Customer Reviews

Sleepless in Scotland (The MacLeans)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This story is readable but I just didn't love it. The hero, like all of his family, controls the weather with his emotions. That is pretty much all that felt original in this book. I couldn't feel the relationship between the hero and heroine develop. I liked their characters but I didn't feel as though I knew a lot about their personalities and what was unique to them. The entire story was very predictable as well.

The hero and heroine are both very honorable and they are attempting to help their respective siblings when they are put in a compromising situation and are forced to marry. The rest is about their getting to know one another and the problems that come with a new marriage and a new family. The problems were a bit ordinary and the hero and heroine loving each other desperately in bed but not out of it for most of the book has just been done so much already that an author needs to do more to make it interesting. This is not a recommended read for me but if you want to finish all in the series you might want to pick it up.

Maybe the book improved but I couldn't bring myself to finish it. I just can't stand this kind of stupidity in supposedly intelligent characters.

SPOILER WARNING:

Catriona wants a marriage "in name only" but Hugh refuses to forgo sex despite the fact that he intends to return her to her parents after a few months. Since they only married to repair Hugh's damage to Catriona's reputation in the first place, the idea that being abandoned by her husband a few months after her marriage wouldn't do further damage is ludicrous. He also apparently failed to consider the possibility of a pregnancy in this idiotic plan.

I haven't read a Karen Hawkins book in a long time because she tends toward this kind of lazy nonsense in her story telling and it looks like nothing has changed.

this book has already been reviewed, so i will ask "whose kids are these?" that Hugh refers to a "my" kids. at age 18 Hugh met the mother of the kids, Clarissa in London, shortly he left "town" after finding out that Clarissa jumped from one man to another. Now, present time, we find that Hugh has three kids???. As explained on pg. 187 Clarissa had three kids, never stating whose they actually are? Hugh left her around age 18 knowing she was a whore, certainly he would not keep going back to her between her afairs and father these kids? the oldest is 15 the youngest is 6 so he would have had to been with her about seven years ago, knowing that the older children were being treated badly as pg. 179 explains about the children being dragged "through places no child should be" and quite literally starved. Why would a "father" allow his children to be treated so by a whore of a mother??? If these children are not truly his and this book never does to my knowledge states definitely that he married or fathered all these children how can he take and keep these children from their mother? No way, he has no legal claim to them and he has no legal standing to keep them from their true mother. I have other books by this author and some are very good. But I have to say that this is an E.I.P. book for me: emotionally it left me cold, intellectially it left me bored and physically it left me skipping and leaping through this book to finish it. Hay, is that why I missed where he actually fathered all these kids by a whore that he turned his back on when he was 18???

This was by far the best book in the MacLean series. Not only was Hugh MacLean the best of the heroes, I felt that he was the most unique. Hugh's care for the three girls and his tragic character made him infinitely more appealing to me than any of his brothers, or than Jack Kinkaid.

Catriona Hurst was, also, the best heroine of the series. Her response to the girls and their treatment of her, her response to Hugh, her whole character arc... excellent. I'm trying not to give anything away, and it's hard, because I felt that the plot was very well done and very engaging, and I want to talk about it. But suffice to say, I loved the book. This one will be on my list of re-reads and will remain on my romance shelf for a long time.

While I agree with some of the other commentators, that all the weather-controlling plotting got old after awhile, I definitely thought that the way Hugh's story was told was the most unique of the five MacLean siblings, and the most interesting use of the weather-controlling power they all possess. Still, for the beauty of the love scenes alone, this book is entirely worth the read. Their very first love scene (Hugh & Catriona) was one of the best-written that I've read in a very long time. A true enjoyment.

I look forward to reading much more by this author in the future.

The Hurst siblings all care and watch out for one another, but when Catriona's twin sister Caitlyn plans to make Alexander MacLean marry her, she has no choice but to stop her. Caitlyn has always been the wilder of the two. Catroina is practical while Caitlyn is a great beauty and doesn't think before she acts. And with Caitlyn staying with their Aunt Lavinia in order have a season in London, Caitlyn doesn't have anyone to keep her out of trouble. Catroina will have to stop Caitlyn from making a fool of herself.

The MacLean family is cursed. Every single MacLean struggles to keep their tempers in check, because if they don't, they will cause destruction because they can make the weather turn deadly with flash floods and storms that will lift houses and barns from their foundations. Alexander's younger brother Hugh doesn't have a high opinion of Caitlyn. He knows of her plan to stow away in Alexander's carriage. This is all because of a wager she and Alexander have. Caitlyn wants Alexander to loose so she can witness this temper of his. Hugh has plans to stop her. Catroina can't believe the audacity of her sister and she is able to find the carriage and stop Caitlyn before it's too late. But Caitlyn isn't hiding in the carriage and Catroina is locked in by none other than Hugh!

