Midnight Honor

Rating:
Summary: Midnight Honor - Great book
Review: Actually 4.75 stars. This book is full of historical essence yet not lacking romance. The sizzling sentuality will make you hardly take a breath. Ms.Canham does an excellent job in weaving the historical facts and people with imaginary love story. I just felt as if I were there to witness the events. I kept turning the pages to find out about Angus's honor, his pledge to fight for the English and the reason of his acting as a traitor. There are characters from the prequels so if you don't want to get mixed up, I recommend that you read its prequels - Prides of Lion and Blood of Roses first. After all, I recommend Midnight Honor to those of you who are strong fans of Scottish historical romances.

Rating:
Summary: The Blood of Roses all over again...
Review: After reading The Pride of Lions & The Blood of Roses I was hoping to follow Catherine & Alexander again in this 3rd book. This book follows Angus Moy, Lady Anne & John MacGillivray basically through the exact same events that you already went through in The Blood of Roses. There really weren't any surprises since you'd already been through the battle in the other book & you already knew who lived & who died. In The Blood of Roses I felt very drawn in by all the characters & not just Alex & Catherine so I didn't see why these 3 weren't given a bigger role in the other book (like many others had) which would've eliminated a need for this 3rd book in the series. With about 95% of this book being the march to battle & the actual battle itself that you've already read in The Blood of Roses I see no need for anybody to read this book. I could've got all that I needed by just reading the last 2 chapters. Don't waste your time if you've already read The Blood of Roses.

Rating:
Summary: Canham's characters excel.
Review: Beautiful, Anne Moy has a moral dilemma. She's the granddaughter of the Farqharson's, aged leader of the powerful Clan Farqharson. The old man wants Anne to become the leader around whom all Scotsmen can rally. As head of the clan she would choose the man to lead their troops, and most hope she would choose John MacGillivray, her friend since childhood, one who had loved her and hoped to marry her. Anne denies her grandfather's request because, much to her sorrow and embarrassment, her Scottish husband has sworn allegiance to the English. Angus Moy, Anne's husband and chief of the Clan Chattan, has his reasons for swearing his allegiance to the English. He is an honorable man and will keep his word though he knows he is driving Anne, the only woman he has ever loved, away. Anne's emotions and her loyalty become torn as she realizes she is in love with two men. Author Marsha Canham has done a superb job of bringing to life the conflict brought about by the Scottish/English wars. The battle scenes are vivid; the love scenes, hot; and the emotional tugs-of-war draining. The unusual ploy of placing a woman as head of a great Jacobite army works well. Great read

Rating:
Summary: What a wonderfully colorful story
Review: Depth. That is what I have always loved about Ms. Canham's writing. Her characters are three dimensional, usually with difficult issues to wrestle with and complex lives to navigate. Midnight Honor, with Angus and Anne was no different. I particularly liked our hero in this story. Where many people might think he is the weak point of the book, I thought he was an exceptional character. This story is set surrounding the Battle of Culloden in Scotland. This is a theme (over) written about in romance novels, yet the way Ms. Canham makes this time come alive is extraordinary. This was a bloody and barbaric time in Scot/English history and comes across as such. Angus had many difficult decisions to make. It is easy from modern perspective to chose the "right" path (or at least the path that would best serve the clan) but living through it would make those decisions less obvious. Usually in Scot theme books, the hero is a big and brawny Highlander, overbearing, charismatic yet extremely Alpha in disposition. Angus was brought up mostly on the Continent and had more "refined" characteristics. This is what kept the story fresh. Was he pro-Scot or wasn't he? Spy or double agent? Fence straddler or chameleon?

Anne on the other hand was blatantly pro-Scot. I was never quite sure how the British army could trust Angus with a wife who was so obviously Jacobian, but that is all part of the plot. There were parts of her character I liked and others I did not, but they made for an interesting whole person. I don't always have to like everyone I read about. She had some difficult decisions to make, especially not knowing the loyalties of her husband. There are some very remarkable relationships in this book. They are well done and powerfully emotional. We see some old friends from other books, but they are not overly intrusive in this story, and if you have not read their stories, you are not left confused as can sometimes happen.

Probably the best book I read in 2001. I give 5 stars rarely and felt this story deserved every one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this Scottish Romance! I'm positive you will too! I thought about the character's when I wasn't reading the novel and couldn't wait to find out what happens next.

Rating:
Summary: Loved it
Review: I tried to read Pale Moon Rider first, and got bored quickly, but thankfully I went and bought Midnight Honor. I loved the story and the characters. It was a first for me to start a book where the two main characters were already married, but it ended up making it that more interesting. Angus was a scottish laird, but was rooting for the english in a time of war. His wife anne, was disgusted with him, but throughout the book they put their differences aside and make the pages sizzle!! However, I was kinda hoping that Captain John and Anne would end up together. I liked Captain John a lot more than Angus, but still I would recommend this novel to everyone who enjoys a good historical romance.

Rating:
Summary: A True Standout from the Norm
Review: I've always liked Marsha Canham's writing, so I make an exception to buy all of her books. You can imagine how delighted I was when I found her latest novel on the supermarket shelf.

I wasn't expecting more out of Midnight Honour than any of her other books, but in truth, Midnight Honour was one of the best books I have read in a long time. The plot was different, and there were wonderful characters.

The plot was brilliant, and it was not at all what I was expecting. It begins with the heroine, Lady Anne Moy, already having been married to her husband (the hero, Angus Moy) for four years. That may seem rather odd for a romance novel, but it was a much longed for breath of fresh air. There were no silly "ripping through the maidenhead" scenes and it was nice to see a couple already comfortable with each other but still not perfect.

