📚Medieval #Welsh #Romance. Rosie’s #Bookreview of An Alliance with His Enemy Princess by @LissaMorganAuth @MillsandBoon @HarlequinBooks

An Alliance with His Enemy Princess by Lissa Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An Alliance with His Enemy Princess is a medieval romance set in Wales.

The story begins in 1091 with a battle; pockets of Welsh people still hold out against the Normans. Rolant Guyarde discovers a fallen Welsh foot-soldier holding his dead master’s horse; a fine horse and the spoils of battle allow Rolant to take the horse for himself. However, when he discovers that the youth is actually a woman dressed in men’s clothing, he decides to keep her secret and protect her from his men.

When Gwennan regains consciousness she discovers that she is prisoner to a Norman knight who has taken her horse and her sword. Luckily, her captor treats her like the young boy that she disguised herself as, so she plays along while hoping for a chance to escape. She discovers that Rolant and his men are carrying supplies and Gwennan knows all about their destination.

This is an enemy-to-lover story set in turbulent times. I liked Gwennan and her strong convictions to fight for her rights. While Rolant was quite a surprise and I enjoyed the sparring and mistrust between him and Gwennan. I could easily imagine the power struggles that went on and how the Normans and Welsh dealt with all the outcomes.

This is the second book that I’ve read by this author set around this interesting period of history and I would be happy to read more like it.

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Book description

A high-stakes, Medieval enemies to lovers story.

A royal decree

That will change their lives…

Norman knight Rolant Guyarde has come to conquer a Welsh fort, but when he meets its mistress, he realizes she’s the sword-wielding “soldier” he fought en route! Despite their being enemies, he finds himself intrigued by the brave, beautiful Princess Gwennan. When they’re forced into an uneasy alliance, Rolant helps her petition the king for her parents’ release from prison. But in exchange for their freedom, the king demands a price neither Rolant nor Gwennan expects!

From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.

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🕵🏻‍♀️’I could almost feel the icy lake waters’. Rosie’s #Bookreview of #Mystery The Last Party by @claremackint0sh

The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh

4 stars

The Last Party is a murder mystery set on the Welsh border.

It begins on New Year’s Day when members of the local town take to the lake waters for the annual New Year’s Day swim—but this year they find a body floating in the water. Local music celebrity Rhys Lloyd returned home to create an upmarket lakeside resort, The Shore; he’s a smalltown hero, so why would someone want him dead?

The border between England and Wales crosses the centre of the lake, and Leo from Cheshire Major Crimes works with Ffion from North Wales Police to unravel the mystery. At first it’s an awkward reunion for the duo after some anonymous New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The story dots back and forth between a New Year’s Eve party held at The Shore, and the current time investigation. Once the police start digging, it appears that Rhys had a long line of people who were unhappy with him.

The setting, although cold and bleak in the first days of January, worked well; I could almost feel the icy lake waters in my own bones as I read the story and I liked the genuine atmosphere of the Welsh town. The author built up the layers of mistrust and number of suspects which really muddied the waters for myself and the investigators.

A good start to a new crime series for DC Morgan, I shall be interested to see what her next investigation involves.

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Book description

At midnight, one of them is dead.
By morning, all of them are suspects.

It’s a party to end all parties, but not everyone is here to celebrate.

On New Year’s Eve, Rhys Lloyd has a house full of guests. His vacation homes on Mirror Lake are a success, and he’s generously invited the village to drink champagne with their wealthy new neighbors.

But by midnight, Rhys will be floating dead in the freezing waters of the lake.

On New Year’s Day, Ffion Morgan has a village full of suspects. The tiny community is her home, so the suspects are her neighbors, friends and family—and Ffion has her own secrets to protect.

With a lie uncovered at every turn, soon the question isn’t who wanted Rhys dead…but who finally killed him.

In a village with this many secrets, murder is just the beginning.

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🐉 Set in the Welsh Marches during the late 13th century. Rosie’s #Bookreview of #Histfic The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride by @LissaMorganAuth #TuesdayBookBlog

The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride by Lissa Morgan

4 stars

The Welsh Lord’s Convenient Bride is historical romance set in the Welsh Marches during the late 13^th century.

The Welsh Marches was a frontier land that straddled what we know today as the borders between England and Wales. In the middle ages it was a place of constant war and rebellion. As this story opens, Eleanor de Vraille travels to Castelle y Lleuad where she is to marry Rhun ab Owain as part of peace treaty deal. The treaty was agreed years ago between their respective fathers and now that Rhun is the Lord, he is ready to get married.

