Review: Only reason I put down the book was the Kindle died.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 15, 2013
First, in the interest of disclosure. This was a gift from the Author. Ms. Gleason gave me my choice of two books, I chose this as it was third on my wish list. I love falconry and loved the Lavender Vows.Even though there was one issue I had with the novel. I encourage you to read it. Ms. Gleason has a way of bringing the History alive with small, lush details. I wish History in school had been even a quarter as enjoyable.I even became wrapped up in the secondary characters. Tabby was a joy and I could just picture what she looked like and how she acted. I was so engrossed that I found myself looking up historical details to get additional information on the King and Queen. Asking myself, how old was she when this or that event took place. Realizing she lived to be 82 and bore her tenth child, John 1 at around age 45 was amazing for medieval times. At least to me.  And further she was the mother of Richard the Lionheart.If those were secondary characters, you can imagine the quality of writing of the primary players. I found that I had true emotions. Laughed, cried.. yelled "why do you not just speak out loud to each other". I felt Judith's pain. To me that makes an amazing book. Normally, I am not drawn to scenes of a sexual nature, but Ms. Gleason handled them well. And, they were not gratuitous, they were between husbands and wives who were in love, even if Malcolm and Judith did not admit at first to each other.This brings me to my one disappointment and I will try not to spoil anything for any other reader. My problem was the ending. There really was not one.  Mal shows up. There is one angry scene and all is well. And then an Epilogue. This is not a favorite ending technique of mine, though it can be done well.I wanted more. For instance, I wanted to be given the same detail as throughout the book. What happened with Judith and Violet after meeting. I wanted Mal to tell Judith why he sent Violet the way he did. The fears that they both internalized I wanted spoken out loud, in a sense. Not just a happy pregnant ending. Oh big fight, you are here, now it is over.The ending just seem to fall flat when the whole book to that point was so FULL.  However, this will not keep me from getting the prior book, A Whisper of Rosemary. These can be read out of order, though I wish I had been able to read the other first. But, at the time of offering, it was priced higher and now I see they are all the same price. Personally, I recommend the box set. They are that good.