An Editorial Review of “The Inscription” by Pam Binder

Feisty and independent Amber MacPhee has a good teaching job, loving family, and nothing in the least messy, like love, to complicate things. But Amber finds herself smack in the middle of the biggest mess she’s ever been in after she crashes her car into Loch Ness and travels over 400 years into the past. The Inscription by Pam Binder is a heartwarming and sweet romance set in 1500’s Scotland.

It’s Lachlan MacAlpin, immortal and laird of Urquhart Castle, who rescues Amber from the freezing waters of Loch Ness. He fears she will die like the many others he has pulled from the lake, but it quickly becomes clear that Amber will survive. As he pulls her from the Loch, Lachlan cannot help but notice that Amber, with her hair of “burnished gold” bears an uncanny resemblance to the woman of legend who will possess the knowledge of future generations and lead an immortal man away from the path of darkness.

As Amber slowly allows herself to realize that she has not merely crashed her car and woken in the middle of an extremely dedicated historical reenactment, that she has in fact, woken up 400 years in the past, she faces an unprecedented set of challenges. She must learn what her place is in this alien world and try to find a way home. An explanation for her sudden appearance is quickly settled upon when Lachlan decides that the best way to keep her safe is to introduce her as his betrothed. As much as Amber hates the idea of relying on a man and false pretense to keep her identity safe, she cannot help but notice Lachlan’s broad shoulders and thick Scottish brogue.

Amber tries to relax into her new environment and keep her head down while she tries to find a way back to her own time, but old habits die hard. She challenges Lachlan left and right, becomes the tutor to Lachlan’s younger brother, Gavin, and attracts the attention of more than a few men. She fears that there may not be a way for her to go home when she begins to suspect that she is not the first to travel back to this time.

As Amber recovers and struggles to make sense of her sudden leap through time, Lachlan has his own battles to face. First, his lifelong enemy Subedei is closing in, and word is that he plans to attack and kill the MacAlpin’s for the punishment they bestowed upon him over a hundred years ago. Second, he feels the bloodlust that drove his father mad creeping ever closer and he is terrified of being possessed by it.

Despite the challenges they face, Amber and Lachlan begin spending time together and soon get glimpses of each other through the walls they have each built around their hearts. Life moves on at a normal pace even as battle creeps closer to the castle. Are they the two the legend speaks of? Can Amber learn to love a man who may never grow old and die? And can Lachlan accept the healing power of love before Amber is sent back to her time, never to return?

The Inscription is a heartwarming romance with more than one good twist at the end. Readers will find themselves rooting for not only Amber and Lachlan, but the solid cast of characters that supports this novel. This is truly a story of legendary love that spans the ages.