Both Rhun and the castle are, at first, hostile to Eleanor. She doesn’t speak Welsh and she is at a loss to know why Rhun dislikes her so much; she even considers returning to her English home, but there she would face a father who despises her. When a new uprising against the English king begins, Rhun will support his Welsh comrades, which forces Eleanor to choose sides.

I enjoyed Eleanor’s determination to break Rhun’s dislike of her. I haven’t read any other books in this setting and the author’s historical notes at the back were most interesting. A good debut novel.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

 

Book description

Enjoy the drama that unfolds in this medieval marriage of convenience…A wedding between enemiesA marriage to heal their scars

Hiding a disfigurement, Eleanor de Vraille is already lacking confidence when she arrives at her future husband’s cheerless Welsh castle. And Rhun ab Owain’s open disapproval of her does nothing to make her feel at ease. Their union is to seal peace between their families, nothing more. But Eleanor’s heart rebels—is she a fool to hope for any affection from this strong-willed nobleman with the dark glittering eyes?

From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.

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Book one of a new crime series set in Wales. Noelle reviews A Final Regret by @JeffreyJWarren, for Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT

Today’s team review is from Noelle. She blogs here https://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading A Final Regret by Jeff Warren

A Final Regret: A Pembrokeshire Murder Mystery is the first in a planned series featuring Sergeant Alys Carey and Detective Inspector Matt Vincent. It is set along the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast in England, which the author has described very evocatively.

The story: A sergeant in the neighborhood police force of Madoc’s Haven, Alys Carey, is reunited after many years with a childhood friend, Matt Vincent, who is now a Detective Inspector and brought in to investigate the disappearance of a young mother. The reader learns just how Rianna Hughes disappeared in a tension and action-filled prologue.

After her body is discovered, there are no shortage of suspects in the story: the husband Dylan is an immediate suspect because they are separated. She was awarded custody of their baby daughter and also the home where they lived and he is bitter. There are also the people she is blackmailing, the men with whom she had affairs or who wanted to have an affair with her, the women scorned by these men, even the local vicar. Red herrings abound.

Matt Vincent had left Madoc’s Haven after the tragic death of his girlfriend, which he witnessed. Alys Carey, while somewhat younger at the time, liked him, His return creates an awkward relationship between them, not improved by their immediate attraction to each other or by the attitude of Vincent’s embittered sergeant, Beth Francis, who harbors animosity toward Vincent since she wanted his promotion to DI.

The relationships in this book are incredibly complex, so readers have to stay on their toes, especially after another murder occurs.

I greatly enjoyed this mystery and, bouncing between suspects, I wasn’t sure until the end who the murderer was. The dialogue was spot on and smooth and the descriptions of the countryside and coast were stunning. Readers can easily place themselves in the scenes. 

The prologue adds additional tension to the unfolding investigation since the reader is made to ask: When are they going to find Rianna?

The novel is written in third person omniscient, so it shifts between scenes and characters. This approach can be confusing (and occasionally is) but it also enables the reader to be introduced to various untidy aspects of Rianna’s life.

My one complaint is that some of the female characters could not be distinguished.  They seemed to run to a common type (except for Sergeant Beth Francis, who was spiteful and headstrong) and could have used more distinguishing features. Matt Vincent, despite being a DI, seems a little less than forthcoming when it comes to dealing with the women in his life. Hopefully he will find a clear path ahead in the next book!

There is romance (but no sex) and humor but no graphic violence, so this qualifies as a true cozy. It should appeal to everyone from YA to adult readers. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

A missing mother, her baby’s father a suspect

Young single mother Rianna fails to return from her cliff-top run. Did she have an accident, or did someone want her dead?

Neighbourhood Sergeant Alys Carey and Detective Inspector Matt Vincent are thrown back together when Matt returns to Pembrokeshire and takes on the case. There’s no shortage of suspects: Rianna’s blackmail victims; the men she beguiled; the women who loved them; the father of little baby Meg.

Can Alys and Matt unravel the complex web of relationships within the local community and ensure that justice prevails? Will Matt’s embittered detective sergeant, Beth Francis, derail the investigation? And what will become of Rianna’s baby daughter, Meg?

A Final Regret is a murder mystery set on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast, with romance, humour and no graphic violence, sex or swearing.

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‘There are amusing anecdotes as well as terrifying moments.’ @LizanneLloyd reviews #CrimeFiction A Final Regret by @JeffreyJWarren

Today’s team review is from Liz. She blogs here https://lizannelloyd.wordpress.com/

Liz has been reading A Final Regret by Jeff Warren

It is always good to find a new murder mystery story which is well plotted and intriguing. Set in a beautiful part of Wales it begins with a nail-biting account of the murder. You naturally empathise with the victim, a young mother running along the clifftop to keep fit, but later we discover that her scheming nature had made her rather unpopular.

