A Good Character is "Almost" Everything - Book Review, Wee William's Woman, Suzan Tisd

I often tell people I don’t read science fiction, nor do I read crime / murder mysteries, nor will I read fantasy, political thrillers, apocalyptic themes, and on and on and on. But, the truth is, give me a character that is written well, and I’ll follow them into whatever trauma and heartache the author takes them, and me, into. That’s why I love Star Wars, even though I swear off science fiction, and its why I adore The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, even though I usually stay as far away from fantasy as I can.

Suzan Tisdale’s Highlander series of books seem to be drawing me for the same reason. While the author oftentimes doesn’t use her commas properly, her prose is often repetitive, and she head hops, she writes such a good story with such likable characters that I find myself overlooking all of that.

In this third installment of The Clan MacDougall series, Suzan Tisdale again takes us into the world of Clan McDougall in early Scotland. Tisdale’s plotting and character arcs get better with each novel. Wee William’s Woman is no exception.

Wee William is a huge beast of a man. He loves children, he speaks several different languages, and he has sworn off women. He has made a promise, though, that he will cut his beard if he ever falls in love and decides to marry.

Nora is the abused wife of Horace Crawford. He is the brother of Aishlinn, the heroine in Book I Laiden’s Daughter. When Wee William and a band of Highlanders belonging to Angus McKenna’s clan are sent to recover some of Aishlinn’s “treasures” from Horace, William rescues Nora as well. It is love at first sight for William. Not so much for Nora. Even so, it isn’t long before the Highlanders begin taking bets on how soon William will shed that facial hair.

While I was willing to overlook the issues I related at the top, I did get irked about halfway through the book. The plot suddenly leaves Wee William and Nora and takes a turn towards Bree McKenna, Angus McKenna’s daughter, and a treaty being made by Angus with six other clans. There wasn’t enough in the first third of the book to suddenly explain why we had left the story of William and Nora and gone to Bree and another Highlander with less than savory motives towards not only Bree but the seven clans as a whole. Everything does come together at the end, but for me it created quite a disjointed plot line in the dead center of the novel. Had this part of the story been interspersed in the beginning, or had there been more references to Bree’s storyline before, it would not have been so jarring. And while Bree gets out of her scrape, I felt cheated that I was not a witness to it. I had just left William and Nora’s story for a good number of pages (probably twenty at least – I had a Kindle so couldn’t really tell) and then I am told about the resolution to Bree’s problem. I would very much like to have read about it.

However, despite all that, Tisdale creates characters a reader can fall in love with. You care for them, root for them, and you can’t wait to see how they solve their problems which seem so insurmountable. I will be purchasing book 4 in the series, McKenna’s Honor, and reading more about Clan MacDougall. All in all, this is still a great read!

Note to readers: This book, like the first two in the series, does have some racy scenes in the bedroom. Proceed with caution if you do not like books of this kind.

Suzan Tizdale's website can be found here.

Purchase Wee William's Woman on Amazon here.