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Pine Creek Highlanders #1
Charming the Highlander
No missing pages, Water Damage, or stains. Spine shows creasing. This is a readable copy.
375 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 2003
257 people are currently reading
8190 people want to read
About the author
Janet Chapman
29 books1,114 followersJanuary 22, 1956 – October 28, 2017
Hey guys its Jessica. Sorry I’ve been MIA for so long. I apologize for the long overdue wait for Janet’s next book. You’ve all been very patient and loyal fans that she loves. She has been working on this book over the last year and a half while dealing with her battle with cancer. It saddens me to say that she peacefully lost this battle this past weekend while her family was by her side. I apologize if this feels sudden, she was a very private person even to her family. And she truly thought of all of you as her family. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Janet Chapman is the author of twenty-two contemporary and magical romance novels, all of which are set in her beautiful state of Maine. She lives in a cozy log home on a beautiful lake with her husband, surrounded by an eclectic assortment of wildlife that she finds both entertaining and inspiring. Probably best known for her Highlander Series (a saga of twelfth century warriors rebuilding their clans in modern-day Maine that now spans three generations), Janet also has two spin-off magical series (Midnight Bay & Spellbound Falls) and several contemporary family series set on the coast and in the mountains. With over three million books printed in six languages, her stories regularly appear on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller’s lists.
When she’s not writing (well, when she should to be writing but isn’t), Janet and her husband are traveling the state in their camper throughout all four seasons; hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and generally rubbing elbows with Mother Nature while always keeping an eye out for colorful new characters—human and beast—to put in her stories.
author's obituary
Hey guys its Jessica. Sorry I’ve been MIA for so long. I apologize for the long overdue wait for Janet’s next book. You’ve all been very patient and loyal fans that she loves. She has been working on this book over the last year and a half while dealing with her battle with cancer. It saddens me to say that she peacefully lost this battle this past weekend while her family was by her side. I apologize if this feels sudden, she was a very private person even to her family. And she truly thought of all of you as her family. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Janet Chapman is the author of twenty-two contemporary and magical romance novels, all of which are set in her beautiful state of Maine. She lives in a cozy log home on a beautiful lake with her husband, surrounded by an eclectic assortment of wildlife that she finds both entertaining and inspiring. Probably best known for her Highlander Series (a saga of twelfth century warriors rebuilding their clans in modern-day Maine that now spans three generations), Janet also has two spin-off magical series (Midnight Bay & Spellbound Falls) and several contemporary family series set on the coast and in the mountains. With over three million books printed in six languages, her stories regularly appear on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller’s lists.
When she’s not writing (well, when she should to be writing but isn’t), Janet and her husband are traveling the state in their camper throughout all four seasons; hunting, fishing, snowmobiling, and generally rubbing elbows with Mother Nature while always keeping an eye out for colorful new characters—human and beast—to put in her stories.
author's obituary
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 314 reviews
June 2, 2010
I like to read a good romance novel now and again, but unfortunately this was nothing like a good romance novel. The contrived meandering plot didn't draw me in and I found Grace to be a character that I cared nothing about, if not actively disliked.
Grace promises her dying sister, Mary, that she will take Mary's newborn baby son to his father. Then decides that she isn't going to and it's just too bad for the father. Really? She keeps justifying it because of one single thing Mary said about him, but she also said he would love his son, be a wonderful father and she wants him to have his child. Nope, Grace decides before ever meeting the man that she will totally disregard her sister's last request. Seriously.
Then Grace makes a point of constantly telling every man she meets how she's as able as any man, but any time she gets into trouble, she expects some buff, studly man to come help her out. Example, she finds baby things, crib, cradle, in her attic and brings down the cradle, thinking to herself, that she'll ask one of the men to bring down the rest when they stop by. She flounces out of the hero's home in a temperamental hissy fit and runs her truck into a snow bank, getting it stuck. So she walks to the home of the baby's father(from whom she is still keeping the fact of his son a secret) and asks him to come help her. What about how independent and capable she is? Yeah, not so much.
The plot is a mess. Grace is a rocket scientist and the company she works for has launched a satelite in order to do I don't know what, but the company's ultimate goal is commercial space travel. Don't worry about this because this plot line goes nowhere, other than possibly destroying the world because another company of baddies want to use her technology to create weapons. The baddies come to kidnap her and instead of picking up something from the tool box to use as a weapon, she decides she will burst in and kick them in the shins. I'll repeat that: kick them in the shins. Ridiculous. By this point my head is aching from the near constant eye-rolling. The whole kidnapping plot is foiled(the men rescue her again) and nothing more is ever said about it.
Then there is the magical element which I thought was the real basis of the story, but that even seems more of an afterthought. When Grace, the rocket scientist, finds out magic is real, she accepts it all far too easily. Her mathematical mind wouldn't turn that easily, but then she's all zoned out on the never ending lust anyway.
Speaking of the lust, the love scenes pop up out of nowhere. Grace is arguing in the snowcat with Grey, the hero, and she jumps out in yet another hissy fit. He comes after her, grabs her, lip locks her and she is suddenly shouting I love you, I love you and they traipse off to a conveniently located summit house to consumate their love. After this behavior and at the end of the book, she gets all Victorian, saying she must be properly courted and romanced. Kind of a little late for that, imo.
The reasons Grace is always thinking of why she can't be with Grey are so artificial, so contrived as to be laughable. She can't be with him because she has this baby, she can't because she has her job to think about, she can't because he might be from the past, she can't because he makes her all gooey inside and not feel smart, she can't simply because he's too gorgeous for real life. Okay, I made that last one up, but you see my point?
Grey is Alpha male X 10. He is marginally more entertaining then Grace; his character being a bit more consistent in his behavior. Their relationship is based solely on their sexual attraction and his ability to always be there to rescue her from whatever stupid thing she's done now.
Lastly, for a book all about highlanders, I'd have liked to get some idea of their speech, other than the occasional aye, nay or lassie.
All in all, a mess.
Grace promises her dying sister, Mary, that she will take Mary's newborn baby son to his father. Then decides that she isn't going to and it's just too bad for the father. Really? She keeps justifying it because of one single thing Mary said about him, but she also said he would love his son, be a wonderful father and she wants him to have his child. Nope, Grace decides before ever meeting the man that she will totally disregard her sister's last request. Seriously.
Then Grace makes a point of constantly telling every man she meets how she's as able as any man, but any time she gets into trouble, she expects some buff, studly man to come help her out. Example, she finds baby things, crib, cradle, in her attic and brings down the cradle, thinking to herself, that she'll ask one of the men to bring down the rest when they stop by. She flounces out of the hero's home in a temperamental hissy fit and runs her truck into a snow bank, getting it stuck. So she walks to the home of the baby's father(from whom she is still keeping the fact of his son a secret) and asks him to come help her. What about how independent and capable she is? Yeah, not so much.
The plot is a mess. Grace is a rocket scientist and the company she works for has launched a satelite in order to do I don't know what, but the company's ultimate goal is commercial space travel. Don't worry about this because this plot line goes nowhere, other than possibly destroying the world because another company of baddies want to use her technology to create weapons. The baddies come to kidnap her and instead of picking up something from the tool box to use as a weapon, she decides she will burst in and kick them in the shins. I'll repeat that: kick them in the shins. Ridiculous. By this point my head is aching from the near constant eye-rolling. The whole kidnapping plot is foiled(the men rescue her again) and nothing more is ever said about it.
Then there is the magical element which I thought was the real basis of the story, but that even seems more of an afterthought. When Grace, the rocket scientist, finds out magic is real, she accepts it all far too easily. Her mathematical mind wouldn't turn that easily, but then she's all zoned out on the never ending lust anyway.
Speaking of the lust, the love scenes pop up out of nowhere. Grace is arguing in the snowcat with Grey, the hero, and she jumps out in yet another hissy fit. He comes after her, grabs her, lip locks her and she is suddenly shouting I love you, I love you and they traipse off to a conveniently located summit house to consumate their love. After this behavior and at the end of the book, she gets all Victorian, saying she must be properly courted and romanced. Kind of a little late for that, imo.
