Review: "Highland Fling" by Jennifer LaBrecque

Highland Fling by Jennifer LaBrecque

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I'd read only two books by Ms. LaBrecque before this one and I wasn't very impressed, but she's a favorite author among several GR members so I thought I'd give her another try when I found this book at the UBS. Well, the old saying is true: third time is the charm...

Kate Wexford is an ER doctor who finds herself attracted to an 18th-century painting of a Scottish laird, Darach MacTavish. The painting is part of a sex exhibit being held at the museum, and she can't help visiting the museum and ogling the painting every day after work. On the last day of the exhibit, she is approached by a strange man who gives her some info about the man in the painting and then just pushes her into it. When Kate "wakes up", she finds herself lying naked on the Scottish laird's bed.

Darach is more than surprised to find a naked wench on his bed and, not knowing how she could have sneaked into his castle undetected, suspects she's a spy sent by his enemies. This impression is short-lived, as Kate and Darach soon realize she somehow traveled back in time. At first, they don't understand why she's there and don't know how to get her back to her time, but they eventually figure out she's to help him prevent his death and the destruction of his clan in the near future (his future, not hers). As they work together and travel through time (his and hers) in search of the answer to his imminent problem, Kate and Darach fall in love with each other and are faced with another dilemma, as she doesn't particularly like life in the 18th century and he can't abandon his clan and stay with her in the 21st century. As this is a romance novel, they sort things out and get their HEA, of course.

I know suspension of disbelief is a must when I read time travel stories and I don't necessarily expect them to have a scientific approach based on the laws of physics, but I do expect them to have some consistency within the logic the author creates to explain the phenomenon. Here's what bothered me in this book: the first time Kate time traveled, she reached her "destination" without her clothes on but with her watch on her wrist and her purse on her shoulder; the following times she time-travelled, she didn't "lose" anything during the "journey" and arrived at the "other space in time" fully clothed and accessorized. What was the logic behind that? As far as I could tell, there was only one explanation: Darach needed to see Kate naked so he could appreciate what a bonny lass she was, LOL.

The other thing that bothered me was how easily Darach fit into the 21st century. For example, he was surfing the internet less than one hour after Kate explained him what a computer was! No matter how intelligent he was, I found that very hard to believe.

Anyway, those were only small annoyances that didn't prevent me from enjoying this read, probably because I fell in love with Darach and was willing to buy anything Ms. LaBrecque wrote, LOL. Darach was a wonderful Highlander hero - strong, protective and a bit arrogant, just the way he was supposed to be - and Kate was a funny and charming modern-day heroine. Their scenes were sweet and funny, and they had great chemistry together. All in all, the time travel "logic" was a bit convoluted but the romance part of the story was very good and worth reading.



View all my reviews