Highland Fling [Mass Market Paperback]

Highland Fling by Jennifer Labrecque is a Harlequin Blaze story featuring E.R. doctor Kate Wexford who is strangely attracted to a portrait of a Scottish laird hanging in a museum as part of a sex exhibit. She keeps going back to the portrait not sure why she feels a pull to go to it. On the last night of the exhibit, a strange man tells her about the painting and then proceeds to push her into the painting, landing her naked in the bed of the Scottish laird who is in the portrait.

Darach is thrown for a loop by the presence of a beautiful and naked woman in his bed. But he quickly recovers believing Kate to be a wench sent by his enemies to spy. It doesn't take to long for Kate to figure out what has happened, plus the man who pushed her into the painting is there in Scotland with them, and he is Darach's closest friend. This part of the story is somewhat strange and corny and not fully explained. Darach's friend, Hamish, is a conductor who can send people back and forth through time.

Darach and Kate are intensely attracted to each other and it is not too long before things heat between them. Kate and Darach are also under the impression that Kate might be able to go back to her time if she and Darach make love (in simple terms). This doesn't work though, but they do go to her time together to seek answers to how Darach can prevent the downfall and death of his people and himself in the near future. Many questions have to be answered such as: Will Darach be able to help his people and prevent his own death? Can Kate and Darach stay in her time together? Can Kate give up everything and go back with Darach and will he let her if she can?

This was a good and fast read. There are some humorous moments which you can expect with a Jennifer Lebrecque story. There is a scene at the start of the story (which another reviewer mentions) which I agree is irrelevant to the plot and adds nothing but crude humor to the story. It was written in poor taste. Even so, I give Highland Fling 4 stars!

I'd read only 2 books by Ms. LaBrecque before this one and I wasn't very impressed, but she's a favorite author among several GR members so I thought I'd give her another try when I found this book at the UBS. Well, the old saying is true: 3rd time is the charm...

Kate Wexford is an ER doctor who finds herself attracted to an 18th-century painting of a Scottish laird, Darach MacTavish. The painting is part of a sex exhibit being held at the museum, and she can't help visiting the museum and ogling the painting every day after work. On the last day of the exhibit, she is approached by a strange man who gives her some info about the man in the painting and then just pushes her into it. When Kate "wakes up", she finds herself lying naked on the Scottish laird's bed. Darach is more than surprised to find a naked wench on his bed and, not knowing how she could have sneaked into his castle undetected, suspects she's a spy sent by his enemies. This impression is short-lived, as Kate and Darach soon realize she somehow traveled back in time. At first, they don't understand why she's there and don't know how to get her back to her time, but they eventually figure out she's to help him prevent his death and the destruction of his clan in the near future (his future, not hers). As they work together and travel through time (his and hers) in search of the answer to his imminent problem, Kate and Darach fall in love with each other and are faced with another dilemma, as she doesn't particularly like life in the 18th century and he can't abandon his clan and stay with her in the 21st century. As this is a romance novel, they sort things out and get their HEA, of course.

I know suspension of disbelief is a must when I read time travel stories and I don't necessarily expect them to have a scientific approach based on the laws of physics, but I do expect them to have some consistency within the logic the author creates to explain the phenomenon. Here's what bothered me in this book: the 1st time Kate time traveled, she reached her "destination" without her clothes on but with her watch on her wrist and her purse on her shoulder; the following times she time travelled, she didn't "lose" anything during the "journey" and arrived fully clothed and accessorized to the "other space in time". What was the logic behind that? As far as I could tell, there was only one explanation: Darach needed to see Kate naked so he could appreciate what a bonny lass she was, LOL.

The other thing that bothered me was how easily Darach "fit" into the 21st century. For example, he was surfing the internet less than 1 hour after Kate explained him what a computer was! No matter how intelligent he was, I found that very hard to believe.

Anyway, those were only small annoyances that didn't prevent me from enjoying this read, probably because I fell in love with Darach and was willing to buy anything Ms. LaBrecque wrote, LOL. Darach was a wonderful Highlander hero - strong, protective and a bit arrogant, just the way he was supposed to be - and Kate was a funny and charming modern-day heroine. Their scenes were sweet and funny, and they had great chemistry together. All in all, the time travel "logic" was a bit convoluted but the romance part of the story was very good and worth reading.

This book was so good I couldn't put it down. Well written fast paced plot that kept me reading page after page. This book is definaty worth the read.