The reasons Grace is always thinking of why she can't be with Grey are so artificial, so contrived as to be laughable. She can't be with him because she has this baby, she can't because she has her job to think about, she can't because he might be from the past, she can't because he makes her all gooey inside and not feel smart, she can't simply because he's too gorgeous for real life. Okay, I made that last one up, but you see my point?
Grey is Alpha male X 10. He is marginally more entertaining then Grace; his character being a bit more consistent in his behavior. Their relationship is based solely on their sexual attraction and his ability to always be there to rescue her from whatever stupid thing she's done now.
Lastly, for a book all about highlanders, I'd have liked to get some idea of their speech, other than the occasional aye, nay or lassie.
All in all, a mess.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 4, 2022
Alas, Janet Chapman's Charming the Highlander is not a book that will change your life or teach you anything new. But there is magic, loss and healing, medieval-warriors-transported-to-modern-times, a great pair of hero-heroine, suspense and romance, well-developed secondary characters, and plenty of hilarious moments. It is a very entertaining read and will probably guarantee you have a few hours of fun. A perfect brain-candy.
May 28, 2017
Originally read in 2014. Re-read in 2016.
This was my first Janet Chapman read back in 2014. After finally making my way through all of her books to-date, I decided to start all over again with the book that started it all for me. The first three books in this series center around 8 highlanders from 13th century Scotland thrown forward to modern day Maine thanks to some magic gone wrong of an ancient druid priest. The rest of the books are about the “next generation”.
This story is about Greylen MacKeage, laird of the MacKeage clan, and his modern-day match, Grace Sutter. They meet under the stressful circumstance of a plane crash and Greylen figures out quite quickly that Grace is the one for him.
I loved this story just as much the second time around. Summed up, I loved the throwback alpha male hero in the form of a highlander, the modern heroine who does not easily bend to the traditional thinking of said hero, the loads of magic and the great community, filled with rich characters!!
In addition to the romance developing between Greylen and Grace, this story is also largely about Grace as she worked through some very heavy grief and mourning. I will admit to
Loved this!
This was my first Janet Chapman read back in 2014. After finally making my way through all of her books to-date, I decided to start all over again with the book that started it all for me. The first three books in this series center around 8 highlanders from 13th century Scotland thrown forward to modern day Maine thanks to some magic gone wrong of an ancient druid priest. The rest of the books are about the “next generation”.
This story is about Greylen MacKeage, laird of the MacKeage clan, and his modern-day match, Grace Sutter. They meet under the stressful circumstance of a plane crash and Greylen figures out quite quickly that Grace is the one for him.
I loved this story just as much the second time around. Summed up, I loved the throwback alpha male hero in the form of a highlander, the modern heroine who does not easily bend to the traditional thinking of said hero, the loads of magic and the great community, filled with rich characters!!
In addition to the romance developing between Greylen and Grace, this story is also largely about Grace as she worked through some very heavy grief and mourning. I will admit to
Loved this!
November 15, 2008
This was a disappointing read. I love a good alpha Highlander story and had high hopes for this one, but it was a below-average-couldn’t-wait-to-finish-it kind of read :-/
It took a long time for the h/h to get together once they could actually be together and there were long scenes where they were never together which made the story annoying. Too much attention was paid to boring details about other people that no one cares about. Even the steam was blah.
When the heroine’s neaderthal brothers arrive ready to kick some butt over their sisters' honor (they had sex before getting married see –and this is a contemporary not a historical romance [!]) it was just silly. I kept asking myself “Why? Where’s this coming from?” There are too many of these “why?!” scenes to make this a good book IMO.
What started out well quickly spiraled into a borderline clichéd, syrupy and poorly put-together story.
It took a long time for the h/h to get together once they could actually be together and there were long scenes where they were never together which made the story annoying. Too much attention was paid to boring details about other people that no one cares about. Even the steam was blah.
When the heroine’s neaderthal brothers arrive ready to kick some butt over their sisters' honor (they had sex before getting married see –and this is a contemporary not a historical romance [!]) it was just silly. I kept asking myself “Why? Where’s this coming from?” There are too many of these “why?!” scenes to make this a good book IMO.
What started out well quickly spiraled into a borderline clichéd, syrupy and poorly put-together story.
January 14, 2021
I think this is my first Janet Chapman. At least is to my post -GR knowledge.
And I am quite underwhelmed. A bit short of 3*.
A super-nerdy scientist h and a time-traveled highland laird H?
Seems difficult to pull off and ... it was.
The Medieval Laird is destined to marry a particular female in order to have a pre-destined and special progeny but as she exists in the 21st century, a druid thinks to help him travel forwards. Only he miscalculates and few more men (including his mortal enemy) are transported as well.
These men somehow (with help from this druid) settle down, learn of the modern ways and by this first book opens up are well ensconced in the present. And are quite wealthy.
The H/h meet on a plane ride that crashes on a mountain top in a stormy and they survive (along with her baby nephew) and his medieval 'knowledge' of all-things-survival help them get out alive.
That's the best part of the book.
Later on, instead of things getting interesting and their chemistry going somewhere, anywhere the story is bogged down by the secondary characters, her problems with her boss/almost fiancé, his problem with his old enemy and lots of boring local issues/problems.
And I like the H better than the h.
He's clear in what he wants and his behavior is consistent and acceptable despite his 'medieval' antecedents.
As for the h, I know she loves her nephew but to even think of keeping him for herself and denying his biological father despite it being her sister's dying wish makes me dislike her as a person. Also I may not have noted it myself but every other page, the author reminds us how bad the h's feeling about lying or deceiving about this or that. So yes, she constantly lies for even the smallest things.
She's not just rocket scientist intelligent. She's actually a rocket scientist. But her behavior at no time made me trust her intellect or judgment. We had such silly hs in the 80s and 90s who were supposedly genius-level intelligent but behaved worse than a 'dumb-blonde'. I know IQ does not equate with EQ but some semblance of common sense and dignity is to be expected. Not irrational hissy fits.
So, a very meandering and boring plot that doesn't work to elevate the premise that seemed so intriguing at first glance.
And I am quite underwhelmed. A bit short of 3*.
A super-nerdy scientist h and a time-traveled highland laird H?
Seems difficult to pull off and ... it was.
The Medieval Laird is destined to marry a particular female in order to have a pre-destined and special progeny but as she exists in the 21st century, a druid thinks to help him travel forwards. Only he miscalculates and few more men (including his mortal enemy) are transported as well.
These men somehow (with help from this druid) settle down, learn of the modern ways and by this first book opens up are well ensconced in the present. And are quite wealthy.
The H/h meet on a plane ride that crashes on a mountain top in a stormy and they survive (along with her baby nephew) and his medieval 'knowledge' of all-things-survival help them get out alive.
That's the best part of the book.
Later on, instead of things getting interesting and their chemistry going somewhere, anywhere the story is bogged down by the secondary characters, her problems with her boss/almost fiancé, his problem with his old enemy and lots of boring local issues/problems.
And I like the H better than the h.
He's clear in what he wants and his behavior is consistent and acceptable despite his 'medieval' antecedents.
As for the h, I know she loves her nephew but to even think of keeping him for herself and denying his biological father despite it being her sister's dying wish makes me dislike her as a person. Also I may not have noted it myself but every other page, the author reminds us how bad the h's feeling about lying or deceiving about this or that. So yes, she constantly lies for even the smallest things.
She's not just rocket scientist intelligent. She's actually a rocket scientist. But her behavior at no time made me trust her intellect or judgment. We had such silly hs in the 80s and 90s who were supposedly genius-level intelligent but behaved worse than a 'dumb-blonde'. I know IQ does not equate with EQ but some semblance of common sense and dignity is to be expected. Not irrational hissy fits.
So, a very meandering and boring plot that doesn't work to elevate the premise that seemed so intriguing at first glance.
January 4, 2025
Re-read. ;)
I still love this magical romance series of twelfth century Highland warriors transported to the future by a very wise wizard. The stories of them acclimating to the 21st Century while rebuilding their clans in modern day Maine are such fun reads. I read this book and all the subsequent books in the series when they were first published. For me, I am guaranteed finding a smile on my face at the end of each book.
