May 272013
Child of the Mist (These Highland Hills, Book 1)
In the harsh Scottish highlands of 1565, superstition and treachery threaten a truce between rival clans. It’s a weak truce at first, bound only by an arranged engagement between Anne MacGregor and Niall Campbell-the heirs of the feuding families.
While Niall wrestles with his suspicions about a traitor in his clan, Anne’s actions do not go unnoticed. And as accusations of witchcraft abound, the strong and sometimes callous Campbell heir must fight for Anne’s safety among disconcerted cla
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A promising mix of romance, faith, history, and suspense,
Romance, faith, history and suspense will keep readers turning the pages of CHILD OF THE MIST, this well-paced first installment of Kathleen Morgan’s series “These Highland Hills.”
It’s 1564, and for eight years there has been bitter feuding between the MacGregor and Campbell clans. To bring about the end of the feud, Anne MacGregor must leave her father’s castle in Western Perthshire, Scotland to “handfast” with the brooding, dark-haired Niall Campbell, “Wolf of Cruachan,” tanist and successor to the chieftainship. Yet, despite their union, Clan MacGregor (nicknamed “Children of the Mist,” from which the book gets its title) may be doomed to lose its lands through the treachery of the Campbells.
Barely 18 years old, Anne is already a wonderful healer, skilled with herbs and in midwifery. Her strange gray eyes and remarkable healing abilities spawn uneasy rumors, and some call her the “Witch of Glenstrae.” Yet Anne looks only to Jesus for help and assistance, and refuses to let rumors keep her from her divinely appointed work. “I’ve a God-given gift to help others. Just because my talents lie in paths different from most women, I cannot serve the Lord by hanging back in fear.”
A romantic relationship is the last thing on the mind of the handsome Niall, who still mourns the loss of his wife, also named Anne, and their son in childbirth. But he cares deeply for his clan, and an alliance with the MacGregors seems the best way to bring peace to the land.
The ancient custom of “handfasting,” a man and woman pledged to each other and living together without marriage, will be new to many readers. Morgan explains that handfasting was socially acceptable at this time in Scotland — the woman suffered no loss of reputation if it didn’t result in marriage. (Handfasting is still practiced today but mostly associated with non-Christian religions.) Anne insists on chastity during the handfasting, which adds sexual tension to the story, as the widowed Niall strives to keep his promise not to take advantage of Anne (which becomes more and more difficult for him as he spends time in her company). While angry at her situation, Anne also finds herself “stirred” by him….
Well, you can guess the rest. The way the romance will end is telegraphed to readers from the moment Anne curses Niall in the early pages and muses, “even the thought of touching him sickened her, vile, vicious beast that he was…” (Isn’t it always the man the protagonist hates who she ends up falling desperately in love with?). Although Niall obviously desires her, right up until the end there is the “he loves me, he loves me not” sort of worries by Anne. No surprises here.
The real suspense comes in discovering who else is working behind the scenes to usurp Niall as leader of the clan. Is it Uncle Duncan, with the cold, steely eyes? Is it Hugh, a cousin of Niall’s who everyone believes has gone mad after betrayal by his love, Dora (who is burned at the stake)? Or is it Nelly, the voluptuous serving wench who tempts Niall with her seductiveness? Is it handsome and charming Cousin Iain, who falls in love with Anne and may have designs on becoming chief? Or could it be the harsh clergyman, who is zealous in his persecution of witches? Morgan knows how to spin out the suspense right up until the very end.
Although dialect can be tricky and has been the downfall of more than one good novel set in an exotic historic locale, Morgan uses the Scottish brogue with discretion, enriching the story. There are a few unfortunate moments, such as when Niall compares a man taming Anne’s strong spirit with a man taming a spirited filly. It’s a tired analogy that crops up in too many romance novels. And occasionally readers will find themselves confronted with unusual Scottish words, such as “clarsach,” “murrain” and “tanist,” some of which can be figured out from their context in the story, while others are a bit more elusive.
However, CHILD OF THE MIST is a smoothly told historical Scottish romance, complete with clan feuds, interesting characters, historical details, and Christian faith versus superstition. It’s a promising start to the series.
— Reviewed by Cindy Crosby. Contact Cindy at phrelanzer@aol.com.
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|A weak three stars,
Child of the Mist is the third book I’ve read by Kathleen Morgan (I’m not counting the one I couldn’t finish). Like the other two, this one is set in the Highlands of 16th century Scotland and focuses on the romance between a gorgeous, hunky Highlander and a beautiful Scottish lassie who is thrown together with him through the actions of her manipulative father. And like in the other two books, there is never any doubt that these two people are going to fall in love and live happily ever after; although the ending is a foregone conclusion, the book is nevertheless a fun-but-fluffy ride through their trials, tribulations and sparring on their road to true happiness.
However, Child of the Mist is the weakest of the three Kathleen Morgan books I’ve read so far (again, not counting the one I DNF’d). Prior to writing Christian fiction she wrote romances for the general market, and that is evident in this book (as it is in As High As The Heavens). It’s probably no coincidence that both of these books were originally published as mainstream romances years ago, then cleaned up and re-published as Christian fiction years later. Although the sex scenes have been removed, so the book is technically clean and appropriate for readers of Christian fiction, the heavy petting and preoccupation of each main character with the other’s physical attributes were not removed. The result is a romance based on mutual lust which neverthless remains chaste: a weird combination, and one that many readers of Christian fiction may not be comfortable with. Indeed, I wouldn’t be comfortable recommending this book to any of my Christian friends.
Although the basic story idea of Child of the Mist is a good one, it is weakly developed with too much attention given to the aforementioned love scenes between the two main characters and not enough attention given to everything else that was supposed to be going on around them. Outside of the love scenes, the characters’ actions and dialogue was handled with a lack of depth and deftness that often descended into downright amateurish writing — such as when Anne declares “I am a Christian!” (a line that was obviously shoe-horned in as part of the Christianization of the original book) or when she whirls around in circles exclaiming “I love Niall! I love Niall!” The “suspense” over who was the traitor within the Campbell clan was no mystery whatsoever; the author made it obvious from the start that it was one of two people and, although I kept expecting/hoping for a surprise twist to reveal that it was someone else entirely, alas, it was one of those two people.
In spite of all my criticisms this isn’t a terrible book — I’ve certainly read better but I’ve also read worse. It is simply a steamy romance that’s been cleaned up for the Christian market, and is held together by a weakly-written plotline. But if you are looking for yet another romance set in the Scottish Highlands and want something light, fast and fluffy to read, this should fit the bill.
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|Disappointing,
Had I read this book prior to reading Liz Curtis Higgs trilogy I might have given it a higher rating. But, after reading it on the heels of “Thorn In My Heart”, “Fair Is The Rose” and “Whence Came A Prince”…it doesn’t compare. The story line is under developed and the characters unbelievable. I enjoyed reading it, but my recommendation would be to spend the money and time on the Liz Curtis Higgs’ trilogy.
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