Review: Sweet Romance and so much more. Loved!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 2, 2012
This was definitely my kind of story, chivalrous men, impending war, romance, and strategies aplenty. The writing was rich and flowed smoothly didn't want to put it down. I loved the friendships of Lord Rafe, Finan, Leofric and Rand, their unwavering loyalty to each other was amazing. Each character was nicely fleshed out as well, you came to admire, hate, love, them all.This story is about Lord Rafe of Valrek and his betrothed Lady Adele of Berron and much, much more.War had left Adele at the age of two the only survivor of her family. Lord Rafe of Valrek who was ten was betrothed to her for political reasons. Adel is kept hidden in safety until Lord Rafe comes to take her as his bride. Lord Rafe collects Adel and her companion and then the real adventure begins. Original plans are changed enemy boarders are crossed, pursuits are followed, enemies turn friend, lies are told, alliances are made, and broken. There are many twists and turns to this wonderful tale that I do not wish to ruin for you.The characters as I mention really make this story Lord Rafe of Valrek he is courageous, naive when it comes to womens emotions, loyal, kind, strong, and humorous. He was awesome, at times I would get aggravated with his inability to communicate or miss communicate his feeling to Adel. His loyalty and love of his friends and they of him was a crucial part to this story and very endearing. We all have or want friends like Finan, Leofric, and Rand. They worked so well together like the intricate workings of a clock, and they would forfeit their lives for each other. I loved it! Now Adele she is delicate, strong, thoughtful, unsure of herself at times, patient and a good choice for Rafe. They made me smile, and want to scream at times for they had a hard time articulating their feelings for one another....but when they did it was sweet. Finan he was great he got into more trouble than need be and it wasn't even his fault. I loved his unwavering loyalty to Rafe, awesome friend. Leofric was one of my favorites he comes off less than he really is, and I loved that about his character for he is far more than what his father sees in him. He was soooo endearing one of my favorites. Rand is a nice complication to the story and friendship, he takes a calculated risk and it pays off. Eda is Adel's friend and companion and quite the spit fire, she takes very good care of her friend. Her is Eda defending her friend, " Understand this Finan, Lady Adelle means more to me than you will ever know and I can tell when something has occurred to distress her. I care not what you disagreed over, it matters not, but I wish you to understand that your responsibility toward Lady Adelle is not just that you keep her safe, but that you keep her happy as well." Her is a quote from Eda to Rafe, " You should be careful Finan, for that which you are beginning to lose you cannot retrieve and that which you are beginning to crave is not yours to request, In this I have experience Finan, and I know that this path leads only to great heartache....try to do that which I could not and turn from the road before you." There are even more wonderful characters than just these that I will leave for you to explore.The romance is great in this story to very sweet and is woven through out but does not override the whole story, which normally I would complain about, but it really worked for the story. Great story can' wait for the next in the series.Clean read