The author passed in 2017. I was so sad when I learned of her passing. Ms. Chapman was always an automatic buy for me. Her stories had a touch of magic in them. We all need a little magic now and then. So, here I am, loving this book just as much as the first time I read it. It is the book that, literally, sets up the entire series and has my two favorite characters, Grey and Grace. Thank you, Ms. Chapman, for helping me smile once again. Your dedicated readers will always miss you; however, you continue to live on, putting smiles on faces, through your wonderful legacy. ;)
I still love this magical romance series of twelfth century Highland warriors transported to the future by a very wise wizard. The stories of them acclimating to the 21st Century while rebuilding their clans in modern day Maine are such fun reads. I read this book and all the subsequent books in the series when they were first published. For me, I am guaranteed finding a smile on my face at the end of each book.
The author passed in 2017. I was so sad when I learned of her passing. Ms. Chapman was always an automatic buy for me. Her stories had a touch of magic in them. We all need a little magic now and then. So, here I am, loving this book just as much as the first time I read it. It is the book that, literally, sets up the entire series and has my two favorite characters, Grey and Grace. Thank you, Ms. Chapman, for helping me smile once again. Your dedicated readers will always miss you; however, you continue to live on, putting smiles on faces, through your wonderful legacy. ;)
November 21, 2019
Lo he leído de un tirón. Me encanto. Muy romántico. Grey un poco bastante cavernicola, pero que tanto, al final que ha sido encantador! El personaje de Grace es interesante porque se la ve muy segura de si misma, moderna, científica, pero muy real. No hay ningún personaje que este de más o sea intrascendente. Me agrada la lucha de clanes, y hasta el mago/druida me encanta. Sera por eso que lo lei de corrido. Vale la pena. Ahora voy por Amar a Morgan, que es el segundo título de la saga.
August 24, 2017
This was just an average read for me. I liked it, but didn't love it. It took me ages to read. I normally read books in around three days, two if I'm in love, but this one took about six days. So I liked it enough to keep going, but not enough that I was eager to get back to it. I'm on the fence as to whether I'll read any more of them. I think there just wasn't enough character development that I was intrigued by either the hero or the heroine or any of the secondary characters that I thought, oh, yes, I'll keep going because I liked this character so much and I want to read their book. Everyone was just ho hum. On paper I should have loved it, it had all the elements that I normally love, but it just came up short.
There was one aspect that bothered me right through most of the book which made me not really like or connect to the heroine and that was
There was one aspect that bothered me right through most of the book which made me not really like or connect to the heroine and that was
December 27, 2012
This book is seriously convoluted!
It starts off (and I was under the impression it was) as a time travel story. But after the initial leap through time that plot point is not entirely but in a large part brushed aside. There are no anecdotes of confusion and learning "the new culture" as we see in most stories of this kind. We just skip to 5 years later. I just don't get the point?!
The rest of the plot is just as arbitrary and confusing. Grace the heroine has a job that makes no sense and an "evil boss" that makes even less sense. And to top this off she spends the entire book making the worlds most illogical decisions, constantly omitting the truth and breaking a promise she made to her sister on her death bed. Although I won't go so far as to say she is unlikable, she is certainly not endearing!
And to top it off the rest of the plot is really SLOW and the main characters just don't seem to spend enough time with one another to hold my interest or for their relationship seem credible. I was also expecting a Hot Highlander. But not only was Grey the hero a little bland but he didn't even have a Scottish accent! WTF
All in all this book left me wondering how the hell the author came up with the concept.I am no stranger to the idea of Time Travel Romance but the way this book was put together just did not gel!
It starts off (and I was under the impression it was) as a time travel story. But after the initial leap through time that plot point is not entirely but in a large part brushed aside. There are no anecdotes of confusion and learning "the new culture" as we see in most stories of this kind. We just skip to 5 years later. I just don't get the point?!
The rest of the plot is just as arbitrary and confusing. Grace the heroine has a job that makes no sense and an "evil boss" that makes even less sense. And to top this off she spends the entire book making the worlds most illogical decisions, constantly omitting the truth and breaking a promise she made to her sister on her death bed. Although I won't go so far as to say she is unlikable, she is certainly not endearing!
And to top it off the rest of the plot is really SLOW and the main characters just don't seem to spend enough time with one another to hold my interest or for their relationship seem credible. I was also expecting a Hot Highlander. But not only was Grey the hero a little bland but he didn't even have a Scottish accent! WTF
All in all this book left me wondering how the hell the author came up with the concept.I am no stranger to the idea of Time Travel Romance but the way this book was put together just did not gel!
April 1, 2019
I had rated this 5 stars, but moved it down to 4 on the re-read. Still very enjoyable.
July 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this story, I put off not reading it because of some reviews, turns out what others dislike, I love 😍
February 26, 2019
El libro comienza bien, demasiado bien pero conforme las hojas van pasando va perdiendo brillo.
August 29, 2015
Charming the Highlander seems to get very mixed reviews here on GR, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. Was I going to love it, hate it, or not care enough to be moved either way? The answer is.... none of the above. While I didn't quite love it, I really liked it and found it to be an easy and highly enjoyable read.
In the midst of battle in A.D.1200, Scottish laird Greylen MacKeage, his nemesis Michael MacBain and a number of their men find themselves transported 800 years into the future by a druidh in order to fulfill a prophecy.
Four years later, and in the modern day, Grace Sutter is heading back to her family home in the mountains of Maine to fulfill her sister's dying wish, and finds herself sharing the flight home on the small plane with Grey.
Grace is traveling with the baby her sister gave birth to the day before she died. The baby's father, Michael MacBain, knows nothing of its existence. Before revealing to Michael that he has a son, she must first understand why Michael told such a fanciful tale of time-travel to her sister and satisfy herself as to his mental state.
When the plane crashes in the midst of a devastating ice storm, Grace must trust Grey to bring them out of the mountains alive.
Grey was a magnificent hero in every way. The scenes following the plane crash were the kind that I absolutely love reading, with Grey doing everything possible to save both Grace and Baby in the most difficult of circumstances.
Charming the Highlander had some touching scenes, and there were a couple of occasions where I shed a tear, but the death of Grace's sister Mary and the care of Baby was dealt with in a very positive way for the most part.
I know some readers don't like children in their romance novels, but Baby was one the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. I generally like some angst in my novels, and it was a change to have the angst arise from an issue separate from the main couple's relationship. I also thought Baby added warmth to the story.
I loved the supporting characters, particularly Morgan and Ian, and I'm really looking forward to (hopefully) seeing them in future books in this series.
In the midst of battle in A.D.1200, Scottish laird Greylen MacKeage, his nemesis Michael MacBain and a number of their men find themselves transported 800 years into the future by a druidh in order to fulfill a prophecy.
Four years later, and in the modern day, Grace Sutter is heading back to her family home in the mountains of Maine to fulfill her sister's dying wish, and finds herself sharing the flight home on the small plane with Grey.
Grace is traveling with the baby her sister gave birth to the day before she died. The baby's father, Michael MacBain, knows nothing of its existence. Before revealing to Michael that he has a son, she must first understand why Michael told such a fanciful tale of time-travel to her sister and satisfy herself as to his mental state.
When the plane crashes in the midst of a devastating ice storm, Grace must trust Grey to bring them out of the mountains alive.
Grey was a magnificent hero in every way. The scenes following the plane crash were the kind that I absolutely love reading, with Grey doing everything possible to save both Grace and Baby in the most difficult of circumstances.
Charming the Highlander had some touching scenes, and there were a couple of occasions where I shed a tear, but the death of Grace's sister Mary and the care of Baby was dealt with in a very positive way for the most part.
I know some readers don't like children in their romance novels, but Baby was one the reasons I enjoyed this book so much. I generally like some angst in my novels, and it was a change to have the angst arise from an issue separate from the main couple's relationship. I also thought Baby added warmth to the story.
I loved the supporting characters, particularly Morgan and Ian, and I'm really looking forward to (hopefully) seeing them in future books in this series.
