Written in My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8) by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander Series:
Outlander (Outlander #1)
Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander #2)
Voyager (Outlander #3)
Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4)
The Fiery Cross (Outlander #5)
A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander #6)
An Echo in the Bone (Outlander, #7)


I was very much thrilled to find this volume getting back to what made me fall in love with the series in the beginning. There were no annoying kidnappings which was, as I said previously, getting old. The back and forth between what was going on with Jamie and Claire and what was happening with Roger and Bree created a sense of tension and with each shift left me feeling glad to be back with the other but wondering what the heck was going to happen next to the group being left for awhile. This was a good thing even if frustrating.

Jenny is back, not just physically, but the Jenny met in the earlier stories, who was tough and stubborn, but loving and fair, not the Jenny who was so unforgiving and harsh on Claire when she returned. This made me glad because Jenny was a character I loved and wanted more of but the way she treated Claire was so unlike the character she had been before that it felt untrue to her spirit. Yes, she is loyal to her brother first, but to do what she did and act so cruelly, it just didn't feel real to her and this turning back to what feels like the authentic Jenny is a relief.

It is really neat to watch these characters bump up against real people who play a part in the American Revolution. The fear and danger of war, even for those not directly fighting it is well written making the tension and danger is palpable.

At the core the Outlander series is a romance and where there is romance there is sex, and in this outing, there is some young and new love sex, and it is what we have come to expect from Gabaldon, but there is a lovely sense of innocence under it that makes it feel sweet and heartwarming.

I am now anxiously awaiting the 9th Book which I hope won't be too long, as we are left on a bit of a cliffhanger here...


(Finished August 17, 2016)