"Seize the Dawn" by Shannon Drake

Genre: Historical Romance

Ease with which to read/enjoyable author style 3.0

Suitable ending 2.5

Personal favoritism 2.0

Poetic language 1.5

Memorable 1.5

Original, creative plot 1.5

Original, well-developed characters 1.5

Probability of recommendation 1.5

Ability to "move" emotionally 2.0

Literary value and/or educational value 1.0

Total: 18

Final Rating: 1 1/2 stars

4-sentence summary:

"Seize the Dawn" tells the story of the 12th century Highlanders from Scotland who bitterly fight with their English enemies. Eleanor is on her way to marry her elderly count when Brendan the brave Scot saves her from pirates and plans to escort her; she decides, out of her hatred for Scots, to jump the ship. The rest of the plot revolves around the love/hate relationship between Brendan and Eleanor, even as she is accused of being a murderess and he risks life and limb to keep her safe.

Critique:

This book is laughable, and not even in the usual romance novel sort of way. I'm pretty certain there was no editor of this novel, as I found upwards of 50 grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors within. The plot is terribly contrived, and there is one major character who, even though this is a historical fiction novel, is completely absurd: William Wallace. That's right, the main character from "Braveheart" plays a major role in this novel. This novel is about breaking stereotypes of certain localities (the Scottish can read? How absurd!) in ridiculous ways and the characters actions are very rarely justified: "You're my captor? Okay, let's have sex!" Now, I enjoy romance novels for their cheap thrills and easy love stories, but this one is too much of a stretch. Perhaps it was the constant mention of tartans and kilts, but I couldn't keep a straight face. The author even throws a pompous chronology at the end of the novel (starting, outrageously enough, at 6000BC), as though she is an expert on the history of the world as well as an expert at how best to describe sex with steamy vocabulary. In this case, I recommend neither vocation for this author, and I would hesitate to give her another shot.