as a man, romance novels are a new interest to me.

sci-fi fantasy and a true romance novel. looking forward to many more volumes. as a man who loves scifi, fantasy, action types of books, the romance kind of suprised me. the first half of the first chapter sort of had me thinking it was going to be something that I wouldn't finnish, then a corner was turned and I was into it. I found it to be a fun, fast and a well done story. left me wanting more. loved it.

34 people found this helpful

Definitely entertaining

Oh my god, this book is HILARIOUS. Anyone who goes into this comparing it to Outlander will be grossly and hilariously disappointed. Instead of trying to find the right words to describe it, I’ll let the story speak for itself. Within the first half hour ALONE here’s what happens: Heroine Melanie finds a magic wooden box. Gets hurtled through time. Lands in the middle of a crazy battle. Stabs a guy. Saved by a Highlander who’s conveniently attractive, gallant, and available. Accused of being an English spy. Somehow no one cares about her southern accent, the fact she’s wearing a mini skirt, or that she’s pregnant out of wedlock. Becomes betrothed.

I’m not even kidding. Sometimes it was just too much and I couldn’t stop laughing. Some other stuff that happens in the book worth mentioning? Everyone constantly screaming over a cursed magic box. An albino with magic blood. Poisonous snake bites. Cars falling from the sky. The male love interest being named “Big Darcy” (Jane Austen is TOTALLY offended). The Snow White witch randomly making an appearance.

FINAL WORD
It was so hard to figure out what to rate this because it was terrible, but I was also completely entertained??? And the ending is cute. If anything, it was a great way to pass the time and the narrator was excellent.

8 people found this helpful

Definitely no Gabaldon.

this book was ok, but since I have been spoiled by Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, I couldn't help but be disappointed by the lack of depth.

26 people found this helpful

Time Travel...with a neat twist!

Would you listen to Wishing for a Highlander again? Why?

Yes. The story is pretty engaging, if I listen to it again it would be on a road trip, or while doing housework.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I really liked Melina's feisty spirit. She brought just the right amount of innocence (more from being such an earnest character than actual virtue). And she was bound and determined to get her way, one way or another.

What does Marian Hussey bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The portrayal of the characters. She does an excellent job with her Scottish brogue and defines the characters with individual voices. Her performance made a pretty good story a pretty great story. Her Voice acting really brought the characters and the experience to life.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Never under estimate the tenacity of a girl from Charleston.

Any additional comments?

I am assuming this is Jessi Gage's premier novel as I cannot locate any additional works under her name. I hope she continues with this series, maybe give some backstory on some of the other supporting characters. Although I wish the sexual tension between Melina and Darcy had lasted a bit longer and was perhaps a touch more complicated, one of the aspects of this romance which appealed to me were the love scenes. They were tasteful, not overdone, not overly graphic and ...well...they were really sweet! They were actual honest-to-goodness love scenes - complete with unique euphemisms and tender lovemaking moments. They were not graphic nor "in-your-face" sex scenes. I would have preferred Darcy to have a little bit of a stronger backbone, considering he is the romantic lead and a highland warrior to boot. But he has his own story of past pain which Melina slowly draws out of him and help him to overcome. The time travel aspect is very unique, and the twist was not anything I was expecting. I look forward to reading more of Jessi Gage's work in the future and recommend listeners to give this book a go. I think it's worth it.

31 people found this helpful

meh... Not worth the listen.

This story left alot to be desired. If you're a regular audible listner, you know how it is. Your cleaning your house, something catches your attention and you stop listening attentively. The story seems broken so you go back and listen again, I kept doing that with this title, Thinking that I was missing a section of the story. It wasn't me. There we're so many holes. It's like the author was rushed and cut out HUGE sections of story for the sake of paper, or time. It's not really worth the read.

5 people found this helpful

Second time...not the charm

This is the second time I’ve tried to read this book. It just didn’t work for me. The references the librarian constantly makes to romance books is off-putting to me. The big but mocked male lead has potential but I could t soldier through. Bummed

5 people found this helpful

Awful!

This book made me roll my eyes so hard, by the time I got to chapter ten, I was begging the Highlanders to burn the heroine at the stake, and put us all out of our misery. Will avoid this author and this narrator in the future.

5 people found this helpful

Wonderful

This was just the ticket for a long road trip. Engaging but not so thought provoking as to distract from the driving, but enough to want to take the long route.

10 people found this helpful

DNF

I am stopping at chapter 19 of 28. I can't bring myself to believe or care about this story or characters. I almost quit at the beginning when the h comes back in time because she is supposedly somewhat knowledgable about those times and yet she acts like she never considered her life could be at risk. Mouthing off and slapping people trying to help you from being burned at the stake is not feisty, it's just stupid and I couldn't care about that character much after that. The H is almost the opposite of an alpha male except in his devotion to the h.. He almost comes across as the nerdy guy in the class. By the time we get to where I was in the book all manner of odd things started happening that were just not my cup of tea.

4 people found this helpful

Time Travel, Highlanders, and Babies, Oh my!

First off, I have to say that Marian Hussey does THE MOST excellent job narrating this. She has such an amazing array of accents and every character has their own distinction. It was fun listening to her have fun with the characters!

Secondly, this story was a fun and interesting ride. I genuinely enjoyed it and the various characters brought into it.

I can understand that there are other reviewers who are looking for the next Outlander and were disappointed with this possibly, but this story is pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. A fluffy light read romance between a modern women and a 17th century scotsman mixed with bits of angst and drama and magic. It's fun, but it's not someone's personal historical romance epic.

And if I were to be blunt, I'd say the romance develops too quickly but it's what I'd kind of expect from such a novel. Doesn't mean it's not good or worth a listen. I just mean not to make your expectations too high of a standard that you can't enjoy something for what it is.

7 people found this helpful