Scotland Books

Reviewed for queuemyreview.com
Goddesses, dragons, werewolves, prophecies, magic...this series has all those things that make my heart go pitty-pat. "Dark Highland Fire" is the second book in Kendra Leigh Castle's exciting tale of an alternate world where the balance has gone horribly wrong, and its connection to Earth. I read and loved her first book, "Call of the Highland Moon" which introduced a world just like ours where paranormal creatures run amok. Although it's not necessary to read the first book to enjoy this story, I'm glad I did. This second book continues and expands Castle's vision of both worlds which are exciting places I really enjoy visiting.

Rowan is a demi-goddess who is being chased by a dragon prince who wants her for his mate and isn't taking no for an answer. She barely escaped his first raid which resulted in the death of her mother and many of her tribal `sisters' and then only when her brother managed to `jump' into this strange Earth world. When her brother rescues her again, this time his jump lands them in another Earth land called Scotland. Then her brother has the nerve to leave her with an Arukhin (werewolf) named Gabriel! Even if Gabriel is stunningly gorgeous and makes her body tingle, she certainly doesn't need anybody's help...she's a demi-goddess for crying out loud!

Gabriel is the happy-go-lucky MacInnes. He's always been content to drift through life with heaping servings of wine, women, and song. Since his brother is next in line to be Alpha, he doesn't have to do anything more taxing than run his bar. Until the night a strange couple appears near the magic stone his clan guards and the male dumps his sister into Gabriel's arms with the responsibility to keep her safe and make sure she `feeds'?! Next thing Gabriel knows he's in it up to his furry ears with a woman who shoots fireballs from her fingertips and drinks blood! Who cares how sexy she is or how she makes him feel...did you not hear the blood part?

I'm enjoying the pace and plotting Castle has put into her world. Her characters are vivid and individual. Although Rowan's whole `don't need anybody' stance irritated me at first (hello? Your brother already saved you twice.), I guess if I was a demi-goddess, I'd feel the same way. And the more I learned about Rowan's character, the more her actions made sense. Same goes for Gabriel. Both have distinct traits and personalities which translated into the course and pace of their relationship.

I like the contemporary setting and you'll laugh at Rowan's first `job'...but it made sense considering. Castle also has a wicked pen and the tension and sexual overtones on almost every page are enough to require a fan! Her secondary characters have major roles in the story and make you hungry for a book about each one to see their fates. Thankfully, there are plenty of characters and I can only hope, plenty more books to come.

I'm enthralled by this series. Her history of the various races of both worlds and how some of them managed to cross to Earth is original and well-plotted. Each book provides more information on the customs and habits of each race. As soon as I finish one, I find myself irritated that I have to wait for the next one! Even after searching through her website (kendraleighcastle.com) and that of her publisher, I wasn't able to get a date for her next book. I'll just keep checking as I intend to grab a copy as soon as it hits the bookshelves!!

Dark Highland Fire by Kendra Leigh Castle is a romantic paranormal fantasy that draws you so deep within the soul of the story that all reality around you is completely shut out. Intensely romantic, sexual, breathtaking and crawl under your skin, mouth watering don't put it down, this novel should be on the New York Times Bestsellers list without a doubt. If you miss this novel and it's previous installment you are missing the most delicious books of the Century.

Rowan an Morgaine is a Goddess to be by birth and in her own right. A feminine warrior of sharp wit and equally sharp tongue, beauty befitting her station and that of her people, fearless of death, she is a woman to be reckoned with. Tall, long legs, flowing red hair that radiates fire and emerald green eyes that seer you to your soul, Rowan is so much more than delectably exquisite.

Gabriel MacInnes is second son of the pack of Werewolves designated to protect an ancient artifact that is the bridge to their ancient homeland in another world. Breathtaking is the understatement for this man. Tall, bronzed, long dark hair and eyes to melt your soul should the right women capture him. Most certainly a ladies man to the max. Though his station is second son it doesn't diminish the fact that Gods have a very special task made just for him. Will he be able to survive it is the question.

