Thorn in My Heart

Rating:
Summary: wow the best series I have ever read
Review: It has already been a month since I have read the second book in the series Fair is the Rose and I still can't not quit thinking about these books I cannot wait for the third to come out. I have read hundreds of books and up to this day I thought Sara Donita's series Into the Wilderness was the best but it doesn't even hold a candle to these.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful story - couldn't put it down!
Review: Liz has written a fantastic book. Based on the book of Genesis, she makes the characters come alive in a way most authors fail to do.

I bought the book because of the setting: I am a sucker for Scottish Historicals. I'll admit, I didn't expect to fall totally in love with the characters and their stories, but I did. By the end of the book, I was begging for more....I couldn't wait to find the next book!

Leana and Rose are your typical sisters - Rose is a wee bit spoiled, Leana is the doting "mother"....when Leana falls in love with Jamie, who is in love with Rose, who isn't interested -and when both sisters are betrayed, you can not put the book down!

Liz has a marvelous gift of making the characters real - she shows all their faults as well as their gifts. They aren't 2 dimensional, they are folks you know. I saw some of my own faults in Rose and Leana.....but I also saw a lot of redeeming qualities as well. I wish more authors had this gift!

Seriously, I highly recommend this series to everyone I run into - Liz has done a marvelous job in the retelling of Jacob's story. She has made the people involved real, not just words on a page. I went back to the Bible and re-read Genesis with a new appreciation of what happened, and a bit more understanding of maybe why it happened. So, grab a copy, curl up on the couch, and lose yourself in the Scottish glen. You won't regret it!



Rating:
Summary: Get Past the Stunning Cover and into Its Pages!!
Review: Pick this up! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. This is a delectable read - like a good Scottish broth with hearty bread! The characters are rich, the landscape remarkable. What a treat. Be warned however as you may forego hours, maybe days, of social interaction and civility for the sake of this grand story. Thank you Ms. Higgs!

Rating:
Summary: A zero would have been more appropriate
Review: There is nothing that frustrates me more than when a Christian book "dumbs down" the reader. This was the most boring, pathetic book I've tried to read in a long time. I love history, I love the Christina theme, but I couldn't even finish this book. I read 1/3 of it , but even reading that much was laborous. Don't waste your money on this dribble.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book and Series!!!
Review: This book was great and the second one is even better (Fair is the Rose). I had to write a review since I read so many reviews about how it wasn't like the Biblical story of Jacob, Rachel and Leah - it isn't supposed to be an exact copy, it's fiction and loosely based on that story. I thought it was wonderful and couldn't put it down. It causes you to look inwardly at your own selfishness and see the actions by the characters in the book and wonder if you would have done the same thing. These books stir your emotions like only a few other books I have ever read (Francine Rivers' books are good too). I loved these books and CAN'T WAIT until March for the 3rd one!

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating retelling of Biblical tale
Review: This is such a fantastic book! I bought it because I love retellings of Biblical stories and I really enjoyed Liz Curtis Higgs' "Mad Mary" and "Bad Girls" books. It took me a few chapters to get into the book because of the Scottish terms she used, but eventually I saw that they were fairly easy to define just using context. Once I got into it, I could not put the book down. My heart ached so much for Leana, yet she grew into a strong and resolute character. And the chapter-heading quotations are very appropriate. This book is definitely worth a read, even if you're not a Christian or you're not familiar with Higgs' work. If you have read anything else by her, this is practically a must-read & you won't be disappointed!

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Summary: "Modern" day Biblical story a great read
Review: This story is the Biblical story of Jacob and his wives Rachel and Leah, but is set in 1700's Scotland. When I first picked up this book I thought I might have trouble believing this story in a more modern setting, and in a place like Scotland. But, Liz Curtis Higgs has an unusual talent to transport this Biblical story into another dimension. I was fascinated by how she could tell such a well known story and also make it her very own. I was also delighted to see this story through "Leah's" eyes, and to consider how she must have felt-her younger sister being chosen over her. It was a great read and I couldn't put it down. Would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in exploring the Bible in a new light.