January 10, 2013
I loved this twist on the typical Highlander series. Instead of taking place in Scotland, or having them go back in time to the time of Highlanders we get Highlanders whom are thrown into the future. Into our modern times (well 2003). The twist brought along a lot of new aspects that I really liked such as the Clan/males learning the value or women and seeing them as equals, while still keeping their Alpha-Male and occasionally cave man personalities. I admit that I do still like the novels were they order them around as well. And then they threw in a baby. That’s right Grace is responsible for a little one during this novel and I loved watching Grey react with him. That made me have a heart swelling crush on him. And of course the fact that he could lift a sword that was big as Grace kind of helped. I loved the love between Grace and Grey, but for Grey is happened instantly. Love at first sight, which is always something I am weary about, but in this novel there is magic to help explain it and a long with magic comes the belief in soul mates. Janet Chapman does charm you in a novel filled with Highlanders, action, drama, and emotion, and has hooked me into the series.
Good:
Grace—independent, smart, and determined.
Grey—protective, determined, loyal, and a hot sexy highlander.
Bad:
The love moved a little fast, although I liked the passion. I also got a little lost in some of the technical space talk, but that was barely an issue.
Overall (Writing style, story line, and general):
Overall, I was enchanted. I loved Grace and I loved Grey, and I loved the isolation of the small town so that it didn’t make their transition into the new world seem unrealistic. The writing was easy to follow, and the passion had me blushing. I cried and worried when necessary and completely got dragged into their lives. The story was interesting and brought a new twist on the Highlander genre (it really should have it’s own, there is definitely enough books). Janet Chapman brought some new twists to a traditional story and made an ensemble of memorable characters. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for the other characters of the series.
Good:
Grace—independent, smart, and determined.
Grey—protective, determined, loyal, and a hot sexy highlander.
Bad:
The love moved a little fast, although I liked the passion. I also got a little lost in some of the technical space talk, but that was barely an issue.
Overall (Writing style, story line, and general):
Overall, I was enchanted. I loved Grace and I loved Grey, and I loved the isolation of the small town so that it didn’t make their transition into the new world seem unrealistic. The writing was easy to follow, and the passion had me blushing. I cried and worried when necessary and completely got dragged into their lives. The story was interesting and brought a new twist on the Highlander genre (it really should have it’s own, there is definitely enough books). Janet Chapman brought some new twists to a traditional story and made an ensemble of memorable characters. I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for the other characters of the series.
May 26, 2009
This was an okay read, actually closer to 3.5*, but after a great beginning, it didn't grab me until I got to the last 80 pp. or so. A story that begins with 8 Scottish warriors fighting a skirmish in the 12th century & suddenly being transported to modern times intrigued me. Maybe the problem was with my expectations, but I just found it too easy to put down and do other things, always a bad sign for me.
Grace had great scientific & mathematical ability and knowledge almost at her fingertips, but for one reason or another throughout the story, she wasn't able to put them to positive use (mountain peak in the way so she couldn't triangulate position, so the strong hero had to find the way out; later she was all set to use her math skills to solve the problem of iced cables on the ski lift, but kidnappers got in the way, etc.) I was left frustrated with the buildup of the idea of strength in the heroine because of her skills, but then always needing the hero - a strong warrior from the 12th century - solve all the problems for her, or at least deal with the aftermath when things went wrong.
I will continue with the series, but have now modified my expectations.
Grace had great scientific & mathematical ability and knowledge almost at her fingertips, but for one reason or another throughout the story, she wasn't able to put them to positive use (mountain peak in the way so she couldn't triangulate position, so the strong hero had to find the way out; later she was all set to use her math skills to solve the problem of iced cables on the ski lift, but kidnappers got in the way, etc.) I was left frustrated with the buildup of the idea of strength in the heroine because of her skills, but then always needing the hero - a strong warrior from the 12th century - solve all the problems for her, or at least deal with the aftermath when things went wrong.
I will continue with the series, but have now modified my expectations.
June 6, 2017
Le he puesto 3 estrellas más que nada porque la acción transcurre en tres o cuatro días, entre el prncipio y el final, con todo el amor de por medio, y eso le quita mucha credibilidad.
Pero los personajes y la trama me parecen muy interesantes.
Recomendado.
Pero los personajes y la trama me parecen muy interesantes.
Recomendado.
January 25, 2016
No head-hopping, great paranormal elements (loved the wizard), cute romance and the book had its funny at moments, a total win in my book.
October 14, 2019
Aww.. that was cute.. lol
I’m not into pretty virgin falling for the hot dude overnight and jump into bed for steaming sex kind of books at all. Yet, I chose this to cool my head after a heavy read and it did its job. It’s easy to read, no stress, you know what’s coming next and it’s just good for a mindless reading session.
Why 3 stars? Cos there’s magic and wizards and dark mountains. Heh
I’m not into pretty virgin falling for the hot dude overnight and jump into bed for steaming sex kind of books at all. Yet, I chose this to cool my head after a heavy read and it did its job. It’s easy to read, no stress, you know what’s coming next and it’s just good for a mindless reading session.
Why 3 stars? Cos there’s magic and wizards and dark mountains. Heh
August 22, 2022
Reviewed for THC Reviews
Charming the Highlander is the first book in Janet Chapman’s Pine Creek Highlanders series. Laird Greylen MacKeage and three of his men, along with their chief rival and several of his men are catapulted forward in time eight hundred years, thanks to the magic of a wizard named Daar. For the past four years, they’ve been acclimating to their new surroundings with the help of Daar who is now masquerading as a priest. They’ve taken up residence in the small town of Pine Creek, Maine, where Grey is now the owner of a ski resort, which is nearing it’s grand opening. Elsewhere, scientist Grace Sutter works for a space exploration company and hopes that the technology she’s developing will allow people to travel into space and even to Mars on a regular basis in the near future. However, her work was put on the back burner when her sister came to stay after leaving the man who got her pregnant. She had just decided to return to her boyfriend when she was in a car accident. On her death bed, she made Grace promise to return her child, who was delivered via c-section, to his father. Grace returns to Pine Creek with the baby in tow, but the prop plane she’s traveling on for the final leg of her journey crashes in the mountains. The only other survivor is their fellow passenger who happens to be Grey. He quickly takes charge of the situation and saves both Grace’s and the baby’s lives from the bitter cold and snowy weather conditions. Finally back at her sister’s home, Grace has a big decision to make about the baby’s future. She wants to honor her sister’s wishes, but she isn’t sure a man who claims to have time traveled can be trusted with an infant. Then Grace’s boss makes an unexpected visit informing her that he sold her technology to a company that wants to use it to create weapons and that there are nefarious men on the way who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Grace who is the only one who can decipher the garbled transmission their space probe is sending back to Earth. Throughout all the turmoil, Grace has been falling for Grey, but will she be able to trust him when she discovers that he, too, is a time traveler who hasn’t been honest about his origins? And will a twelfth century warrior be able to save Grace from the modern bad guys when they kidnap her?
Grey was born in the year 1171. He was Laird of his Scottish clan and a respected Highland warrior before being catapulted eight hundred years into the future by a lightning storm created by a wizard. Grey doesn’t know for certain how they got there, but he’s been keeping a close watch on the priest named Daar who helped him and his men acclimate to the twenty-first century. Daar was able to sell some of their possessions for enough money to build a castle in their new home along with a ski resort business that’s about to open. Grey was returning from a travel convention in Chicago when the plane he was flying on went down. He manages to keep Grace and her baby safe during the crash and use his warrior’s survival skills to get them safely off the mountain and back home. He knows almost immediately that he wants to claim Grace as his woman, but she takes a little convincing. In the meantime, he looks out for her and her baby’s well-being. When Grey discovers that the child isn’t hers after all, but is the son of his mortal enemy, he supports her choice to keep him from his father. But Grace won’t stop until she’s brokered peace between the stubborn, feuding Highlanders. Then kidnappers come for Grace, leaving Grey in a race against time and the elements to save her. Usually I’m a big fan of Highlander heroes, but initially I wasn’t vibing with Grey. Part of the problem is that he’s a rather underdeveloped character, but he was also being a little too possessive and cavemanish in the way he kept grabbing Grace, kissing her, and feeling her up. Then a chapter or two later, he’s giving his men a lesson on women’s rights, which was a complete 180 that practically gave me whiplash. Luckily he evened out more as the story progressed, so he wasn’t as bad as some heroes I’ve read. I liked him better by the end, but I still didn’t fall for him the way I wanted to.
