Helpful Score: 7
Shadow Music, Julie Garwood's long awaited next historical set in the Highlands, centers around Princess Gabrielle of St. Biel and Laird Colm MacHugh, two very exaggerated versions of the cliched characters of nearly every Garwood historical. Gabrielle is beautiful, talented in both female and male arts, mischievous, and constantly fretting. Colm is fierce, feared, giant in size, and fiercely protective. Seems okay on paper, but this time, everything fell flat. We're never given examples that showcase each protagonists good and bad flaws, we're just told what they are. It honestly seems as though Ms. Garwood profiled the villains (who are numerous) more than she did the two main characters.
As mentioned in several other reviews, it is almost half-way through the book that Colm and Gabrielle even meet, and this too is missing the little extra spark that Ransom, The Secret, The Bride, etc. had. There's no chemistry and little interaction. Gabrielle is on her way to marry another laird who winds up murdered. When she is ruined by the lies of one of the villains, Brodick Buchanan (her cousin by marriage) persuades his ally Laird MacHugh to marry the girl. Gabrielle, exiled from England, goes to the Highlands with no intention of marrying Colm, but is quickly brought around to his point of view, though the marriage doesn't happen til quite later in the book.
All in all, this novel was mostly an awkward revisit to a place and time that most of us fell in love with, and JG would almost have done better to cut out the central story and written instead about the Buchanans & miscellany.
As mentioned in several other reviews, it is almost half-way through the book that Colm and Gabrielle even meet, and this too is missing the little extra spark that Ransom, The Secret, The Bride, etc. had. There's no chemistry and little interaction. Gabrielle is on her way to marry another laird who winds up murdered. When she is ruined by the lies of one of the villains, Brodick Buchanan (her cousin by marriage) persuades his ally Laird MacHugh to marry the girl. Gabrielle, exiled from England, goes to the Highlands with no intention of marrying Colm, but is quickly brought around to his point of view, though the marriage doesn't happen til quite later in the book.
All in all, this novel was mostly an awkward revisit to a place and time that most of us fell in love with, and JG would almost have done better to cut out the central story and written instead about the Buchanans & miscellany.
Helpful Score: 3
I love anything set in Scotland, and being a fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, I'm not afraid of committing to reading a really long book. But I gave up on this one around page 80. The author threw too many new characters at you too soon, and being in Scotland, half of the names started with Mc or Mac. Too confusing. In addition, I had no interest in the heroine, as she was "Miss Perfect" in every way. I'd rather read about someone who's more realistic. There are too many other books out there I'm waiting to read, so I was more than OK with quitting on this one.
Helpful Score: 3
As many other reviewers have said, Garwood's romantic tale of Gabrielle and Colm seems very rushed and crowded with lots of side characters. I am a big fan of her contemporary novels and decided to try one of her historicals. I guess it was the wrong one to start with.
Helpful Score: 2
Julie Garwood gets back to her historical roots in this one. I liked it, although not as much as Ransom and her others. The characters didn't seem to have enough time together and the book felt rushed. We do get to meet up with Brodick Buchannan from Ransom, which is a plus.
I just wanted more I guess.
I just wanted more I guess.
Helpful Score: 1
This book definitely read like a Julie Garwood book - you could see her style come thru with the fairytale type intro about the background of the heroine's family. As with many of her books, the heroine is first depicted as a small child, demonstrating some of her qualities/characteristics that later appear in her as an adult. As usual, this heroine has something out of norm - in this case very level-headed, literate, and an excellent archer. The hero is larger than life, and only slightly flawed. An easy read, not as much angst/emotional turmoil - the book seems to run rather rapidly towards the end after you get about halfway, without much relationship between the hero/heroine. You could see all the stray heroes left hanging around waiting for sequels - makes it easy only having a few female characters with all these knights and Lairds. Not going on the keeper pile, but maybe worth reading as part of the series. There are shadow or music themes in the book.. disregard the irrelevant title and cover art.
