Review: Interesting but not gripping
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2012
During one night Gwyneth of Blackthorne is trying to flee from her abusive uncle's home. However, she is discovered by Bran The Fair, whom she happens to know since when she was a little child. Bran is the illegitimate son of the noble man who killed her parents and cast her out. Some years later Gwyneth was married to Geoffrey, the legitimate son of the nobleman, however, Gwyneth never allowed the marriage to be consummated by the murderers of her family, which finally led to the annulment of the marriage. Anyway, Bran is on his way to his father's deathbed where he is really stunned because his father orders him to take over Blackthorne and marry Gwyneth. Bran is more than satisfied because finally he has a wife, land and title. However, Gwyneth isn't that happy about the developments. Firstly, she doesn't want to be married to another son of her family's murderer and secondly, she strongly believes that Blackthorne should be returned to its legal heir - and these aren't the only problems Bran has to face, since the villagers seem to be loyal to some "rebels" who hide in the woods and stir things.Bran and Gwyneth were likeable and very realistic main characters. Bran was presented as a visionary and leader who respected his fellow knights and the villagers. Gwyneth on the other hand had to face her difficult past, a new unwanted marriage and was continuously under the pressure of a very serious secret that could endanger her future with Bran. Her constant struggle to choose between growing love to Bran and the loyalty to her family was nicely put without becoming too tedious.The story line was simple, clearly and well-arranged and offered even some unexpected twists and turns. However, the author tried with her "epic" way of writing to stress the time period during which the story played. Not that I haven't experienced this before but in this book I had the impression that this "phenomenon" occurred more than it should which didn't really let me enjoy the book. I'm sure that this is completely irrelevant for native speakers but for me it was a serious drawback.