Rating:  Summary: Love to last a lifetime Review: As a young child Anne Sinclair began having visions of a young boy named Stephen. These visions stayed with her throughout her entire life. Now at 23 years old she is determined to find Stephen.Anne convinces a friend and two others to leave her Scottish castle home and head for England. England's Civil War is raging but Anne is still determined to find Stephen. When the two finally meet Stephen is enthralled with Anne. How does she know so much about him? His secrets, his castle and home, his hiding places? Love blossoms between the two, but will Stephen have to return to war? Karen Ranney's sequel to My Beloved is a touching and moving story, set amist war-torn England. I did find the story hard to understand at times and slow, but don't let that deter the reader, the historical aspect is sure to please.
Rating:  Summary: Transcending Love Review: I am a fan of Karen Ranney but am giving this a 3* in lieu of a 4* rating only because I don't feel it is up to her usual standards. The writing is, of course beautiful, and the plot begins exciting enough, but then the story seems to slow down a bit and until the last 25 pages or so, I was not enthralled. Anne Sinclair, heiress of the Laird of Dunniwerth, has since the age of 8, had visions of a boy named Stephen of Langlanais. She has had these visions all of her life. Never heard of Langlanis, does not know where it is, etc. The visions over the years are always of Stephen as she watched the boy, grow into a man. At the age of 23, she sets out to find him, accompanied by Hannah, her friend; Ian, her childhood tormentor; and Douglas - who somehow disappears in the middle of the story. Now we are in the year 1644 - a war is going on with King Charles and the Parlimentarians. Stephen has left the war and come home to bury some of his men and take care of a wound he received in battle. Anne and her party are being chased by the Parlimentarian soldiers and Stephen and his regiment see their flight and come to assist. Now here is where I find a problem with this story. Anne recognizes Stephen immediately, calls him by name. He does not catch on, furthermore, throughout the time she is staying at his home - Harrington Court - no one ever gets around to asking why a gently bred Lady is traveling across a war strewn country with little more than one warrior, (Douglas got lost here), and a female companion. I kept waiting for someone to ask where she was going, or for Anne to tell Stephen that she knew him from her visions, etc. Nothing - this really made no sense to me particularly because there was a war going on. The descriptive writing is beautiful, the sexual encounter that occured was quite stimulating but I still kept waiting for the revelations to be told or for questions to be asked. It never happened until the last 25 pages or so and that is why I couldn't give this better than a 3* review. Not the worst I have read, not the best, but with such an exceptional way with words, I will not discount this author and will continue to read most anything she writes.
Rating:  Summary: Transcending Love Review: I am a fan of Karen Ranney but am giving this a 3* in lieu of a 4* rating only because I don't feel it is up to her usual standards. The writing is, of course beautiful, and the plot begins exciting enough, but then the story seems to slow down a bit and until the last 25 pages or so, I was not enthralled. Anne Sinclair, heiress of the Laird of Dunniwerth, has since the age of 8, had visions of a boy named Stephen of Langlanais. She has had these visions all of her life. Never heard of Langlanis, does not know where it is, etc. The visions over the years are always of Stephen as she watched the boy, grow into a man. At the age of 23, she sets out to find him, accompanied by Hannah, her friend; Ian, her childhood tormentor; and Douglas - who somehow disappears in the middle of the story. Now we are in the year 1644 - a war is going on with King Charles and the Parlimentarians. Stephen has left the war and come home to bury some of his men and take care of a wound he received in battle. Anne and her party are being chased by the Parlimentarian soldiers and Stephen and his regiment see their flight and come to assist. Now here is where I find a problem with this story. Anne recognizes Stephen immediately, calls him by name. He does not catch on, furthermore, throughout the time she is staying at his home - Harrington Court - no one ever gets around to asking why a gently bred Lady is traveling across a war strewn country with little more than one warrior, (Douglas got lost here), and a female companion. I kept waiting for someone to ask where she was going, or for Anne to tell Stephen that she knew him from her visions, etc. Nothing - this really made no sense to me particularly because there was a war going on. The descriptive writing is beautiful, the sexual encounter that occured was quite stimulating but I still kept waiting for the revelations to be told or for questions to be asked. It never happened until the last 25 pages or so and that is why I couldn't give this better than a 3* review. Not the worst I have read, not the best, but with such an exceptional way with words, I will not discount this author and will continue to read most anything she writes.
Rating:  Summary: Too Intense in Annapolis Review: I found the book well written but without any humor or light moments (that I remember) So intense!