Rating:
Summary: Rich and Romantic Read
Review: This was one of those books that I picked up because of its gorgeous cover. And the wonderful, heartwrenching story inside more than lived up to it! The story is the perfect blend of rich historical details and romantic characters caught up in complicated circumstances. You won't believe the wedding scene --it's worth the price of the book alone. I've already bought five copies and passed them on to my sister, mother-in-law, and best friends. It's that kind of book you want to pass on --a real gem.

Rating:
Summary: Thorn in my side
Review: Warning: In this review I will outline most of the story, including the ending, so if you don't want the ending revealed, don't read this. (Normaly I don't reveal the ending, but in this case I had to in order to explain why I disliked the book.) This story is based on the Biblical story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah. The main character here is Jamie, a young man who's trying to escape his past and find happiness. After moving to a new town in hopes of starting a new life, he meets two sisters, Rose and Leanna. Both girls are interesting characters: Rose is free spirited and feisty; Leanna is sweet and softspoken. Jamie and Rose fall in love before long and plan to marry, unaware that Leanna has also fallen in love with Jamie. On Jamie and Rose's wedding day, things take a sudden turn: Leanna dresses herself in the bridal gown, conceals her face with the veils, and walks with Jamie to the altar, pretending to be Rose. Jamie marries her without having any idea that he's marrying the wrong sister; it's not until the next morning that he discovers the horrible deception and curses Leanna out of his bed. Naturally, he's determined to get rid of her and marry his true love. Until he founds out a way to annul the marriage, however, Leanna is his wife by law and he's stuck with her. Because of what Leanna did, all three of them are now miserable: Jamie and Rose are forced to meet in secret, the two sisters' relationship is all but completely destroyed, and Jamie coldly reminds Leanna every day that she's not wanted. Now, Leanna supposedly was coerced unwillingly into the trickery and is really still a sweet girl, so we're supposed to feel sorry for her when Jamie treats her coldly because of her trickery. We feel sorry for all three of them: Leanna, the unwanted wife; Jamie, the one stuck in the middle; and Rose, whose soulmate is married to her sister. The story has us hoping that Jamie and Rose will find a way to be together and will please forgive Leanna and treat her nicely because she is truly sorry for what she did and is now the most unhappy of the three. Near the end of the book, the story takes another unpleasant turn: one of the other characters (a jackass if ever I saw one) tells Jamie that he and Leanna were married in the eyes of God and Jamie dishonored her, then starts painting Jamie as some coldhearted villain and Rose as some silly vain girl that doesn't deserve his love. What happens, you ask? Oh, all of a sudden Jamie is overcome with guilt, begs Leanna's forgiveness, and dumps Rose like last year's trash. Oh yes, suddenly Leanna's the poor wounded angel and Jamie and Rose are bad because God forbid they wanted to be together. Are we expected to believe that God considers a marriage valid even if it was created out of deception and heartbreak? That Jamie's union to Leanna was honorable and she should be treated like a perfectly deserving wife? This shameful work was one of the biggest insults of love I've ever read. It's also an insult to the true story: Rachel was the love of Jacob's life and was perfectly deserving of his love. There is no evidence that he mistreated or even neglected Leah. The love between Jacob and Rachel was beautiful and Sacred; Higgs has done nothing but twist it and befoul it. This book was not true to the Bible story and Higgs made a first class fool of herself by twisting the story when the whole point was to portray it truthfully like the rest of her adaptations. Her other books were very good and truthful, which made this one all the more disappointing. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. Want a story about real love? Watch Titanic, read "The Notebook", or read the real story of Jacob and Rachel. DO NOT READ THIS!

Rating:
Summary: Loved this story of two sisters and two brothers. . .
Review: We knew she could write humor, but Liz Curtis Higgs demonstrates a mastery with fiction as she retells a familiar story in an unfamiliar setting. Two brothers battle for a father's blessing. One brother flees and discovers what it means to be on the other end of betrayal when he falls for a girl, only to be given the hand of her sister. He must face the enormity of what he has done and open his heart to forgive others, but even more so, himself.

Beautifully written. I couldn't put it down until the last page.