Fair Is the Rose

February 2, 2004
In this sequel to Thorn in My Heart
, Higgs, a popular inspirational author, continues her 18th-century Scottish love story paralleling the biblical saga of Jacob and Esau, exemplifying sacrificial and patient love. Sisters Leana and Rose McBride are both in love with handsome Jamie McKie of Glentrool. After conniving with her father to spin a web of deceit and trickery, one sister wears a wedding ring and bears Jamie's child. But will the marriage consummated in the previous novel be honored? The challenges of adapting the scriptural story to the 18th century are daunting (polygamy, for example, wasn't acceptable in Scotland as it was in biblical times) and make for some contrivances that would be difficult to believe from any author not as talented as Higgs. Or, as the characters muse at one point, "the story was so implausible it had to be true." Admirably, Higgs keeps her protagonists multifaceted and readers' allegiances shifting as the story unfolds, although some may find one sister's contrition and sacrifice hard to swallow. A welcome glossary helps readers navigate the Scottish terms that lend color to the dialogue, and historical details—including church customs, medical and herbal information, and food descriptions—create a vivid backdrop. As the author of 21 books with more than two million copies in print, Higgs commands the affection of CBA readers, who will devour this novel eagerly and anticipate the story's resumption next spring in Whence Came a Prince
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April 1, 2004
Continuing the saga of Jamie McKie and the McBride sisters in 18th-century Scotland, this disquieting sequel to Thorn in My Heart parallels the biblical story of Jacob, Rachel, and Leah, and the tension is palpable. Following the birth of their son, Jamie and Leana find their happiness shortlived when Jamie is forced to leave his beloved Leana and marry her sister, Rose, whom he once loved. Unfortunately, Higgs does not explore Jamie and Rose's relationship deeply enough for readers to root for them, and those unfamiliar with the previous novel may find it difficult to sympathize with Rose, the more comely sister, who is granted not only her sister's husband but her child as well. Although skillfully written, this historical is short on romance and long on suffering for Leana and Jamie. Recommended only for libraries that own the first book in the trilogy.

Copyright 2004 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2004
After retelling the biblical story of Jacob and Esau in her first historical novel, " Thorn in My Heart" (2003), Higgs continues with Rachel and Leah's story in this dramatic sequel set in eighteenth-century Scotland. Rose McBride, having been denied marriage to her true love, Jamie McKie, by her father, the Machiavellian Lachlan McBride, must watch as her sister Leana rejoices in the birth of a son and her husband Jamie's newly professed love. Bitter and betrayed, Rose finds distraction at boarding school with a new friend, Jane. The friends' nighttime excursion to a local witch reveals prophecies both promising and forbidding. Both girls return home for the holidays, and their fortunes begin to unfurl--Jane becomes deathly ill, and Rose is greeted with the news that Jamie and Leana's marriage may not be legal. Distractingly peppered with Scottish vocabulary (glossary in back) and melodramatic scenes and dialogue, this second entry in a proposed trilogy will satisfy romantic historical fiction fans and can also be suggested to readers of historic inspirational fiction. A readers' discussion guide is also included. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)