A Bound Heart

Author: Laura Frantz
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group, 2019
Pages: 416
Rating: Do Not Recommend

Synopsis: Though Magnus MacLeish and Lark MacDougall grew up on the same castle grounds, Magnus is now laird of the great house and Isle of Kerrera. Lark is but the keeper of his bees and the woman he is hoping will provide a tincture that might help his ailing wife conceive and bear him an heir. But when his wife dies suddenly, Magnus and Lark find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of accusations, expelled from their beloved island, and sold as indentured servants across the Atlantic. Yet even when all hope seems dashed against the rocky coastline of the Virginia colony, it may be that in this New World the two of them could make a new beginning - together.

Review: I've read all of Laura Frantz's novels, and some I liked better than others. This is not one of my favorites. 

The first 100 pages were exceedingly slow, and I just wasn't getting caught up in the story. Quitting was not an option though. I hung in there, and was rewarded with a story I ultimately enjoyed. 

These were the weak points I found:

• Too much time in Scotland with a story going nowhere. I realize Frantz has Scottish roots and wanted to bring some of her own family history to the novel, but it didn't add value to the story. The strongest parts of the novel were set in Colonial America, a time and place she is comfortable writing about.
• Lark never says a proper goodbye to her grandmother, to whom she is very close. No letters are exchanged, and she never find out if Granny has passed away or is still alive. Maybe that is true to life, but in a novel it felt lazy and unfinished,
• Indentured servitude never really comes to pass. Right away Lark is drawn into high society. Unrealistic.
• Also unrealistic is Larkin's acceptance as a child that someone handed over to Lark. Given his resemblance, by chance, to Lark, she would have been shunned and people skeptical of her story.
• A "relationship" with someone in Williamsburg is never resolved. He makes it clear he wants to court her and obtains permission to marry her as well. He also loves Lark's "son," but at one point, the reader just never hears from him again. 

Frantz went outside her comfort zone and strengths to write this novel and unfortunately it didn't work.

Other Laura Frantz Novels:
The Frontiersman's Daughter
The Colonel's Lady
Courting Morrow Little 
The Mistress of Tall Acre
A Moonbow Night

The Ballantyne Legacy:
Love's Reckoning
Love's Awakening 
Love's Fortune