Grace comes from a rather large family, but her parents died some time ago. She’s a top scientist who’s been working on technology that will hopefully make space travel more common and accessible to the average person. In the midst of her project, her sister, Mary, came to visit, but she was being secretive about her reasons for leaving the boyfriend who got her pregnant. About a month before her due date, she decided to return home and reconcile with Michael, but she was in a car accident along the way. Her baby was delivered by c-section, and before she died, she extracted a promise from Grace to take the baby to his father. However, she also finally revealed that she’d left him because he’d claimed to be a time traveler. A month later and still grieving the loss of her sister, Grace returns home to Pine Creek with Baby, but she hasn’t decided yet whether she’s going to tell Michael the truth. It all depends on how she feels after meeting him and whether he’s still making his outrageous claims. Then her plane crashes on the mountain and she and Baby are saved by their ruggedly handsome fellow passenger. Grace is very attracted to Grey, and despite having a lot on her plate to deal with, she comes to the realization that she wants to be with him pretty quickly. When the shady business that her boss sold her technology to kidnaps her, Grey must ride to the rescue once again, but if he can save her, will she be able to trust him and handle the truth of his origins when it’s staring her in the face?
I enjoy smart heroines, so overall, I liked Grace pretty well, except maybe for her eating up Grey’s possessiveness so easily. The other small thing that bothered me a bit is that Grace is a thirty-year-old virgin, which in and of itself is fine with me. But she simply says that she’s saving herself for marriage. In this modern age most women who’ve made this choice do so because of religious beliefs or some other specific reason. However, we don’t learn until late in the story what that reason was and I didn’t care for the fact that it was merely rooted in male chauvinism. Otherwise, she was a pretty good character who took on the role of temporary motherhood very admirably and despite having become attached to Baby, she did the right thing in the end by giving him back to Michael.
The Pine Creek Highlanders series is eight books long, so we meet some characters in Charming the Highlander who go on to get their own books in the series. Grey’s brother, Morgan, seems like he might be a little more lighthearted than Grey, and his story is the next one in the series, Loving the Highlander. Poor Michael is a tragic character who has now lost two women he loved and become a single father. Luckily he’ll finally get his HEA in book #3, Wedding the Highlander. From there, it moves on to the next generation. Book #4 is Michael’s son, Robbie’s story. Then Grey and Grace’s daughters, Winter, Megan, and Camry respectively become the heroines of the next three books, Only With the Highlander, Secrets of the Highlander, and A Highlander Christmas.
Overall, Charming the Highlander was a pretty good read. It held my attention well and was fairly entertaining, though not perfect. I couldn’t help feeling a little tweaked by the chauvinism in the story from both Grey and his men and later from Grace’s brothers. I understood on some level that Grey and his men might have different attitudes, having come from an era far in the past, and they do lighten up as the story progresses, but I’ve read other time travel and historical romances where the men didn’t act like this at all. And when it came to Grace’s brothers, IMHO, they had no excuse, because they’re supposed to be modern men. I also felt like Grey and Grace’s romance was rushed. Insta-love has never been a favorite trope for me, and they fall in love and commit to marriage in less than a week, which stretched the bounds of credibility a bit. I didn’t really feel much of an emotional connection between them early in the story either, but it did get better as it went along. Another small complaint I have is that I usually have pretty high expectations for the first love scene, especially if one of the characters is a virgin. Grey and Grace’s first sexual encounter left a lot to be desired with him not even attempting to pleasure her, which I thought was rather selfish of him and a major let-down. At least they had a nice, romantic, and somewhat steamy one toward the end that helped to make up for it some. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story. The town of Pine Creek has a certain charm to it, although I don’t know that we got to see a lot of it given that there’s ongoing inclement weather throughout the book. I also thought it was cute that Grey had built an actual castle—though with some modern amenities—in the middle of the Maine wilderness. I like that Grey and his men eventually bury the proverbial hatchet with Michael so that they can all live in harmony from now on. So the story had upsides too. It ultimately has left me open to checking out the other books in the series, which will work out well since I already have the second book on my TBR pile.
Charming the Highlander is the first book in Janet Chapman’s Pine Creek Highlanders series. Laird Greylen MacKeage and three of his men, along with their chief rival and several of his men are catapulted forward in time eight hundred years, thanks to the magic of a wizard named Daar. For the past four years, they’ve been acclimating to their new surroundings with the help of Daar who is now masquerading as a priest. They’ve taken up residence in the small town of Pine Creek, Maine, where Grey is now the owner of a ski resort, which is nearing it’s grand opening. Elsewhere, scientist Grace Sutter works for a space exploration company and hopes that the technology she’s developing will allow people to travel into space and even to Mars on a regular basis in the near future. However, her work was put on the back burner when her sister came to stay after leaving the man who got her pregnant. She had just decided to return to her boyfriend when she was in a car accident. On her death bed, she made Grace promise to return her child, who was delivered via c-section, to his father. Grace returns to Pine Creek with the baby in tow, but the prop plane she’s traveling on for the final leg of her journey crashes in the mountains. The only other survivor is their fellow passenger who happens to be Grey. He quickly takes charge of the situation and saves both Grace’s and the baby’s lives from the bitter cold and snowy weather conditions. Finally back at her sister’s home, Grace has a big decision to make about the baby’s future. She wants to honor her sister’s wishes, but she isn’t sure a man who claims to have time traveled can be trusted with an infant. Then Grace’s boss makes an unexpected visit informing her that he sold her technology to a company that wants to use it to create weapons and that there are nefarious men on the way who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Grace who is the only one who can decipher the garbled transmission their space probe is sending back to Earth. Throughout all the turmoil, Grace has been falling for Grey, but will she be able to trust him when she discovers that he, too, is a time traveler who hasn’t been honest about his origins? And will a twelfth century warrior be able to save Grace from the modern bad guys when they kidnap her?
Grey was born in the year 1171. He was Laird of his Scottish clan and a respected Highland warrior before being catapulted eight hundred years into the future by a lightning storm created by a wizard. Grey doesn’t know for certain how they got there, but he’s been keeping a close watch on the priest named Daar who helped him and his men acclimate to the twenty-first century. Daar was able to sell some of their possessions for enough money to build a castle in their new home along with a ski resort business that’s about to open. Grey was returning from a travel convention in Chicago when the plane he was flying on went down. He manages to keep Grace and her baby safe during the crash and use his warrior’s survival skills to get them safely off the mountain and back home. He knows almost immediately that he wants to claim Grace as his woman, but she takes a little convincing. In the meantime, he looks out for her and her baby’s well-being. When Grey discovers that the child isn’t hers after all, but is the son of his mortal enemy, he supports her choice to keep him from his father. But Grace won’t stop until she’s brokered peace between the stubborn, feuding Highlanders. Then kidnappers come for Grace, leaving Grey in a race against time and the elements to save her. Usually I’m a big fan of Highlander heroes, but initially I wasn’t vibing with Grey. Part of the problem is that he’s a rather underdeveloped character, but he was also being a little too possessive and cavemanish in the way he kept grabbing Grace, kissing her, and feeling her up. Then a chapter or two later, he’s giving his men a lesson on women’s rights, which was a complete 180 that practically gave me whiplash. Luckily he evened out more as the story progressed, so he wasn’t as bad as some heroes I’ve read. I liked him better by the end, but I still didn’t fall for him the way I wanted to.
Grace comes from a rather large family, but her parents died some time ago. She’s a top scientist who’s been working on technology that will hopefully make space travel more common and accessible to the average person. In the midst of her project, her sister, Mary, came to visit, but she was being secretive about her reasons for leaving the boyfriend who got her pregnant. About a month before her due date, she decided to return home and reconcile with Michael, but she was in a car accident along the way. Her baby was delivered by c-section, and before she died, she extracted a promise from Grace to take the baby to his father. However, she also finally revealed that she’d left him because he’d claimed to be a time traveler. A month later and still grieving the loss of her sister, Grace returns home to Pine Creek with Baby, but she hasn’t decided yet whether she’s going to tell Michael the truth. It all depends on how she feels after meeting him and whether he’s still making his outrageous claims. Then her plane crashes on the mountain and she and Baby are saved by their ruggedly handsome fellow passenger. Grace is very attracted to Grey, and despite having a lot on her plate to deal with, she comes to the realization that she wants to be with him pretty quickly. When the shady business that her boss sold her technology to kidnaps her, Grey must ride to the rescue once again, but if he can save her, will she be able to trust him and handle the truth of his origins when it’s staring her in the face?
