Customer Reviews

Son Of The Morning

5 star:		(138)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read this book because of the time travel after reading another similar romance theme. WOW! My only disappointment was that there wasn't more book. Linda Howard amazed me with Grace's authentic struggles to stay one step ahead of her pursuers. Grace's character made me proud to be a woman. I loved her because she wasn't particularly beautiful or helpless, instead she more like us ordinary human females. What made her so extraordinary was her intelligence and willingness to do and learn anything necessary to survive and extract vengeance.

Black Niall was a terrific hero. He can haunt my dreams anytime. I liked him rough, very masculine, and just slightly barbaric. Linda Howard did an excellent job of creating in Niall a hidden sensitivity and vulnerability that made him irrisistible. You realize very quickly that he loved and needed Grace passionately when he chose not to kill her, as his duty demanded, for discovering the "treasure". I understand Niall's anger with God for the destruction of the Templars not only because they had been in God's service for so long, but also, because they had become Niall's friends and "brothers". I think it was important to Niall to have family because he couldn't claim his own. It was a bit ironic that as the "Guardian", Niall could travel through time but he couldn't see far enough into the future realized that his God had provided for him.

For the reader in San Diego, if you wanted something that dealt with only fact and truth, look for your next book in NON-FICTION. Don't pick out a book whose excerpt reads: heroine travels back in time to meet hero. You'll be sadly disapointed. I take my own religion quite seriously but I also realize that fiction is just that: fiction. To enjoy you must "suspend your disbelief". By the way, Niall never wanted to become a monk, he was forced to in order to live. However, he never broke any of the vows he took while they were invoked. Remember that once the Templars were disbanded and he became the "guardian", all vows were revoked except that to protect the treasure with his life for as long as he lived. Niall was a lusty fellow, but then again, in those times, most men were.

Grace has everything to lose: a happy life with a loving husband, a wonderful brother and an amazing career. She loses it all in one moment. To save herself and avenge the murders of her husband and brother, she is on the run with the very documents that caused all this horror. The police, thinking she killed her husband and brother, and the killer, who wants the documents, are both after her, but she is a strong and an intelligent woman and she gets away...just barely . She learns "street smarts" and how to survive despite this agressive murderer on her tail.

When Grace discovers the mystery the documents hold, she knows she must travel through time as the documents explain to meet Black Niall, who she has been dreaming about since she first discovered the documents. He has shared her hot dreams and their lust for each other is so powerful all he has to do is kiss her to make her explode with passion.

With Niall's help, they travel back to 1998 to face the ruthless killer. Niall is almost God-like in his strength and the love he shares with Grace makes you wonder if they were made for each other.

I expected a romance novel but instead, this novel was filled with action, suspence and VERY little romance...but when she finally does meet Black Niall (65 pages away from the end of the book!) they share some amazingly HOT scenes!! The story reminded me of the movie "The Fugitive" mixed with the film "Mission Impossible," But I didn't find the lack of romance all that dissapointing because the story was so well-written and interesting.

This story should be classified as a suspence thriller. She doesn't even meet the hero until page 340 (The story ends at page 400). Most of the novel is about her running from the killers. It's exciting and you really come to love Grace and care about her character. She is so three-dimensional, she seems like a real person.

Black Niall sounds delicious but he also plays a minor role in the novel. He is like the supporting character and he comes across as 2-dimensional. I never fell in love with him but I did lust after him.

The ending was sweet but I had another ending in mind that never came to fruition. However, that made the novel UNpredictable and that's a good thing. This is my first novel to read by Linda Howard, and I see myself picking up MANY more in the future. I HIGHLY recommend!

Linda Howard is a great writer of contemporary and historic romances, and here she successfully tries another subgenre - the time travel romance. As a general rule, it's not my favorite genre, but Howard does a wonderful job. This is the story of Grace St. John, an academic who is translating a mysterious ancient Scottish manuscript. After her husband and brother are murdered in an effort to get the manuscript, she realizes that it contains valable and powerful secrets. She learns to live in hiding and continues her translation. She begins to have shockingly realistic dreams about Balck Niall, the Scottish warrior that features prominently in her translated text. Meanwhile, hundreds of years ago in Scotland...Niall is having the same dreams. Eventually Grace deciphers a formula for going back in time and shows up most unexpectedly in the midst of a bloody battle. Naturally Niall is fiercely attracted to her, but he has reason to be suspicious of her sudden appearance and her motives.

