NOT YOUR USUAL cookie cutter HISTORICAL FICTION

This will be gilding the lily after all the other reviews, but if You Could rate a book or series higher than five stars, I would - the books in this series are in a category of Their Own! This book (and indeed the whole four-book series, so far) breaks the mold. Have you ever read several historical romances in a row and felt thatthey must have all subscribed to some "romance-writers' formula for plot development: perfect hero, perfect heroine, everybody stays clean and fresh no matter what happens, nothing too sad or bad happens, perfect endings everytime? " Diana Gabaldon went totally outside the formula for a knock-your-socks-off continuing story of Jamie and Claire against a backdrop of history in Scotland, France, and the United States. If I had not already named my daughter Claire 20 years ago, I probably would after reading theory books! And it's too late to name my son Jamie, but if he grows up to be like this Jamie, he'd be darn near perfect but human enough to be totally lovable. My only disappointment When I finished the fourth book what did the fifth one hasnt been written yet !!! But it's worth waiting for. You're probably thinking the praise is too extravagant to be believable - I did When my sister told me about the series. But she challenged me, and I issue the same challenge to others, to tell me did after they've read the first book!