I enjoy smart heroines, so overall, I liked Grace pretty well, except maybe for her eating up Grey’s possessiveness so easily. The other small thing that bothered me a bit is that Grace is a thirty-year-old virgin, which in and of itself is fine with me. But she simply says that she’s saving herself for marriage. In this modern age most women who’ve made this choice do so because of religious beliefs or some other specific reason. However, we don’t learn until late in the story what that reason was and I didn’t care for the fact that it was merely rooted in male chauvinism. Otherwise, she was a pretty good character who took on the role of temporary motherhood very admirably and despite having become attached to Baby, she did the right thing in the end by giving him back to Michael.
The Pine Creek Highlanders series is eight books long, so we meet some characters in Charming the Highlander who go on to get their own books in the series. Grey’s brother, Morgan, seems like he might be a little more lighthearted than Grey, and his story is the next one in the series, Loving the Highlander. Poor Michael is a tragic character who has now lost two women he loved and become a single father. Luckily he’ll finally get his HEA in book #3, Wedding the Highlander. From there, it moves on to the next generation. Book #4 is Michael’s son, Robbie’s story. Then Grey and Grace’s daughters, Winter, Megan, and Camry respectively become the heroines of the next three books, Only With the Highlander, Secrets of the Highlander, and A Highlander Christmas.
Overall, Charming the Highlander was a pretty good read. It held my attention well and was fairly entertaining, though not perfect. I couldn’t help feeling a little tweaked by the chauvinism in the story from both Grey and his men and later from Grace’s brothers. I understood on some level that Grey and his men might have different attitudes, having come from an era far in the past, and they do lighten up as the story progresses, but I’ve read other time travel and historical romances where the men didn’t act like this at all. And when it came to Grace’s brothers, IMHO, they had no excuse, because they’re supposed to be modern men. I also felt like Grey and Grace’s romance was rushed. Insta-love has never been a favorite trope for me, and they fall in love and commit to marriage in less than a week, which stretched the bounds of credibility a bit. I didn’t really feel much of an emotional connection between them early in the story either, but it did get better as it went along. Another small complaint I have is that I usually have pretty high expectations for the first love scene, especially if one of the characters is a virgin. Grey and Grace’s first sexual encounter left a lot to be desired with him not even attempting to pleasure her, which I thought was rather selfish of him and a major let-down. At least they had a nice, romantic, and somewhat steamy one toward the end that helped to make up for it some. Otherwise, I enjoyed the story. The town of Pine Creek has a certain charm to it, although I don’t know that we got to see a lot of it given that there’s ongoing inclement weather throughout the book. I also thought it was cute that Grey had built an actual castle—though with some modern amenities—in the middle of the Maine wilderness. I like that Grey and his men eventually bury the proverbial hatchet with Michael so that they can all live in harmony from now on. So the story had upsides too. It ultimately has left me open to checking out the other books in the series, which will work out well since I already have the second book on my TBR pile.
October 31, 2019
Una historia bonita y entretenida.
La trama nos presenta, de una forma novedosa, un viaje en el tiempo, desde la Escocia antigua a la Norteamérica moderna. A pesar de todo, el centro no es el viaje, sino, más bien, la adaptación de los viajeros a ese nuevo mundo, tan alejado del suyo, y el cumplimiento de una profecía o promesa fruto de la magia ancestral. Además de la historia de amor, se dan también ciertos elementos de suspense y acción que dan más emoción a la historia.
La ambientación nos introduce en un pueblo de Maine, rodeado de montañas y bosques, un espacio bastante parecido a aquel del que provienen nuestros escoceses viajeros. Sin embargo, y a pesar del parecido, los protagonistas están muy bien delineados, y el lector es capaz de ver, en todo momento, que no pertenecen al siglo XXI, puesto que mantienen su esencia.
Los protagonistas me han parecido estupendos. Grey tiene una mezcla maravillosa de escocés primitivo y hombre moderno; tan pronto empuña la espada y se vuelve protector, como deja que ella tome sus propias decisiones. Es un hombre arrogante, como cualquier laird, y también tierno. A pesar de lo que le ha costado dejar atrás sus raíces, no se estanca, sino que acomete la empresa de adaptarse a las nuevas circunstancias como un reto.
Grace es una mujer de su tiempo, científica, racional, pero que ha sufrido un gran revés tras la muerte de su hermana. Me ha encantado su fortaleza y su fuerza interior, y ver surgir en ella la femineidad conforme avanza su relación con Grey.
La relación entre ambos es, quizás, demasiado rápida, aunque viene justificada por una profecía antigua. Creo que es precisamente esa profecía lo que hace que la historia gane en riqueza pero pierda en profundidad. Esa parte mágica la vuelve entretenida, especialmente por el papel del sacerdote-druida Daar, pero no deja espacio a una mayor química entre los personajes, que actúan como predeterminados.
El estilo de la autora es ameno, lleno de toques de humor, y fluido. Te atrapa en la lectura y te impulsa a querer seguir leyendo. Construye muy bien a los personajes, lo que te permite cogerles cariño y querer saber más, así que creo que le daré una oportunidad a las siguientes novelas.
La trama nos presenta, de una forma novedosa, un viaje en el tiempo, desde la Escocia antigua a la Norteamérica moderna. A pesar de todo, el centro no es el viaje, sino, más bien, la adaptación de los viajeros a ese nuevo mundo, tan alejado del suyo, y el cumplimiento de una profecía o promesa fruto de la magia ancestral. Además de la historia de amor, se dan también ciertos elementos de suspense y acción que dan más emoción a la historia.
La ambientación nos introduce en un pueblo de Maine, rodeado de montañas y bosques, un espacio bastante parecido a aquel del que provienen nuestros escoceses viajeros. Sin embargo, y a pesar del parecido, los protagonistas están muy bien delineados, y el lector es capaz de ver, en todo momento, que no pertenecen al siglo XXI, puesto que mantienen su esencia.
Los protagonistas me han parecido estupendos. Grey tiene una mezcla maravillosa de escocés primitivo y hombre moderno; tan pronto empuña la espada y se vuelve protector, como deja que ella tome sus propias decisiones. Es un hombre arrogante, como cualquier laird, y también tierno. A pesar de lo que le ha costado dejar atrás sus raíces, no se estanca, sino que acomete la empresa de adaptarse a las nuevas circunstancias como un reto.
Grace es una mujer de su tiempo, científica, racional, pero que ha sufrido un gran revés tras la muerte de su hermana. Me ha encantado su fortaleza y su fuerza interior, y ver surgir en ella la femineidad conforme avanza su relación con Grey.
La relación entre ambos es, quizás, demasiado rápida, aunque viene justificada por una profecía antigua. Creo que es precisamente esa profecía lo que hace que la historia gane en riqueza pero pierda en profundidad. Esa parte mágica la vuelve entretenida, especialmente por el papel del sacerdote-druida Daar, pero no deja espacio a una mayor química entre los personajes, que actúan como predeterminados.
El estilo de la autora es ameno, lleno de toques de humor, y fluido. Te atrapa en la lectura y te impulsa a querer seguir leyendo. Construye muy bien a los personajes, lo que te permite cogerles cariño y querer saber más, así que creo que le daré una oportunidad a las siguientes novelas.
March 30, 2013
Grace Stutter, having the responsibility of delivering her sisters baby to the father, since her sister died, waits six weeks before heading to Maine, having a feeling that she would be making a new start....but then her plane crashes on the mountain and she, the baby, and a sexy highland warrior -Greyland-are the survivors. Now they are pushed together out of survival, but a deep passion is awakened between them...a passion that burns slowly to a deep love that will change their lives forever.....
