Tess and the Highlander

 

I don't know how many of you are a fan of book clubs, but a number of years ago I was given the opportunity to take part in one in high school. The name of the book was Tess and the Highlander and written by May McGoldrick. I didn't know what to expect, and it was called a true romance novel... whatever the heck that meant, but what really caught the attention was that well, I was entranced by this kid named Bryan and he was in the book club too. So, I bought the book and decided to read it.

Tess and the Highlander is a teen novel. It is aimed toward teens. So if you are opening this book to look for raunchy material like sex, drugs, rock and roll, well, you're not going to get any of that. Instead, you will be pleasantly surprised by the love that is instead introduced and what love should be between two barely there young adults. Which, I love tremendously. If I can find a good novel without any raunchy material in it, I'm as happy as a clam!

So in this book club, first you were asked to read the novel in question, then as a bonus you could meet the author. Meet the author! Holy smokes! At the time I was writing short stories about creepy creatures living in our woods and transportation into other worlds, but who would pass up the opportunity to meet a real live author?? Now here's the kicker, May McGoldrick was not just one person, it was really two people! The author was a couple who decided to write novels! The name is combination of their real names, and they have been happily researching and developing this story together. It makes the story that much more lovable as you get both sides of the love story without anyone making it up as they went along. I mean really, what guy really knows what women are thinking?

So all in all, listening to this story being created was worth ten times the actual amount of the book.  Ten Times! This couple has really inspired me to really keep writing, so here's another shout out to May McGoldrick!

Back to the story: Tess is a young lass just past the age of 17 who has been living on an island in Scotland for the past 11 years with no recollection of who she really is and how she had come up on such a dismal place. When she was shipwrecked on the speck of an island she lived with an older couple and never dreamed of leaving her new home. Then another storm hits and her world is flipped upside down. Colin, the Highlander, has washed ashore, with secrets of his own. The youngest of the three children of the Macpherson couple has heard of the lass who was stolen away from the Lindsay house 11 years before, but to his recollection, she had either died or was hidden away for years after her father died. Could this really be the missing child? Or was she only an impressionable lass that he has fallen in love with? Who knows! Read to find out!

What I absolutely love about this story is how I can connect to Tess. She is an independent thinker and can take care of herself, and does not need a man to take care of her in any situation. She can clearly defend herself and knows when it is time to open your heart. And also, her best friend is named Colin, and I can totally relate to that!