Review: An exciting medieval read with plenty of heartbreak and anguish within the telling -- a great beginning for a new author
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 20, 2014
About the Story: (Book Back Blurb) In twelfth century England, Gemma de Vere and Nicholas de Reymes find love at a young age. Too nave to truly understand what is happening, their fledgling relationship is torn apart by political games and scheming minds. Nicholas and his family disappear into the night and Gemma is left with a shattered heart.Seven years later, Gemma still harbors a broken heart, and retreats into a life in which she will not be foolish enough to fall in love again. Mysterious deaths and accidents begin to plague those living within the walls of Blackstone Castle, and her father falls ill. She has no choice but to seek the assistance of King Henry.Help arrives in the form of her childhood love, the handsome and imposing Nicholas, who is now a fierce and loyal knight bent on revenge. The pain and anguish he feels over the fate of his family casts Gemma as his enemy. To him, she represents all the misfortune in his life as he tries to keep her at arm’s length and far away from his heart.Their journey towards truth is riddled with treachery and danger from an unlikely source. Will they find their way back to each other, or will his need for revenge outweigh the love he feels in her arms?In twelfth century England, Gemma de Vere and Nicholas de Reymes find love at a young age. Too nave to truly understand what is happening, their fledgling relationship is torn apart by political games and scheming minds. Nicholas and his family disappear into the night and Gemma is left with a shattered heart.Seven years later, Gemma still harbors a broken heart, and retreats into a life in which she will not be foolish enough to fall in love again. Mysterious deaths and accidents begin to plague those living within the walls of Blackstone Castle, and her father falls ill. She has no choice but to seek the assistance of King Henry.Help arrives in the form of her childhood love, the handsome and imposing Nicholas, who is now a fierce and loyal knight bent on revenge. The pain and anguish he feels over the fate of his family casts Gemma as his enemy. To him, she represents all the misfortune in his life as he tries to keep her at arm’s length and far away from his heart.Their journey towards truth is riddled with treachery and danger from an unlikely source. Will they find their way back to each other, or will his need for revenge outweigh the love he feels in her arms?My Thoughts: Gemma, a woman with lots of strengths and courage, was rather impetuous early in the story. Even so, she was a women that I could relate to. Shattered heart as a young girl, but not shattered spirit. She rose to the occasion helping take care of her younger sister and learned what she could in managing a castle. Family was vitally important to her and when needed she heeded her father’s words.Both Gemma and Nicholas were hiding the truth from themselves, something we all do from time to time. Nicholas thought he was ONLY following the edicts of the king to go to Blackstone Castle and bring order to a serious situation. But he went to see Gemma wanting to exact revenge for his family betrayal. His family had suffered much from some trickery from Gemma’s family if not she herself. On the other hand, Gemma had been told the story that Nicholas’s family had tried to take her family down. In other words, she felt betrayed and would never seek another man as she had when young. They were not to be trusted.The king meant for them to wed and they could not refuse the king. The inner struggle each had not trusting the other from the past to the physical attraction present long ago and apparently still remains makes for a rocky start to any relationship. Nicholas, a knight in every sense of the word, had a job to do -- protect the castle, protect Gemma AND we found protect his heart. He sacrificed his own desires and almost sacrificed himself when he lost control and wasn’t able to protect anything at all. Gemma was willing to marry Nicholas to have protection for herself and her family. She knew that Nicholas would never be able to love her nor was she able to protect her heart. He loved. She loved. And neither understood anything. This plot made for an interesting and entertaining read.The story was evenly paced and complex enough to be interesting with a suspenseful feeling lurking since we don’t know why people are being killed. The formal medieval dialog helped provide a medieval setting. The story was a clean read.I think the story itself has opportunities for more turmoil creating further suspense and conflict between Gemma and Nicholas. And by doing so it gives the reader further insight into the primary characters of the read. On a couple of occasions I had difficulty accepting as factual what Gemma would do to bring herself into danger. She put herself into danger with little thought, yet I pictured her as intelligent and strong-willed with a good head on her shoulders. However, that being said, I enjoyed how she maneuvered to remove herself from danger and her repentance afterwards.All in all, I enjoyed and liked the story and know that Amy Mullen has a future in historical romance writing. It was an excellent first novel. For further information about the book or read an excerpt see earlier posting [...]