Customer Reviews: Read 28 more reviews...
 Perfect Ending July 21, 2008
Whence Came a Prince is the perfect ending to this endearing saga. The series is not complete without this book. All your questions and concerns are answered and addressed. Liz Curtis Higgs weaves this tale together like a master weaver. The pieces all end up fitting together. Leona is redeemed and Rose is validated. Jamie comes into his own. This is a wonderful conclusion to a spectacular trio!
Amazing series July 14, 2008
Higgs is the queen of Biblical re-tellings. I love how she stays true to the Bible stories while making them totally different and all her own.
 If it were totally different, I would love it! January 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ms. Higgs is a gifted writer, and her descriptions were beautiful in all three books. However, I found the liberal dose of Scots throughout the series to be more distracting, than helpful. It's the same gripe I have for Japanese fan fiction- a little bit of a foreign language can help set the atmosphere for a story, but when I must constantly refer to the glossary to discover what the characters are saying, then it just becomes frustrating. You can have too much of a good thing, and the overuse of Scots was just that.
As to the actual story, I had no idea this was a fictional rehashing of the Jacob/Rachel/Leah story or I would have steered clear of it. I found the setting and time period to be utterly incompatible with the love, or rather, marriage triangle Ms. Higgs was trying to portray. The only way the Jacob/Rachel/Leah account works is in a culture that allows polygamy. In an utterly monogamous and devout culture, this story just seems too unbelievable. Even in fiction, you have to have a somewhat realistic series of events to allow you to suspend disbelief, and fully immerse yourself in the story. I was unable to do that in this series.
I feel this could have been a delightful series, if it had just not attempted to be a rewrite of, what is, from a loving wifes point of view, one of the saddest and most frustrating accounts of marriage in the Bible. I really liked Rose and Leana and wish Ms. Higgs had just written an original story about them, rather than forcing the shadows from Rachel and Leah to drown these otherwise delightful characters. As for Jamie, his character annoyed me through the entire series. He came across as more child than man, and left me feeling angry and disgusted with him as a romantic lead. I had more sympathy for Jacob in the Bible. With Jamie, I would have been mollified if Ms. Higgs had killed his character, and left each sister alive to raise their children. Even that would not have been a fix, however, for a story I just find too bewilderingly unbelievable for good fiction.
All in all, this was well written, and I think if you had no knowledge of the rigid religious climate of European culture in the 1700's, and have never read the Biblical account of Rachel/Jacob/Leah, then you just might love this series! Otherwise, you may just want to check it out of the library, and not commit to a purchase until you find out whether or not it's your cup of tea.
A Man comes home again January 8, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It has been two years since James Lachlen Mckie has been to Glentrool, his home in the Scottish Highlands. In the years since the reader has met him in Tender is the Heart, he married his cousin Leana McBride, had a child by her and then married her sister Rose who is now pregnate.
After Rose and Leana's father remarries the three decide that they cannot live at Auchengrey (the McBride family home) and while Mr. McBride was away they left with all his money. What happens next test all of their wills as they try to make their way home.
A very good good
Wonderful January 7, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Much like Francine Rivers, Liz Curtis Higgs' stories are able to reveal the reader's true heart and at the same time nourish the soul. The first of the series exceeded the subsequent two, however Higgs weaves such an amazing storyline through all three books, I simply could not put them down. I thought about the characters throughout the day. In fact, I continue to think about the characters, their motives, their lifestyles, and the way that each responded to the "Buik" teachings they received. The novels are so richly written that I will be giving them away as a gift set as often as possible. She is such a gifted author. I pray she will write many more.
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