Review of The Parchment Scroll, a time-travelling romance set primarily in 17th century Scotland, the final book in the Highland Secrets trilogy by C.A. Szarek.
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Synopsis
After her sister goes missing, Jules McGowan travels to Scotland to look for her. There, she meets a strange woman called Bree who claims she can take Jules to her sister. They go together to the Faery Stones where Bree (with Jules’ help) opens a portal to the 17th century.
The first person Jules meets in 1675 is Hugh MacDonald, Laird of Clan MacDonald. Seeing that Jules has a parchment scroll written by someone close to the laird of his rival clan, Hugh takes her to his home, intending to ransom her. Instead, his auntie makes him send her straight to the MacLeods, but not before both he and Jules become obsessed with each other.
Then Bree steals a MacLeod child. Hugh returns the boy to his family, taking the opportunity to kidnap Jules again. Back at Hugh’s home, he and Jules get to know each other better and become lovers. After a while, Jules decides it’s time to return to the 21st century. Will she leave Hugh, or will he convince her to stay?
Review
The Parchment Scroll is the 3rd and final book in the Highland Secrets trilogy. I found it engaging from the start and thought it tied everything from the series together well. It has lots of action, great characters, and an interesting storyline. I particularly loved the scenes between the two sisters, especially their conversations.
I enjoyed getting a bit more of Claire and Jules’ backstory. In The Tartan MP3 Player, we are told that Claire has no one in the future except her sister. There’s no parents or other family that she should return to her own time for, other than Jules. In The Parchment Scroll, we find out that they spent much of their childhood in foster care.
“How could being raised with technology be better than being with his father?”
Jules frowned. She didn’t have the balls to retort to that. They’d been raised without either parent, so she couldn’t blame her sister for wanting her kid to have both.
Foster care sucked.
The characters felt more real in this book than they did in The Tartan MP3 Player. I can’t put my finger on what exactly the author did differently, but they seem more like people and less like characters.
I liked that the author used the real historical rivalry between the MacLeod and MacDonald clans as a source of conflict. While they’re not actively at war, they clearly don’t like each other. This makes Jules falling in love with a MacDonald while her sister’s married to a MacLeod a bit awkward.
The romance between Hugh and Jules was problematic. They are both possessive of each other, to the point that Hugh keeps kidnapping Jules. At least Jules recognises this, occasionally calling herself ‘Stockholm-Syndrome-Girl.’ However, they are both strong people with strong personalities, and the banter between them is both funny and sweet.
Conclusion
Have you read The Parchment Scroll? What did you think? Do you agree with what I’ve said about it? Let me know in the comments.
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