There are so many things about this book that I like. First, Grace is not one of those dingbat heroines who dashes headlong into dangerous situations just to show how spunky and independent she is. Grace recognizes and appreciates the risks she faces and diligently does her best to survive. Second, the time travel doesn't just "happen". That's always been my pet peeve with most time travel romances - suddenly one of the characters finds themselves traveling through time for no apparent reason. Howard's explanation may be somewhat fanciful, but at least it IS an explanation. Third, Howard doesn't tidy up 14th century Scotland. This isn't modern times with old fashioned clothes. This Scotland is dangerous and dirty and primitive. Not that these things alone make the book great; it just that they minimize the distractions from the imaginative and sensual story Howard has created. And that's another big point - there aren't alot of sex scenes in this book, but the ones that are there are incredibly hot. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Do you like to mix your genres? If not, don't bother to read further. If so, this one is for you. This versatile author gives us accurate and speculative historical fiction, mysticism, mystery, suspense, time travel, and romance in this one book.
Those of us who number Linda Howard among our top ten favorites of all time often came to her first as fans of her steamy love scenes -- and I do mean steamy: the scene with Grace and Niall at the top of the steps offers us eight pages (count 'em!) of sheer and yet totally romantic eroticism, and that is followed up by more of the same once he carries her off to his bedroom. Though these two don't actually meet until more than halfway through the book, they have already been together several times in what she thought was dreams or fantasy and he seemed to know was somehow real. Nobody handles the thrills/pitfalls of early intimacy for her lovers better or more believably than Linda Howard.
I also found particularly enjoyable in this book the mixture of historical and speculative accounts of the Knights Templar and their downfall, especially as intermixed with Robert the Bruce of Scotland. Creag Dhu in the early 1300's was a fascinating place with unexpected political intrigue. The mystery and suspense that preoccupy the first half of the book and take our heroine through near-death, terrible hardship, and unrelenting grief into her eventual happy ending were extremely gripping for me. I actually did the proverbial weeping and laughing in this book. Obviously, I could rhapsodize for hours over this book, but I will confine myself to a few more particularly bright spots. The secondary characters, from Kristian Sieber to Harmony Johnson to Huwe dhe Hay, are well-drawn and run the gamut from endearingly shy to honestly raunchy to revoltingly primitive. The mystical elements have an intriguing and refreshing spirituality served with a wonderful leavening of feminism, a la Ashara and Yahweh. The Foundation of Evil is frighteningly believable. Niall is the ultimate He-Man, warrior supreme, lethal yet lyrically loving with Grace St. John, his benediction if not his salvation. Trust me; you have to read this book!

Being an ardent fan of time-travel romances, I started this book thinking it would be like all the rest -- heroine stumbles upon entrance to the past-meets good looking hero-falls in love-decides to give up modern conveniences for hero. Though _Son of the Morning_ did contain these elements to some extent, it was much more of a heroine-on-the-run-from-thugs sort of book. Regardless of this, I was enthralled from the first chapter.

Grace St. John is an extremely well developed character. She is a normal, average woman who, when faced with extreme situations shows bravery, courage and strength of will that under normal circumstances would have been foreign to her. You immediately feel as if you're on the run with Grace, you grieve with her, feel frightened when she does and silently cheer when she perseveres. Linda Howard did an excellent job fleshing out this character and making her come to life for the reader.

The plot is well thought out and engaging, keeping you interested right from the first. There are quite a few twists and turns that will keep you absorbed as you try to figure out the intricacies of the plot.

