An Embarrassment of Riches

Those Sexy Highlanders and Time Travelers - by Laural

Mrs. Claire Randall is on her second honeymoon in the Highlands of Scotland. It’s 1945 and she's a former combat nurse who has taken up the hobby of botany to fill her free time. She is gathering plants at the stone circle Craigh na Dun when she is catapulted through time to 1743 and finds herself in the midst of skirmishes prior to the Jacobite rising of 1745.

This first, page-turner novel of the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon is a spicy romance with depictions of violence, and explicit sex scenes. If you're squeamish about these things this isn't the novel for you. But these depictions are presented in the context of the times, giving the story historical resonance. I found comic relief in Claire’s swearing. She doesn’t swear like a sailor but she swears like a healthy woman dealing with brawny men, exciting, brutal times, and frustration. I don’t know about you, but if I was a fish out of water I might swear a lot too!

If you like the idea of romance, time travel and Highlanders you should also check out author Karen Marie Moning’s Beyond the Highland Mist.

Looking for something different? We can help. Whether it be contemporary, historical, set in urban L.A. or rural Lancaster, just tell us what you're looking for and we’ll try to find it.

The Wrong Man - by Ruth For those of us who have ever fallen for the wrong man, Alice Hoffman's latest book assures us that we are in plentiful, if not necessarily good, company.  There are many women in The Third Angel - so many that I had a bit of trouble at first keeping track - and their stories are told in interconnected, almost novella-like pieces.  At least three of these have fallen for, or are with, men who are neither right nor good for them.  Madeleine gets involved with her sister's fiance (big mistake), Frieda is attracted to a drug-addled singer (why?), and Bryn is still desperately in love with her wildly attractive and Irish-American (sigh), but criminal ex-husband although she is engaged to another man who is dull, dull, dull by comparison.  Bad boys - ya gotta love 'em, and yet, I didn't really like them in this book.  I didn't see the attraction for either the men (well, OK, Michael the Irish-American was dishy and interesting and seemed to maybe truly love Bryn) or the women.  I didn't really like anyone, nor did I have much sympathy for them, although I found their stories somewhat interesting and sorting out of all of the relationships was a bit amusing.  I never really got the whole third angel bit - was it Teddy Healy?  Call me dense, but then explain it to me please.  I did enjoy the hope that came at the end of each piece, because, as any of us whose heart has been bruised by the wrong guy will tell you, there are few happy endings.  

For a fun book on getting over an ex-boyfriend (it will make you laugh while you're crying), check out The Ex-Boyfriend Book:  A Zodiac Guide to Your Former Flames by Rowan Davis.  Sign by sign, dysfunction by dysfunction, you'll learn what you'll miss, what you won't miss, why you are so much better off without him, and, if you so foolishly decide you really want him back, how to get the job done.  But really, why bother?  There's probably another wrong man for you right around the corner!