Have you ever noticed that there are very rairly decent male characters other than the hero in romance novels? Again Ms. Canham's book throughs normality aside. I found myself more in love with Anne's old flame, the dashing John MacGillivray, than I was with scholarly Angus. It was interesting because Anne was really in love with both men, and both men were in love with her. Oh those glourius torn loyalties. The book certainly kept my attention.

Ms. Canham also did not fall victem to the tenancy to add too much historical detail. Her battle scenes were emotional, true to fact, and blessedly short. The heroine, Lady Anne, was a warrior. Ms. Canham is the only author I have ever read who has been able to pull that off. Most the time the warrior heroine is spoiled, ridicoulosly stubborn and obscenely stupid. Lady Anne is none of these, she seems very real throughout the entire story.

Midnight Honour is one of the best books I have read in a long time. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and I finished reading it wishing it would never end. Marsha Canham has written a book that steps completaly outside the bounds of ordinary romance novels and comes off wonderfully.

Rating:
Summary: Needed more romance
Review: Lady Anne MacKintosh took it upon herself to raise her clan to fight for Prince Charles Stuart. Her men called her Colonel Anne. She had a petition that declared her the leader of Clan Chattan in her husband's absence. By her side rode her life long friend, Captain John. All Scotland knew him as The MacGillivray. John loved Anne with all his heart, but kept his distance because Anne loved her husband, Angus.

Angus Moy fought for the English. Only John knew why. Angus did it for immunity for Anne and his mother. Two men in love with the same Scottish Amazon, Wild Rhuad Annie. Both willing to die for her and probably will.

This is not Marsha Canham's best, but it is still a very good read. The author shows the love, hate, and anguish the people must have felt in that time of history. In my personal opinion, there was too much time spent on war strategies. However, I do not see how the story could have been told otherwise. After all, the main characters were in the thick of it all. The author did a marvelous job creating this one!

Rating:
Summary: Best Book I've Read, Next to Outlander
Review: Marsha Canham weaves a poignant lover's triangle during the events leading up to the Battle of Culloden.

Known as "Wild Ruadh Annie", "Lady Anne Moy" and "Colonel Anne", she meets England's lobsterbacks with defiance and "daggers in her eyes". Although she loves him deeply, she is contempuous of her husband for siding with the crown and calls him traitor to his face.

Angus Moy, Anne's husband is a member of His Royal Majesty's Dragoons. He attempts to walk a tightrope between his highland ancestry, his own opinion of how the struggle between England and the Highlands will culminate and his deep love for Anne. Her open contempt for him during the events leading to Culloden distress him greatly but his only goal in life is to protect her and his clan in any way he can.

Big John MacGillivray has loved Anne for years. He immediately steps to the fore to be her right hand and to guard her back when she is called on by her clan to lead the fight against England. Anne loves him and would have had him as husband had not Angus Moy decided to honor a betrothal made in their childhoods.

How will this triangle resolve? Will Anne stay with her husband though she calls him traitor and coward or will Big John MacGillivray's love and devotion to her win her for his own?

Rating:
Summary: Jacobite Scotland's Extraordinary Heroine And Patriot!
Review: Marsha Canham's fictional account of Lady Anne Farquharson Moy and her contribution to the Jacobite cause in Scotland, (1745), makes for extraordinary reading. The lady and her cause are part of the tragic history of the Scottish uprising with its goal to put Charles Edward Stuart, (Bonnie Prince Charlie), on the throne of Scotland and England. Beginning just before the doomed Battle of Culloden Moor, Ms. Canham sweeps the reader back to 18th century Scotland, with its diverse clans, intrigues, politics, adventure and romance.

Anne's family, the Farquharsons, were fiercely loyal to the Stuarts. Anne, who grew up in staunch Jacobite surroundings, was a strong individual whose brothers had taught to wield a sword and fight. In fact, she was known more for her skills with weapons than with embroidery and book learning. Called "Wild Rhuad Annie," she married refined Angus Moy, chief of Clan Chattan, a man who had been educated on the continent and had little in common with many of Scotland's leaders. He did not want to associate himself or his clan with the Stuart mission. Moy believed from the beginning that the rebellion would fail and didn't want his people to lose their lives or land as a result of Civil War. Therefore he pledged himself to fight with the English.

Anne could not maintain her honor, as a Farquharson, or as Moy's wife, by keeping silent and remaining at home. Armed with a petition that declared her the clan leader in her husband's absence, she called the Jacobite members of the Chattan Clan together and led them into battle. She was their "Colonel Anne," and she made her handsome and gallant clansman, John MacGillivray, her Captain.

This story is quite complex, as are the characters, and Ms. Canham has done a remarkable job in fleshing out the people and the issues of the period. Angus Moy's dilemma was very real. He was never meant to be the leader of a clan and was not educated as such. When he found himself suddenly responsible for the lives of so many people he took the responsibility to heart. He may very well have been a Jacobite supporter himself, but was determined to keep his clan safe from the disastrous results of a doomed cause. Anne, who loved her husband, felt shame as she watched him throw in his hand with the despised English. She also knew that, in the heat of the moment, many of her husband's clan wanted to fight for the Stuarts. Anne, with her strong character, did not want to remain in a passive woman's role while the world was exploding around her. She had a cause she believed in and wanted to play a part in history.

Marsha Canham, one of my favorite authors, has outdone herself with this wonderful historical novel. She was fascinated with the Jacobites and historical figures Anne and Angus Moy, John MacGillivray, Gilles MacBean, Lochiel and Alexander Cameron and Fearchar Farquharson. She wrote that researching and writing this novel was a "labor of love." The results provide an incredible glimpse into the past and into the life of a unique and courageous heroine who certainly deserves a story of her own.
JANA