Rowan and her brother Bastien escape by the skin of their teeth from the slaughter that is befalling their people by the Andrakkar, the Dark Dragons. Their escape is short lived however once Lucien Andrakkar enlists the help of the daemon, creatures even more vile than the dragons themselves.

Again Rowan is found and is saved at the last moment by her brother only to be dropped into the hands of Gabriel MacInnes. Bastien makes Gabriel promise to protect his sister and feed her starving form. Gabriel cringes at the thought of having to protect a blood sucker as vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies, but he swears to do so anyway.

So the war is to begin between two worlds and creatures so vile just to think of them will make you cringe and want to hide beneath the covers. All this over the love of a stubborn pig headed woman that has crawled into the blood of two very dangerous adversaries. A war that is needed to right the wrongs of a species so noble and to unite two races unknown to each other for over a thousand years. Good vs. Evil, right vs. wrong, light vs. dark, but who will be the victor?

A love so pure that Rowan and Gabriel will be stunned that the Gods have chosen to throw the two of them together. Two people, one Werewolf, one Vampire that are so alike you wonder how this could possibly work.

"And are you always such a charming conversationalist, or is it just me?" he shot back, keeping his voice deliberately even. He didn't think it wise, when he knew so little of her, to let Rowan know he felt like throttling her every time she opened her mouth.

"It's you," she replied, not quite suppressing what appeared to be an amused quirk of her lips. "I know when I'm being a bi_ch."

This budding author is astounding to say the least. She has given us a paranormal romance intertwined with the realm of fantasy and a style of writing so smooth it's like the silky froth on the top of your favorite cappuccino. My heart longs for more of this families saga, my throat is desert parched with the ending of this installment, my need for more of this writer's decadence is critical. This series will forever be included into my permanent collection so that when my longing is too great, I can pull this novel up and quench my thirst once again.

Zis is a sehr gut book. Although a Schuey fan, I think Herr Coulthard ist a fein man and drive very fast. Zis book tells us why. He eats 3 shredded wheatz for breakfast, sausage for lunch and haggis in the evening, zis is the food of a fast man. Herr Rowlinson gives us lots of informations like zis. Vi have ways of making you buy it.

Let us not split hairs, Mr. Rowlinson writes as if he was David Coulthard's hairdresser - he has the inside info, he has the gossip, he takes us into all the permutations the intricate world of F1 holds. He keeps abreast of Coulthard's career, the ups, downs, his first Pole and his early exits, no holes barred. You need not be a Coulthard fan - if you like the thrust of F1, this book will put curls in your hair.

With such an amazing perception of human nature (complete with lumps and hard angles we all have but many authors ignore) George makes the characters live outside of the paper it is written on. There are times when you wish to reach through the pages of the novel and shake Hugh and yell "Don't you see? Watch out for the..." Of course you feel silly talking to the book but great ones will do that to a person, and assuredly, this is a great book. Full of truth (from one who was close to it) and unique and subtle twists, George touches on so many subjects and thoughts that the Victorian era seems alive to the modern reader. Keep a notepad handy to record all the wonderfully concise quotes in this gem.

David Elginbrod is a remarkable work in that it embodies the finest elements of style, characterization, plot and subplot development, and, of course, content or worth. Without appropriate content a book is a virtual wasteland after which the disillusioned reader feels as though he has sojourned in the desert, and, having encountered numerous mirages that promised but failed to provide relief, finds himself parched in spirit and soul with no oasis in sight.

This book will elicit the full gamut of emotions as well as provide a welcome array of spiritual and intellectual stimuli. The main character, Hugh Sutherland, is introduced as a congenial young man who wishes no more than to make his way in the world. After the death of his father he is forced by financial constraints to seek employment in order to complete his education. This employment is, of course, as a tutor on a small Scottish estate where he encounters the estate foreman or steward, David Elginbrod and his daughter, Margaret or Maggie.