Hugh thinks Catroina is Caitlyn and is in for a shock when Caronia's uncle, Lord Calloway finds them and points out Hugh's mistake. Now Catroina is ruined and she has no choice but to marry Hugh. Both are not happy with the arrangement. They will marry and live together for a few months until the gossip dies down. Catroina has no choice and goes off with her new husband, who is a virtual stranger. She tries to make the best of it, especially at night when Hugh makes her his wife in every sense of the word. She enjoys his touch and kisses, but knows it cannot last. Hugh has secrets, and not the only one of his controlling the weather. When Catroina finds out what Hugh has been hiding, she must decide if she wants to be his true wife and stay with him forever.

Sleepless in Scotland is an adorable historical romance with paranormal elements. This marriage of convenience story is engaging and Catroina and Hugh are two that you will be rooting for to make their marriage work. Hugh is a pretty well adjusted guy even though he has some issues such as being too concerned for his brother Alexander who barely shows any emotion, trying to keep his temper in check so he doesn't hurt those around him he loves, and keeping Catroina at a distance because he thinks she will eventually leave him. Hugh falls for Catroina easily because she eases her way in to his heart. She takes everything in stride and becomes comfortable in her new home. If only she can make Hugh see how important it is for her to stay and make their sham of a marriage a reality.

Karen Hawkins writes wonderful dialogue and her love scenes are exactly what a historical romance enthusiast is looking for. Hugh and Catroina have great chemistry from the moment they first meet. Sleepless in Scotland is one book that is airy, sexy and just plain fun to read.

Katiebabs

This is a great addition to the MacLeans Story . One's I started reading I could not stop . It is very entertaining and will keep you enchanted wanting for more .I would recommend this book to anybody who loves historical romance .

I don't like the way the men treat the women in this series. I don't like the the way the heroins lets them treat them as they do. He tells her he is going to send her away in 2 months but we will have sex. You can live here but don't talk or be involved with the people who live here but have sex with me even though I am going to send you away. I don't like it. She knows he doesn't want her to get involved in the household but she wants to make her mark their? Just silly. I would have loved for her to leave at the end of 2 months and find a nice man to marry near her home and he has to crawl back to her when she requests an anulment.

Responsible & average-looking 23yo heroine gets mistaken for her impulsive twin sister by the brother of the man her sister wants to marry. Heroine's reputation is compromised when others find out that she & Hero spent hours alone in his carriage. They're forced to marry each other & both agree to live together in Hero's estate for 3 months to give gossip a chance to die down. They consummate their marriage & realize that sex is 1 area they agree on & enjoy. Hero puts limits on heroine's r/s with his daughters & her involvement in his life outside the house. They later feel constrained by their agreed-upon time limit of living together as feelings for each other increase.


This was an ok to good Hawkins book. Well-paced & had an enjoyable dialogue. Characters were likeable with not a lot of interference from secondary characters. Romance was sweet. Overall emotionality wasn't too deep or pulling. It was more light even with Hero seeming grim & distant at times. The challenges to their romance wasn't too huge nor were they heartwrenching. Hero had some trust issues due to a failed romance & his trouble with producing destructive storms when his anger gets out of control. Heroine's even-keeled trait & practical problem-solving abilities saved much of the problems with Hero & his household from worsening.

Provisionally recommended.

The best thing I can say about this book is that it's a quick read. Of course, that may be because when I'm bored by a book, I tend to read it really quickly, in the hopes that it will get better.

It didn't.

My chosen word for this book is "pedestrian". It's not just that the story's dull -- it actually could've had some potential, except that Hawkins seemed to shy away from potentially interesting plot twists rather than embracing them. But the storytelling itself is utterly lacking as well. This book suffers from the syndrome of "telling, not showing" more than anything else I've read recently (or at least since The Valcourt Heiress).

A total lack of emotional depth permeates the book. The reader never gets to see a character working through troubling thoughts or difficult emotions. When Hugh is grappling with letting himself feel affection towards Caitriona, we don't get a description of what that feels like for him, or what thoughts go through his head. No, Hawkins tells us, "He hardened his heart." Seriously, that's the sentence. I don't know what better example I could think of for something that needed to be shown, not told. So much of the book is like that, too -- we get the end results, but none of the emotional journey, and it's thoroughly unsatisfying.

Overall, this book was a disappointment and a bore. I don't recommend it. So much of it felt like things I've seen elsewhere, only done better (for getting the hero's kids to like the new mom, for example, see Charming the Prince by Teresa Medeiros, or To Sir Phillip With Love by Julia Quinn, a book with which I have many issues, but which does the stepmother thing really well). I have the final book in the series, and I don't know if I'll actually pick it up or not -- it focuses on the other twin, Caitlyn, who at least seemed to have a more appealing personality, but if these stylistic issues are typical of Hawkins, I'm not encouraged to spend more time with her.

This book was a nice read. I really liked all the characters and the plot of the story. Though the two main characters, Hugh and Catriona, were forced by society's standards into marriage to one another...they ended up falling madly in love. Though their relationship started out shaky...due to differences in their lives...they found solid ground in one another's growing and unconditional love. This novel deals with real-life emotions, such as: yearning for acceptance, building trust, and learning the true meaning of pure love. I didn't want the story to stop where it did...it could've went on and on for me...but it ended well. It's a sweet Scottish love story that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. 5 Stars!