northeast's surroundings.

But it's also completely cheesy and unbelievable....it was great! Typical of all these sorts of books, the heroine is spunky to the point of annoyance and laboring under her own weird psychological issues the whooooole way through the book till you want to slap her silly and make her snap out of it already. There's nothing terribly special about the characters - it's a trashy romance novel, she's a pretty but headstrong ditz, who's always getting herself into a bind and then relies on her beefcake of a love interest to save her, only to snap at him for thinking she's "weak".........

Oh dear. It's hokey, but it's a great ride, and I read the thing in one night. Couldn't put it down. So although I reserve 5 stars for Nobel-prize sort of writing, for its genre, The Scottish Rose is a fun, atmospheric, page-turning romp.

This book was awful. My standards are pretty high after reading Diana Gabaldon's series. The characters were two-dimensional and I had a hard time even caring about what happened to them. The plot was predictable and boring. What a waste of time!!