First, I want to say that I have read all books in this series, expect the first book. However, I'm going to rectify that. I have wanted to read In the Shadow of the Storm since I read book two, Days of Sun and Glory, and now after finishing The Cold Light of Dawn do I seriously need to go back to the beginning, to read about a happier-ish time. Honestly, The Cold Light of Dawn is a fabulous book, so good, but it's also a devastating tragic book and now has it gone two days since I finished the book and I'm still ... shell-shocked by the ending. I mean I know it was coming, but still ... dammit, Anna!

So here we are, at the ending (bah, I want more books and I will demand at least one more from Anna), young Edward III is growing more and more into the role as a king and the resentment is steadily growing toward his mother Queen Isabelle and Mortimer. And between them are Adam de Guirande, who love both men, Mortimer who is like a father to him, and Edward who Adam has sworn his liege to. In Edward can Adam see a great king, a better king than his father. However, Mortimer and Isabelle have done a great job while Edward is coming of age. Still, they are living in sin, and Edward and Mortimer are clashing more and more. It will come to blows soon and the outcome, well it will not be nice.

I loved this book. The funny thing is that I kind of forgot that February had so few days so when I started to read this day did I realize that it would be Marsh soon and my review date for the blog tour. I did not panic (much), instead did I dedicate my free hours to reading this book and it was some of my greatest hours in life. It's a compact story, not a story you just breeze through, instead, it feels like you want to savor every page, but at the same time want to know what happens next. Anna Anna Belfrage's eye for details is top-notch. From how they dressed to socials ethics. She's like Magdalena Ribbing for the Middle Ages.

I can't write this review without mentioning Adam and his wife Kit, who are caught in the power struggle between Edward and Mortimer. A lot of things happens to them in this book, both good and bad and some personal losses. And, I just want to say that I just loved following them as they navigated through the scheming in the court.

I will end this review by saying that I think Belfrage has outdone herself that the ending left me both happy and crushed and I seriously hope for at least one more book!

I want to thank the author for providing me with a free copy for an honest review for a blog tour! ( )

This is touted as the last in this series although Ms. Belfrage does tease at the end at the possibility of more books featuring her fictional hero, Adam de Guirande and his feisty wife Kit. I’m sure, given Edward III’s long reign and temperamental manner there is surely much to mine in the historical record.

This book is much about loyalty and relationships and well, how the rich are different.

Edward III is still too young to rule but he is starting to champ at the bit. Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer are ruling in his stead and the barons of the land are not happy with the power that Mortimer holds. Adam is the King’s man but he owes everything he is and all he has to Mortimer so as these two men start to battle for control of the country Adam finds himself in the middle of their power struggle. He lives his life as an honorable man and he is having trouble with the actions he sees from these two men.

History is not often kind to the honorable man – it seems to more remember the ruthless. It’s a good storyteller who can deliver a story that is well balanced between those two opposites. Ms. Belfrage brings the disparate worlds Adam and his family inhabits to life with her words – from the rich and decadent way that the upper classes live at court to the ordinary days spent at Tresaintes, Adam and Kit’s manor. It all comes vividly alive as you adventure along with the characters.

Not that all is good eating, easy days and lusty nights – although there are plenty of them. When you have power struggles you have factions and when you have factions you can be sure that you will have fighting and loss.

Kudos to Ms. Belfrage for another unputdownable book. There is a reason I rush to read everything she writes. ( )