Review: Straight-up Historicals
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 21, 2014
The four books in this set are medieval tales that will surely appeal to anyone who loves historically accurate settings. They cover the Norman Conquest, Richard the Lionheart, and pre-Authurian King Leodegrance and Uther Pendragon.Of the four books my favorite was Winter's Heat, Book One of the Seasons series about the FitzHenry brothers by Denise Domining. In it you meet Rannulf, Lord of Graistan as he comes to marry Rowena, who was taken from the convent where she intended to become a nun. The only problem I had with this story is that the plot by Rowena's mother and sister to take her inheritance is never resolved. I don't know if the answer to that is in any of the subsequent books as I have not read them as yet, but it was very disappointing that such a major plot line is totally ignored after being the focus of such a great part of the book. Both hero and heroine are likeable and this book does make you want to read the remaining four books in the series: Autumn's Flame (Temric), Spring's Fury (Gilliam), Summer's Storm (Geoffrey), and A Love For All Seasons (Rob)The second book is The Warrior's Wife, Book One of the Warrior Series, also by Denise Domning. From the beginning I loved Rafe and Kate. Their story is very Romeo and Juliet-esque minus the double suicide ending <~a big plus in my opinion. I found myself laughing out loud throughout this one. It was an absolute pleasure to read.The third novel is Knight's Caress by Lynette Vinet. The backdrop of this story is that of Tedric, a Saxon lord who has been run from his home as it was seized by Normans. When his sister is captured, he then captures the lovely Julianne, the young widow who believes the barbaric Saxon is responsible for killing her husband. So ensues the usual angst of historical romance. If there was a way to rate this one 3 stars I would do so. It was ok, but not as good as the first two.Book four is Spoil Of War by Phoenix Sullivan. It is a pre-Arthurian tale of King Leodegrance and Lady Elsberh, daughter of the defeated foe Gunther. She is is spoil of war that he intends for himself only to find her being raped by one of his own men. He brings her home and establishes her as his concubine where she not only has to live amongst her Roman enemies, but Leodegrances Queen Lynette as well.This book has many twists and it's really hard to get into. There were certain thematic elements unit that I was uncomfortable with. First was that Leodegrance gifted his bff Ector with a an 11 year-old girl apfollowing the battle. So he's a perv who continually sexually assaults the girl until she becomes pregnant. Then she attempts to rid herself of the spawn of Satan, changes her mind, then dies in childbirth any way. Totally depressing. Secondly was the twisted sadistic Uther Pendragon and his rape and treatment of Elsbeth when she is captured after she follows Leodegrance into battle. Elsbeth herself is raped by three different men in this book, not including Leodegrance because she chooses to be with him. The It is one of those books that seemingly drags on and on and then all of a sudden it takes off and gets really good, really fast within the last few chapters and you can't put it down. I am guessing that this, too is the first in a series since it loosely follows the legend of King Arthur. This book would be a 2.5 at best.One further note: if you aren't a wordsmith, plan on having a dictionary handy. All of the authors use MANY antiquated Old and Middle English words. I found it totally appropriate for each but I'm certain that unless you read a lot of historical books there are many that are archaic since we do not abide by those feudal customs. Words such as scutage, widdershins, sedge, and chary.