Morna's Legacy Series (Scottish Time Travel Romance)

I love time travel and I love Scottish highland stories. With that being said, I must add that I enjoyed this series from USA Today's Bestselling Author, Bethany Claire. Morna, a witch from the 17^th century went forward in time to provide her family assistance from the future. Morna’s goal is to prevent a tragedy that would have killed her whole clan as well as aiding her male relatives in finding love. My favorites were books 1 and 3.

 

 "Love Beyond Time," Book 1, is Bri’s story. 21^st century Bri trades places with her look-a-like from the 17^th century. There is a struggle on both sides of time. Each trying to return to their own time (external struggle) and the “I don’t want to go, but I don’t want to be selfish” element (internal struggle). There is also the element of danger; no story is complete without a villain.

   

 "Love Beyond Reason," Book 2, wasn’t as exciting, but still good nonetheless. The villain from book 1 left behind a mess for book 2 to clean up. Book 2's villain sprouts out of this mess. It focuses on the 17^th century look-a-like, Blaire. There is more time travel and some twists. Bri’s friend, Mitsy, from the 21^st century is introduced. There is villain on villain betrayal. A clan shows its lack of loyalty and Blaire finally gets her guy. The most interesting part is the villain on villain betrayal and the hiccup in the match making department.

There is also a book 2.5 that tells Adele's, Bri's mom, story. I thought Adele would fall for Blaire’s dad, but the closer husband allows her to be closer to Bri. This is the one book that I did not read. It also had good reviews so don’t make my same mistake I did, check it out.

"Love Beyond Hope," Book 3, is awesome. It tells Mitsy’s story and her journey to the past. I love her character. The villain in this story is unsuspected and the author does a good job at not giving it away too early. It features a brother who is wrongly accused, a hardened heart that is softened and friends who are reunited. In the end, Mitsy’s new brother-in-law uses her trip back to the 21^st century to seek medical assistance which then leads to book 4.

"Love Beyond Measure," Book 4, moves kind of slow. It tells Eoghanan’s, Mitsy’s brother-in-law, story. Just when you thought, “no villain, just character struggles,” the villain appears. I fell in love with little Cooper; he is adorable, intelligent and insightful. By the end of the story, Cooper is Eoghanan’s stepson; their honeymoon spot is awesome (I would like to thank Bethany for that imagery). When everyone finally makes it back to the 17^th century, book 3 villain’s helpmate is waiting and wants revenge. Of course Morna is not having that; she makes a guest appearance in the 17^th century to offer assistance.

 "In Due Time," Book 4.5,  tells Jeffery’s story. Jeffery is Cooper’s dad. Confused yet? As I was reading book 4, I was curious as to how that would play out. I don’t want to give too much away, but Cooper gets to enjoy both his dad and step-dad in the 17^th century. If you want to know the details…read the book. Cooper, as insightful as ever, feels that his dad is lonely and seeks help from Morna. As a result, both Cooper’s aunt and her best friend end up in the 17^th century as well. A short novella to fill in the gaps as we await book 5.

What I didn’t like about this series is the lack of explanation for the 21^st century arrivals. While Bri’s story might fly, that doesn’t explain Adele or the presence of anyone else. By the end of book 4.5, there are 9 people spread between 2 clans who all come from the 21^st century. It’s unrealistic for anyone to believe the story of them being from "far away."

My only other complaint would be the character development of Eoghanan. In book 3, I pictured him as being a smaller, more fragile, studious-like person, although, it states that he is taller than his brother. Book 4 fully develops his character for me. Eoghanan gained body and strength in my imagination; His character developed both physically and emotionally between the two books. I saw the character traits from book 3 merge with the man in book 4; meaning that his character development was lacking in book 3 and more developed in book 4 in my opinion.

Overall, a good series! I would definitely recommend to my time travel and/or romance fans. They may have had unrealistic explanations for their presence in the 17^th century, but they were definitely entertaining.

Pictures copied from: http://www.bethanyclaire.com/love-beyond-time.php

Book descriptions can be found here also.

Tourist Trapped (Suspense)

I really enjoyed this book. It had some slow patches, but not enough to deter you. While it can pass as a stand alone book, it left me hanging. I wanted to know how the main characters relationship would pan out. It left them solving the mystery, but still facing danger.

 As soon as I began to feel a sense of phoniness with the responses they received while investigating, it began to become more realistic. I did however feel that the main character’s actions did not match her age, but hey…you're only as old as you feel. 

