Review: Transported back in time!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 3, 2013
I purchased and read this five book set on a Kindle Fire and a Kindle Keyboard.  There were no gross formatting errors that I could see on the Kindle version of this book.I found this series to be vastly informative and entertaining.  I enjoy historical romances, and this series is definitely the ticket.  Ms. Domning knows how to transport her readers back in time with realistic settings, actions, language and descriptions.  She writes about strong-willed women and dominant men in a medieval setting, and does it with flair.  At the back of the fifth book, A Love For All Seasons, Ms. Domning includes a table of definitions for times of day that I found extremely helpful to determine which time of day she was writing about (mostly in the fifth book).Winter’s Heat - Life in a medieval castleThis is the story of a young woman, being the second daughter in a family, lived in a convent and expected to take her vows and live in a convent for the rest of her life.  She is yanked from the convent, only to be married to a man she doesn’t know, deposited in his castle, and left to make her way on her own as he leaves to go off to war for his king.  Having learned to read and write in the convent, she is determined to take over the accounts of the castle and holdings of her husband, something no woman in medieval times was allowed to do.  Throughout this story, you learn the beginnings of the history of the FitzHenry family, and some of the players in the books that follow.Summer’s Storm - Life in a medieval townThis is the story of a young woman married to an abusive husband, stuck with an abusive mother in law, who falls in love with one of the FitzHenry brothers.  In medieval times, you didn’t even *look* at a married woman, let alone fall in love with one.  Men were allowed to abuse their wives, as for the most part, wives were merely property.  This is the only book in the set that I had issues with.  Mostly my issues were with how the situation was resolved in the end, and the fact that I have clear cut views on adultery.  Also keep in mind that my views are that of a modern woman, not one that lived in medieval times!  This is strictly my opinion, and shouldn’t detract from the book or the author.  The story, characters and overarching story line of the entire series was good.  The latter half of book has some grammatical errors, spelling, etc., but not enough that it takes you completely out of the story.Spring’s Fury - Life in a medieval manorThis is the story of a young woman who was allowed to run rampant throughout her childhood, and wanted to be lord of her own manor.  Her father is killed during a siege, and the Lord of the lands he managed is then made her guardian.  He marries her to one of his brothers, against her will.  She is a very feisty lady and the she is very resistant to being the wife of the man who killed her father.  It is a story of manor life, and life in the village surrounding it.  It also explains a bit about fostering boys to knights away from their homes.  Ms. Domning’s description of the manor and village is very realistic.  There are some spelling and punctuation errors, again, not enough to take you completely out of the story.  The romance story line is very believable, as well as the underlying story of the villain and his motivations.  I found myself lost in this story from the very beginning.Autumn’s Flame - Medieval sheriffs and politicsHere you read the story of a young pregnant widow and her fight to keep her son and unborn child safe from harm.  You get the background story of the young man fostered in the previous book, as well.  It is the story of the job of a sheriff and how they were charged with keeping unborn children who were to inherit lands and holdings from a dead father safe from those who would kill them to inherit in their place.  The side story of the sheriff and his plight in this book is riveting.  Ms. Domning nailed the mindset of men of consequence in that period right on the head.  I actually found myself wanting to skip ahead just to see what happened.  If I had to pick one of the set as my favorite, I think this would be the one.  The way the author wove the two main story lines together to meet at the end was fabulous!A Love For All Seasons - Medieval merchant’s lifeFinally, we have a story of a young man whose mother has died and his father disowns him.  He is taken by a merchant to live in his home as a servant because no one in his village will take responsibility for him.  It is the story of merchant life in medieval times, the taking of apprentices, marriage deals, and forbidden love.  The young man falls for the merchant’s daughter, who is betrothed at seven years of age, to another of his apprentices.  This book jumps from past to present quite a bit, so you must keep your eye on the year as you’re reading.  A great deal of this story is set in the town’s abbey, so it is helpful to take a look at the table in the back of the book to figure out the times of day if you like to know that “None” means 3:00 pm.  I thoroughly enjoyed this story and the skill the author showed in weaving this tale together.Overall, I would recommend this set to anyone that enjoys a good, realistically done historical romance.  You won’t be disappointed.