Duet Paperback – February 18, 2013

I started out a little baffled by this book. It was a typical “Englishman seeking wild love in the Scots Highlands,” but as I read I kept finding references to names that weren’t Scottish and other references that just didn’t fit the setting. I could be dead wrong about this, but I kept reading so that I could find out where I was. I read that the book was taking place after Culloden, so I had a better idea of the mood of the Scots Laird’s son Ailill who insists on speaking Gaelic and wearing a kilt. That name I actually found is a town name in Scotland. When reference is made to Culloden, which took place in 1745, you know the one in the Lord John series by Diana Gabaldon. This time period was suggested by various points.So Malcolm travels all the way to Scotland to become the tutor for the four younger sons in a grand household. The household consists of the future Laird, his oldest son Ailill and his four younger brothers. Malcolm is the younger boys’ tutor, and his exposure to the Highlander is mostly when the Scottish man comes in and glares at him for doing something English , or as he puts it, Sassanach. When Malcolm comes to the defense of one of the other boys, however, Ailill starts to look at him afresh. A couple of erections while they’re swimming in the loch outs them to each other, and they become lovers. Not too long after this, Malcolm becomes ill and dies in Ailill’s bedchamber. The rest of the story involves Malcolm and Ailill, the former becoming reincarnated into other lives while Ailill stays as a ghost in the house. The two have occasional brushes with each other, including other incarnations of various relatives, and ultimately they discover each other’s violin playing and a reunion is a possibility.While I found the story rather vague on time and place once in a while, it became magical enough when they were both moving through time that it caught my imagination. I did enjoy the book. The two main characters made a romantic pair, the taunting tales of near misses fascinating and all well told.

I can't begin to say how much I enjoyed this book. I cut my teeth on highlander romances; to finally find one in the m/m genre really excited me. I dove in with grabby hands and wildly beating heart. The book so surpassed my wildest expectations. I smiled, I sobbed, I fell in love. It has secured a place in my all time favorites shelf. Thank you Eden for this wonderful work of art.

MASSIVE SPOILERS IN THE REVIEW BEWARE!!!!! BEWARE!!!This story starts as a beatifully done historical, as blurb tells you Englishman and Scott meet in Scottland in time when a lot of Scotts did not feel especially good about England. They meet when Malcolm, the english teacher comes to teach Ailill's brothers on their father's request, they connect, they see each other as who they truly are, they overcome their initial animosity and they fell in love. I cannot stress enough how much I was enjoying this part of the story.Sadly, there was a scarlet fever epidemic and Malcolm dies. Ailill is heartbroken and eventually Druids on his request make sure that his spirit survives the centuries till he and his rebron lover ready to meet again.I can tell you one thing, I NEVER wish for sad ending in romances. Oh I can accept it sometimes when I think that the book is amazing, but I *never* wish for it. After I was done with this book I could not believe what I was feeling. I wished so badly that the story would have ended with Malcolm dead and Ailill's spirit waiting for his rebirth and their meeting in another life.Because what is happening afterwards annoyed me. First of all it seemed as if their future reunion needed more and more conditions to happen *before* it actually happened. I would have loved after their death for the action to skip to their reunion and that would have been it. Especially since what the writer seem to be saying is that Malcolm is not just reincarnated spirit, he is pretty much same person, why do we need to know about what almost happened but did not?And I was just staring at the page and thinking can we get it over with please? Okay, fine, I get that Malcolm's almost getting there and dying again was supposed to be romantic, even if I do not see it as such, fine, I can see how other people can see it that way, but the last part? Oh my god. Now Billy is supposed to truly believe in Ailil before they can actually reunite forever? I can tell you I was one frustrated reader by the time this story ended.Since I would have guven five plus stars for the first part of this story, four stars overall