Stuart Legacy

by Robert Kerr

Where there's a will ... His name was James Stuart and he returned to a clan-ravaged Scotland from exile in France. Not a king, but nevertheless a man to lead, to be feared. A man with a curious connection with the throne, a mysterious legacy to claim and a search leading to a lonely island grave. James Stuart was in Edinburgh one day before he was accused of murder and forced to flee. Sheltered, rescued, guided and loved by two beautiful women, Stuart finds himself torn between desire and duty. It is with the scornful adventuress Madeleine Campbell-Bannerman that he combines the two. In a desperate chase across the Highlands -- he seeking an inheritance and she, power -- the lovers confront outlaws and a treacherous 'justice'. Hounded by the jealous Lord Orkney who wants Madeleine for himself, the pair are finally forced back to Edinburgh where Stuart determines his destiny and Madeleine removes her mask. The Stuart Legacy is that rare thing -- an historical novel with the excitement of sheet romance and the resounding power of conceivable truth.

208 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1974

About the author

Born and raised in Nebraska, Robert Kerr has called Iowa home for more than thirty years. He attended the University of Nebraska at Kearney, The University of Kansas at Ft. Hays, and the University of Northern Iowa. He holds a master s degree in psychology, and his career path has led him through stints as a welder, a carpenter, a mental hospital attendant, a mortician’s assistant, and a general Man Friday for an electrical engineer. Since 1976, he has been a school psychologist in Central Iowa. He and his wife, Joan, have rehabilitated five houses, including a Victorian-era house that inspired Completely Restored. The father of two grown children, he lives with his wife in Ankeny, Iowa. Completely Restored is Robert’s first novel.

Reviews

[Gena Lott · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched historical fiction account that helps the reader understand the importance of the Stuarts in English Aristocracy.

[Lance · Rating 3 out of 5]

This will be a difficult review to write.

I read this in an attempt to understand my mother's obsesssion with or addiction to romance novels. She had boxes and boxes of them. I chose this one because it was on top of a box, the back cover said it was set in Scotland, and the front cover was action oriented instead of a couple fawning all over each other. (Hey, I was 13 and didn't know I wouldn't mind that kinda stuff later.) I was surprised that I actually liked it. It was about one of the Stuart clan who comes across a woman with a key to the Stuart legacy and finds out he's heir to the Scottish throne. Yeah, good luck with that.

I tried to discuss it with my mother, but she didn't like the book. Thinking back on it now, it WAS action oriented, the romance wasn't that prevalent and it was written by a male from a first person male perspective. She presented me with another one that she did like, set in modern day Scotland, but written by a woman from a first person woman's perspective.

I really felt bad for her after I read it. The women always found the men of their dreams and lived happily ever after. Her life was nothing like the women in these books and had no chance of ever becoming like that. She was stuck in a marriage she didn't like with children she didn't want and it seemed to her there was nothing she could do about it. This book was a first step in understanding her and probably the first time I felt compassionate towards her.

[Kate · Rating 1 out of 5]

The cover trumpets: "First in an enthralling new romantic adventure trilogy!" But this is the only book ever published -- the vaunted trilogy never materialized. Probably because this books was so awful. Standard, predictable plot: stranger comes to town, and lo and behold! the stranger is actually the heir to the throne. But the evildoers who are currently in power will stop at nothing to retain their hold on the kingdom, so of course our hero's life is in constant danger from the moment he steps ashore. Somehow, during all the fighting, running away under cover of darkness, tripping over murdered bodies and then finding himself accused of the murders, he finds the time to find a lovely girl who believes in him with all her heart, and loves him. But he doesn't realize she loves him because he's so busy running for his life and fighting off assassins, etc.

The ending is amorphous, probably because the author vaingloriously thought there would be other books to follow. More fool he.