Review: Legend, History, and Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 6, 2012
Black Thorne's Rose is one of the few medieval novels that intertwines legend, history, and romance to create a magical story.  Do yourself a favor and read "Sir Gawain and the Green Night" before reading any of Susan King's novels if you haven't already. It is a short read and appears to serve as her inspiration.  It also helps to understand the mindset of some of the  characters who were apparently raised on this type of fantastical tale.  Emlyn is one such character who as a child saves and is in turn saved by the Black Thorne, an outlaw to some, but a hero to her.  As an adult she is going to be is forced to marry a thoughtless aging lord, Whitehawk, after her father dies. Her siblings are also separated from her and forced to live with Whitehawk's cold son, Nicholas.  A mysterious accident on the way in misty forest involving the ominous green night leads to her rescue once again by her childhood hero, Black Thorne.  A beautiful romance develops, but they are forced to temporarily separate as she attempts to rescue her siblings from the clutches of the cold-hearted Nicolas.The misunderstandings may be a little hard o swallow, but fortunately, they don't overwhelm the rest of the story. If I had a criticism it would be that the story is not magical enough to push those elements into the realm of fantasy.