Name: Healer
ISBN: 9781434764782

Linda Windsor

When Brenna of Gowrys--a gifted healer living alone in fear from her kinsmen and the O'Byrne clan--rescues a badly wounded stranger, she believes he may be the answer to her deep loneliness. Original.

Healer

Jeni Enjaian

I have always enjoyed historical fiction, especially that set in ancient Scotland or Ireland. This book however, indulged way too much on the romance and mysticism front. The root mechanics of Windsor's storytelling withstood the test. In fact, that's the only reason that I rated this book two stars instead of one. Any time an author of Christian historical fiction manages to avoid all the trite clichés and plot devices, I think that should be acknowledge. That, however, is the best thing that I can say about this book.
The things I disliked about the book are a bit more numerous. First, the connection (good or bad) between the characters happens far too quickly. This stretches the suspension of disbelief almost a bit too far. Second, the sensual descriptions Windsor employs for most of the interactions between Brenna and Ronan are sensual in a chaste, Christian way which makes them entirely too awkward and frankly unnecessary. If you're going to describe sex or sexual intimacy, don't try to put a Christian spin on it. Just don't. Third, Windor's use of the prophetic gifts for Joanna and Brenna (and other similar aspects) made it hard to distinguish how the Celtic Christians differentiated themselves from the pagans of the day. I can't quite put my finger on it but something about Windsor's "historiography" feels off.
I don't recommend this book and I actually took the other two books in the series off my "to-read" list. There are too many good books out there for me to waste my time reading mediocrity.