Blurb
In the Scottish Highlands, and with the last lines of the movie Brigadoon fresh in her mind, Irene Redmond signs up for a tour, hoping to uncover secrets hinted at in her mother’s diary. Instead, Irene is transported back in time to the thirteenth century, along with the rest of the tour group.
Logan Mackinnon, confirmed bachelor, has put his life on hold to help his father care for his mother and honor her dying wish to tour Stirling Castle. Sparks fly when Logan and Irene meet, but their budding romance is tested when they learn the conditions needed for their return to the twenty-first century. Like Brigadoon, the castle is enchanted, and only a marriage between two people who truly love each other will break the spell— and vows must be said before midnight.
Irene expected to unravel family secrets; instead she meets a fellow tour guest whose kisses awaken long-ago dreams of happily-ever-after. But are their feelings strong enough to break the castle’s enchantment?
Review
In book one in the Matchmaker Café series, Irene Redmond takes a tour of Sterling Castle in Scotland on Christmas Eve. She’s determined to answer questions about her mother’s past and to make sense of her mom’s diary, which details things about the castle that her mother shouldn’t have known.
Logan MacKinnon joins the tour with his elderly parents. The spark between him and Irene is instant, but how can they find forever when they’ll go their separate ways after the tour?
What a great book! Irene is a smart, capable woman, and Logan is a normal, everyday guy who’s solid and dependable.
There were a lot of secondary characters (tour group members, the matchmaker sisters running the tour, employees for the company), and sometimes all the names blurred together. I listened to an audiobook version, so maybe I would’ve been able to follow the story better if I had read an ebook copy.
The narrator, Glen Pavlovich, did a good job. His voice was clear and crisp, but sometimes his voices for the characters sounded alike.
There are some unanswered questions, such as: Whom does Fiona love in the 13th century, and why doesn’t she stay there? How will Irene and Logan make their relationship work back in the present day?
This time travel story is pretty different from the norm. For one, Irene and Logan think everything and everyone working in the castle are clever re-enactments, not realizing they’re living in the past until ¾ of the way in. That was surprising and refreshing. Anyway, I have the next two books in the series in audio, and I’ll be listening to them soon.
4 Stars
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