In Jenni Fletcher’s Besieged and Betrothed, readers get to witness what happens when one king dies and two claimants to the throne fight for dominance. I’m reading for the romance rather than a history lesson, so I didn’t factcheck the story, but the history presented does give an interesting backdrop to what is otherwise a…
It’s funny. Recently I found myself wondering where all the good Medievals had gone. I find the occasional winner at Harlequin, but it’s been ages since I’ve read a good, meaty Medieval historical. And then, as soon as I wished it, one landed in my review pile. If you’ve been looking for a strong Medieval…
Take a road romance in a too-little used Medieval setting, add just a soupçon of the paranormal, and you have the recipe for a good romance with Magic in His Kiss. Nicole de Leon is a Welsh princess of the Pendragon – King Arthur’s – line through her mother. But when her English father died,…
Set in Medieval Cornwall, Midnight Marriage takes place against the backdrop of the final years of the power struggle between between King Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress (later to be King Henry II). After the evil Sir Hugh de Noirville manages to drive the Earl of Liskeard out of Cornwall, he marries the earl’s younger daughter…
Twelfth century England has always been one of my favorite historical time periods, so when I saw that Twilight Magic was set in 1145 during the civil war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, I thought it was probably worth a shot. Fortunately, Anton’s latest is a good romance, as well as an historical novel…
Looking for a medieval romance with historical accuracy and characters who belong in their time? Joan Wolf delivers in satisfying fashion with To the Castle. Eleanor de Bonevile, daughter to the Earl of Lincoln, was raised in a convent and is set to take her vows when she turns eighteen in six month’s time. When…
Oddly enough, Falcon’s Desire is a throwback to the historical romance novels of yesteryear – I say “oddly enough” because it’s the debut romance for a new author. It’s as if all the in-between progress in terms of nuanced plots and character development have been forgotten and we’re left with a derivative amalgam of Woodiwiss…
In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that I don’t read a lot of Medievals, so when you’re evaluating my evaluation of this book, I think that’s something you should consider. For, even though her behavior might have been reasonable within the constraints of her time, the heroine of The Bride Bed…
Uncommon Vows is my favorite among Mary Jo Putney’s books, more romantic to me than even the wonderful Shattered Rainbows. Putney’s only medieval begins under the omen of an eclipse of the moon whose light is devoured by shadow on the night of a Christmas tragedy. Fifteen year old Adrian de Lancey, a nobleman’s youngest…
Jayel Wylie’s first offering is a stunningly beautiful romance, and the perfect example of everything I think a medieval should be: part fairy tale, part political map, and total romance – so palpable, so real, you can taste it on your tongue and feel it beating in your chest. As a romance novel, this book…