Lord of the Isles
(Isles Series, Book #1)
by Debbie Mazzuca

Genre: Historical Romance | Time-Travel | Fantasy

Rating: 3.5

After traveling to Scotland on business, the bed of a highland laird is the last place Ali Graham expected to wake up. But there's no mistaking the irresistibly masculine Scottish Highlander whose chambers she's accidentally infiltrated—or the severe wound he's suffered in battle. As a doctor, Ali knows how to heal his injury, how to nurse his body back to health. What she doesn't know is how to heal his heart...A proud warrior and the leader of a powerful clan, Rory MacLeod is ready to fight to the death to protect his homeland. After all, ever since tragedy robbed him of his wife, he has had nothing to lose. Yet the mysterious woman sent to tend his wounds is beginning to reawaken something inside him—something that he'd rather stay buried. But when true passion is mixed with Scottish magic, even the most fearsome warrior could begin to fall...

Ali arrived on the Isles of Skye in Scotland for a modeling gig, in hopes of paying off some of her medical school debt. Yet, upon visiting Dunvegan Castle for less than one hour, she finds herself waking up in bed with a highlander hunk she could have sworn was the 16th century Rory MacLeod. Now, adapting to her unbelievably odd predicament could be harder than thought, especially when witch accusations, snooty fiancé candidates, and a bloody kidnapping all ridiculously hinder her new "life-style" on the Isles. And when Ali's past and future truly begin to blend, can her reality finally become the magical dream she has always longed for?

This would make a great summer "beach" read since its full of romance, adventure, and mystery. Plus, it features a lot of fantasy (i.e. time-travel, magic, and folklore). But be warned, the relationship between Ali and Rory was okay but not really appealing since Ali was almost annoyingly stuck on Rory's past feelings for his departed wife. Thus, she was not very confident in herself and her feelings were obviously very unstable. Furthermore, don't get me started with their first "bed" scene since it wasn't very suitable (or really believable!) due to Ali's battered/wounded condition. Other than that, the story flowed smoothly and was fascinating when all the dots were connected in regards to Ali's true connection to the Isles of Skye. The side-characters were also very enjoyable and really added some great emotion to the story. So, now I'm curious about Book #2, Warrior of the Isles, and may have to check it out.

Likes: In reality, I actually visited Dunvegan castle last spring in Scotland and saw the real "fairy flag". So, throughout this whole book, I was able to easily visualize the setting and much of what the story was about based on my memories - so COOL!

Dislikes: I still have this strange feeling that I have read this book before or at least one with an almost exact plot line -- so nothing really surprised me overall and, sadly, I could easily predict where everything was headed way on in the story - so WEIRD! ( )