I did have a few problems with the book, however, thus causing me to only give it four stars. It would deserve five had a few things been resolved. Though termed a romance novel, I didn't feel there was quite enough romance included to justify that classification. I was left wanting at the end, thirsting for more interaction between the hero and heroine. Most of my feelings of disappointment stem from the fact that the hero and heroine only meet roughly 100 pages before the book ends. I'm accustomed to having more time with characters, seeing how they grow and love together. I did like the supernatural connection between Grace and Niall that made them aware of each other before they'd ever met -- it brought a feeling of depth to their love that would have been missing had that aspect not been included. Most of all, I don't feel the character of Niall was explored enough. The reader spends an enormous amount of time with Grace, getting to know her, feeling with her -- but is only given what feels like a glimpse of Niall. He is a remarkable character, sensual, brave, and strong and I feel cheated that I wasn't given the chance to know him more.

I can only hope that Ms. Howard plans to write again of Grace and Niall. Both of these characters deserve another book where their love can be explored. If you're looking for an adventurous book with murder and mayhem around every corner, _Son of the Morning_ will probably suit you fine. However, if you're searching for a romance novel that will take you on a journey of feelings, you should probably look elsewhere. Don't misunderstand me, I really enjoyed the book, it just wasn't quite what I was expecting.

Linda Howard's Son of the Morning is a book that I will keep and no doubt read again, which I don't often do. Having just completed the series by Diana Gabaldon, Outlander, and wondering what I would read while waiting for the next book in the series, I decided to read Son of the Morning.

Once I read the first few pages I was hooked on this book. For those of you not familiar with the Outlander series it's a time-travel Scottish romance and Son of the Morning is also a time-travel Scottish romance. That is where the similarity ends because Linda Howard has written a book that stands on it's own merit.

The main character is a woman, Grace St. John, who translates ancient manuscripts for Parrish Sawyer the head of an archaeological foundation. Grace is currently translating documents from the 14th century concerning a group of monks called the Knights of the Templar and their mysterious treasure. They were monks but they were also warriors, the best and most fierce warriors in the land. Thus far Grace has translated enough of the documents to know that King Philip and Pope Clement executed and tortured many of the Knights of the Templar in 1307 to find and gain control of their gold and the legendary treasure. The Grand Master of the Knights ordains that the best warrior of the Order, Niall of Scotland, will watch over and protect the treasures. Niall, or Black Niall as he is called, establishes a strong hold in Creag Dhu, a castle in Scotland to hide and protect the treasure and he is known as The Guardian.

Grace's life suddenly and violently changes when she witnesses Parrish Sawyer murder her husband Ford and her brother Bryant. She over hears Sawyer's plan to find and murder her as well to get the documents she is translating. Grace begins a year of running for her life from Parrish Sawyer and his hired assassins. While Grace is struggling to survive in the street and hide from her pursuers she knows she must finish translating the documents so she can discover what is in them that Sawyer was willing to kill for. Grace goes through a major transformation while she is in hiding and struggling to survive.

After Grace completes the translation and learns the secret of the documents she knows she must travel back in time to the 14th century to Creag Dhu and Niall of Scotland in order to stop the Foundation from finding the secret treasure and using it for their evil ends. Since time travel was one of the secret powers of the Knights of the Templar, the documents contained detail instructions on how to travel back in time.

I literally could not put this book down. It's exciting, intriguing and adventurous. The reader is taken back and forth between the 14th century with Niall and present day with Grace's hair-raising narrow escapes from the killers.

I highly recommend Son of the Morning to anyone who enjoys time travel stories, adventure, and romance. And especially to readers who are fans of the Outlander series, I promise you'll love this book!

I read this book on a whim last year and i have read it several times since then! The story captivated me from the very beginning.
Grace St. John is a researcher translating old documents that talk of a treasure and the Knights Templar. After suffering a tragic loss (Iwon't give too much away) she is on the run and furiously translating the key to the mystery, and trying to escape the danger that is chasing her. She has dreams about a gorgeous warrior, and he knows she is there...they're not dreams, but quasi-visions of another time. She eventually travels back in time and confronts the man of her dreams- literally, and tries to save the world.
The heroine was gutsy and strong, brilliant and determined, while still being feminine. the secondary characters were wonderful and the hero...wow...totally male and sexy. I thouroughly enjoyed both the basic plot (I am an historian and archaeologist with a weakness for romance) and the incredible love story that is constructed around these two wonderful individuals.