I’m not one to carry a grudge, nor have I experienced sibling usurping, so I know my opinion is biased, but I thought she was too old to still be feeling the “I hate my dad cause my parents divorced and that’s not my sister” thing. The author laid the issues on thick though to kind of validate her actions. Even if she felt it underneath, she was too old to be acting so petulant about it. The good thing is that the situation made her realize it wasn’t worth it. 

The author did a good job of betraying the main character, Amanda, as a hard-ass and she made me loyal to Chad. Good job with character development!

Patiently awaiting the next installment. There is an excerpt at the end for it and it is definitely a cliff hanger.

Book Description and Picture copied from: http://www.kjklemme.com/tourist-trapped/

Tourist Trapped: Book One in the Trapped trilogy

Crackerjack divorce attorney Amanda Sloane spends her life defending the soon-to-be-ex-wives of Chicago’s upper crust, but her orderly world begins to crumble when her estranged father persuades her to help search for the half-sister she’s resented for thirty years.

Amanda drags along computer-geek-turned-attorney Chad Cooper, and together they chase across the Yucatan, pursuing an ever-changing string of leads. On their trek through the tropics, the duo encounters treacherous alliances, attacks on their associates, and a deadline for a hefty ransom.

Amanda digs up more than clues when their search collides with the past she believed long buried. Old memories chip away at pretenses, threatening to crush Amanda’s carefully constructed life.

Time is running out. When the bullets start to fly, Amanda and Chad wonder: who will escape Cancun?

The Mortal Instruments (Urban Fantasy)

Kudos’s to New York Times Best Selling Author, Cassandra Clare. “The Mortal Instruments Series” was awesome. 5 stars! I just finished reading the last installment, “The City of Heavenly Fire.” She does an excellent job of tying it all together; referencing previous items or events. Everyone’s stories tie up and others are just beginning. Yes, there will be a new series and yes, I will be reading it.

“The City of Heavenly Fire” (* Spoiler Alert*)

A rune that appeared to Clary in “The City of Bones” reappeared to her periodically and it is what she used to contain the heavenly fire. And yes, she did finally lose her virginity.

There were a lot of unexpected events in the last installment. Of course Sebastian and his army were the villains. There was downworlder betrayal. Mia and Simon both had special moments; not together mind you. Of course good wins over evil, but evil is never done.

The downworlder betrayal will extend into the next series and I can’t wait. By the way, we meet Magnus’ father in the “City of Heavenly Fire,” but it definitely had a price. Also, Simon and Isabel finally DTR’ed; for it to be snatched away again. Read it and find out the details.

If I had to point out a flaw/con, for me it would be the oasis (my definition) in the demon realm. Besides moments of bliss, what was its significance? I was expecting it to be used for something special, for them to go back there after they realized their dilemma. 

Anyway, good book overall. I would definitely recommend.

“The City of Bones”: Movie vs. Book

Now, what I don’t understand is how such a good book could do so bad as a movie. Granted, I liked the movie when I 1^st watched it. It’s what motivated me to read the book; I had to find out if they were brother and sister. Since the movie was 1^st for me, most of the characters look the same in my imagination. Except for:

§  Magnus looking a little more Asian then movie betrayed.

§  Isabel looking younger and daintier then the movie betrayed.

§  And of course Valentine who has light hair (almost white) in the book vs. the dark haired Valentine of the movie.

Events and concepts are even changed/altered in the movie. Differences include:

§  Simon being forcibly taken in the movie as a bargaining tool for the cup vs. him turning into a rat in the book and then mistaken for a vampire and taken back to their lair by accident.

§  In the movie all 4 shadowhunters enter the lair to retrieve Simon, whereas, the book only has Jace and Clary entering the lair to retrieve Simon (who is still a rat). This is also were Raphael (important vampire) is introduced. He reappears in later books, but is never mentioned in the movies.

§  When the werewolves came to assist at the vampire lair, Clary stabs Luke, but in the book it is Alaric that she stabs

§  Also the motorcycle that is driven away at the end…That was supposed to be a vampire motorcycle identical to the one that Jace and Clary (with Simon in pocket) drove off of the vampire lair’s roof; yes, it flies.

§  The movie shows demons entering the Institute and the portal being there as well, whereas, the book has the portal at a different location; Renwick’s, I believe. The fight is at this location and the wolves fight forsaken not demons.

§  At the end of the movie, Clary has the cup in the storage card. In the book, the card disappears as soon as Clary removes the cup from it. The book also ends with Valentine still in possession of the Mortal Cup.