Sutherland finds the Elginbrod family, although Christian in word and deed, to his liking when compared with the severe and mean manner of his employer. As a result, he finds himself at the Elginbrod cottage whenever time will permit, and begins tutoring both father and daughter. Although Hugh believes himself to be the educator, he will learn as he matures and discovers the various trials and tribulations that lie in his path that it was David, not he, who was, in fact, the real tutor.

MacDonald has excelled in the characters of David and Margaret Elginbrod, while providing a practical application of their teachings in the lives of Hugh Sutherland and those with whom he comes in contact.

Not only an exceptional spiritual work, David Elginbrod weaves a tale of ghosts, mysticism, the supernatural, and love in such a manner as to be both educational, spiritually-uplifting, and spellbinding. My sole regret was when I encountered the final page. I was prepared to begin anew.

I invite you to join Hugh Sutherland as he learns that it is not position, education, prominence, or power that makes a man, but the willingness to serve, with joy and humility, his fellowman thereby doing his Father's will.

> Andrew Ross' study of the life and work of David Livingstone is a worthy
> contribution to the literary corpus of this great man. Ross makes
> accessible the revealing nuances and context of this giant of the 19th
> century. There is special sensitivity to Livingstone because, like
> Livingstone, Ross is also a Scot and served as a missionary in Africa.
> His impressive knowledge of Africa and its history serve the reader
> well in grappling with both the facts and implications of what
> Livingstone did. His research is thorough and objective, while his
> portrayal is winsome and inspiring. This book is necessary for an
> accurate understanding of Livingstone. Reading it is a delightful
> experience!

This work, featuring many new and nuanced insights, is a wonderfully written story of a very determined missionary and explorer. As the author so ably describes, our modern knowledge of David Livingstone is heavily influenced by the fact that, in death, he has been made the icon for many causes. His legacy has been put to the service of, for instance, British imperial aspirations. But as the author recounts, Livingstone's complexity defies any neat categorization.

Livingstone was possessed of a ferocious curiosity. He was born into a life of poverty, but became both a medical doctor and an ordained minister. He fathered a large family from whom, due to his travels, he was often away. Both his physical endurance, and his capacity to withstand pain were prodigious. His respect and admiration for African cultures was incomprehensible to his contemporaries. Witnessing firsthand the depredations of the slave trade, he devised strategies for development that, had they been heeded, provided a chance for leaving African cultures intact.

Livingstone mapped the unknown interior of Africa. His expeditions were remarkable both in the beauty of the places "discovered", and the grueling physical and consequent emotional demands on the explorers. During Livingstone's final expedition, the American journalist H.M. Stanley so famously "found" Livingstone. The meeting is replete with irony, and the context and effect of this meeting are very movingly described. Very moving, as well, is the story of Livingstone's death in Africa, and the transport, by loyal friends, of his body fifteen hundred miles to the coast.

This book has everything you need, from photograph's (many other books don't), guided tours, timelines about the Scottish and Welsh heritage, detailed maps, full travel directions (by road, air, bus, train etc.), restaurant and pub suggestions, concise descriptions of places where to visit (museums, walks, distilleries, castles, cathedrals, quaint villages and ports and much, much more).

I bought this book for my holidays but when I read it I found it helped me with Geography and History as well because the places written about by the author are so indepth. At the back of the book there is both a Scottish and Welsh timeline about who ruled the country and when. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

The town of Coldhaven in Scotland was never good for the Gardiners; father, mother and child dies by the mother's hand although the son didn't know what the townsfolk were doing to his parents and they were ignorant to what the school bully was doing to him. The townsfolk put dog poop through their mail slot, sent obscene letters and threatening phone calls. The town bully treated the lad in a sadistic fashion until with the advice of a kindly woman he took care of the problem.

