Gabriella Redclift has spent most of her childhood in a convent. When her betrothed sends for her, she bravely sets forth, only to be kidnapped by a young man in search of revenge. Morgan Chalstrey soon finds himself caring for his captive, when he should be concentrating on avenging his childhood sweetheart.
Set in England in 1369, this book begins and ends well, but the middle leaves much to be desired. The heroine repeatedly does stupid things, the hero and heroine don't communicate and the entire book is rife with anachronisms.
However, the writing is good and the hero far more appealing than his true love. Morgan is not a stereotype and learns a lot as a result of his conflict with the villain. The secondary characters are also quite appealing, especially Dame Johanna.
Fans of historical romance fiction who can get past Gabriella's foolish, headstrong antics, and don't mind too much about historical accuracy, might want to add this book to their TBR list, if only for Morgan's major scene near the end. It saved the book for me.
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This review first appeared in the December 2001 issue of The Historical Novels Review.
© Teresa Eckford, 2002
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