Janet Chapman, Tempting the Highlander

Tempting the Highlander

Janet Chapman

Pocket, Sep 2004, $6.99, 384 pp.

ISBN: 0743486307

In Pine Creek, Maine, Robbie MacBain tries to catch the person raiding his henhouse but fails when the young woman outruns him though he is a warrior in great shape. His four teenage "delinquent" wards tease him.

Father Daar tells Robbie the guardian that the spell that brought the ten Scottish warriors with him from eight hundred years ago forward in time thirty five years ago is expiring. The survivors will return to their biological time. Robbie needs to steal the spell book of a rival wizard so that Daar can perform an extension spell.

Robbie learns that his thief is Catherine Daniels a woman with two young children who is divorced from Ronald who spent three years in prison for spousal abuse.

Robbie goes back in time seeking the spell book. However, he fails and is wounded severely so he returns home. Catherine and her frightened children find him injured. Robbie offers Catherine the job of housekeeper; she reluctantly accepts. Cat follows Robbie up the mountain. When the storm arrives, Cat and Robbie are back in the thirteenth century, but she thinks it is a dream. Cat tells Robbie she loves him. Robbie marries a stunned Cat before telling her he loves her too.

The latest Highlander tale is an exciting story enhanced by a wonderful support cast including those returning from previous novels and the six youngsters. Fans will appreciate the heroine who vows to watch Robbie's back and feel for her frightened children. Though two major confrontations (present time and eight hundred years ago), turn out to be anticlimactic, fans will enjoy this delightful entry.

Harriet Klausner