Review: Highland Blessings by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Highland Blessings
by Jennifer Hudson Taylor

Genre: Christian Historical Romance
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Release: May 1, 2010
Price: $11.19

What I Liked:
Well, as a *huge* fan of Scottish Historical romances, I had been looking forward to this book ever since I first heard about its release, months ago. Not only historical, but Scottish; not only Scottish but medieval; not only medieval but Christian. I really was waiting with bated breath for this release.

I was not disappointed in the book. It was historically accurate, it had a good plot, it had interesting characters, it was well-written, it was edifying. I really enjoyed it. I didn't *love* it, but if you read my reviews, you'll know that the sweet-sweet saccharine-y stuff is just too much for me. And I must confess that this book had some of that. It turned me off to the heroine after awhile, and I had to work to connect with her. But I did reconnect with her, around her love story, because that was definitely where I thought this book really shone. It had a great love story that felt real and deep.

An awful lot of books these days have motivations for their heroes or heroines that just don't make sense to me. But one of the reasons that I liked this book so much, and one of the reasons that I like Scottish historicals in general is that family and honor were *such* deep motivations, I would believe almost anything they did to protect them. There is so much at stake when a medieval Scot's family is attacked or threatened or when there's a clan war. So much at stake that any motivation is believable to me. I would believe that they would do anything. A good man, for instance, would kidnap a woman if he thought that's what his family required of him. I completely believe that. And he would marry for loyalty. I like that. So one of my favorite things about this book is that the characters had motivations that meant something. They had a lot at stake, and they made decisions that made sense with who they were.

So all in all, I thought this was a great book. I'm interested to see what this author releases next, because she writes not only about Scotland (my favorite place in the world), but also about the Carolinas (my other favorite place in the world). And I think she's a good writer, and I will likely enjoy whatever she releases next. If you like books with an inspirational bent, and good historical writing, I think you definitely need to pick this book up today.

The Book Blurb:
"Highland warrior Bryce MacPhearson kidnaps Akira MacKenzie on her wedding day to honor a promise he made to his dying father. When he forces Akira to wed him, hoping to end a half-century feud between their clans, she struggles to overcome her anger and resentment. . .Yet her strength in the Lord becomes a witness to Bryce. But there is a traitor in their midst . . . and murder is the ultimate weapon."