Rating:  Summary: Could have been better Review: I really enjoyed MY BELOVED, the 1st story in this series, but this one seemed to fall a little flat. Both books have a similar feel, slow moving, with a lot of everyday living in it. Normally I don't mind this, but in MY TRUE LOVE, something got lost. This story ties in with the earlier one, but if you hadn't read the earlier story, I fear you would be very confused. Also, where the earlier story had depth, envolving the Knights Templar, and intrigue, and basically a plot, this story just plodded along. The era of war between the Royalists and Parlimentarians was a bloody and a very suspicious time. This was also the height of the witch trials. Wouldn't Sebatian have been a bit suspicous of someone who seemed to know him and his feelings when he had never met her before? He has his duty to the king, which he is obviously rebelling against, but feels that it is dishonorable to do so. I just didn't get any strong feelings of passion from our characters. Although there are a few threads that weave from the beginning of the story to the end, I basically felt that we were denied a plot. Yes, our heroine and hero meet and fall in love, and there are some extranious subplots that keep the story interesting, but overall, there is not a really big, all encompassing plot to keep the reader's interest. Also, I am dissappointed in Sebatian and the choices he makes involving his ancestrial home. If you want to follow the series because you enjoyed MY BELOVED, then pick this book up, otherwise I would bypass this story.
Rating:  Summary: Could have been better Review: I really enjoyed MY BELOVED, the 1st story in this series, but this one seemed to fall a little flat. Both books have a similar feel, slow moving, with a lot of everyday living in it. Normally I don't mind this, but in MY TRUE LOVE, something got lost. This story ties in with the earlier one, but if you hadn't read the earlier story, I fear you would be very confused. Also, where the earlier story had depth, envolving the Knights Templar, and intrigue, and basically a plot, this story just plodded along. The era of war between the Royalists and Parlimentarians was a bloody and a very suspicious time. This was also the height of the witch trials. Wouldn't Sebatian have been a bit suspicous of someone who seemed to know him and his feelings when he had never met her before? He has his duty to the king, which he is obviously rebelling against, but feels that it is dishonorable to do so. I just didn't get any strong feelings of passion from our characters. Although there are a few threads that weave from the beginning of the story to the end, I basically felt that we were denied a plot. Yes, our heroine and hero meet and fall in love, and there are some extranious subplots that keep the story interesting, but overall, there is not a really big, all encompassing plot to keep the reader's interest. Also, I am dissappointed in Sebatian and the choices he makes involving his ancestrial home. If you want to follow the series because you enjoyed MY BELOVED, then pick this book up, otherwise I would bypass this story.
Rating:  Summary: This book made me fall asleep! Review: If you love fast pace novels do not buy this book! If you are the kind of person who likes books that are slow paced and day to day events you will like the book. At first I thought itwould be good since this little girl can see images of another little boy and all that happens to him. Boy but was I wrong! There is no excitment sure there's strong love but nothing to entertain you. The only thing I liked was that this book involved a couple from the book My Beloved. I wish I had not bought the book. But that is just my opinion.
Rating:  Summary: This book made me fall asleep! Review: If you love fast pace novels do not buy this book! If you are the kind of person who likes books that are slow paced and day to day events you will like the book. At first I thought itwould be good since this little girl can see images of another little boy and all that happens to him. Boy but was I wrong! There is no excitment sure there's strong love but nothing to entertain you. The only thing I liked was that this book involved a couple from the book My Beloved. I wish I had not bought the book. But that is just my opinion.
Rating:  Summary: LATIN LOVERS Review: If you remember conjugating verbs in Latin class, dust off your Latin dictionary and wander into the world of Stephen and Anne. Latin never sounded so delicious! Although this book has its own characters and personality, the story references events from MY BELOVED. So, if you have not read that poignant story, go there first and come back to MY TRUE LOVE because you will enjoy it so much more. Underlying the enchantment of TRUE LOVE are the principles of duty, honor, loyalty. Anne is a strong character with a mission to find the boy of her childhood dreams. When she finds Stephen, the reader feels their connection immediately and yearns for more connecting moments...Karen Ranney provides them in abundance...amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant...
Rating:  Summary: LATIN LOVERS Review: If you remember conjugating verbs in Latin class, dust off your Latin dictionary and wander into the world of Stephen and Anne. Latin never sounded so delicious! Although this book has its own characters and personality, the story references events from MY BELOVED. So, if you have not read that poignant story, go there first and come back to MY TRUE LOVE because you will enjoy it so much more. Underlying the enchantment of TRUE LOVE are the principles of duty, honor, loyalty. Anne is a strong character with a mission to find the boy of her childhood dreams. When she finds Stephen, the reader feels their connection immediately and yearns for more connecting moments...Karen Ranney provides them in abundance...amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant...
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