This is a book about patience and broken people. 
 I finished this book two days ago, but I've been kind of digesting my thoughts and sitting on this review. 
 A departure from her last few books, this book does not contain any supernatural elements or time slips. It does follow a present day and past timeline. Sara, who has Asperger's, which in many ways makes her the perfect candidate to decode a diary from the 1700's written in cipher, And Mary, our Jacobite heroine who finds herself thrown into an adventure and possibly love. 
 Both women are dealing with feelings of abandonment and rejection. Both are trying to find where they fit into the world and how to be authentically themselves (hello, Oprah!). 
 I will get the cons out of the way first. I've got two biggies: The first half of the book is slow. Really slow. It gets better, but it is a slow book in general. Because she is a wonderful author it was not painful or boring exactly, but I honestly feel she could have edited more. It really did not get going for me at all until Chapter 17. Secondly, this is the first time in a Kearsley novel where I didn't feel the same love for both storylines. I was far less interested in the present-day timeline than with the historical one. It was a bit jarring for me to switch back and forth. I could have lingered in Mary's world happily without visiting Sara's much. On the one hand, having a heroine with a form of autism is pretty darn cool. It was interesting to navigate her world and thoughts. Sometimes, however, it could be a bit distracting for me. 
 Pros? Yes. Mr. MacPherson has got to be one of my favorite characters in her novels. And I was so impatient with him at the beginning. What kind of hero could he possibly be, I kept thinking. I wasn't sure I was buying it. But by the end...oh the end. For me, I felt like the last few scenes with them were just beautiful. And the relationship Kearsley built for them was real love. Not insta-love/lust, not convenient love-to-make-the-readers-happy. Real love. She didn't wrap up every storyline with a neat bow. Life is what it is. For me, the ending made the beginning worth it. Remember I mentioned patience? Patience is rewarded for Mary and for the readers. 
 She really hits her stride on the last third of the book. This is where I felt her particular strengths as an author shone. Great characters, fantastic dialogue. 
 I don't know if this will be one of my top favorites of hers, but there are definitely favorite scenes, definitely favorite characters (love the pirate captain!). And I would definitely re-read down the road. One way I know I love her books is when I finish the book and find myself re-reading huge sections just to absorb it better and to understand things I missed. 
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 ITS SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE AT MY HOUSE WEDNESDAY. 
 I mean, I don't care or anything. Just thought I'd mention it.