The MacGregors: Daniel ~ Ian [2-in-1]

I really did like the first story in this, Daniel MacGregor ends up in hospital and then the story of his and Anna Whitfield's romance unfolds, he is a bit more insistent than many modern stories have but this was originally written in 1987, still it's also set earlier in the 20th century. Daniel is a tycoon and Anna is a medical student, he's sure she wants marriage she's sure she wants medicine. He has to come to terms with the fact that she values her independence and career as much as he does and without it she will not submit meekly.

I enjoy stories where the woman is willing to bend but not be broken or give up her dreams completely, so this one was right up my alley.

The second story, In from the cold, which was more novella than show more full novel, is a historical novel set during the American war of Independence, where Allanna Flynn nurses Ian MacGregor back to health and finds that she's attracted to him, even though she opposes his going to war, she's lost too many people in various fights.

Both were pretty standard Nora Roberts fare, I found the first a more compelling read than the second, but still found them interesting. show less

First book finally delves into the story of Daniel and Anna's romance when Daniel was a young businessman and Anna was still a medical student. The story follows the same plot-line: Daniel meets Anna and immediately decides she's the one while Anna has her reservations from his arrogance and close-mindedness and also because she's studying to become a surgeon.

This story was cute and definitely a lot more enjoyable than the rest of the MacGregor reads so far. Anna was a good match in her quiet, reserved, but strong-willed nature for Daniel's stubborn, bold, but sometimes gentle character. But it felt like she conceded a lot more in their arguments than he did. What was that about? I liked the idea of Anna being ambitious and intelligent show more enough to take charge of her life by choosing to become a doctor, despite what Daniel, society, or even her own parents thought.

Keeping the time period in mind, it was easy to understand the interactions but parts of the storyline were left untold. We, like Anna, never get a chance to explore Daniel's past. Also, Anna and Daniel make a bet midway through their romance and then it's never mentioned again.

Their relationship was decent but they were two characters who instantly knew and understood every little piece of each other. Every look, every emotion, every thought is so easy for each of them to see/read, which is apparent even when they are parents in later years and earlier books. Yet the very foundation of their courtship "drama" had to do with not communicating enough. There's no way anyone could consistently be that perfectly intuitive, but alas, this is Nora Roberts' world after all.

After this story, I felt like I had to take a short break from the MacGregors. Then when I came back to this book, I realized I should've made the break longer.

The second story has to do with Ian MacGregor, an ancestor of the family line, who was a colonial Boston warrior transplant from Scotland to pre-America or something circa 1700s. He gets shot and almost killed, but manages to find his way into the barn on the property of Alanna Flynn's father. And so begins the relationship between Ian and Alanna.

This story did not catch my interest from the onset. I had no idea whether it was because early Nora Roberts couldn't quite handle stories set in different centuries or if it was just that the characters were boring and one dimensional. Once again, I found myself more intrigued with secondary characters instead of the main duo. And the whole notion of the man forcing the woman to marry him because he says so, as seems to be the theme in these MacGregor novellas, is such a huge turn off. The only reason I managed it this far into the series was because I read the Brides and Grooms stories first. show less

****½ For Now, Forever. Hmmm. I'll call it contemporary category romance, though it's actually a bit historical. I figure it takes place in what--the 50s? Must be--it's after WWII, I'm pretty sure. But it can't but much later, because their grandchildren are getting married in 1997. I didn't buy Anna's initial objection to marriage, but later on she made more sense. Vivid characters, though.

I loved this book in the series because it tells how everything got started. The first story tells how Daniel, the loveable, meddlesome patriarch in the other stories, meets his wife and woes her, and then the next story tells of Daniel's grandfather, Ian, and how he meet his wife and caught her.

Typical contemporary romance from Nora Roberts.