Until the Spring

I love Alexander Raife's books. She has such a light touch with contemporary romance that it doesn't seem like you're reading a typical "romance". Some of them are so heavy-handed. In this book, the humor is subtle and the descriptions of the landscape--the Scottish highlands--are wonderful. The "plucky" heroine is atypical and very likeable. The other characters are well-written, they're human and the chronical of their ordinary day-to-day lives is absorbing. There is nice character development in here, again, subtle, but it makes for a good story. Raife weaves the stories of their lives together to a not altogether predictable ending. I liken this book to another favorite-Wild Highland Home, also by Alexander Raife.

...and I simply loved it. As the book opens, our English heroine, Kate, has been deflowered and impregnated in one fell swoop, and the selfish cad responsible has bundled her off to Scotland to stay with friends/relatives of his, to be out of his way. Kate has been thrown out of her own home by her adoptive parents and is homeless, sad and frightened. As the months pass in Scotland, this innocent, sweet, thoughtful girl slowly becomes a part of the Munro clan and their way of life on their estate. Soon she never wants to leave, and we see a beautiful love story developing, between Kate and her new surroundings, Kate and the family who has taken her in, and possibly Kate and the lord of the manor. :) You will fall in love with the author's vivid descriptions and mostly with Kate, who is a very loveable, unassuming sweetheart of a girl. I highly recommend this wonderful story!

I believe this is my favorite of Ms. Raife's novels so far. She has created a very likeable heroine in Kate, a ordinary young lady caught up in circumstances that leave her virtually homeless and friendless. Her discovery of herself, a new family and a new love make for a book that is very hard to put down. The descriptions of the Scottish countryside and life in a rural, remote area are absorbing. Kate's journey of discovery is one I won't soon forget and I look forward to Ms. Raife's next novel.

If anyone can take Rosamunde Pilcher's place in writing wonderful "British" stories it's Alexandra Raife. She has that light touch and understated emotion depicted in clear, clean language that grabs the reader from word one. Her descriptions of the Scotish landscape are perfect. When and if I ever get to the British Isles, I'll feel completely at home in Scotland, thanks to Ms Raife.

Her adoptive parents toss Kate out of their home when she becomes pregnant. The father of the baby sends Kate to live at Allt Fear, a large estate in the Scottish Highlands. Kate has never experienced anything like the land, its run-down manor, and the people. Max, a modern day version of a Highlander laird, feels Kate's a pathetic nuisance. Max's mother Grannie sees Kate as an unnecessary obligation. Max's sisters (Joanne and Harriet) provide a tepid welcome to her, but make no efforts to ease Kate's adjustment to her new home.Initially, Kate felt she could never adjust to the bleak terrain and the unruly Monroes. Kate's natural warmth, her ability to handle crisis and her tenacity to keep on ticking even when failure is imminent begins to win over the locals. When a tragedy occurs, Kate becomes depressed. However, her true love is just around the corner waiting to gather the courage to claim the woman he has come to love with all his heart.Alexandra Raife is an uncanny storyteller whose tales reach out to the reader on a very deep and personal level. Her characters symbolize strength and perseverance needed to live in harmony with one's self as well as one's environment. The likable heroine comes into her own as she finds family and love. UNTIL THE SPRING is a beautiful tale about a place, a family, and especially a wonderful woman, leaving little doubt that Ms. Alexandra is on a par with the best writers of contemporary woman's fiction.Harriet Klausner