Starlight [Mass Market Paperback]

Cora McGillivray is in hiding. Her whole family was killed in the battle of Culloden and she has been sent to England to stay with a friend of her father's in England. For two years, Cora has lived in secret with her father's friend in fear of being hung for a traitor. Her only friend has been a wayward little kitten with seven toes and a white, star shaped patch on his forehead. Meanwhile, Alex and Diana Fairbourne have just arrived in London from the colonies. Alex is given the job of Diana's keeper and Diana is determined to find a husband. Their first day on the island, they meet with a mysterious woman who gives them a kitten saying that the little creature will lead both of them to true love. This kitten also happens to be Cora's kitten.

Diana is staying in the same household as Cora. Cora and Alex meet out in the garden over a kitten fight and both are immediatly attracted and drawn to the other. What ensues is an engaging story about true love, magic, and kittens.

Miranda Jarrett has a subtle talent for detail and many things are snuck into _Starlight_. I immensley enjoyed the fresh time period and the information about Culloden. _Starlight_ was by no means a heavy book and it was perfect for a historical, light, romance. Cora and Alex were, overall, very defined characters that were pleasent to read about. Most of their actions had clear meanings behind them. The plot was interesting with the new element of a kitten finding true love and it moved along at a snappy pace. The setting came alive and moved around the reader and the overall tone of the book is engrossing enough to keep up late into the night. Miranda Jarrett's sense of humor is not as pronounced as, say, Susan Elizabeth Phillips's but it is enjoyable and you will probably get a few laughs from this book.

The only complaints that I have are few. Cora was an overall complex character with a well thought out personality, but when it came to her belief that Alex was the man her father said he would send to take her home, she was extremely niave. Her stuborness and blind faith got a little tiresome after a while. The villain was very believable at the begining of _Starlight_, but as the plot progressed, his motives got muddier and muddier and by the end, his intent was so mangled that it was hard to see him as a true character.

Still, these are not enough to lower my opinion of the book, and overall it is very well written. I would suggest this book to romance fans who have gotten tired of the same plot found in romance novels and want something new. It is engrossing, well written, and enchanting. It's also a great book for cat lovers, as the kitten in it is fantasticly adorable.

These two are among the most unusual characters I have encountered in a novel: their personalities are so vibrant and real. Alex's sense of honor is wonderful to behold, his sense of humor is fantastic, and his sensuality is incredible. I envision Cora as a metaphor for Sleeping Beauty in the sense that she has been buried by the tragedy of losing everyone she holds dear on the fields of Culloden and then Alex comes along and shows her how to live again. The way Alex draws Cora out of her fearfulness shows his tender and caring side, and allows the reader to see that Cora is not some wimpy miss who hides from the world, that she is a brave as Alex claims she is. These two protagonists make a wonderful couple; their relationship is strong, and realistically portrayed in Jarrett's romantic prose.

The secondary characters are strongly represented as well. Over the time of the story, Lady Waldegrave's secrets are revealed and she is shown to be more sympathetic than she appears at the start. Diana, Alex's sister, is a delight, full of youthful mischief and naïve inclinations. I look forward to reading her story in STAR BRIGHT. Starlight is a very willful animal, in the way that only bold exploring kittens can be. I laughed until I cried over his adventures in the print room!

STARLIGHT was my first Miranda Jarrett book, but it will not be my last.

STARLIGHT is full of humor, and exciting events. This is the first book I've read by Miranda Jarrett, and I absoultely love her style of writing. I highly recommend STARLIGHT for anyone that enjoys a light dosage of romance.