Last year I was talking about Canadian authors on Twitter with one my favorite bloggers and twitters friends, Kay from Miss Bates Reads Romance. She confessed to not liking Margaret Atwood, and I asked her what Canadian authors she loved. She recommended I read some Susanna Kearsley, and suggested I start with the Winter Sea. Not long after that, I saw The Winter Sea on sale, and I snatched it up. While Kay and I don't always like the same tropes, I trust her to know a good book. Due to the often overwhelming number of ARCs on my kindle, and review commitments, I often don't get around to reading books I actually bought for months and months. Thankfully Wendy's TBR challenge gives me a monthly "excuse" to read those books.

I absolutely loved The Winter Sea. It stood out in so many ways from the kinds of books I usually read, that it was felt like a vacation. The book is about wandering away from the prescribed paths and pacing was unlike any romance I've read recently.

The Winter Sea is the story of Carrie McClellands, a nomadic Canadian writer of historical fiction. She has just spent a month in France trying to start writing her newest novel. She hoped to write about one of the failed Jacobean invasion of Scotland in 1708. On her drive north to visit her agent, she takes a detour along the Scottish coast and come up to a ruined castle, which turns out to be one of the places her protagonist was supposed to be visit.

Slains Castle remains in her thoughts all through her visit with her agent and friend, so Jane encourages her to visit it again. Together they go back and explore, and soon Carrie has decided to take a cottage close to Slains as her winter writing quarters.

The novel is really two interconnected love stories. Kearsley moves the narrative back and forth in time, alternating between Carrie in present day Slains and Sophia, a distant ancestor of Carrie, and the new heroine of Carrie's book in the early 18th century. In the current day Carrie wrestle with her novel, that feels less and less like a work of her imagination, as the little details & additions she has guessed at keep being confirmed by historical documents. Sophia meanwhile falls in love with a wanted man and is soon deep in a conspiracy to return King James II to the Scottish throne.

Early on I preferred the present day chapters because I so enjoyed Carrie and her struggled to understand where her books was coming from while the historical chapters were so full of tension and uncertainty I wanted to skip to the end to see what happened. I was drawn in to Sophia's story, as she blossomed at Slains frist as she falls in love and then as she grows when her lover has to leave her behind. I loved the contrast between Carrie's and Sophia's romances. Carrie's is gentle, patient and comfortable while Sophia's is dangerous, passionate and fraught. I loved how different Carrie & Sophia were as women, which gave such richness to the story.

I think The Winter Sea is a excellent book to recommend to non-romance readers, as it has strong crossover potential, and I think the rich historical and political detail would appeal to readers of historical fiction. But I would highly recommend this book to all romance readers. Thank you Kay, for suggesting I read such a great book.