My Heart Stood Still

September 24, 2001
When restless tycoon Thomas McKinnon visits an ancient Scottish castle he had purchased on a whim, he's stunned to find the crumbling keep teeming with ghosts. One spirit in particular swiftly captures his attention and his heart. Beautiful Iolanthe MacLeod has haunted the castle for the past six centuries, and she's unwilling to relinquish her home to the handsome foreigner. Thomas is determined to stay, however, and despite the absurdity of the situation, he settles in and attempts to woo her. The novel becomes even more convoluted when Thomas decides to travel back in time through a secret portal on the castle grounds in order to rescue Iolanthe before her untimely death and bring her to the 21st century. Iolanthe fears that her past self won't know him, but Thomas's simple, shortsighted response is, "There's no reason you can't remember the future." Despite Kurland's perky, humorous voice, her flat characters—including a group of protesting preservationists, Thomas's whining ex-fiancé and a handful of belligerent ghosts—prevent this overworked narrative from taking off. Still, readers who enjoy frothy time travel romances and lightweight ghost stories may derive a few laughs.

September 15, 2001
After an Englishman murders her in his castle in 1382, Iolanthe MacLeod gives up her dreams of a man coming to rescue her and spends the next 600 years haunting the place where she was killed. However, when American businessman Thomas McKinnon arrives to see the castle he has purchased in 2001, Iolanthe recognizes him as the man of her dreams. At first all Thomas wants to do is restore his crumbling old castle, but he soon finds himself falling in love with a ghost. Now all he has to do is find a way for Iolanthe to become a permanent part of his world. Written with poetic grace and a wickedly subtle sense of humor, Kurland's latest paranormal is the essence of pure romance. Sweet, poignant, and truly magical, this is a rare treat: a romance with characters readers will come to care about and a love story they will cherish.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2001, American Library Association.)