[Livro] Highland Abbey, de Fiona McKellar

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Título em Português:--
Série: --
Autor(a): Fiona McKellar
Editora: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Páginas: 112
Data de Publicação: 17 de Fevereiro de 2017

Sinopse:

Sarah is struggling to direct a theater production of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It doesn’t help that Glenn Sinclair, a prominent young landowner in Nairn is demanding the lead male role. But the play isn’t the only thing Glenn has his eyes on. He’s after Sarah’s heart too. With no other marriage prospects, she can hardly do anything but submit to his advances, but is it Sarah he's after or is he just playing?

~ Recebemos este livro directamente da autora Fiona McKellar. Obrigada! ~

Opinião:
Mais um livro da Fionna McKellar de seguida!

É com pena que digo que este sofre dos mesmos problemas que The Laird's Son... Apesar de ter sido um pouco melhor, continua a precisar de ser mais desenvolvido. É como se ao chegar a um certo ponto, a autora quisesse despachar a história e temos logo o final. E é uma pena, porque acho que podia ser tão melhor...

Neste livro temos Sarah, a personagem principal, que não gosta de Glenn, até este lhe começar a prestar atenção – ainda que saiba que a melhor amiga o acha atraente e tenha uma paixoneta por ele. Por comparação, Benjamin, que é um querido e sempre gostou da Sarah (até os pais dela sabem), não é olhado duas vezes, a não ser para ela pensar, mais uma vez, que ele é muito tímido.

Não gostei muito da tentativa de triângulo amoroso e, apesar de Glenn dar um bom vilão, gostava de ter visto mais da maneira como ele era. E a relação com o Benjamin...foi tão repentino.

Sarah não foi a minha personagem favorita. Apreciei a sua paixão pelo teatro mas a maneira como ela e Tess, melhores amigas, se trataram uma à outra, não gostei nada. Menos ainda do facto de Tess não a apoiar, especialmente quando Benjamin o faz. Seria uma maneira de ver as verdadeiras amizades? Se assim fosse, triste será casar com Benjamin, e ter como cunhada a Tess.

A história acabou por me prender algo mais que o livro anterior da autora, mas quando cheguei ao fim foi desapontante, porque podia ter tido tanto mais – dizer só que haverá tempo para Sarah e Benjamin se conhecerem e apaixonarem (mais) para mim não chega, eu queria ter visto esse amor desabrochar, queria que Benjamin mostrasse verdadeiramente como era, queria que Sarah aprendesse a respeitá-lo como mais que um jovem tímido que gostava dela e...“vamos namorar, talvez casar, logo se vê como corre”. Ficou a faltar um verdadeiro final.

Digo exactamente o que disse na crítica do seu primeiro livro: “Acontece e resolve-se tudo rápido de mais para o meu gosto. Não é, no entanto, um livro mau. Precisa apenas de ser desenvolvido e mais explorado. Confio que a autora veja esta opinião como encorajamento para continuar a sua escrita e melhorar a cada livro. Espero, no futuro, voltar a ler algo de Fiona McKellar e poder elogiar mais as suas obras.”

Title: Highland Abbey
Serie: --
Author: Fiona McKellar
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Pages: 112
Publication date: February 17th 2017

Synopsis:

Sarah is struggling to direct a theater production of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. It doesn’t help that Glenn Sinclair, a prominent young landowner in Nairn is demanding the lead male role. But the play isn’t the only thing Glenn has his eyes on. He’s after Sarah’s heart too. With no other marriage prospects, she can hardly do anything but submit to his advances, but is it Sarah he's after or is he just playing?

~ We've received this book directly from the Fiona McKellar. Thank you! ~

Review:
Another book by Fiona McKellar, and right away!

I’m sad to say that this book suffers from the same problems as the previous book, The Laird's Son. Although the plot was a bit better, it still needed development. It’s if when reaching a certain point in the story, the author just decides to wrap it up and end it as quickly as possible. It’s too bad, because I think it could have been much better…

In this book, there’s Sarah, the main character, who doesn’t like Glenn Sinclair until the moment he starts paying some attention to her – even though she knows her best friend has a big crush on him. In comparison, there’s Benjamin, who is a sweetheart, who loved Sarah (even her parents know it) and who’s Sarah never even looked twice, unless to notice how shy he was.