"Son of the Morning" will have you crying, up all night and it's a hot, hot read! It's been almost two months since I've read this book and it's still on my mind. I don't believe I have ever read a book that so completely taps all the emotions. "Son of the Morning" had me laughing, crying, angry, and happy. Throughout the entire book I was pulling for Grace and rejoicing with her when she kept eluding Parrish and hoping with her to hurry up and meet Niall. Surprisingly it is more than three-fourths through the books when Grace and Niall actually meet, but it does not detract from the story at all...especially with the hot dream-communication. It was so good to finally meen Niall and have him be even better in real life than he was in Grace's dreams. And the love scenes! Whew! It was worth waiting almost 300 pages for! She should have named this one "dream man" because Niall is a fantasy like no other. This is my favorite Linda Howard, but I haven't even read the MacKenzie series yet... Bravo Linda Howard! This is one that doesn't even get lent out!

Linda Howard is a frustrating writer to read: when she is good -this novel, Mr. Perfect, Kill and Tell - she is very very good, but when she is bad - An Independent Wife, Dream Man - she is excruciatingly bad. Mostly this is because her male characters are uniformly alpha males who develop an instant unswerving devotion to the female characters, who are uniformly "nice girls" who are delicate, quiet, and need rescue. This is a very fine line to walk and still try to portray the heroine as anything more than a witless idiot.

Son of the Morning, however, is LH at the top of her form. The mystery/intrigue aspect of this story is by far the most involved of her writing career, casting Grace St. John as an ancient language expert out to thwart a secret society that killed her husband and brother. LH even blends time travel into the story in a way worthy of scifi writers. LH takes the time to develop the characters fully, fleshing out (sorry, bad pun) Grace's character to truly explain her actions, and dwelling more on Niall's (the hero) intelligence and battle skills than his looks and physical attributes (don't worry, though, they are mentioned!).

This is, in fact, the only book by LH that I have ever read, including her latest, that could stand alone without a "romance" label slapped on it. Which would be a shame, because this is the most mature, realistic romance she has ever created (even considering the whole time travel issue). The romance builds slowly - from different centuries even! - and provides some genuine reason for the passion between the two. One of my major issues with LH is her habit of tossing the hero and heroine together for a week or two of crisis, during which time the previously non-committal male decides that the heroine is his wife-to-be/mother-to-be of his child, often without any real explanation to the reader. While the courtship here is not lengthy, it is the deepest of any of her other writings.

So savor this book! I have read it a few times, and still pick up something new every time!

this is one of those great love stories that I hate to see end. Well, I call it a love story, but actually the story itself is more about the good vs. evil plot. Once again, Linda Howard has written an excellent story. It has most everything I love in a romance novel - suspence, non-stop action/adventure, a sweet but very intelligent heroine (who learns all about taking care of herself), a tall, dark, gorgeous, sexy as **** hero, a great storyline, very hot love scenes; there is also an unexpected paranormal element (sp?) that I've never read in LH books, but that I really enjoyed. (Man, to have dreams like THAT! lol) I really liked the way LH let me come to really know the characters... I knew just exactly how Grace St. John felt & why she felt that way; I knew about her life & her feelings for those around her. It was the same with Niall of Scotland - I could feel his anger, his pain, his aloneness, his feelings for Grace... oh man (big sigh).
The romance in this book bloomed slowly, well over the course of the book - from 7 centuries apart.... no rush to fall in bed & fall in love based on what happened in bed. I really enjoyed that. (Rushed feelings about love after falling in lust tend to make me roll my eyes.) I really appreciated the fact that Grace didn't just forget about what her husband had meant to her... her love for him was not diminshed by her feelings for Niall.
LH also wrote about a number of secondary characters that I could really get to know & appreciate also... they all had an integral part of the story.
If you like action/adventure in your romances - this one should certainly trip-your-trigger; it kept moving, threw in lots of unexpected surprises, & really kept me enthralled. A definite recommend.