Review: Elizabeth Clansham

Elizabeth Clansham by Catherine E. Chapman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Disclosure: I received a free copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Elizabeth Clansham retreats to a croft house in the Scottish Highlands to write a novel and avoid real life. Reluctant teacher and aspiring author, she finds that the part-time job she has taken to fund her idyllic existence impacts upon her life more than she'd anticipated; her students are determined to find her a love-match. Will it be Angus, gamekeeper and uncle of one of Elizabeth's pupils, or Andrew, Elizabeth's reclusive neighbour in the croft?

Andrew's solitary bachelor life is turned upside-down by the arrival of his former girlfriend, Laetitia – fleeing the city of Glasgow and her mounting debts, and seeking shelter with Andrew in the hills. Will their old flame be rekindled or will Lauren, Laetitia’s seven-year-old daughter, get her way and realise a father-figure in Angus?

Andrew maintains it’s the things you don’t do in life that you regret but is it ever too late for love to blossom?

My Thoughts: I should start out by saying I don’t like romance novels. What particularly drives me mad is when the romantic couples spend most of the books hating each other, or being jerky at random for no real reason. Therefore, I’m happy to say, that was not the case here. The only ones acting like adolescents were, actually, adolescents. There were actually several scenes at which I laughed out loud, particularly some of the random discussions Elizabeth Clansham’s night class would get into, as I remember starting a fair numbers of like discussions myself while in school. It also reminded me why I decided against being a teacher; I definitely would not have dealt with her classes with the patience that she showed. I rather like Angus - I guess I, like Laeticia, am a fool for a big, hairy man, and would probably especially like one who regularly supplied me with venison and steaks! *laugh* Andrew was a weird one - I couldn’t decide exactly how I felt about him, and I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to develop his character a bit more, but as it was, he remained rather an enigma.

Overall, not really my type of book, although I enjoyed it well enough, but folks who enjoy literary fiction and/or romantic fiction should enjoy it quite a lot.



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