This was a pleasant enough historical romance, set at the time of the Norman Conquest.

The author clearly knew a lot about Anglo-Saxon history, and managed to convey many interesting details without obviously 'info dumping'. Some Anglo-Saxon words were used; although these were largely translated in the text, I would have appreciated a pronunciation guide at the beginning or end of the book.

I did have to suspend my disbelief quite a bit, especially at the beginning of the book when the heroine just seems to be treated a bit too nicely (although I was glad - I don't like reading rape scenes). The hero's relationship with King William also seemed unbelievable, but hey it's fiction.

There weren't too many surprises here and the plot was mostly predictable as with many romances, but it was an easy diversion on my daily commute.

Note: I received this book free (no strings attached) from the publisher, Endeavour Press, as part of their online Historical Festival ( )

I read this a few months ago and forgot to review it. I won't go into detail but I will say I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a kindle freebie so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The novel is like a toss up between a Melanie Dickerson novel and Tristan and Isolde. It felt like Jane Eyre too. So for that, it wasn't surprising that I liked it.

I found the second half of the novel a little taxing, when the two main characters finally weren't at each others throats and start to get along, only for another enemy to make them join forces. It's a pretty predictable story line, made more predictable by the doom that prevents them from doing what they have both been dying to do (but too shy to admit). Any guesses what I'm talking about? Well: SEX.

I'm not expecting there to be a raunchy scene, but it was so blatant that this author was trying to prevent these two from consummating their very long marriage without actually even doing anything remotely intimate, even when they had chance to. To prevent it in the beginning, the author made them hate each other, and then eventually realize their feelings only to put their possible death sentence in the way so they had no time to be with each other. Maybe I'm reading too much into it but it felt very rehearsed. I'm not someone who demands to have sex in a novel, I just don't like it when authors hold it off because of this whole thing about sex before marriage being frowned upon. And yet, these guys are married. So I don't know what the author was waiting for. Maybe she just wanted to keep it sweet. I don't know. It just felt like it was stretched.

The characters were good. Not amazing. Not terrible. The story line was predictable, average and had me rolling my eyes at moments. The writing was decent. I found little fault with it. The scenery and the concept of the Normans and Anglo Saxons struggling to co-exist was different for me, and I really enjoyed it. It was a bit like North and South by Gaskell.

Overall, not a bad read. Not amazing. And I hate saying that about a novel I know someone has slaved over for hours on end, but that's just my opinion. Sue me. ( )