It started out well enough with "Winter Rose", but, as many other reviewers have said, it had a lot of eery parallels to "Beauty and the Beast". Also, towards the end, I was confused at how the turnaround came so fast, without reason. How did summer all of a sudden come to the island?

"The Sword and the Rose" I liked, except for the fact that it ended way too fast. I thought that they would have spent more time finding the Rose staff or whatever it's called. And the climax was very short and the story cut off right after. It made me think that they thought they were in love because they went through an ordeal. I wasn't at all sure of their feelings for each other.

"The Roses of Glenross"...wow...that majorly sucked. I really hate to be this blunt, but the storyline could have been much better. First of all, I don't believe that they would have everlasting love from seeing each other for one second on the battlefield. And making love before they're married in a convent?! That was misplaced in my opinion. It just seemed that the concept of roses was too forcefully tied into the main storyline.

"The Fairest Rose" is ok. However, I didn't like the fact that Deirdre died and that Rosaleen didn't get to live like a princess. At least not in the story as written. The bit about them going for the phoenix was too mythological. It weirded me out. I don't get why the King doesn't feel more sad for finding out that the Queen killed his love. That was disappointing. He just stated that Rosaleen was his daughter and that Deirdre's death had something to do with the Queen, but dammit!! There was no punishment, no anger, no expressing his lasting love for Deirdre. And I still wasn't sure if the guy really loved Rosaleen because he seemed VERY infatuated with the princess. But all of a sudden, he finds Rosaleen irresistable. Who knows if he'll decide that that's an infatuation too?

Confusing, a bit flat, but overall enjoyable.

The storyline of this book is only so-so and in no way measures up to her other books, such as Ransom, The Bride, and The Secret. Everything was flat out in the open so much so that there was no real desire to keep reading to find out what would happen, because you already know.

I had really thought there would be an actual killer that wanted Caroline's life, since that's what the prologue suggests. However, I was sorely disappointed. Ever since the middle of the book, it's been hinted who the evil-doer is. And doesn't that just take the fun out of everything? I think so. I gave this 4 stars instead of 3 because there were a few portions where the conversation between Caroline, Bradford, and Milford was quite entertaining and made me laugh.

Nevertheless, although it passed the time, I found my eyes closing more than once.

This is one of her most entertaining books.

Sarah and her mischievous ways will make you laugh until you cry. The things she does to Nathan's ship...haha.

They were wed when they were very young, Nathan 14, Sarah 4. As the years pass by, Sarah still longs for her husband to come fetch her. Nathan, on the other hand, intially comes for her because he wants the money that the marriage promises, should Sarah provide an heir. He brings her and her aunt on his ship set sail for her aunt's island.

And of course, there's the happily ever after. Go read it. I'll say no more because I don't want to give everything away. Get it now!

Julie has done it again! The sequel to The Secret was amazingly done, if it did end a bit quickly. I guess she got tired towards the end and just decided to cut it.

The beginning was so heartwrenching I couldn't help but cry. Two helpless little girls. Such loyal soldiers. A kind and loving father. It was so devastating. They were torn from their home and Gillian had to witness the murder of her father.

Forward to the future and she is saving little Alec Maitland from death. Alec's talkativeness is very heartwarming and you can't help but smile. Once she runs away with him toward Scotland, she enlists the help of Brodick, Laird Buchanan, to bring the boy back to his parents. Along the way, they fall in love.

All through the story, Gillian tries to find her estranged sister, who is said to live in the Highlands, with the Macphersons. Ramsey Sinclair is also in this story. He falls in love with the beautiful Bridgid. Since his land borders the Macphersons, Gillian travels there with Brodick after parting with the Maitlands. On their way there, Brodick tricks her into marrying him.

Gillian and Bridgid become fast friends, and since Bridgid had blond hair, I thought that she might have been Gillian's long-lost sister. But that was an anticlimax. Gillian's sister didn't want her. It was very disappointing that Gillian couldn't have had a perfect ending.

Some of the shortcomings of this book were the fact that Gillian kept on retelling the story of how she was abused by Baron Alford, the same one who captured Alec. There were so many instances where she repeated part of the story or it was written that she repeated the story. Garwood even made Alec repeat what happened to them over and over again. I got so sick of that. Another thing was how they never returned to Buchanan land. I really wanted a description of her home and how the people accepted her. In Ramsey and Bridgid's love story, the details were few and far between. I had no chance to see their relationship develop and throughout the book, it was frustrating how they never came together as a couple until the very end, and even then, all I got was them talking for about two pages, and then it ended with him proposing. Garwood didn't even show me her response. It just skipped right over to Brodick and Gillian, with Brodick narrating that Bridgid and Ramsey went home to get married. I felt that the author could have further developed Ramsey's story.

