Welcome to my stop on The Forged in Dreams and Magick by Kat Bastion Tour!
Please enjoy my review and enter to win Kat’s amazing giveaway below…she’s got prizes that include signed paperback copies of Forged in Dreams and Magick, eBook copies of Forged in Dreams and Magick and a Pandora sterling silver Happily Ever After charm with a Pandora sterling silver bracelet!
Book links:
Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Goodreads
Synopsis:
The award-winning debut in the Highland Legend Series:
Isobel MacInnes wakes up in present-day California, lunches in medieval Scotland, and by ten days’ end, falls in love with a man and his country, only to lose them in a heart-wrenching twist of fate . . .
Found in the arms of her second soul mate . . .
Forced to balance the delicate strands of time between two millennia . . .
Shocked by revelations rewriting the very foundations of history . . . of everything.
Isobel, a rising-star archaeology student, is dropped into two ancient worlds without warning . . . or her permission. Her fiery spirit resists the dependency thrust upon her. Amid frustration at her lack of control, she helplessly falls in love. Twice.
She struggles to adjust to the unimaginable demands of two leaders of men—a laird in the thirteenth-century Highlands and a Pict chieftain in a more ancient Scotland. Isobel transforms from an academic, hell-bent on obtaining archaeological recognition, to a woman striving to care for those she loves, and ultimately . . . into a fearless warrior risking everything to protect them.
My review:
I have always loved stories rich with Highland legend, so when Kat asked if I would be interested in reading Forged in Dreams and Magick, I jumped at the chance. Well, this may very well be my favorite Highland adventure yet! It was phenomenal!
Isobel MacInnes has always had a deep-seated love for all things ancient. That love began as a child and after visiting the Highlands and her dying grandfather, she returns back to her position as Assistant to the head of the Archaeology Department at UCLA with a very interesting treasure. Isobel stumbled across a mysterious box that had unfamiliar markings and appeared to be made from materials she had never seen. Kind of strange considering she works with ancient artifacts. Her quest to learn more about this box has her reaching out to her friend, Iain Brodie. He’s a cinema heartthrob but also shares her love of Highland history, having come from Scotland, and competes in the modern day Highland Games. It’s where they met and where she realized she had seen the markings from the box before…..the broach that held Iain’s plaid during the games. When she asked for his help, Isobel knows she will have to deal with Iain’s flirtations, and was prepared to rebuff him (Sure, she’s attracted to him, but she doesn’t have time for a relationship) What she wasn’t prepared for was his somewhat closed off reaction when he sees the box…or what happens when they kiss while holding the box.
Isobel suddenly finds herself in the thirteenth-century Highlands…with Iain. Only thirteenth century Iain seems very much at home and apparently this is where Isobel will also be calling home now. Talk about a shock to the system! Once the shock wears off, Isobel realizes she has a mystery to solve and knows the box and some sort of magic are responsible. In her journey to find answers, she realizes she’s found love. Love in her Highland warrior and love in the history she is now currently living. Was this where she was truly meant to be?
Isobel will be thrown into another time, yet again, before she can contemplate that question. Thrown even further back in time, and away from the man, and time, she has fallen in love with, Isobel finds those very same things here in a more ancient time with a Pict chieftain. Is it possible to feel the same things toward two different men in two different times? What is her role in all of this magical mystery? Never have answers been so needed for Isobel.
This story was a magical journey from start to finish with so many amazing twists and turns throughout that I was on the edge of my seat while reading. The mystery surrounding this “magic box” and why Isobel was thrown around like a time traveling rag-doll was kept artfully hidden through the story and was revealed at just the right moment…when the fate of the people Isobel has grown to love was held in the balance. Isobel’s story is one filled with love, passion and self-discovery. She realizes nothing is as what it seems and has to push aside her “scientific brain” in order to wrap her head around what is happening. Iain Brodie is so yummy and pure alpha Highland male but also is willing to bend when Isobel needs it most in order to help her find her way in a world he has always had the knowledge of. Velloc is Isobels’ other love interest when she is thrown back into the Pict times and is such a worthy hero. A strong, caring, loyal and fierce warrior it was easy to see how Isobel could love both men. I wasn’t sure I would be ok with her loving two men at first, but I grew to love both men for their similar qualities as well as their differences. It was really, really tough to try to predict how the story was going to go and that was one of the treats about this book. There were so many unknowns and it was a fantastic mystery almost until the very end. One of my favorite things was the lush description of the lands and times. Kat painted such a beautiful picture that I could feel the furs, smell the foods and see the beautiful landscapes. It was a gift to be able to read such gorgeous narrative.
This is a series I am so lucky to have been introduced to and will be looking forward to reading more from and I highly recommend if you want to be whisked away from the norm and pulled into a world of Highland fantasy filled with magic and mystery. Thank you, Kat, for a fantastic read!
Five Loves
Kat’s Giveaway:
(5) Signed Paperback Copies of Forged in Dreams and Magick
(5) eBook copies of Forged in Dreams and Magick
(1) Pandora sterling silver Happily Ever After charm with a Pandora sterling silver bracelet.
About the author:
Kat Bastion is an award-winning paranormal romance writer, poetic warrior, and eternal optimist who loves getting lost in the beauty of nature.
On a never-ending, wondrous path of self-discovery, Kat throws her characters into incredible situations with the hope that readers join her in learning more about the meaning of life and love.
Her first published work, Utterly Loved, was shared with the world to benefit others. All proceeds from Utterly Loved, and a portion of the proceeds of all her other books, support charities who help those lost in this world.
Kat lives with her husband amid the beautiful Sonoran Desert of Arizona. Visit her blog at www.talktotheshoe.com, her website at www.katbastion.com, Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kat-Bastion/382546338470769 ,and her Twitter account at https://twitter.com/KatBastion for more information.
To see other stops on the tour for reviews, guest posts, and excerpts click here or the tour button below.
The synopsis reminds me a bit of The Time Traveler’s Wife, a book that both my wife and I enjoyed a great deal. The movie was not as good, as is too often the case, thanks for the giveaway, we’d love to win a copy.
Thank you so much, Jillian. Beautiful review. I’m thrilled you loved the story!
I hope your readers enjoy the adventure too!
xoxo,
~ Kat