Saturday, February 19, 2011

Book Recommendation: Masquerade Marriage

by Anita Mae Draper

Masquerade Marriage by Anne Greene, White Rose Publishing

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:1‐2, KJV

It’s 1746 in the Scottish Highlands and Brody MacCaulay wakes to a massacre. Blinded in one eye, buried beneath his dead clansmen, he hears the clipped English voices as they walk amidst the wounded Highlanders and finish them off with bayonets. Against his urge to strike out in fury, he silently waits for them to pass. Then leaving his fallen brothers and father behind on the battlefield, he gathers other injured clansmen and makes his way to a hidden cave. If they leave, they’ll be hunted by the English. Their fight, their world, is over.

In a distant castle, Megan MacMurry mourns the loss of her fiancĂ© who led and perished in the Highland battle. Upon her pastor’s advice, she decides to honor her fiance’s death by saving one of his men the only way possible – through marriage. Megan is sure the chosen man will be willing to trade his doomed life for a new name, new clothes, and new life as her marriage-in-name-only husband. When the list is presented to her, she chooses the only familiar name – that of a boy who teased her mercilessly until she took a club to him and his friends. No doubt, Brody MacCaulay wouldn’t remember her girlish warrior stance. And if his teasing was what she had to put up with, she’d do it for her fiance’s sake.

Of course, once Megan is introduced to the adult Brody – a man with a mind of his own who fears nothing for himself - she begins to doubt her choice. Brody has turned into a fine specimen who turns the lasses’ heads. Surely she’s not jealous!

For his part, Brody only agrees to the marriage because his sister and mother are now under his care and they’ll be safer under his protection in a castle. And no matter what Megan says, he’ll never admit to making a secret vow of love when he was but 15 yrs old and a 12 yr old female warrior with flaming red hair stood defiantly before him with a club and warned him to stop the taunting.

Totally satisfying, the end was not been what I expected. On reflection, I realized it was what I’d hoped would happen in a fleeting moment of despair. For I cried when the end was near and things had not gone as planned. I felt Brody and Megan’s loss when they realized precious time had slipped away and there was nothing they could do. And then, when I read the last paragraph of Masquerade Marriage, I smiled.

The story is one of faith in the face of adversity. Faith in God. Faith in yourself. And faith in those people God surrounds you with.

My only concern with this book was the thick Scottish brogue in the beginning chapters since the book starts in Brody’s point of view. But the farther I read, the more I began to appreciate the soft burr of his words. I knew when he was talking and began to follow his speech patterns in my mind. And after a while I didn’t want to separate the brogue from the man, because … well… that was part of Brody.

Anne Greene, I commend you on your character choice of worthy adversaries. And more.

Anne Greene can be found at http://www.annegreeneauthor.com/



 

15 comments:

  1. I am all over this book like flies on an old haggis.

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  2. Oooh, I read this book last year and looooovvvved it!

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  3. Och! Good one, Deb.

    Both the book and your comment. LOL

    Anita Mae.

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  4. Hey Joy, what did you read it on? I dragged my feet starting it because no matter what app I tried my review copy on, the result was the same... I 'turned a page', the page shrunk so I couldn’t read it. I had to squeeze it open again to make it readable. Then it reverted back when I turned the next page. Ugh. Also, I understood why they’d put the words 'Complimentary Review Copy Redistribution Prohibited' on every page, but the phrase was emblazoned at an angle in big letters and mishmashed with the actual text. So reading the story was like, ‘Squeeze open, squint eyes, turn page, squeeze open, squint eyes, turn page…”

    It was different on the Adobe .pdf version on my laptop because it was big, but after spending hours at my laptop writing, I can’t sit there and just read, too. So I write on my laptop and read on my iphone.

    And I never would have kept going if the story wasn't so great.

    Which brings me back to my original question... Joy, what did you did it on?

    Anita Mae.

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  5. This sounds soo delish. Here I come Amazon!

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  6. Hey Lisa, your comment got me thinking so I did some checking...

    Masquerade Marriage is available on ebook as well as print paperback. As of this time, the ebook is available for 6.99 at:

    White Rose Publishing and
    Amazon kindle edition

    It's also available as an ebook for $5.59 at CBD.com

    I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones I usually deal with.

    The above sources also carry the print book at twice the cost of the ebook.

    Anita Mae.

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  7. This book had me at "Masquerade!" Love the title.

    I may not be on it like flies on haggis, since that simile has already been taken, and "blood pudding" leaves something to be desired, but let's just say I'm going to get it for my TBR pile.

    Thanks for the introduction to a book and author who are new to me, Anita. Great post.

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  8. Sounds fun. Now you have me curious about the ending.

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  9. You're welcome, Susie.

    You know, I was just over at White Rose Publishing and I checked out the reviews for this and one lady said reviewers who 'simply reitterate the story in their reviews...are not doing any favors to the author or potential purchasers of the story.' Ouch!

    And here I thought I was helping. The only reason I read reviews is to find out more about the book and not what anyone things about it because everyone has their own likes and dislikes.

    I wonder how many others think like that reviewer?

    Anita Mae.

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  10. Dina, I wouldn't say it was fun because there was a high level of suspense that things could go wrong. And I don't recall any dancing. But I thought it was very well done.

    And yes, the end was very satisfying.

    Anita Mae.

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  11. This sounds interesting, Anita. I admit, I have a hard time with a lot of dialect in a book. But I'm willing to give it a try if the book is worth it.

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  12. That's what I found, too, Suzie.

    I was at a writing group mtg once where a published author said not to use the dialect at all, but to say he had one and leave it at that.

    Someone else spoke up saying you should use it in the first few pages and then drop it because the reader knows.

    I don't know. I didn't like it at first - mainly because I didn't understand - but after only a couple pages, not only did I get the hang of it, but I liked that I knew he was speaking. Like I said, my mind even got into the act but that could be due to my Scottish background and my Gaelic grandmother, even though I'd only met her once. :D

    Good girl for trying new things.

    Anita Mae.

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  13. I have no trouble with the dialect, well, Scottish that is. I might be weary of others if they were 'heavy'.

    Actually if it's a historical and the speaker is Scottish and there's no reminders of the dialect, I'm disappointed.

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  14. I agree, Deb. But since the heroine and half the cast don't have accents, I think it's so much better for the hero the use his. Really makes him stand out and emphasizes the differences between Megan and Brody.

    I think part of is that it really came through when he was flustered or emotionally engaged. Made it really sweet and gave the perfect image in my mind. :)

    Anita Mae.

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  15. I think this looks fantastic. I just happen to be on a Scottish kick right now...

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