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My Heart Stood Still
by
Lynn Kurland
historical fiction, paranormal romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Berkley on October 1, 2001 and has 452 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Love Came Just in Time, Tapestry, Stardust of Yesterday, One Enchanted Evening, One Magic Moment, From This Moment On, Spellweaver, Gift of Magic, All For You, Roses in Moonlight, Dreams of Lilacs, Ever My Love, A Tapestry of Spells, Star of the Morning, The Mage’s Daughter, Princess of the Sword, Dreamspinner, River of Dreams, Dreamer's Daughter, A Dance Through Time, This is All I Ask, The Very Thought of You, Another Chance to Dream, If I Had You
Third in the MacLeod historical paranormal romance series and revolving around the MacLeod family. (It’s eighth in the combined De Piaget/MacLeod series.) The couple focus is on Thomas MacLeod McKinnon and Iolanthe MacLeod.
My Take
I did enjoy My Heart Stood Still. It’s lighthearted even with its betrayals and murders, the drama and tension leavened by clever ideas and ambitions.
It’s a battle of thoughts and emotions with Iolanthe wanting her privacy and Thomas wanting to rehab the castle. What’s worse is that each seems to know the other. Only, how?
Kurland uses a third person global subjective point-of-view with the primary perspectives coming from Iolanthe and Thomas. It’s a sad, sad tale of betrayal and murder with a potential rescue that may go awry. It’s also a tremendous confusion of memories for Iolanthe, as she died, exists, sort of dies, and then must come to terms with her past and her future. Why Iolanthe takes exception to her father trading her away to be a wife to a potential ally, I don’t know. This was business as usual in this time period.
Oooh, Thomas is a tricky boy. Jamie has this theory about not messing with history. You can only leave your time if you were “dead”, your thread snipped. And Thomas has a great idea. Naturally, it’s an idea that has its own stumbling blocks, secrets that Duncan has withheld, and I cried.
Nor does Thomas keep his sneaky ideas to himself. That must be why he’s been so successful in business.
It was sweet how Iolanthe takes such pleasure in her ghostly garden, growing what makes her happy. What does not make her happy is Thomas knowing her name. Hmmm . . . She also takes pleasure in reading — I know some people find it tiring to read, but Iolanthe and her guards have y’all beat, lol.
Kurland keeps an enjoyable pace with plenty of variety: protective protesters, business sharking, restoration, romance, ghosts, the back and forth of time travel and its effects on family, oy, an angst-ridden rescue, and plenty of introspection.
The Story
Trusted with her grandfather’s secret, Iolanthe will not betray him. Not even in her death. Not even when that brash lieutenant commandeered her keep back when they outlawed the wearing of the plaid.
Now a stranger is interrupting her peaceful non-existence in a bleak, landlocked keep on the English moors. No, no, he’s not a stranger, but what took him so long to get to her? Centuries have passed and she feels she has waited in vain . . . until now.
Thomas McKinnon, well now, he anticipates a year of hard labor getting in touch with the rocks that make up his castle, for he’s used to attaining impossible heights, both in business and in the mountains he loves. He’s not expecting to find anything more interesting inside his new home than cobwebs and weeds.
But in that ancient, crumbling castle, the fierce, restless spirit of a medieval Scottish woman lives on — a woman so haunting that he would do anything, go anywhere, risk everything to make her his forever . . .
The Characters
1382
Iolanthe MacLeod, the oldest girl of his first wife, has been traded away to an Englishman, Lord Charles. And her half-siblings are liars. It’ll be the death of Herself. William had been her grandfather; his father had been Jesse; and, his father had been James, ahem, MacLeod. Her elder brother, Alexandir, was murdered; her mother, Moira MacDonnell, wounded grievously. Iolanthe’s half-siblings included the whoring, drinking, witless Angus and Grudach, the younger daughter. Stephen is a cousin. Her father, Malcolm MaLeod, was a jerk.
Duncan MacLeod had been one of Iolanthe’s father’s cousins, and still there in 2001 as the captain of Herself’s guard. More ghosts are the too-Victorian, snuff-taking Lord Roderick St Clair of Herefordshire; Connor MacDougal, who dwarfs his six-foot broadsword; and, Robert, who is the clan bagpiper.
August 2001, Maine
Thomas MacLeod McKinnon is bored, not even climbing Everest did it for him. Mrs Murtaugh is his cleaning lady. John McKinnon is Thomas’ dad. Megan McKinnon is his sister who went and married a Brit, Gideon de Piaget, Lord Blythwood (Love Came Just in Time: “Three Wise Ghosts”, 1). Now Megan owns the Boar’s Head Inn, which another Mrs Pruitt manages in between her fascination with paranormal investigations. Victoria is another of Thomas’ siblings, who runs her own theater troupe.
Thorpewold is . . .
. . . the castle Thomas bought, a castle no one has lived in since 1746. Burt and Charlie are construction workers Thomas has hired.
Ambrose MacLeod is Megan and Thomas’ several-generations-removed grandfather . . . the chieftain of the MacLeods in the sixteenth century and a ghost along with Fulbert de Piaget (he’d married Ambrose’s sister) and Hugh McKinnon, the former laird of the clan McKinnon, who’s just back from Disneyland, and another grandfather.
Nigel, Gerard, and Constance are a group of ghosthunters from the National Trustees Concerned with Preserving Ruins. Samantha Spade.
Tiffany Amber Davidson is Thomas’ newly ex-girlfriend and Victoria’s friend. Robby Saunders is Thomas’ ex-friend. Tiffany’s father, Arthur Davidson, is driving Thomas out of business. Jake is Thomas’ attorney. Anthony DiSalvio is a Davidson henchman. Marj is DiSalvo’s secretary and his mother.
Alex Smith, who used to work for DiSalvio, had been a barracuda; he’s also Elizabeth’s brother. Now he’s married to Margaret of Falconberg (The Very Thought of You, 2/6). Elizabeth is married to Jamie MacLeod (A Dance Through Time, 1), and they have a son, Ian. Zachary Smith, Elizabeth and Alex’s brother, is staying with the MacLeods. Patrick MacLeod is Jamie’s brother; Joshua is Jamie’s minstrel. Ian MacLeod is Jamie’s cousin who’s married to Jane Fergusson (Veils of Time: “And the Groom Wore Tulle”, 2.5/8); Ian teaches swordplay. William de Piaget is married to Julianna (A Knight’s Vow: “The Traveller”, 2.6/12); they’ve just bought a large estate near the castle where William grew up in England.
The Cover and Title
The cover has an uneven pale pink background with an info blurb at the very top in black. Immediately below it is the author’s name in a shaded burgundy. A multi-petaled pink flower with a stem, two leaves, and a blue and orange butterfly perching on its right side is worked in crewel style on the left with a testimonial (in black) to the right. The title is below this in a shaded deep blue. Beneath that is a brief info blurb in black.
I suspect the title is what Thomas and Iolanthe each experienced when My Heart Stood Still.
