On a Highland Shore

This was the oldest book on my “to-reads” shelf. I decided to start chipping away at my list from the beginning.

So how did the first one fare? It was alright... A historical fiction novel with a tinge of romance. Just what I like... except for the formulaic plotline.

Beautiful girl has great life. Something major happens. She loses everything (or close to it). Gets her prophecy told, finds a handsome man. Falls for him. Acts all tough and strong. Someone angers someone else. Girl gets in trouble. Guy must rescue her. You know the rest.

I don't mind a formulaic story if it's done right. This book was only so/so. The prophecy part ruined it. You already know things will turn out right in the end (do book prophecies lie? Not usually...). The characters were alright, but nothing special. I've read all their types before.

This book is great if you're in a historial romance binge (That's lighter on all the romance). Be warned, the ending is underwhelming, and doesn't give closure on some relatively main characters. The writer was obviously planning a sequel when writing this book. Problem is, the real sequel isn't about the characters with cliffhangers! It felt cheap. Like “ooh I'll leave a cliffhanger so I have to write a sequel.” Then writes a sequel that's 30 years later and NOT about those cliffhanger characters. In my mind I had to write my own closure. This will be the one and only book I read by Ms. Givens.