Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Book Review: A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers

A Scottish Ferry Tale by Nancy Volkers
Published: June 22nd, 2009
Publisher: Independent
225 pages (ebook)
Genre: Contemporary romance/chick lit
Acquired this book: Bought
Warning: may include spoilers

Synopsis: We all have rules that we use to get through life. You always put your right sock on first. You refuse to buy generic cream cheese. You don’t date anyone named Wayne. Cassie Wrentham has a book of these rules, and they suit her fine. Until she flies to Scotland to visit her boyfriend and he dumps her the first night.

Cassie doesn’t run back to the United States. She goes to Coll, a tiny island off the west coast, hoping to find the answers to life’s questions on a wind-washed beach or at the end of a rock-strewn road. Instead, she may have found the love of her life… if she can get past her own self-doubt, skepticism and inner conflict.


 

I loved this book. Loved. I can understand why some people don’t like contemporary women’s fiction/romance/chick lit - it’s a lot of dialogue and self-reflection on the main character’s part, but I love that sort of thing. It’s like getting a look into someone’s life and thoughts and dreams and fears, and sometimes seeing yourself there and knowing you’re not alone.

A Scottish Ferry Tale was unbelievably romantic, laugh-out-loud funny, heartbreaking, sexy, and so many other things. I’ve always had this secret fantasy (or not-so-secret to those who know me well) of going to Ireland or Scotland or England (I love boys with accents, what can I say) and falling in love. It just seems so spontaneous and romantic. In so many ways, I felt like this was my story come to life on the pages of a book.

I completely fell in love with Ralph. He was sweet and sexy and romantic and thoughtful, and not afraid to show his emotions or tell Cassie what he was thinking or how he was feeling. It was a refreshing change from guys in books who feel like they have to be ‘manly’ and keep all their emotions hidden. The relationship between Ralph and Cassie had me sighing and swooning. The romance junkie in me approved 100%.

Cassie was a great character, too - very relatable in her insecurities and self-doubts. Her inner dialogue was frank and often humourous, and I found myself relating to her very easily. There were fantastic secondary characters, too. Everyone just seemed so real, and I loved that. I wanted to know these people and be part of their world.

This was hands-down the best self-published book I’ve read. It was well-written and well-edited, which isn’t always the case with self-published books (and I am in no way bashing self-pubbed authors, since I am one myself…I’m just stating a fact). As a writer and editor, it kills me a little on the inside each time I read a book that clearly hasn’t been edited, or that has been written with no thought to plot or character development. That’s part of the reason self-published authors still get looked down on by some people. I found it hard to believe this was a self-pubbed book because it was of a caliber I’m not accustomed to seeing (yet) in the indie world. Well done, Ms Volkers.
 


2 comments:

  1. I concur! I absolutely adored this book, as it was so realistic while still being the dream romance. It is pretty much impossible not to fall for Ralph as he is everything the perfect man should be. And, to be honest, I literally double-checked the copyright page as I couldn't believe how polished it was.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the wonderful review!

    ReplyDelete

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