Review: Headstrong Englishwoman and a gentle Norman
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 2, 2014
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an unbiased and honest reviewIts 1066, the Battle of Hastings has occurred and our heroine, Isabel Dumont, has just learned that her father has been killed and there is no word of her brother, oh and the Welsh are trying to take advantage of the chaos by encroaching on her lands. Isabel has a full plate to say the least. Isabel is not your typical damsel in distress; she lost her mother at a young age and as a consequence has been indulged by her father. She carries a sword and seax and knows how to use them, is headstrong, and take charge. She has refused to get married, claiming she hasn't found anyone worthy but really fears the loss of independence. Alexandre d'Evreux is a Norman knight who fought for William and has been rewarded with Isabel's lands through marriage to her. Unsurprisingly, swords aren't the only thing clashing in this story.This started off with a bang; the first couple chapters were written with such detail, had a feeling for the time period, and the characters were highly intriguing. After those first couple chapters though, the story became a bit stagnate. Alex was charged with bringing Isabel and her father to London to meet with William. Isabel lies and says her father should be coming home soon, when she knows he is dead, to buy time. The middle of the story is a lot of Isabel occasionally crossing the line into bratty territory as Alex morphs into a very gentle and understanding guy. The meat of the story was missing for me here. It was when Isabel finally tells Alex her father is dead and they travel to London that I thought the story picked back up. There was more action, interaction, and point to the storyline.Alex was a very gentle soul and good guy, especially for how he could have been due to the times, but a bit of his depth of character was missing. Most of what we see or hear from him is soothing Isabel or forgiving her. Isabel was a better written character but may have you occasionally groaning out loud at times due to her fool hardiness. Together, they were just missing a certain spark. My favorite character? The time period. The history aspect of this was written very well. If you're a history nut you're going to enjoy the clash of the Normans and English, the tensions of the time, and uncertainty. This was the real star of the show.This is a debut book and because of that I was impressed with how solid the structure and writing was. There was just a depth of emotion between the lead characters that I missed. I would still recommend this book to people who like medieval romance stories, especially if you like this time period, and don't mind an overall calmer feeling tale. I’ll definitely being keeping an eye on this author if she continues to write historical romance. Really though, I buried the lead, William the Conqueror makes a cameo in this and in the end, who can say no to that?