The story is really romantic, I liked that the characters of the previous book have a little visit in this book. It has an exciting climax to the end of the story ( )

this is a really good story and one that flows rather well ( )

***NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS***
Sarah Douglas is an American Author who has decided to spend a few months in Scotland because one she's hoping it will help her overcome her writer's block and two she believes that fate is pulling her there, to that country, to that cottage. She believes that at that moment it's where she's supposed to be. After spending close to a lifetime of not being able to touch someone without being violently drawn into their thoughts and feelings, she's decided to stop denying her gift and to go where fate takes her. Fate takes her to the doorstep of Fae Guardian Ian McCullough. Ian is a 600 year old war of half fae and half human blood who's mission is to protect the gateway between the human and fae worlds from the evil Fairies - the Nuadian. What apparently only Sarah doesn't know, is her presence presents a risk to Ian and his mission, she's a descendant of the fae as well and as a female descendant she can both see the gate and should she chose to lead the Nuadian right to it. Sarah is quickly drawn into the a web of new faces, new people and new agendas. She doesn't even know if they're all sane, let alone who to trust and to make matters worse she's finds herself undeniably attracted to Ian who looks close to a decade younger than her. In her mind the relationship is entirely inappropriate, but when Ian returns her interest she finds it difficult to turn away. Should she follow her heart or trust what she knows? And when both sides have people she feels she can trust, how can she possibly know which one is right and exactly who deserves her allegiance? Sarah finds herself on an unbelievable adventure of love, magic and dangers that even her writer's imagination could never have envisioned.

This is the second book in the Daughters of the Glen series, however since the ties between the two books are slim it's very easily a stand alone title. There is one small scene where the characters from the first book make a cameo, but other than that until the epilogue it's hard to see how the two books are even connected with the exception of the fact that faeries (though for the most part it's not the same faeries) are characters in both books.

The book was both well-written and exciting, a tale which draws you in and keeps your turning the pages until it's conclusion. As romance it does include sex, however the few scenes of this nature enhance the plot rather than exist for the purpose of having a sex scene.

I had two main issues with this book, the first of which is Sarah. Like in the previous book, the female lead begins as a walking doormat. She does have a lot of character growth and becomes a stronger woman by the stories conclusion, but I'd like to see a heroine from Mayhue that doesn't begin as a woman that you can more easily feel sorry for and ignore instead of a woman with some backbone that you can route for. Sarah sees her gifts as a curse and believes that because of them no one is capable of loving her. She's divorced from a man who married her for her trust fund and belittled her to the point that she barely has an self worth. She can't even find pride in her work, skirting around the genre she writes when questioned by Ian upon meeting him. I get that there are reasons for her skittish behavior, however the character needs a little more to begin with that doormat status. Yes these characters give a lot of opportunity for growth in the course of the novel, but they aren't someone you can respect upon meeting them because they themselves don't seem to possess self respect.

The second thing that bothered me about this book is the relationship between Ian and Sarah. The intense feelings between them seem to develop almost out of no where, born more of mutual attraction than of mutual respect. The communication between the two characters doesn't include enough trust and disclosure to the other person for me to really view this relationship as love. If they characters had spent a little more time talking and little less mentally obsessing I might have seen how this could be love, but I'm not the type of reader who will accept that a couple are soul-mates just because someone says so. I want to see more action to prove that this is the case rather than relying on what the faeries believe to be true.

All of the characters in this story as in the first are extremely well-rounded with the exception of the Nuadian villain, possessing both believable positive and negative attributes. I particularly enjoyed meeting the supporting characters of Will, the young boy who shares Sarah's gift and Ramos Servans who is a good guy in a villain role. What I loved about Ramos's character is that he really believes what he's fighting for is right, the problem is he's been raised not actually knowing the truth of the situation. I look forward to seeing more of both minor characters in future works.

Overall this book is a great read, though I think it will appeal more to reader of urban fantasy than those of romance. Highly recommended. ( )

Sarah Douglas has writrs block and is visiting Scotland for inspiration.
Ian McCullough is a guardian of the gate between mortal and Fae worlds.
She doesn't believe in "Fairies" even thou she has fae ancesteres.
I really liked this book! ( )

I liked the first in the series better. Good relationship development in this one, though. ( )