Beyond the Highland Mist

Moning offers the promise of a terrific plotline in her debut romance: a troubled young woman, Adrienne is transported from the 20th century to 16th-century Scotland by an evil jester to take revenge on a Scottish laird. The author has the right characters: there's the heroine who doesn't trust beautiful men and a handsome hero cursed to love a woman who will not return his love. Add gypsies and Scottish mysticism, against the backdrop of the stark beauty of the Highlands, and you've got an intriguing story. The lovers endure quite a bit of torment in order to find happiness, a downer that even Moning's doses of humor can't always leaven. Unfortunately, Moning doesn't fully deliver: she too often relies on transparent plot devices, and while her falconry imagery is both poignant and sensual, it will remind readers of Elizabeth Lowell's Untamed. (Mar.)