The investigation brings together one time school friends, Alys and Matt. Alys is the neighbourhood police sergeant while Matt has just transferred to the local police as a Detective Inspector. Events in the past make their relationship difficult while Matt’s detective sergeant, Beth, does her best to undermine Alys.

After another local is killed in suspicious circumstances the police are under pressure to find the killer and to stop a spate of theft of farm vehicles. Alys makes a foolish mistake but also puts herself in danger. She is keen to become a detective and to prove her abilities to Matt, while he begins to have feelings for her despite his determination to remain professional.

There are amusing anecdotes as well as terrifying moments in an entertaining story with no gratuitous violence. I am looking forward to further investigations involving Matt, Alys and Beth.

A missing mother, her baby’s father a suspect

Young single mother Rianna fails to return from her cliff-top run. Did she have an accident, or did someone want her dead?

Neighbourhood Sergeant Alys Carey and Detective Inspector Matt Vincent are thrown back together when Matt returns to Pembrokeshire and takes on the case. There’s no shortage of suspects: Rianna’s blackmail victims; the men she beguiled; the women who loved them; the father of little baby Meg.

Can Alys and Matt unravel the complex web of relationships within the local community and ensure that justice prevails? Will Matt’s embittered detective sergeant, Beth Francis, derail the investigation? And what will become of Rianna’s baby daughter, Meg?

A Final Regret is a murder mystery set on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast, with romance, humour and no graphic violence, sex or swearing.

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Rosie’s #Bookreview of Medical Fiction THE PORTER: RETRIBUTION IN LOCKDOWN by Rachel Parsonage

The Porter: Retribution in Lockdown by Rachel Parsonage

3.5 stars

The Porter: Retribution in Lockdown is a medical story and part of The Lockdown series of books.

This story is set in Wales and features Dave, a hospital porter. The first part of the book introduces us to Dave and his brother Ken and walks the reader through Dave’s tough childhood, which featured neglect and a short time in care; those early years shaped the lives of both brothers.

The second part of the book is set in current times as Dave starts a new job as a hospital porter just as the world faces the Coronavirus pandemic. It’s at his new job that Dave is reacquainted with a couple of nasty characters from his childhood; his carefully controlled fears and anxiety bubble to the surface. Now with a stable family life behind him, will Dave be able to move on from his past horrors?

The author works in the NHS and has used her knowledge of the medical industry to accurately illustrate much of the book. Writing about the pandemic keeps this story current and will no doubt be useful to readers in years to come as a reminder of how the first six months of the virus in the UK affected us all. It is an easy read, with no surprises; the prologue sets up the ending of the book which avid readers will be quick to spot. A solid debut novel.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

On the 23rd March 2020, the UK went into lockdown due to the pandemic threat of COVID-19. After experiencing back problems, Dave Williams has exchanged working as a builder for a job as a porter in a local hospital. Dave is enjoying his job. He has lived a happy life for the past thirty years with his wife and family. His childhood, however, was not so happy.
Dave suddenly finds himself confronted with the demons of his past – he and his brother Ken were in care in the eighties, subject to a system unfit for purpose. When faced with the main perpetrator of the harm caused to them, Dave, unrecognisable in his protective equipment, finds revenge easy to execute.

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Rosie’s Review-A-Book Challenge #RRABC Historical Welsh Saga THE COVENANT by @ThorneMoore @honno

Today’s review challenger is AJ Lyndon. AJ blogs here https://ajlyndon.wordpress.com/

AJ read The Covenant by Thorne Moore

This historical saga, subtitled “The Life and Death of a Righteous Woman” is set in rural Wales in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries. It is a prequel to Moore’s first novel “A Time for Silence” and follows the lives of the Owen family, tenant farmers on a small piece of land “twenty-four acres, one rood, eight perches.”

The righteous woman is Leah Owen, daughter of Thomas Owen, “Tada”, a towering and uncompromising figure of biblical proportions whose relationship with the land he farms and his rigid attitudes to life and faith, dominate his family.

Leah herself is strong, patient and loving although she hides softer feelings beneath a rigid exterior born of duty and suffering. Her siblings gradually take different means of escape, leaving her with the responsibility of the farm and their father. Her younger brother Frank’s life is tainted from childhood because he is not their beloved older brother Tom, the lost heir to Cwmderwen. Gradually Frank himself becomes a malignant figure, struggling with an unwished-for destiny and the evil influence of his friend Eli John.

