Finished: Written In My Own Heart's Blood (Gabaldon) Book #8 of the Outlander series was one I could hardly put down....but it is the last book that is currently out, meaning now I've got to wait possibly another three or four years for the next book! It becomes a contest of patience...just like waiting for the next Game of Thrones book. Agghh! I'm so happy that this Outlander book didn't end with any major cliffhangers...no one in peril or distress. :-) Even though the American Revolution is ongoing, and Jamie and Claire were both heavily involved in this book, Jamie has resigned his commission as a General in the Continental Army and taken Claire and most of the rest of his family back to Fraser's Ridge to live their lives as peacefully as possible, and rebuild their house that burned down before they left the ridge. Jamie is no coward, and fought valiantly in the battle, nearly losing Claire in the process, as she was shot while doctoring wounded soldiers. They are still going strong as ever. Young Ian falls in love with Quaker Rachel Hunter and they are finally married and have just had their baby son when the book ends. Ian and Rachel have moved back to the ridge with Jamie and Claire. Ian's wolf dog, Rollo, finally died of natural causes, which was very sad. :-(  Ian's mother, and Jamie's sister, Jenny, having come to America with Jamie after her husband Ian died, is now happily ensconced in their lives, relishing in her time spent with her youngest son after so many years, and in being a Granny to the children of Fergus and Marsali. Fergus and Marsali are raising their four young children, and still in the dangerous business of printing their newspaper and pamphlets in the war-heightened city of Philadelphia. Towards the end of the book, their print shop and home is burned down and their youngest son, Henri-Christian dies in the melee. It's so very, very sad and the entire family is devastated by his loss. Fergus and Marsali take Jamie's printer, which has been shipped from Scotland and safely stored away and begin anew in Charleston. John Grey and his brother Hal are also in the mix. They are both still officers in the British army and spend their later time in the book trying to find Hal's captured son, Ben and Ben's new wife and son. At the beginning of the book, though, John tells Jamie that he married his wife (to keep her safe of course) but that he also bedded her. This brings a fury in Jamie and he beats John up and leaves him to some Continental army soldiers. Jamie's conscience bothers him later, as he worries whether his former dear friend may be hanged, but he's relieved to eventually see that John escaped and is back with family. Sadly, their friendship will probably never be the same. Hal's daughter, Dottie, is also a factor in the story, as she has fallen in love with Rachel's Quaker brother, the doctor, Denzell. They also get married, finally with her father's blessing, and are expecting their first child at the end of the book. And then...there's William...Jamie's son, the Duke of Ellesemere, who doesn't know he's Jamie's son...who was raised by John, and who is also a young officer in the British army. We get quite a bit of his story, as we see that his morals, honor and personality are very much a lovely combination of both his fathers. When he finds out that Jamie is his real father, though, by basically coming face to face with him, he's feels heartbroken and betrayed by all and spends most of the last part of the book struggling with his emotions and identity. Towards the end of the book, he does go to Jamie for help in rescuing a young prostitute who he was trying to help, and Jamie does so without hesitation. I think William is beginning to see that Jamie is an honorable man. He asks about his mother and what their relationship was when he was conceived. But then, William tells Jamie he's going away and he doesn't know where. I guess that's the one loose end left at the end of this book, but you just know he'll be back in future books. :-) Also, there are a couple of bad guys during the war, Richardson being the main one, who look as if they will play a part in political stories to come for the family. Meanwhile, back on the ranch, as the author titles one of her sections... Roger, Bree, Jemmy and Mandy had been living pretty happily in 1980 in Lallybroch in Scotland when nine year old Jemmy was kidnapped by Rob Campbell, a coworker of Bree's who read one of Roger's private time-traveling letters to his kids AND a letter from Jamie to Roger and Bree indicating where some old Jacobite gold was hidden...with only Jamie and Jem knowing the whereabouts. So, Rob kidnaps Jemmy and lets Roger and Bree think he's taken Jemmy back through the stones to the past. In reality he has stayed in 1980, but Roger doesn't know this and heads back through the stones! Because he's thinking of Jem as he goes, he actually ends up 30 years earlier than he wants to be because his own father, who Jem is named after, was a missing WWI pilot who had gone through the stones and never returned. Because Jem isn't actually in the past, the stones take Roger to the Jeremiah who IS! So, Roger meets his father and he meets a young Jenny at Lallybroch, and Jamie's father Brian. He also meets a young Dougal McKenzie and Geilis! Meanwhile, Bree is left in 1980 fighting off Rob who has now tried to rape her. Jemmy has smartly figured his way out of the hydraulic tunnel where Rob hid him, but Bree, Jem and Mandy are in constant danger now in Scotland. Bree heads to America to meet with her mother's old friend, Joe Abernathy, the only other person who knows they time travel. Bree knows that Roger will stay in the past looking for Jem forever, not realizing he never went...so, because of that, and because they are in constant danger, she makes preparations and decides to take her kids and travel back to Roger. After they have a lovely family reunion, they then decide to travel in time to where Jamie and Claire are. At the end of the book, while Jamie and Claire are standing at the site of what will be their new home on the ridge, they see four people coming up the trail and after a few minutes realize that it's Bree, Roger, Jem and Mandy! They fly down the path towards them, and that's the end of the story for now. So....sigh...now I wait like the rest of the people who have already read all the Outlander books!