But don't despair. Despite the drawbacks, the good still outweigh the back, and I would definitely read this book again. It has a lot of appeal and emotion. Well-written, if a bit abrupt.

Wonderful story...and if you haven't already read it, go ahead and pick up Ransom also.

Judith is a young, innocent woman who's been mistreated as most of the heroines in J.G.'s novels are, but each story has its own appeal. Her childhood friend is pregnant (this prologue isn't bad at all) and Iain Maitland is sent to pick her up. A Scottish laird, he detests the English, but he's totally captivated when he looks into her eyes. And so are two of his other warriers, Brodick and Ramsey. Their stories are told in Ransom.

Judith captivates the Scots. Even the elders, who are set in their ways, warmed to her. I felt that the story lacked a big climax, even though Judith meeting her father was definitely important. However, I was hoping for a big shabang! Perhaps a gathering of the Macleans and the Maitlands.

DEFINITE READ!

This was my first Garwood book and it gave me such a wonderful impression of her writing! If you want something refreshingly, buy or borrow this book because you'll get hooked on her!! It's been a week or so since I read it and in that time, I've read four more of her books. This one's still my fave though! And I'm reading it again just as soon as the weekend comes.

Alec Kincaid is magneficently portrayed. He wants the girl and he's going to get her. You can see them falling in love. From first sight, he's already so protective of her. So sweet. And the reactions he has to the "changes" she made to his fortress are hilarious!

Jamie, a man's name, is about the most spunky, beautiful girl on earth, or so you would think after reading this. She is quick to "defend" her husband.

J.G. has everything. Romance, comedy, and suspense. That's why it's so interesting! I love how the suspense is there, but in the background, so the love story still has centerstage without being boring and drawn-out. GREAT READ!!

Honestly, I was thinking of putting this book down numerous times, but I just didn't want to do homework.

The beginning was confusing. I had no idea what was going on and how they came to know each other because from the descriptions given when they saw each other, I was given the impression that they had never met before and it was instant attraction. Apparently, they were already married.

For J.G., it wasn't her best. There were just too many things going on at the same time. What with her almost getting raped, the abduction of the twins, Victoria and Hunter's romance, Lucas' hatred for Caulder, Malcolm, William, Callahagn. It was all very distracting. The final scene was very anticlimatic because after all the suspense of wondering what her BAD, BAD uncle would do, it was over in a second. And the issue between Lucas and Caulder never did get resolved. It was just too messy. Unlike with her more organized books, such as The Bride and The Wedding, the extra events only seemed to clutter up the story instead of enhancing it.

Great storyline. I didn't particularly care for the prologue though. I thought the part when she was little was [bad] because it had no relevance anywhere else in the story. It read as if she was forced to put it in there. And I did NOT like the going on and on about the piglet she was trying to catch.

The rest of the story though?? A TREASURE. It was a great sequel to The Bride. But then, I didn't like the part where she kept on trying to suck up to the stepmom. It was a bit excessive and I was surprised that she never spoke up, since J.G.'s heroines are usually very outspoken. And I thought Connor should have taken care of his stepbrother. I really wanted [him] suffer...Need I say more? Go read it now. And I really hope J.G. gives us a book about Quinlan and Faith!

Yeah, ok, so I expected a romance, but because it's from J.G., I also expected a bit of suspense, mystery. HOWEVER, since I'm such a little fraidy-cat, I am still a little afraid that Morgan's going to come get me. His death was too graphic. And I read it in the dead of night so that I could finish it in one day.

But overall though, I thought it was a pretty nice book. I didn't give it 5 stars because the threat of the general could have been explained a bit more, expanded upon. Also, there were a lot of minute details that were never resolved nor was an explanation supplied.

The part where Colin finds something wrong in everyone one of the guys on her list and then how he traps her into marriage...MUCHO HILAIROUS! My brother thought I was crazy, I couldn't stop laughing.

All in all, a good book to read and I would read it again, but I'd skip over a quite a bit of pages.

This is a great book, although I felt the beginning was kinda hard to get into. But like all J.G. books, you're soon pulled in. I thought that maybe there could have been less of an impact from Louddon. The ending was too abrupt. I really enjoyed the part where her fever made her hallucinate! HAHA! But I thought they should have told her what she had done. I hate characters being left in the dark!! Maybe the author could have elaborated a bit on Rhinehold since Madelyne did find out that he was her father. The Henry and William bit was unnecessary, in my opinion. And I felt so sorry for the younger brother because he wanted her too, but Duncan took her for his own!

I think there could have been minor improvements that could have made this book better, but overall, it's still a joy to read!