Royal & Ancient by Amanda Lauer Review

 

I am a big fan of time travel stories. So, I was excited to get the chance to read Amanda Lauer’s newest release, Royal & Ancient.

Royal & Ancient is a young adult story that takes the reader back in time to Scotland in the late 17^th century. Bronwyn Campbell is a high schooler who is working at a golf course where she lives in America when she suddenly wakes up face down on the grass, discovering she is not where she is supposed to be. It takes her a while to come to grips with the reality that she has somehow traveled not only across the Atlantic Ocean to Scotland, but also through time, to 300 years in the past, 1691 to be exact.

Thankfully she finds help in the form of a handsome Scottish guy, Iain, and his family, some of whom welcome her with open arms, others, not so much. She finds herself trying to fit in in this foreign culture, a culture that is part of her heritage.

She is Catholic and has found herself in a Scotland where Catholicism has been outlawed. I appreciated being able to learn about this time in history. In all my studies in history in school, and what we have learned in our homeschool, I had never heard details of this time and how Catholicism was banned by the Protestant leaders in Scotland. I also enjoyed seeing how Catholicism was practiced 300 years ago compared to how I was brought up. And how the different holidays were celebrated differently.

That said, I actually wasn’t aware that the author was Catholic, so I was caught off guard at first. So yes, there are practices that I now no longer agree with. So, I did want to bring it up so others are aware. I also really wish there had been a reason for the time traveling. Yes, it is mentioned that it was God who brought her to the past. However, in all the other time travel books I’ve read or movies I’ve watched, there is some actual WAY that the time travel happens. I also would have loved in the ending hadn’t been so abrupt and there had been a bit more to it.

Royal & Ancient was still an interesting book to read, and had a sweet love story, and had some intrigue and suspense with a bit of danger. And it did keep my attention and I wanted to know what was going to happen to Bronwyn and Iain.

I received this book for free from the author as a part of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own, honest thoughts.