Review: TO LOVE A HIGHLAND DRAGON: Lots of Paranormalcy in One Book!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 25, 2013
Book provided by author/publisher for review on my blog from which this is excerpted. No remuneration was exchanged and all opinions presented herein are my own except as noted.Time Traveling, Highlanders, Shifters, Mages, Multi-Dimensional World, Witches, Gods and Goddesses.There are a lot of pieces in this fun book by Ann Gimpel; maybe too many for the novella's scant pages. With so many elements in the world building the length of the book makes it feel sketchy, especially the mechanics of inter-dimensional time travel.I liked how Ann's life as a psychologist informs her character's life as a psychiatrist.  And that  Maggie and Lachlan are destined for each other.  I did think how this age is anti-magic and how it has harmed the world to have so many conveniences based on science and not magic is very interesting.I did not like the way either character spoke about sex or thought about sex, and the easy acceptance of such an independent woman of a guy she met mere days before. The intimacy felt clumsy and the wording was certainly not my cup of tea. The built-world's rules often seemed convenient and created to get out of a situation.  When a world with this many variables is constructed, I prefer the solutions not be quite so convenient.One aspect that worked fairly well was the political, self-serving nature of the pantheon Ann brings together from various cultures.  I like to think of them being largely ineffectual, arguing amongst themselves, and sending others off to do dangerous things they could achieve with much more ease.All in all, look, it's not a classic but it is fun, and I was amused to read it for a couple hours. I thought there were some plot holes and the world building could use some work. It will be interesting to see how further volumes in the series are developed. It was one of those books that made me wish I were a blue-pencil wielding editor and not a post facto reviewer.