He has a fling with Moira who dumped him for brawny Tom. Convinced he was the devil, she killed her two sons and then committed suicide. She made sure her daughter Hazel lived and Michael Gardiner begins to wonder if she was his daughter. He begins following her and since she hates her life she becomes friends with him. While his relationship with his wife falters, the same woman who urged Michael to take care of the town bully pushes him to get Hazel away from her father.

On the surface Coldhaven might look like a nice place to live but it is a cesspool of evil. Parents pass down that legacy to their children who pass it down to their children in a never-ending story that makes newcomers to the village feel the miasma of corruption. Told from the view of the protagonist, readers come to realize that horror is not limited to the supernatural but is stronger when it's humanly personal.

Harriet Klausner

A meditation on the effects of guilt on the life of one man shapes this profoundly moving novel which is mostly set in a small Scottish coastal town called Coldhaven. A dark secret reverberates throughout the life of thirty-something Michael Gardiner, who as the novel opens, is living a secluded and rather self-deluded life in the comfortably remote house that has been trusted to him by his parents.

Educated and artistic, Michael's father, a successful photographer, and his artist mother, eventually settled in Coldhaven after spending most of their lives drifting through Paris and London. Although never really accepted by the inhabitants of this insular community, the Gardiner's endeavored to build a life for themselves, with Michael's father falling in love with this windswept and bleak area with its sky and light, and its beautiful stretch of sea.

As a boy, Michael grows up an obvious outsider, protected by his parents, but also taunted at school, especially by the malicious Malcolm Kennedy who chooses him as his special friend by imposing on him a series of increasingly frequent everyday cruelties. Michael is of course, blindsided by the depth of Malcolm's malice towards him, and wonders at the sheer singlemindedness and the sheer inventiveness of Malcolm's malevolence.

But it is this and the determination that Malcolm will do him real harm which steamroles the inevitable confrontation which ends with a surprised boy falling away into the blackness of shadows and water. It is also this incident which comes back to haunt Michael all these years later when he reads a newspaper article about Moira Birnie, and her two sons, Malcolm, aged four, and Jimmie, three, found dead in a burned out car seven miles from Coldhaven.

At thirty-two Moira had drugged her young sons, driven them to a quiet, sandy road near a local tourist spot, and torched her car, with herself and the boys inside. Michael is intrigued that it happened so close to home, even as he comes to realize that he knew Moira when she was eighteen years old.

It was just a short affair, begun by accident, but the news of Moira's unspeakable act jumpstarts the memory of something Michael has never told, something he'd managed to shift to the back of his mind and leave there for all these years. Only through the gossipy Mrs., K, Michael's house cleaner, and the one who provides Michael with a human lifeline to all of the squalor and indignity of Coldhaven life, can he eventually fill in the blanks in the case of the Birnie killings.

It is Mrs. K who tells Michael that there is an older daughter of Moira's whose name is Hazel. At fourteen, Hazel had been possibly born out of wedlock and although people had always assumed Tom Birnie was the father, it is Mrs. K who sows the seeds of doubt in Michael's mind that maybe he might just be the father.

It is at this moment that author John Burnside deconstructs the critical dynamic of his protagonist's life and basing Michael's story on a simple childhood lie. This rather selfish, unlikable, and habitually absorbed character begins to make connections, fitting the pieces together even as his marriage to Amanda begins to break apart, their lives running on parallel lines as they play at house, pretending to be what we were supposed to be.

Later, with Amanda barely talking to him, even Mrs. K becoming a little remote, Michael spends his days alone, thinking, dwelling on the past, mulling things over, becoming ever more obsessed with the story of Hazel Birnie and wanting to meet her, or at least see her, maybe talk to her in passing, incognito. "No matter indirectly, I had helped drive her mother to the point where she was capable of burning her own children alive."

