In the novel, war has come to the medieval Rhynan. The king is dead and apparently, so are all the men from the village of Lady Brielle Solarius. She and all the women from her village have been given to a conquering army as a part of a cease-fire agreement. As a noblewoman, Lady Brielle is given to Lord Irvaine, a newly-titled earl.
Lord Irvaine has been given the daunting task of ruling Rhynan, which is complicated enough politically without the stress of inadequate provisions and the more personal pressure of getting to know his new wife. The current provisions won't last through the winter, and the perceived success or failure of Irvaine's marriage will have significant political ramifications. And this is only one part of the drama.
Overall, I enjoyed the novel, but it took me significant determination to get through it. In the beginning, there were a lot of names used without enough description of who or what they were in relation to everything else. Getting past that issue to understand the story was challenging. At a certain point I had to make up my own explanations so I could continue reading, and in the end, there seemed to be a lot of sub-plot lines that fizzled out instead of coming to fruition.
The romance was nicely done, making the novel okay for teens, and when declarations of love are made, they are fairly credible considering the circumstances.
This novel really needs another revision with an eye to clarify and simplify the plotlines. I would recommend a revised version to all readers who love medieval dramas.
**Review originally written for The Romance Reviews at
http://www.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=14807