The other characters, Leah’s sisters, the rising man David George and the irritating but harmless Betty, contribute to the plot, providing a contrasting perspective and occasionally intervening in major events.

Each chapter is from a different time period as we follow Leah and the Owen family from the tragic prologue, back to their childhood and then forward, a few years at a time, from the 1880s until the 1920s. From the very start, we know that Leah’s life will not be a happy one. How the tragedy unfolds is gradually revealed as one after another the people she loves, those who might offer her support and save her, vanish from her sphere through fate, bad choices or the awful pressures of life on the Owen land.

If the prologue promises personal tragedy, it is Tom’s death aged 16 which seals it, shaping much of the ensuing succession of disappointments and disasters. My one criticism is that although we are told repeatedly that Tom’s early death changes his father’s character, the brief glimpses of Eden before the fall are insufficient to highlight the subsequent transformation.

The plot could not exist without the landscape, the harsh depiction of the Pembrokeshire countryside and claustrophobic village life reminiscent of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex. But, undoubtedly, we are in Wales not England, surrounded by the grim “chapel” culture without the male voice choirs. A light sprinkling of Welsh phrases reinforces the place and the time.

Sometimes the next chapter in the unfolding cataclysm is clearly foreshadowed so that I was mouthing “No, don’t do it”. Alas, my warnings did not prevent a single murder, accident or drowning.

This is a well-constructed novel, beautiful but painful and raw, filled with the inevitability of an inescapable fate. If you enjoy books like Tess of the d’Urbervilles or Anna Karenina, you will love The Covenant.

The Owens are tied to this Pembrokeshire land – no-one will part them from it.

Leah is tied to home and hearth by debts of love and duty – duty to her father, turned religious zealot after the tragic death of his eldest son, Tom; love for her wastrel younger brother Frank’s two motherless children. One of them will escape, the other will be doomed to follow in their grandfather’s footsteps.

At the close of the 19th century, Cwmderwen’stwenty-four acres, one rood and eight perches are hardwon, the holding run down over the years by debt and poor harvest. But they are all the Owens have and their rent is always paid on time. With Tom’s death a crack is opened up and into this chink in the fabric of the family step Jacob John and his wayward son Eli, always on the lookout for an opportunity.

Saving her family, good and bad, saving Cwmderwen, will change Leah forever and steal her dreams, perhaps even her life…

The Covenant is the shocking prequel to the bestselling A Time For Silence.

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Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT #Historical Saga Set In Wales THE COVENANT by @ThorneMoore @honno

Today’s team review is from Alison, she blogs here https://alisonwilliamswriting.wordpress.com/

Alison has been reading The Covenant by Thorne Moore

What a fabulous book! The way women were expected to live in the not all that distant past has always fascinated me, and I love stories about those who endeavour to live their best lives in the face of so much misogyny and poverty.

The location appealed to me too as the novel is set close to where I live – the villages of Cilgerran and Boncath are both ten minutes away so it was very easy for me to imagine Leah’s world.

The author depicts this world so clearly, with beautiful, evocative description that doesn’t weigh the narrative down. There’s such a strong sense of time and place and a real authenticity throughout.

The novel shows how precarious life was for tenanted farmers; an accident, an illness, and everything could be lost. And no matter how strong, how intelligent, how capable, if you were a woman, your life was defined by duty – to your father, to your husband, your brother, the church.

Despite this, Leah is so full of life – she’s an absolute pleasure to read. She’s strong, she’s intelligent, she’s resourceful and determined, but she also dreams and laughs and loves. You’re willing her to find the life and the happiness she so deserves.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and it definitely won’t be the last.

Highly recommended.

Five stars.

The Owens are tied to this Pembrokeshire land – no-one will part them from it.

Leah is tied to home and hearth by debts of love and duty – duty to her father, turned religious zealot after the tragic death of his eldest son, Tom; love for her wastrel younger brother Frank’s two motherless children. One of them will escape, the other will be doomed to follow in their grandfather’s footsteps.

At the close of the 19th century, Cwmderwen’stwenty-four acres, one rood and eight perches are hardwon, the holding run down over the years by debt and poor harvest. But they are all the Owens have and their rent is always paid on time. With Tom’s death a crack is opened up and into this chink in the fabric of the family step Jacob John and his wayward son Eli, always on the lookout for an opportunity.

Saving her family, good and bad, saving Cwmderwen, will change Leah forever and steal her dreams, perhaps even her life…

The Covenant is the shocking prequel to the bestselling A Time For Silence.

