by Cathy Lamb
That diamond almost blinded me.
I will miss my garden and the view of the whales on Whale Island. I will miss living in Washington. I will miss living in America.
But I will miss more if I do not live in Scotland. Scotland is in my heart, with its hills that curve like green dough, the mysteriousness of the landscape, the sharpness of the ocean cliffs, the old churches that have held the prayers of people long gone, that will hold the prayers of people long after I’m gone.
The ruins of the cathedral, the ruins of the castle, are part of me, as is the village, and Bridget’s Park, A Place for Everyone.
Scotland is the land of my birth, it’s the land where I met my best friend and her brother, it’s the land where I fell in love, truly, for the first time in my life, with a farmer.
The farmer grows potatoes, blueberries, and apples.
He has a modern cottage that looks traditionally old.
He looks sexy in a kilt. I have peeked under the kilt.
He does not mind that I need to be alone a lot, to walk amidst the fog and the raindrops, or to feel the sun on my face in silence.
We have the same interests, the same passions. We are best friends.
He loves me. All of me, and he shows me that every day.
We like to make love. We have this wild and seductive love life, then he holds me close, the wind from the ocean curling around the house, the stars spiraling through the sky, the Scottish rain a trickle from heaven, the air scented with a dash of salt and a sip of mint tea.
Our wedding is in one week. Everyone we love is coming. We have agreed on five kids. Five kids, plus us, plus Gracie is eight, as my grandma predicted.
Toran Ramsay is a man of all men.
Scottish Warrior man.
I love him, I do.
Romance Readers and Writers Magazine
By Kitty Rosemary
Books For Chicks Reviewer
BITTERSWEET AND UNBELIEVABLE!
Well, ring my panties out, my tears have run down my chin and soaked them!
Brace yourselves, readers of this column!
Writer Georgia Chandler’s latest book, Peppermint Tea, a Soul Mate, and the Scottish Leap, A Romantic Time Travel Adventure, The Final Novel, featuring our favorite time-traveling heroine, McKenzie Rae Dean, is once again at the top of the New York Times best-seller list. I started reading it on Friday night. What? Did you expect for me to have a date on Friday night? I had one date in the last month. His name was Stephan. Steph. On. Sounds like that.
If you live in Los Angeles and a man named Stephan with a nose the shape of an owl’s beak and lips like a whale’s asks you out, say no. He is algae.
Anyhow.
When I came home Chandler’s book was waiting for me. I was up all night reading and did not get out of bed on Saturday. Decadent!
Yes, it gripped my ever-lovin’ heart like a studly Scottish man in a kilt grabbing me and slinging me up in front of him on his horse, all snug and tight.
For her millions of avid readers, I am warning you, ladies, this will be a bittersweet novel for many reasons. The ending, well, it surprised me as much as I would be surprised if honorable men over the age of thirty were suddenly in abundance.
Without any warning to her adoring public, including moi, Ms. Chandler ended her series after ten novels. Her editors and agent are no doubt crying into their coffees and popping tranquilizers.
When I called Ms. Chandler, she told me that it was time for her to take a break from writing. She said she had writer’s block for months and finally decided that McKenzie Rae Dean had finished her journey, for now. Time will tell if she comes back to us.
When I asked if the ending of this novel had anything to do with her moving to Scotland, where she lived the first fifteen years of her life, she said, “My life is changing and so is McKenzie Rae’s.”
When asked if she was in love, the usually insanely private Chandler said, “So in love I can hardly function.”
When asked who the man was, she said, “Let’s say that McKenzie Rae refound the love of her life, after many long and lonely years away, and so did I.”
I asked if the people in the town she lived in knew she was Georgia Chandler.
“Not yet. Please don’t tell them.”
It boggles my mind, boggles it, but we’re done, folks.
That’s it.
It’s a wrap.
I know you’re probably crying in your coffee and popping tranquilizers now, like Chandler’s editors and agent!
Yours in the love of books and other wild and luscious items!
Ta-ta for now!
Kiss, kiss!
Kitty Rosemary
A READING GROUP GUIDE
MY VERY BEST FRIEND
Cathy Lamb
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
The suggested questions are included
to enhance your group’s reading of
Cathy Lamb’s My Very Best Friend.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Describe My Very Best Friend using only five words.
2. Would you have been friends with Charlotte? What would make her an interesting friend? What would make her a difficult friend?
3. Were Charlotte and Bridget true best friends, in your opinion, given the lies and distance between them?
4. Which woman—Charlotte, Bridget, Gitanjali, Olive Oliver, Rowena, Kenna, Lorna Lester, or Malvina—did you most relate to in the story? Do you see any of your own characteristics in any of them, both positive and negative?
5. Discuss Charlotte’s character arc. How did Charlotte change from the beginning of the book to the end?
6. Do you believe in second sight, as Charlotte’s grandma had? If you could see into the future, what would you want to see about yourself and your own life?
7. How did you feel about Bridget? Did you find her choices, her plight in life, believable given the circumstances? How did her drug addiction, and her lack of ability to stay clean, affect your feelings for her? Was she a sympathetic figure?
8. Charlotte said, “I had read about AIDS victims rejected by family members and friends, towns flipping out, neighbors turning their backs, schools refusing entry, and general, torch-wielding hysteria. People were afraid. They were uneducated. Their fear often manifested itself in group think, which has never been known for rational thought. They didn’t like what AIDS said about the person, either. It was against their own morality code of what they thought was acceptable. Gay? That was an easy judgment call: Sinful! It’s a choice to be gay, they choose it, they die for it! It’s a lifestyle! God’s wrath! Amoral! Disgusting, repulsive. Contagious! Drug user? They got what they deserved! And in St. Ambrose? How would they respond?”
Was the way that the villagers reacted to Bridget’s AIDS diagnosis realistic? Was it fair, given the time period, or was it purely hysterical and unkind?
9. Did Father Angus Cruickshank deserve to die? Was justice served?
10. If this happened today and you were on a jury, would you convict the murderer of Angus Cruickshank?
11. Did Lorna redeem herself by the end? Had you predicted that she was the killer of Angus Cruickshank?
12. What was the most romantic thing that Toran did for Charlotte? Are there men like Toran Ramsay out there? Would you marry Toran?
13. What are the themes of the story?
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2015 by Cathy
Lamb
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Kensington and the K logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.
eISBN-13: 978-0-7582-9509-5
eISBN-10: 0-7582-9509-X
First Kensington Electronic Edition: August 2015
ISBN: 978-0-7582-9509-5
ISBN-10: 0-7582-9508-1