I didn’t appreciate the attempt at a love triangle and, even though Glenn could be an excellent villain, I wish I had had the chance to see him more in action. And Sarah’s relationship with Benjamin… It was so sudden.

Sarah wasn’t my favourite character. I liked her passion for the theatre, but the way she and Tess, as best friends, acted and treated each other… I didn’t like it at all. I liked it even less when Tess didn’t support Sarah, even though her brother, Benjamin, did. Was it meant as a way to show that it wasn’t a real friendship? Because if so, it would be sad to marry Benjamin and have Tess as a sister-in-law.

The story ended up hooking just a bit more than the previous book I’ve read written by Fiona McKellar, but when I reached the end it was just disappointing. It could have had so much more! Just saying that there will be time for Sarah and Benjamin to get to know each other and fall (more) in love isn’t enough (quote: “she could hardly jump right in when yesterday she’d been mooning about another man, but give it some time and everything would fall into place.”). Instead, I would have liked to see their love blossom. I wanted Benjamin to show who he truly was (I wanted to fall in love with him as the main character would have fallen), I wanted Sarah to learn to respect for who he was and not just a shy boy who helped her family. It lacked a proper ending.

I’ll say exactly what I said in my review of Fiona McKellar’s first book: “Everything just happens too quickly and is sorted out to fast for me. It’s not, however, a bad book. It just needs to be a bit more developed and explored. I trust that the author sees this review as an incentive to keep on writing and improve with every book she writes. I hope, in the future, to be able to read another of Fiona McKellar’s books and be able to praise her work more and more.”

[Livro] The Laird’s Son, de Fiona McKellar

 Ler em Português      Read in English

Título em Português:--
Série: --
Autor(a): Fiona McKellar
Editora: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Páginas: 78
Data de Publicação: 17 de Janeiro de 2017

Sinopse:

As if the rumors weren’t bad enough, now she’s been publicly accused of witchcraft. And it doesn’t help either that the accusations came from none other than the Laird’s own brother. Catriona Baxter is a commonplace Highland lass who’s just trying to mind her own business, but that doesn’t stop the Laird’s brother, Aodh, from making plenty of advances upon her. After rejecting him though, Catriona finds her life threatened when Aodh publicly accuses her of being a witch. To resolve the matter, the Laird orders Catriona to come live on his estate while a proper investigation is carried out. The Laird’s brother might want her dead, but his son, Bhaltair, has other plans. Seizing every opportunity Bhaltair pursues her endlessly. Sparks fly, but will his son’s love for her be enough to convince the Laird she should be saved from being burned at the stake?

~ Recebemos este livro directamente da autora Fiona McKellar. Obrigada! ~

Opinião:
Sempre que um(a) autor(a) está a começar a sua carreira como escritor(a) e me pede directamente se aceito fazer uma resenha da sua obra em troca de um livro – neste caso ebook -, sinto-me sempre feliz e ao mesmo tempo apreensiva. As críticas e opiniões têm sempre bastante valor para os autores e não seria a primeira vez que um(a) autor(a) dizia que a crítica A ou B tinha ficado muito marcada na sua memória – fosse ela boa, ou má.

Por isso, quando Fiona McKellar veio falar comigo, aceitei ler o seu livro em troca de uma opinião honesta mas, mais uma vez, tentei sempre ter em mente que isto era um primeiro livro, uma obra que poderia, possivelmente, precisar de ser melhorada de uma única maneira possível – experiência. E foi o que aconteceu.

The Laird’s Son é uma obra leve, curta (demasiado curta para o meu gosto) e querida/doce – no sentido que os ingleses dão ao descrever um romance “sweet” é um romance sem cenas mais eróticas ou de sexo explícito – e este livro enquadra-se nessa categoria. Para mim, os livros não têm de ter sexo para serem bons, longe disso. Apenas faço este apontamento pois é algo que costuma ter alguma importância nos romances (históricos).

O livro tinha uma boa premissa: uma rapariga que era injustamente acusada e um rapaz que acreditava nela e lutava por ela. Mas pouco mais aconteceu.