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Rosie’s #Bookreview Team #RBRT #Historical Family Saga THE COVENANT by @ThorneMoore @honno

Today’s team review is from Georgia, she blogs here https://www.georgiarosebooks.com

Georgia has been reading The Covenant by Thorne Moore.

The Owen family are bound by covenant to hold a tenancy of 24 acres, 1 rood and 8 perches and Leah sacrifices years doing her duty to her family and a God, she eventually no longer believes in, to keep the land. The story of her life is a hard one with blow after blow being dealt as she is gradually worn down while, with a stoicism that’s hard to imagine, she has to watch another living the life she should have had.

What is clear throughout this book is the vast amount of research Moore must have done in order to settle this story so comfortably in its surroundings. I was completely absorbed by the setting and the characters that inhabited it.

Every character is wonderful but I thought Leah was exceptional and Moore’s portrayal of her extremely well done. What else can I say… the writing is superb, I did not want to put this book down and I urge anyone reading this to buy it now and start reading. I will definitely be enjoying A Time for Silence soon.

The Owens are tied to this Pembrokeshire land – no-one will part them from it.

Leah is tied to home and hearth by debts of love and duty – duty to her father, turned religious zealot after the tragic death of his eldest son, Tom; love for her wastrel younger brother Frank’s two motherless children. One of them will escape, the other will be doomed to follow in their grandfather’s footsteps.

At the close of the 19th century, Cwmderwen’stwenty-four acres, one rood and eight perches are hardwon, the holding run down over the years by debt and poor harvest. But they are all the Owens have and their rent is always paid on time. With Tom’s death a crack is opened up and into this chink in the fabric of the family step Jacob John and his wayward son Eli, always on the lookout for an opportunity.

Saving her family, good and bad, saving Cwmderwen, will change Leah forever and steal her dreams, perhaps even her life…

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Rosie’s #BookReview Team #RBRT Family Saga Set In Wales, THE COVENANT by @ThorneMoore @honno

Today’s team review is from Terry, she blogs here https://terrytylerbookreviews.blogspot.co.uk/

Terry has been reading The Covenant by Thorne Moore

5 out of 5 stars

This doom-laden tale about the Owen family and their land begins with a mystery: the discovery of a body, declared to be that that of Leah Owen, who happens to be the main character of the novel—but this is in no way a spoiler.  If anything, it provided added intrigue to the story, which then goes back in time to Leah’s childhood.  Much later, the why and how of the initial chapter comes as a total surprise.

Life on Cwmderwen is hard, with strict adherence to the word of God—and that of Thomas Owen, head of the family, who becomes a religious zealot to the point of insanity after the death of his eldest son.  Leah’s entire life is ruled by duty to family and farm, and the restrictions of religion.  Her bright childhood spirit is quelled by bereavement and loss of love—happiness is snatched from her at every turn.  Aside from the day to day problems (scratching a living, troublesome rellies and a wrathful killjoy of a god), Leah also has to contend with the malignant presence of slimy businessman Eli John, who has unwelcome influence over their lives.

I was completely absorbed in this book all the way through; it’s so well-written, every character clearly defined, every piece of research unobtrusive (and it is clear that the author knows her subject so well), every dark, dismal day in the Welsh valleys so real.  Although it is most definitely worth 5* for the quality of the writing and the story itself, I was initially going to take off a half star because of personal taste; I found this book more depressing than any novel of stark dystopian futures, simply because of the lives wasted and made unhappy because of the barmy religious and social protocols of the day.  But the end was uplifting indeed, enough to make me revise that; Thorne Moore, you have earned that extra half star!

If you love nitty-gritty, no-frills family sagas set in relatively recent times, you will ADORE this.  Even if they’re not quite your thing, you’ll still love it.  I did.  I read at the end that it’s actually a prequel to A Time For Silence, which I have just bought.  There—that proves I loved it!

The Owens are tied to this Pembrokeshire land – no-one will part them from it.

Leah is tied to home and hearth by debts of love and duty – duty to her father, turned religious zealot after the tragic death of his eldest son, Tom; love for her wastrel younger brother Frank’s two motherless children. One of them will escape, the other will be doomed to follow in their grandfather’s footsteps.

At the close of the 19th century, Cwmderwen’stwenty-four acres, one rood and eight perches are hardwon, the holding run down over the years by debt and poor harvest. But they are all the Owens have and their rent is always paid on time. With Tom’s death a crack is opened up and into this chink in the fabric of the family step Jacob John and his wayward son Eli, always on the lookout for an opportunity.

Saving her family, good and bad, saving Cwmderwen, will change Leah forever and steal her dreams, perhaps even her life…

AmazonUK | AmazonUS