I have never read this author, but I was in the mood for some good highlander romance, and I decided that after hearing some great things from this author, I knew that I needed to try her out, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. I just got this book a few hours ago, and just finished, I was that drawn into Charming The Highlander. I think I loved everything about this book. I just love it when you have time travel books when dealing with sexy highlanders from the past....so yummy with the accent, attitude and their fiery passion for a woman they love. There were definitely many witty moments throughout the story that would make you bow over and laugh your heart out. The writing was charming and tended to draw the reader in from the first to the very last page of the book. I felt like I was actually there in the story...the scenes were so vivid in detail....definitely a keeper for me!!
I have never read this author, but I was in the mood for some good highlander romance, and I decided that after hearing some great things from this author, I knew that I needed to try her out, and I definitely wasn't disappointed. I just got this book a few hours ago, and just finished, I was that drawn into Charming The Highlander. I think I loved everything about this book. I just love it when you have time travel books when dealing with sexy highlanders from the past....so yummy with the accent, attitude and their fiery passion for a woman they love. There were definitely many witty moments throughout the story that would make you bow over and laugh your heart out. The writing was charming and tended to draw the reader in from the first to the very last page of the book. I felt like I was actually there in the story...the scenes were so vivid in detail....definitely a keeper for me!!
September 3, 2014
Genre: Romance/ Time travel
Author: Janet Chapman
Book: Charming the Highlander
My star rating: 5 out of 5
Will I re-read this? Yes (many times over)
This is the first installment of the Highlander series.
This book maded me cry and laugh And fall in love althrough the book. I found this book to well writen with very stong characters. The two main characters are Grace Stutter and Laird Greylon MacKeague.
Grace who is a Rocket Scientist is going home to see to her dying sisters last wish. The last wish was for Grace to give Mary's baby to the father. The problem with that is: The father claims to be born in 1171. Not 1971 but 1171.
On the flight home she is flying with a cocky pilot, one hot big man and the baby. The big hot man is Laird Grey MacKeague. And just by looking at him you can tell that he is scared to death to fly. Well with a huge snow and ice storm going on I could see why as well.
This story is about how men from the 1200's can make a living in the 21st century and how Laird Grey finds his soul mate in one rocket scientist.
This book will make you laugh and cry. But warning... this book will make you read the whole thing in one sitting.
Author: Janet Chapman
Book: Charming the Highlander
My star rating: 5 out of 5
Will I re-read this? Yes (many times over)
This is the first installment of the Highlander series.
This book maded me cry and laugh And fall in love althrough the book. I found this book to well writen with very stong characters. The two main characters are Grace Stutter and Laird Greylon MacKeague.
Grace who is a Rocket Scientist is going home to see to her dying sisters last wish. The last wish was for Grace to give Mary's baby to the father. The problem with that is: The father claims to be born in 1171. Not 1971 but 1171.
On the flight home she is flying with a cocky pilot, one hot big man and the baby. The big hot man is Laird Grey MacKeague. And just by looking at him you can tell that he is scared to death to fly. Well with a huge snow and ice storm going on I could see why as well.
This story is about how men from the 1200's can make a living in the 21st century and how Laird Grey finds his soul mate in one rocket scientist.
This book will make you laugh and cry. But warning... this book will make you read the whole thing in one sitting.
August 2, 2016
This is the first book in the Highlander series for Janet Chapman, and its my first one for her.
I'm not new to the traveling in time highlander theme, cause I read the highlander series for Karen Marie Moning, and I would like to say I wasn't disappointed, I loved it XD
Okay I'm not a believer of love at first sight, but the main couple here were adorable. One of my favorite scenes in the book, is how they managed after the plane crash. the scene when everyone in the house enters the bedroom when one after the other, lets say interrupting the main couple, and how he chased them out with a sword. And the cocky comments the "superman" gave the heroin.
Plus I loved the side editions, the gruff yet tenderhearted old Ian, the adorable trolled faced baby.
Overall, *thumps up*
I'm not new to the traveling in time highlander theme, cause I read the highlander series for Karen Marie Moning, and I would like to say I wasn't disappointed, I loved it XD
Okay I'm not a believer of love at first sight, but the main couple here were adorable. One of my favorite scenes in the book, is how they managed after the plane crash. the scene when everyone in the house enters the bedroom when one after the other, lets say interrupting the main couple, and how he chased them out with a sword. And the cocky comments the "superman" gave the heroin.
Plus I loved the side editions, the gruff yet tenderhearted old Ian, the adorable trolled faced baby.
Overall, *thumps up*
April 22, 2012
Grace is an asshole for not telling micheal about the baby right away.
May 26, 2017
I gave up 10 pages before the end. I just can't. It started out okay (hence the two stars) and then it started to be a cheesy, contradictory mess with the attitude of cavemen. Or worse, narrow minded Christians from the 1950's. The other comments are right, it's not even worth the time to list all the faults again.
March 26, 2014
This is the second Janet Chapman book I’ve started, though only the first I’ve finished. I attempted to read The Seduction of his Wife because it sounded so delightfully batshit insane, but within 20 pages of the hero losing his shit with the heroine over the most minor of things I had to put it down. At the very least, this one didn’t start that way.
Charming the Highlander begins with a 13th century druid trying to send a 13th century highland laird (it’s always a laird) to the 20th century so he can marry an as-yet-anonymous/unknown 20th century lady and produce lots of babies so the druid can eventually have his protegee. But then Greylen MacKeage (Greylen being a totally classic 13th century Scottish name, so many Greylens), along with a few of his men, are ambushed by a rival clan, the MacBains. Long prologue short: everyone gets flung into the 20th century.
Flash forward four years and Grace Sutter is saying goodbye to her dying sister Mary. Mary ran away from the father of her baby when he proposed marriage and explained that, oh, as an aside, he’s actually from the 13th century? Several months later, Mary gets into a fatal car accident (trying to get back to him once she realizes she loves him enough to deal with him being a time traveler), leaving her slightly premature baby to her sister with the promise that Grace will take the baby back to its father.
This is the set-up, but before I go further with my thoughts, I will say that this book suffers from a common problem of throwing a million plot ideas at the wall and just kind of half-assedly dealing with all of them. I might be in the minority here, but I honestly don’t need much of a plot at all if the relationship is strong enough to carry the novel along. Which is all set-up to talk about the rest of this book.
Grey(len) and Grace end up on the same six seater bush plane to Pine Creek, Maine. It crashes. Greylen uses CPR to bring Baby back to life. Oh right, because Mary makes Grace promise to let the baby’s father name him, Grace continues to call the month old baby Baby for 3/4s of the book. Which is delightful, you can imagine. Naturally, because of magic and science, Grey falls in love with Grace at first sight and in true Highlander Laird fashion becomes super possessive.
Though, I will say, Grey’s possessiveness and other associated 13th century Man Traits are almost an afterthought. As if Chapman was concerned that maybe he was little TOO modern and forward thinking, so there should probably be a part where he curses at her and screams he loves her while grasping her shoulders almost painfully. It’s all very paint by numbers in that respect, but since the author wasn’t terribly committed to the accuracy of Grey’s characterization, he’s not nearly as intolerable as one would expect.
Then there’s another near death experience where Grace almost freezes to death before she finally makes it back home after Grey saves her life. (Again.) But there’s a massive ice storm! This is where there starts to be a million plot threads that are just tossed out left and right.
Grey’s family is opening a ski resort and the ice storm MIGHT ruin their ski lift. Baby’s father’s Christmas tree farm is in danger of being ruined. Grace abandoned her job in Virginia to come here, and her almost-sort-of-boyfriend-and-boss shows up more than halfway through the book in order to tell her that her project (she’s a rocket scientist) has been sold to a Japanese firm that is going to use it to build a weapon of mass destruction. But wait! She can’t pull out because agents from that company are coming to kidnap her and will probably kill her!
It was such an unnecessary divergence that I was just aggravated. The book developed a totally different tone and plot for all of about 75 pages in the latter half of the book and distracted from what the rest of the book was about. There’s also a whole backstory of the MacKeages hating Baby’s dad because of a whole mess that went down back in the 13th century.