In Michael's world everything is connected, but he remains ultimately a rather unpleasant and disconsolate observer, almost a blank slate, with the urge to find out more about Hazel making him embark on a strange, drawn-out cat and mouse game that she initiates the first time she speaks to him. When she approaches Michael with a form of seductive confidence, Michael sees it almost as a mission to save the girl from her unfortunate surroundings, particularly from her tough stepfather Tom Birnie who had reportedly driven Moira to suicide in the first place.

As Michael uses his encounter with Hazel to rid himself of Amanda while also trying to purge the lie from his past, the story takes some unusual twists and turns as Burnside vividly recreates his protagonist's rather unpromising and unremarkable life. The beautiful and articulate prose is undoubtedly the highlight of the novel, evoking the chilly and bleak surrounds of the Scottish coast, particularly that of Coldhaven with it's cramped boatyards running down to the sea on tight, rain-colored streets and narrow cobbled wynds, "the cold gray water of the Firth."

Even though Michael endeavors to come to terms with the nature of sin and this incredible urge to confess, he remains in a kind of passive holding pattern, particularly when faced with the disintegration of his marriage to Amanda. As a boy, he was a scientist, a dispassionate observer of the natural world, and after knowledge not cruelty. It isn't, however until the end of the story that he realizes that his folly and the mistakes that he has made inevitably remain his, whether he ultimately chooses or not to take responsibility for them. Mike Leonard March 08.

This is a fascinating encyclopaedia of Scottish history as it relates to the church. (Most Scottish History had something to do with the church and its reformation) Not a book one would read from cover to cover, but a ready reference which has had me following one reference to another gaining wonderful insights to the otherwise shadowy realms of how the Christian faith has shaped Scotland and given the nation a significance in world history disproportionate to its size. I'll never part with my copy.

This is a great reference for students of British Ecclesiastical history, or for British historians. John Knox and the Coventers are all covered in this text as well as many other aspects of the great reformation country. Excellent referance for Pastors looking for illustration material as well.

With Domination and Conquest Davies, one of the most prominent historians of the "British" middle ages, has put together a gem of a book. Davies' fundamental purpose here is to put an end to many of the misconceptions about the Anglicization of Britain and Ireland. Beginning with a discussion of the difference between domination and conquest, Davies helps us see that the military aspect of this episode in history is not as important as it often appears. From here Davies moves on to shatter the idea of a concerted and organized Anglo-Norman endeavor to conquer and dominate the Isles, and the myth of organized resistances in Wales and Ireland. In the end, Davies leaves us with a profoundly different understanding of Anglo-Norman expansion in the British Isles. In addition to being illuminating, Domination and Conquest is wonderfully written and a joy to read.

I should start with a disclaimer - Rees Davies was my doctoral supervisor at Oxford. That said, this is a short, well-written exposition of the trend in recent British medieval historiography, advanced by Davies and Robin Frame, in which the boundaries of "national" history are broken down. Davies examines the ideological underpinnings, going back to the Anglo-Saxons, for the overlordship of the British Isles and Ireland by the kings of England. He then proceeds to examine Anglo-Norman expansion and infiltration in Wales, Ireland and Scotland in all its myriad aspects. Military conquest was only one tool available, and was accompanied by economic exploitation (and blandishments), the imposition or denial of English law, and English domination of the ecclesiastical hierarchy in Wales and Ireland. With an eye for the telling anecdote, Davies shows how the Anglo-Normans were flexible, adapting from local societies what suited their purposes and exploiting political divisions and rivalries for their own ends. Davies is a good writer as well as one of the most prominent medieval historians in the U.K., and this book should prove accessible for the lay reader interested in what the author has called the "first English empire".

