Review: A Dark and Lawless Time...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 1, 2012
This story portrays a very dark time in History when war was rampant and very little to no mercy was ever shown...there were no rules in warfare.  I appreciate this Author not mincing words or sugarcoating history.  I liked how Ms. Le Veque superbly combined a few true historical facts with her fictious portrayal.  Her aggressive approach made this story more true to life - - a story about hardened, seasoned, emotionally dead mercenaries.  Ajax de Velt (Jax) is such a man, void of human emotion and determined to successfully conquer parts of England and Wales.  He's the most powerful mercenary Warlord alive.  He's a massive giant of a man - - and meets his match in Lady Kellington Coleby.Lady Kellington...even though scared out of her wits upon seeing the attrocities of the reality of war first hand for the first time in her eighteen years, remains feisty, brave and overall lovely.  She is courageous, bold and compassionate - - and wins the regard of Jax de Velt.  He slowly falls for Kellington.  He eventually wants to marry her as he feels she'd be the perfect woman to give him much needed heirs.  But even though she's his captive, even though he's murdered her friends, servants and their children and has destroyed everything that she has ever known in her world..he wants her to be a willing Bride...He could easily force her to marry him, but he wants her willingly...hence the conundrum he faces - - as she cannot fathom marrying the monster who has destroyed everything she's loved.  He's asking her to leave her heaven and live in his hell.I loved this story with it's deep tacit message of love, hate and healing.  I loved the overwhelming strength of Jax and the war machine that he is... and the intelligence (and vision) of Kellington to see more in this brutal Warlord.  I loved her determination.I absolutely loved this dramatic plot of war, intrigue and suspense.  Ms. Le Veque painstakingly draws the readers into this brutal plot and leads them, inch by wonderful slow inch, through each step and phase of the progression of their love for each other...as well as through the acts of War. There's no rush and because of Ms. Le Veques' talented capabilities..because of her expert writing, the reader has no choice but to feel connected as one with the main characters...there is no other alternative than to fall into the brutal emotional turmoil facing Jax and Kellington. The journey is hard as the attrocities of war is not easy to read about.I'm anxious to move onto the other Titan series!