While I’m looking forward to the next movie installment, I hope that they improve the story line making it closer to the book with a lot less deviations; I only listed a few from “The City of Bones.” “The City of Ashes” is rumored to come out in 2015. Now that everyone has read the books the criticisms will probably be harsher. Like I stated earlier, I liked the movie until I read the book. Will I go see “The City of Ashes” when/if it comes out? Of course. I just hope that I’m not going to be disappointed. 

Image and excerpt from: http://www.cassandraclare.com/

Cassandra Clare writes urban fantasy novels for young adults centering on the adventures of the part-angel demon-fighting Nephilim (also called Shadowhunters). Her first series, set in New York, is called The Mortal Instruments. It’s a six-book series starting with City of Bones, followed by City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels and City of Lost Souls. The sixth book, City of Heavenly Fire, ends the series. Her second series is The Infernal Devices, set in Victorian London: Clockwork Angel, Clockwork Prince,and Clockwork Princess. And the third Shadowhunters series is The Dark Artifices, set in Los Angeles, centering on the characters Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs from City of Heavenly Fire, five years after the events of that book.

Highland Werewolf Series (Paranormal Romance)

I recently finished reading USA TODAY bestselling and award-winning author, Terry Spear’s, “Highland Werewolf Series.” While this is the first 4 books in this series, it is also included in her “Heart of the Wolf Series” as books 7, 10, 11 and 14 respectively.

Terry presents the best take on werewolves yet! It’s not time travel or historical, but it kind of gives you the best of both worlds; wolves  that age slowly so that they’ve lived over a few centuries and still hold to that way of life meeting modern-day she-wolves to mate.

I have to give her 4 stars. Once I started I wanted to finish. Book 1 leads to book 2. Book 3 has an 18^th century prologue. Book 4 introduces new characters and each book is stand alone. The endings do not leave you hanging. 

Each book is full of ancient castles, manor houses, kilted highlanders and even includes a ghost. On the flip side, they’ve included modern day appliances, cars and cell phones. The clans still live by their ancient codes and the main characters meet she-wolves that have adapted to modern-day society and lack a pack/clan of their own. The plots include the alpha wolf struggle to tame the alpha she-wolf.

If I had to claim a flaw, I would point out the enemy from book 1 stating that he set-up the MacNeill clan to lose money through investments. The problem is that in book 2, where the investor appeared, the investor didn’t know that they were a werewolf clan. There is the possibility that the investor didn’t actually know as they didn’t physically meet and the investor was just forwarded to them, but there was no mention of book 1’s enemy in book 2. That was an opportunity to tie it together that she missed.

I assumed that that book 4 would marry off the last quadruplet, but Terry introduces a neighboring clan with triplet brothers; marrying off the clan chief to the manor’s owner. The clan chief happens to be a good friend of Ian’s, from book 1, and his mate happens to be Ian’s mate’s best friend. So, of course, the MacNeill’s are not forgotten.

The 4 book set sold by Amazon features an excerpt from book 5, Highland Wolf Christmas. The focus returns to the MacNeill family and the last quadruplet. Of course I’ll be downloading that next. Good read. Would definitely recommend to all highland/werewolf/paranormal fans.

Picture and description clipped from:
http://www.amazon.com/Highland-Werewolf-Boxed-Heart-Wolf-ebook/dp/B00NT4ISQM/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416260851&sr=1-2&keywords=heart+of+the+highland+wolf

Book Description:

The Highland Werewolf Boxed Set contains the first four books in Terry Spear's Highland Werewolf series.
In Heart of the Highland Wolf a modern werewolf laird and a beautiful red female werewolf enter into an intrigue involving the laird's secretive clan, an ancient relic, and a romance novel. Has this wiley female met her perfect hero?

In A Howl for a Highlander the driven Duncan MacNeill has left his highland home to chase a thief into a tropical paradise. When he meets lone wolf and botanist Shelley Campbell on Grand Cayman Island, he'll discover just how tempting paradise can be.

Scottish Cearnach MacNeill and sexy little American werewolf Elaine Hawthorn collide, quite literally, on a foggy Highland road in A Highland Werewolf Wedding. Now they're stuck with each other while they wait for help to arrive, and it's going to be a delightful, steamy and devilishly funny wait.

She's never been to Scotland, but when werewolf Colleen Playfair learns she must spend a year and a day in the highlands learning to manage her new estate, she's up for the challenge. But she did count on the stubborn Grant MacQuarrie whose clan has been managing the castle for the last three centuries and will do anything it takes, including taking Colleen to bed, to convince her that nothing needs to change in A Hero of a Highland Wolf.