[.uk] Ransom (ISBN 0671003364)

Amazon.com Review:
In Ransom, New York Times bestselling author Julie Garwood returns to her beloved Highlands and the dark days of the despotic rule of King John to reacquaint readers with Scottish chieftain Brodick Buchanan, first introduced in The Secret. Brodick finds himself playing protector to Gillian, an exquisite English beauty, who is desperate to find her long-lost sister and a treasure of incalculable worth--one for which many already have died, including Gillian's own father. Coerced by the fiendish Baron Alford, who murdered her father before her eyes and usurped her birthright 14 years earlier, Gillian must return to England with Arianna's Box, a bejeweled golden box commissioned by King John, or her beloved Uncle Morgan will be tortured to death. In spite of Gillian's fragile looks and her loathsome English bloodlines, Brodick encounters a woman of immeasurable courage and determination, one not at all intimidated by his legendary temper or imposing size. And as he realizes that he has met his match in Gillian--whose sense of honor and duty equals his own--their passion for each other grows ever stronger in this thrilling historical. --Alison Trinkle

romantic:
The story was interesting and complex, the characters were likeable, and there was plenty of romance. This book contains some characters from The Secret, which was also a heart-warming story.

great heroine:
I read this while I was really, really sick, so my first complaint is that the book (I have the hardcover) was WAY too heavy. LOL But that does lead me to an actual complaint--it was a good story, but it dragged on too long, and got repetitious in spots. I loved the interaction between the h/h, but they had the same argument with nothing resolved too many times--I accept that people do this in real life, but in a book, showing it to the readers once should do the trick. It was also two romances in one, and the two stories weren't well intertwined. Although we're told that the two heroes were friends, and we see the two heroines become friends, there's not much interaction between the pairs. My other complaint is that, oddly though it seems from my complaint that the book was too long, there was a lot left out. For example, we jump from the heroine's escape to someone informing the hero's men that his bride has arrived. It yanked me out of the story for a page or two while I surmised that that must have been the heroine's plan to enlist his aid, though why or how she came up with that plan is never explained, and since the rest of the story hinges on that, it's a real weak spot. That's not the only time I felt that way, either. It's obviously a sequel, because when several characters were introduced, I swear I could read "pause for applause" between the lines. Complaints out of the way, it was a good story. A little too complex to easily sum up here, but the main heroine is strong and brave and honorable and never once disguises herself as a boy, and the hero just makes me grin. Clueless, gruff, and--get this!--he falls in love with her because he's impressed with her, not because she's "the most beeeyouteeful woman he's ever seen." For that, I'll forgive a book a lot. Like her sister, who just disgusted me no end--I couldn't believe they shared genes. The secondary story was cute but predictable, and could have been developed better, IMO.

How is this considered good?:
I am very shocked to see so many reviews with five stars for this novel. It was bad, I mean real bad. Some one gave this to me several years ago, and I tried to read it then but it seemed so silly. I picked it up agian thinking maybe I would change my mind (I have done that before). It was just as silly as the first time but I bore with it for the most part though I will admit I did some scanning. Besides the main flat characters, the long juvenile plot, and the horrid dialogue (the women's speech and thoughts are also juvenile) there is very little historical content. And it is over four hundred pages! The time period of the book was supposedly around the 1200's but very little in the book referenced that time period, facts or customs. It read like four hundred pages of romance cliché, but I suppose some people enjoy that style, and I am not knocking them. I just prefer a bit of substance when I read, and this book does not have any. Truth be told, romances can be a bit like fantasy. However I prefer mine with a touch of reality.

Held interest:
Good love story even with misspellings on pages 394 and 462. Need better proofreader.

Don't waste your money:
This page is for the audiobook. The book may be okay, but the story was terribly butchered to the point that it's hard to follow, plus the reader uses an IRISH accent in place of Scottish. Good thing I downloaded the audio for free because this wasn't worth a dime!