A Highlander for Christmas

click here for more details, find new or used items	Sandy Blair Our price £4.79 (£5.99) New from £3.88 Used from £0.01 Pages: 304 (Paperback) ISBN: 0821779974 Pub: Zebra Books Pub date: 2007-10-31 Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 311819

Reader Reviews:

18th century Highlander in modern-day America (3/3 people found this helpful)

A Highlander For Christmas explores what it might be like for a Highland Warrior if he finds himself transported from Scotland in 1745 to Boston in 2007. Sir Cameron MacLeod's foster mother has seen the future and knows the disaster that the Battle of Culloden will be for her clan; consequently with a bit of magic she 'hides' Cameron in an acorn in a box, planning to release him when the aftermath of the battle has settled down. Unfortunately for her she doesn't realise the seriousness of the after-battle events in Scotland and that she won't be able to release Cam. Instead the box with it's secret opening mechanism is handed down through the ages until it eventually arrives with Claire MacGregor, antique shop proprietress, who had befriended an old Scottish man who leaves her his personal effects - including the box. When Claire opens the box and finds herself confronted with a 6 foot 5 naked Scottish warrior her life is turned upside down.

Sandy Blair writes very amusingly of how Cam finds modern-day America. He doesn't know half of the rules, is introduced to cars, trains, elevators, escalators and more. His behaviour isn't appropriate for his situation and soon finds himself in trouble with the law. However his natural charm helps him to make friends with Claire's neighbour and most women who cross his path. Claire's alternate exasperation and friendliness with Cam are well written; she has to spend a great deal of money to keep him out of prison, to clothe and feed him, and yet his sense of honour means he feels he has to fend for himself, often with unfortunate consequences.

Cam's mission is to return to his own time to try to change history and he and Claire spend a lot of effort trying to locate a witch to reverse the spell. However, Claire may find as the time comes for him to return that she doesn't want to be without him - and what about Cam?

The characterisation in the book is fairly basic (Cam is an alpha warrior, charming but also rather apt to put his foot in it; Claire is an independent but lonely woman who has doubts about her own attractiveness) and neither of them particularly change. The interest in the book is how Cam learns to adapt to his new time and whether he will be able to return. The romance is one of propinquity and lust rather than any deep connection between the two but it's reasonably well written and is believable.

There was one disappointment with this book, which was the pacing. Right until the end of the book the plot unfolded at a good speed, always keeping the reader's interest and giving the characters time to get to know each other and to accommodate to the change in circumstances. However at the very end the plot suddenly speeded up with almost an entire year covered in a dozen pages and an important family reunion glossed over within a few paragraphs. It felt rather as if the author had lost interest and it also rather changed the relationship between hero and heroine (who apparently barely speak to each other for a year, despite being deeply in love). I felt that this part of the book should have been fleshed out some more, and some explanation given as to how Cam felt about hiding his job from Claire for the best part of a year so that she felt abandoned.

Still, all in all it's an enjoyable enough read with some amusing moments and it certainly gives the reader the chance to imagine the huge differences in the daily lives of people in today's world compared to Scotland of the 1740s.

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