This book should in no way be compared to the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, or recommended to her fans.

Medieval Scotland: Dughall is born and his poor mother, who had been severely mistreated, perishes. He is given to the Hays, who shower him with love, giving him the foundation to be a good and honest man.

Dughall and his brother Ian Hay share the same birthday of Oct. 31st, the day of the dead. They have the sight and can sense each other’s pain and pleasures. Doughall also has a connection with Keira, a pagan priestess. They dream of each other and hope to marry one day. For a while, everything is wonderful at the seaside village of Whinnyfold, until Dughall’s real father shows up to bring him home to Huntly.

At the castle: The Earl of Huntly gives a new name to the word evil. He is cruel and deals out punishment sometimes without reason. Dughall tries to understand his father, but there seems to be no pleasing the man. There’s Kate, the Earl’s mistress who has her own agenda and Fang, who takes great pleasure in torturing people. Dughall does find friendship with Murdock, who is assigned to protect him. He realizes there is more to his brother Gilbert than meets the eye and he meets his mother’s father, the Duke of Drake. He is a kind man who would like to take Dughall away from the Earl, but law states he cannot interfere.

As the story unfolds, the reader will find out how the characters shape each others lives and their futures.

Ms. Treat has captured the life of medieval Scotland with clear and vivid prose. You’ll enter a world where you can almost feel the spray from the sea, the warmth from the peat fires and the love as you enter the homes of the seafaring people of Whinnyfold. She shows how a noble may rule with grace and understanding or with unforgiving bitterness. She’ll take you to the stone circle to honor the goddess with pagan rituals and celebrations. She touches on the healing powers of herbs, and the medieval superstitions concerning these rites. The relationships are believable whether there’s love, loyalty or vengefulness. This is definitely a tale for everyone. It is rich with history, myths, magic, and the paranormal. Characters you’ll fall in love with and those who you may actually hate.

Reviewed for PNR Romance

This book had an interesting storyline however I really didn't enjoy the writing style at all. I found it very juvenille and written like a fanfiction. I think it could have been better written and I found the style very lacking. That being said, I enjoyed the story and the main character, Dughall. I found his story intriguing enough to keep reading through it. Some of the secondary characters were .... well ... idiotic. I really didn't like the druid Kira, she really irked me and I found her exceptionally flakey. I'm glad that Dughall's story was more interesting than hers becuase I'd have stopped reading then and there. A good read if you don't want to really think!

I was so pleased to meet the author at a local Celtic Festival and could hardly put the book down the day I bought it. What an interesting woman and author! She, herself, is a healer and she has traveled to Scotland several times to study her ancestors and to research for this book. I could definitely sense this with the authenticity of the scenes. I think I especially enjoyed the way she recreated the mystical aspect of this time in Scottish history.

Did not finish. I found the "good pagan, bad christian" slant offensive.

Excellent series of well researched historical fiction of Auld Scotland. The characters are well developed, the plot is robust, and you can immerse yourself in this Scottish world of times past. And the artwork (drawings of characters) are excellent.

I don't normally like "historical fiction", but I really enjoyed this one. It is set in Scotland, and there is a pleasant amount of slang in it. I have heard that there is supposed to be a second book to go with this one, but it ends really well, and wouldn't need another one.

I really liked the complexity of this book. There was a lot that happened, and the author did a good job of wrapping it all up at the end.

I'm struggling to get through this book even though I WANT to read it because it is set in the land of my ancestors - their very castle and even bears their very names, but all of the "thanks be to the goddess" stuff and the pagan worship crap is really hard for this Christian to get past. My ancestors were Protestants and Catholics and supporters of the king/queen, so much so that they went to war over it (even amongst themselves). To this day, some theorize that is why there are two branches of the family spelling the surname differently - to distinguish which chose Catholicism from Protestantism. In one place, the writer would have the would-be nominal churchy pagans say regarding the witches "but what does it matter? They're people like us. They heal our sick and tend our wounds. Should we kill them because they're different?"

Now, lest someone think that I'm advocating killing witches, I'm not. I'm just saying that their theology/idealogy creeps me out.

I don't really read much YA books these days. This book has been on my TBR list for a year or so and thought I'll give it a shot. Besides YA, it's a cross of historical fiction and fantasy, set in Scotland in the 1600s, when a baby is born into a fisherman's family, and learns he's a true heir to a lord, when he carries the Second Sight and fell in love with a Wiccan witch. It has drama, passion, action, romance, well-detailed research to back it up, and a delightful read, whether you read YA or not. Enjoy!

On the rocky coast of Scotland, an epic story unfolds. Great read

Although not in the same caliber of Diana Gabaldon's historical fiction of Scotland, this is still a fun book. It's a good story but not as in depth in the history or as well-written asthe Outlander series. I would recommend it to fans of Outlander or of Scotland.

I was a little disappointed in this book. Not for the reasons stated on Amazon but more by the undertones of the book. I liked the characters, I liked the story line, yes there were some editing errors which seem to be common in today's market. What I did not like was the historical inaccuracy. They smoked cigars from Cuba??? People smoked pipes back then. There was a lot of talk about cranberries, I'm pretty sure they were a North American fruit discovered once settlers came to this country and probably was not as wildly available in Scotland at this time. Some of the dress descriptions also seemed off. Skirts and sweaters for the women?? Then there were the religious undertones in the book. I understand the comparison of new and old religion and the constant battle between religions at this time but seemed like every thing was due to God. This book is a typical struggle of good and evil, light and dark. Will I read the other two I'm not sure yet. I tried to start book #2 but it's not holding my interest at this time. I may try to push through but so far I don't like what I'm reading.