Well, I finally bit the bullet and gave Outlander a shot. A massive volume with 6? 7? more waiting in the wings if I like it, sure, yes please. I had no expectations. Well, except for time travel and a plucky heroine, I watched the first episode of the tv show so I had the set up.

I didn't expect to have so much fun! Plucky heroine gets into much trouble, there are steamy hunks everywhere, all with various crushes on her, and torrid love. I would lump it in with the Twilights of the book world, only it is written SO. MUCH. BETTER. And I got to follow along via the show, which made a surprisingly deep experience with their world.

This book picked me up and took me on a ride. Yes there is violence and a very casual attitude towards rape, and those weren't my favorite things. But not everything in a book has to be perfect, they weren't dealbreakers, and considering the attitude towards women in the 1700s, probably truer than we'd care to admit. And by disliking something, aren't we cementing our own opinions of right and wrong? Though I didn't need this book to remind me that beating the shit out of someone you love is wrong.

Non stop action and intrigue, strong women AND strong men, and a healthy helping of perv. It might take me a while to make my way to volume #2, but I know it's there and I know it'll be a nice vacation from reality when I need it.