Rebecca Reid and Dr. Michael Campbell met while they were cataloguing Dun Iain's artifacts in the book Ashes to Ashes. After months of long-distance dating, Rebecca was thrilled to be working with Michael on a dig in Scotland at the Rudesburn Priory in Eidon Hills. It was rumored that the abbey's last prioress, Marjory Douglas, still haunted its halls and that Robert the Bruce's heart was buried there and never found. Leading a group of archeology students, Rebecca was eager to uncover the priory's treasures, mythical or no. She was also eager to determine what exactly her relationship with Michael was. However, their relationship was immediately strained when Sheila Fitzgerald, Michael's ex, showed up at the dig to film the entire event. When Sheila was found murdered a few days later, apparently with Michael's own knife, Rebecca finds herself doubting her relationship with Michael. Oh, she knows that he didn't do it, of course, but she has no idea who did. Was it Adele Garity, an older woman who went back to school who is obsessed with New Age philosophies; Dennis Tucker, an overweight student with his own hidden agenda; Jeremy Kleinfelter, Sheila's current lover, the leader of the dig whose reputation is on the line after he as accused of salting his previous dig? Or was it someone else entirely? As Rebecca works to solve the mystery before Michael is arrested, she also has to try and council Hilary Chase, a rape victim and help her get involved in her first relationship since with Mark Owen, a fellow student. As more and more revelations come to light, Rebecca discovers that she doesn't really know anyone on the dig, including herself...

Dust to Dust is a wonderful sequel to Ashes to Ashes. It is not necessary to read Ashes to Ashes, though, as Carl does a fine job about giving the reader a little bit of background if they are not familiar with the story. Still, Ashes to Ashes is a great book so I recommend you read it. I loved this one even more than Ashes to Ashes, though, as it had more of a romance story in it. Rebecca and Michael are in that interesting stage of a relationship where they are serious enough to have to determine if what they have is worth taking to the next level or if they should just give up on the whole thing. It was also wonderful to have a dig in Scotland as the backdrop. I particularly enjoyed learning about Scottish history and the archaeological aspects were fascinating. The book is a wonderful read and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys romantic mysteries!

In her second book about historians Michael and Rebecca, Lillian Stewart Carl takes us to a dig at a priory in Scotland. Sacked by Henry VIII during his attemps to divorce himself from Catharine of Aragon and the Catholic church, the priory is haunted, not only by Henry's victims but by the pasts of the archaeological team. You'll also want to read the first in the series, Ashes to Ashes and then the the third, but hopefully not final installment, Garden of Thorns.

Few publisher's self-promotions accurately reflect what one finds in their products. Cadogan's slogan, on the other hand, wonderfully characterizes this book: "humourous, informed, irresistable". Mr. Godfrey-Fausett's very portable vademecum combines outstanding historical insight, very up-to-date information on what's where, excellent suggested walking tours, and unusually accurate indications of where to take refreshments. His description of historical events that took place in each location visited are quite engaging. The accompanying maps are very helpful, and his recommendations for visits in the exurbs, and day trips further afield, are complete with the number of the bus to take there....and the number of the bus for your return, typical of the completeness of his recommendations. In the next edition, one might hope for a somewhat expanded shopping guide along the lines of that provided in "The Rough Guide to Edinburgh", the only other guide one might consider carrying through the day. Similarly, this edition emphasizes hotels in the upper ranges; one might hope in future for more emphasis on the many charming B&Bs and self-catering flats Edinburgh has to offer; in the meantime anyone with Internet search savvy can locate these....as we did.

This guide was the perfect size for our four day stay in Edinburgh, and it contained all of the information I was looking for. The four walking itineraries covered everything I had researched and wanted to see, even the Royal Botanic Gardens which are outside the city limits. There are several detailed maps and recommendations about which walks to take in which weather. There is also a chapter on the museums and galleries. And of course, there are the standard travel tips, local information, and historical background.

One great thing about this guide that I found in no other was a walk called "The Waters of Leith." It ends at the gardens, but the walk there is magnificent...strolling along a river on side streets, over and under bridges. We would not have known to take this beautiful secluded route in an otherwise bustling city. And I'm so glad we did!

As mentioned by the other reviewer, this guide does not include a comprehensive lists of accomodations or shops. But these days, it is so convenient to find lodging online before the trip. Check out my site for Scotland travel links and tips.