Customer Reviews

Wild Bells to the Wild Sky

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oh, Laurie McBain was such a great romance writer! I really wish her books would go back into print so that today's writers and readers can see how it was done! Along with Virginia Henley and Beatrice Small, McBain's stories were some of the very first historical romances I ever read (way, way back in high school). They are true classics of the genre.

This a romance / adventure / coming of age story between Elizabethan era Lily Christian and her sea-dog pirate captain, Valentine Whitelaw. While this is not an overtly sexual story (try Ms. Small's Skye O'Malley for that), it does contain one of the best romances I ever read. It contains everything great about the Elizabethan period, brave sea-dogs, bad Spanish spies, the new world, faires, and even a small cameo from Shakespeare.

Truly this is a classic historical romance read. It's one that I hold all other up to.

Lily Christian's father was a dashing English Captain in the time of Queen Elizabeth I. However, due to the political intrigues of the day, her father was murdered while Lily, her spanish mother Magdalena, and the family friend, Sir Basil, were left stranded upon a desert isle.

There, Magdalena gave birth to Lily's brother, Tristram. In time, as no rescue appeared, Magdalena and Basil grew to love each other and had a girl child, Dulcie. Magdalena and Basil contracted fevers from some shipwrecked sailors and died. The three children continued to live alone on the island until the appearance of Basil's brother, Captain Valentine Whitelaw,who had come to rescue them.

In England, the children adjusted to civilized life with much difficulty. Basil's wife, sister, and son, Simon, welcomed them but legally, Lily and Tristram were under the guardianship of Lily's relative, Hartwell Barclay. The children did not want to be separated and Dulcie also went with them to Hartwell. Lily grew into a beautiful woman and, soon, Simon fell in love with her. Hartwell also began to desire her and, after a botched attack on Lily that seemed to end in Hartwell's accidental death, she and her siblings fled to the gypsies for fear of their lives.

The gypsy, Romney Lee, loved Lily also and allowed them to travel with his group of entertainers. Lily and the children created a puppet show to earn a living, telling an old fantasy story Basil had always told them on the island. However, when old enemies saw the puppet show and realized it's true meaning, Lily and her family were in danger once more.

Once again, Valentine appeared, back from trips at sea. He did not recognize the grown up Lily and he, too, desired her. Amid some misunderstandings and anger, it was determined that they must return to the island to pick up Basil's journal with all the proof they needed to solve multiple problems facing them. On the island, Lily and Valentine finally became lovers and managed to gather the journal and hidden treasure. All of which contributed to a happy ending, at last.

The good point about this story is that I actually read this books ages ago and never forgot about the couple being stranded on a desert island who grew to love each other. It certainly makes one think. The fact that Basil had a family, still, back home only adds to the whole complicated situation. What if they had all survived and returned home?

That said, as a romance, I didn't care for this book at all. The first half of the book is dedicated to the time the children spent growing up on the island. Then another quarter is spent on the children growing up in England and escaping from their guardian. By the time the hero and heroine actually really spend time together as adults in a relationship, the book is over.

This book doesn't compare to McBain's other books, such as Moonstruck Madness, which I highly recommend.

Great book, even if it not as spicy as many of the time period. The adventures and the main characters keep you turning pages!

WILD BELLS TO THE WILD SKY, By Laurie McBain,is a marvelous read. This is my second reading of this book and I enjoyed it as much as I did the first time. Laurie McBain only wrote about seven books--that I've been able to find--and she is an excellent historical romance writer that captures the period of her settings remarkably. In this book, Lilly Christian is stranded on an island with her mother, brother, half-sister, and Sir Basil, an agent to Queen Elizabeth Tudor in 1558, and is rescued seven years later by Valentine Whitelaw, the man who will later become the love of her life. With traitors plotting to overthrow Elizabeth to put Mary Stuart on the throne, Lilly Christian becomes a target of the traitors because she accidently overheard something she shouldn't have and because Sir Basil kept a journal with notations about the plot against Elizabeth, which Lilly has carefully hidden away. The story is suspenseful and keeps the interest level high. A great book for lovers of historical romance.

This is one of those books that is too hard to recap the plot without giving it all away (as another reviewer has done), but I will try to do my best...

Lily is the daughter of English privateer Geoffrey Christian and Spanish noblewoman Magdalena Montevares (he'd taken one look, fell in love and snatched her whilst raiding her father's ship). Years later, Magdalena returns to the West Indies with her husband and seven-year old daughter to see her mother before she dies. Also on board ship is Sir Basil, who is a spy of sorts on the trail of evil baddies conspiring against Queen Elizabeth.

Magdalena patches things up with her father, but her brother-in-law still holds a grudge against Geoffrey and he ambushes Geoffrey's ship on the return voyage - the ship is sunk and all are presumed lost. Or are they? Years later Sir Basil's brother Valentine Whitelaw hears rumors that Geoffrey had sent Magdalena, Lily and Sir Basil to an island close by for safety and they might still be alive...

And the hunt is on and that's all I'm going to tell. This is definitely one of those 80's romances with everything but the kitchen sink thrown in - stranded on a desert island, a jaguar a monkey and a saucy parrot (!!), privateers, lost treasure, spies, gypsies, and an evil grasping guardian all tied into plots to murder the queen. While I liked this a lot, and as much as I like to hear the smaller historical details about clothing, food, etc., I think McBain got a bit carried away with it all. I think that was partly aggravated by the length of time (and book!!) it took to get to the *meat* of the story - yes things were always happening, but at the same time you don't get a grown up Lily until halfway through the book and you will not get your first searing kiss until around page 400 - and you'll be waiting even longer for the payola - and for that I'm knocking off a half star and rating it 3.5 rounded up to four.

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!! lol My uncle gave me this book years ago because he got it in the mail (forgot to send in the card)but didn't want it. Well I was captured in an instant and fasinated with the whole book. Then I lost it...don't know how but over the years I did. Then online I checked to see if it was anywhere and bingo..Amazon. Thank you very much Amazon for taking me back to that island.

This is a fabulous book! Laurie McBain writes in a style that keeps you interested from cover to cover. This book has an engaging story filled with great history, lots of exciting adventure and of course, romance of the kind you dream of. I was able to completely lose myself in this book and have read it several times.

This is the best book I have ever read. I fell in love with thedashing Valentine. Everytime I read this book I get chills down myspine.

I loved this book, it was great. the characters are so lovable, the story is full of suspense. It is not like most of the other lovestory, which emphasise on sex, but there is a real good STORY, but still there is enough romantic and love in this book. I simply couldn't put it down. buy it, you won't be dissappointed.