It’s exhausting, honestly. I can’t even remember all the stuff that got brought up and dismissed in the blink of an eye. But it resulted in the book just getting terribly messy and convoluted by the end of it. Between the magic plotline that was also in the background but never fully committed to, and the rocket ship/WMD plotline that was never fully committed to, and the 13th century personalities and adjustments that are never fully committed to, it just felt like a novel that was trying to be everything, but not achieving much of anything.
All this to say, I didn’t hate the book. Certainly not like I hated The Lion’s Lady that I reviewed previously. I gave this one 3 stars on goodreads, because on the whole, it’s inoffensive and silly and certainly a quick read. But it’s honestly more somewhere in the range of 2.5-2.75.
Oh! But I almost forgot my favourite part! Grace had to hide Baby’s feet from his father for a long time because she wasn’t ready to give him up (and thought the father was insane because he thought he was from the 13th century) because —- the both had twelve toes. At that point, I just had to put my head down and laugh.
Charming the Highlander begins with a 13th century druid trying to send a 13th century highland laird (it’s always a laird) to the 20th century so he can marry an as-yet-anonymous/unknown 20th century lady and produce lots of babies so the druid can eventually have his protegee. But then Greylen MacKeage (Greylen being a totally classic 13th century Scottish name, so many Greylens), along with a few of his men, are ambushed by a rival clan, the MacBains. Long prologue short: everyone gets flung into the 20th century.
Flash forward four years and Grace Sutter is saying goodbye to her dying sister Mary. Mary ran away from the father of her baby when he proposed marriage and explained that, oh, as an aside, he’s actually from the 13th century? Several months later, Mary gets into a fatal car accident (trying to get back to him once she realizes she loves him enough to deal with him being a time traveler), leaving her slightly premature baby to her sister with the promise that Grace will take the baby back to its father.
This is the set-up, but before I go further with my thoughts, I will say that this book suffers from a common problem of throwing a million plot ideas at the wall and just kind of half-assedly dealing with all of them. I might be in the minority here, but I honestly don’t need much of a plot at all if the relationship is strong enough to carry the novel along. Which is all set-up to talk about the rest of this book.
Grey(len) and Grace end up on the same six seater bush plane to Pine Creek, Maine. It crashes. Greylen uses CPR to bring Baby back to life. Oh right, because Mary makes Grace promise to let the baby’s father name him, Grace continues to call the month old baby Baby for 3/4s of the book. Which is delightful, you can imagine. Naturally, because of magic and science, Grey falls in love with Grace at first sight and in true Highlander Laird fashion becomes super possessive.
Though, I will say, Grey’s possessiveness and other associated 13th century Man Traits are almost an afterthought. As if Chapman was concerned that maybe he was little TOO modern and forward thinking, so there should probably be a part where he curses at her and screams he loves her while grasping her shoulders almost painfully. It’s all very paint by numbers in that respect, but since the author wasn’t terribly committed to the accuracy of Grey’s characterization, he’s not nearly as intolerable as one would expect.
Then there’s another near death experience where Grace almost freezes to death before she finally makes it back home after Grey saves her life. (Again.) But there’s a massive ice storm! This is where there starts to be a million plot threads that are just tossed out left and right.
Grey’s family is opening a ski resort and the ice storm MIGHT ruin their ski lift. Baby’s father’s Christmas tree farm is in danger of being ruined. Grace abandoned her job in Virginia to come here, and her almost-sort-of-boyfriend-and-boss shows up more than halfway through the book in order to tell her that her project (she’s a rocket scientist) has been sold to a Japanese firm that is going to use it to build a weapon of mass destruction. But wait! She can’t pull out because agents from that company are coming to kidnap her and will probably kill her!
It was such an unnecessary divergence that I was just aggravated. The book developed a totally different tone and plot for all of about 75 pages in the latter half of the book and distracted from what the rest of the book was about. There’s also a whole backstory of the MacKeages hating Baby’s dad because of a whole mess that went down back in the 13th century.
It’s exhausting, honestly. I can’t even remember all the stuff that got brought up and dismissed in the blink of an eye. But it resulted in the book just getting terribly messy and convoluted by the end of it. Between the magic plotline that was also in the background but never fully committed to, and the rocket ship/WMD plotline that was never fully committed to, and the 13th century personalities and adjustments that are never fully committed to, it just felt like a novel that was trying to be everything, but not achieving much of anything.
All this to say, I didn’t hate the book. Certainly not like I hated The Lion’s Lady that I reviewed previously. I gave this one 3 stars on goodreads, because on the whole, it’s inoffensive and silly and certainly a quick read. But it’s honestly more somewhere in the range of 2.5-2.75.
Oh! But I almost forgot my favourite part! Grace had to hide Baby’s feet from his father for a long time because she wasn’t ready to give him up (and thought the father was insane because he thought he was from the 13th century) because —- the both had twelve toes. At that point, I just had to put my head down and laugh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2012
So I started this book in 2009 and just finished it now, at the end of 2012, because I was skimming through my Kindle books and realized I had just given up on this book but I was like 85% of the way done. Well, now I know why I didn't bother finishing it.
What a stupid book! The plot did not seem necessary at all. Why did Grey and his MacKeage warriors have to be transported from Medieval Scotland to 21st century (a time period that the "heroine" Grace constantly mentioned) America? There are plenty of contemporary stories where modern day men act like they are from the Medieval period (until the right lady comes along, etc.) without actually having to bring time travel into the equation. I guess that whole concept just seemed so unnecessary that it just lent a lame tone to the rest of the book.
Grace, however, was an exceedingly annoying character. "I am a 21st century, female rocket scientist!! I don't need men, unless I need to lift heavy objects !!!"
Seriously, this was an annoying, not that well thought out book that maybe would make more sense if I read the rest of the series, but that would mean that I would have to read the rest of the series. I am sort of shocked by how the high the rating for this book is on Goodreads as I feel the ratings are generally pretty spot on on this site.
What a stupid book! The plot did not seem necessary at all. Why did Grey and his MacKeage warriors have to be transported from Medieval Scotland to 21st century (a time period that the "heroine" Grace constantly mentioned) America? There are plenty of contemporary stories where modern day men act like they are from the Medieval period (until the right lady comes along, etc.) without actually having to bring time travel into the equation. I guess that whole concept just seemed so unnecessary that it just lent a lame tone to the rest of the book.
Grace, however, was an exceedingly annoying character. "I am a 21st century, female rocket scientist!! I don't need men, unless I need to lift heavy objects !!!"
Seriously, this was an annoying, not that well thought out book that maybe would make more sense if I read the rest of the series, but that would mean that I would have to read the rest of the series. I am sort of shocked by how the high the rating for this book is on Goodreads as I feel the ratings are generally pretty spot on on this site.
November 29, 2011
I liked the idea of the book: highlander, time travel, romance and snow (yes, I love snow) but unfortunately I found this story a bit of a miss. It starts off really sad with a death of a loved one and some really emotional scenes; if that is your sort of thing I think you will love this, but I read to escape the stress of real life. I found that it set the tone for the rest of the book. The story chugged along without engaging me and I was pleased to finally get to the end.
The part of the story that I think would have been interesting, the highlander finding himself in the future after time traveling and having to get used to a new way of living, wasn't described at all, which I found disappointing.
The part of the story that I think would have been interesting, the highlander finding himself in the future after time traveling and having to get used to a new way of living, wasn't described at all, which I found disappointing.
April 17, 2019
I don't understand why Grace was allowed to take her sister's baby from the hospital. The hospital didn't ask the mother for the name of the child's father, or try and establish a legal guardian. The mother wanted the baby to be given to the father, but instead Grace takes the baby for herself. She tells people that she was pregnant, it's her baby, and that her sister died weeks prior to the baby's birth.
This plot would make for an awesome crime-thriller, but it is completely at odds in this romance book. The story supports Grace and her actions, and it progresses as if the reader does too. Grace is constantly lying about the baby and reading about it through the glossy lens of a romance is disorienting and almost unreadable.
This plot would make for an awesome crime-thriller, but it is completely at odds in this romance book. The story supports Grace and her actions, and it progresses as if the reader does too. Grace is constantly lying about the baby and reading about it through the glossy lens of a romance is disorienting and almost unreadable.
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