As personagens principais são adolescentes, por isso percebe-se perfeitamente que não houvesse mais algum tipo de contacto físico. Mas deveria ter acontecido algo mais. Mais aventuras, uma exploração maior das acusações feitas pelo tio de Bhaltair,... Uma história destas poderia ter tido um vilão muito mais desenvolvido e um enredo que acabasse por me prender mais mas, tristemente, ficou aquém das possibilidades.

Catriona poderia ter tido mais expressão, mais emoção. Uma rapariga que sempre viveu com o pai e estava muito ligada a ele, vai viver quase um mês para a casa do Laird e não sente sequer a falta dele? Ou comenta o quão diferente é o estilo de vida? A única coisa de que fala, poucas vezes e brevemente, é o medo de poder encontrar o tio de Bhaltair, Aodh, e este tentar fazer-lhe algo. Mas, convenientemente, ele está longe durante a maioria do livro e o problema da sua existência e acusação é resolvido num piscar de olhos.

Acontece e resolve-se tudo rápido de mais para o meu gosto. Não é, no entanto, um livro mau. Precisa apenas de ser desenvolvido e mais explorado. Confio que a autora veja esta opinião como encorajamento para continuar a sua escrita e melhorar a cada livro. Espero, no futuro, voltar a ler algo de Fiona McKellar e poder elogiar mais as suas obras.

Title: The Laird’s Son
Serie: --
Author: Fiona McKellar
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Pages: 78
Publication date: January 17th 2017

Synopsis:

As if the rumors weren’t bad enough, now she’s been publicly accused of witchcraft. And it doesn’t help either that the accusations came from none other than the Laird’s own brother. Catriona Baxter is a commonplace Highland lass who’s just trying to mind her own business, but that doesn’t stop the Laird’s brother, Aodh, from making plenty of advances upon her. After rejecting him though, Catriona finds her life threatened when Aodh publicly accuses her of being a witch. To resolve the matter, the Laird orders Catriona to come live on his estate while a proper investigation is carried out. The Laird’s brother might want her dead, but his son, Bhaltair, has other plans. Seizing every opportunity Bhaltair pursues her endlessly. Sparks fly, but will his son’s love for her be enough to convince the Laird she should be saved from being burned at the stake?

~ We've received this book directly from the Fiona McKellar. Thank you! ~

Review:
Every time an author is beginning his/her career as a writer and asks me directly to write a review in exchange for the book – in this case ebook -, I’m always happy and apprehensive at the same time. Reviews are always important for authors, and it wouldn’t be the first time an author said the review A or B was almost carved in their memories, be they good or bad.

So, when Fiona McKellar approached me, I accepted the ebook in exchange for an honest review. And, once more, I tried to keep in mind that this was her first book, a book that might, possibly, need to be improved by only one thing – experience. And that’s what happened.

The Laird’s Son is a light book, too short for my liking and a sweet read – in the sense that the English usually describe a romance as “sweet” when it doesn’t have erotic scenes or sex in it (and this book fits in that category). For me, a book doesn’t have to have sex in it to be good, far from it. I’m just pointing this out because it’s usually something mentionable in a (historical) romance.

The book had a good premise: a girl who was being unjustly accused and a boy who believed in her and fought for her. But little more happens.

The main characters are teenagers, so you completely understand why there wasn’t a lot of physical contact. But something else should have happened in the book: more adventure, a larger exploration of Bhaltair’s uncle accusations… A story like this could have had a much better developed villain, and a plot that hooked me up a bit more… Sadly, it fell short.

Catriona could have had more expression, more emotion. A girl who had lived her whole life with her father, who was very attached to him, goes to live almost a month in the Laird’s house and barely misses him? And doesn’t even comment on how different their lives are, with the exception of the references about the reception balls? The only thing she briefly mentions in how scared she sometimes is of finding Bhaltair’s uncle, Aodh, and that he might do something to her. However, conveniently, he is away for most of the book and the problem of his existence and of the accusation he had maid are solved in a blink of an eye.

Everything just happens too quickly and is sorted out to fast for me. It’s not, however, a bad book. It just needs to be a bit more developed and explored. I trust that the author sees this review as an incentive to keep on writing and improve with every book she writes. I hope, in the future, to be able to read another of Fiona McKellar’s books and be able to praise her work more and more.