Date published: December 2008
ISBN :978-0-425-22491-5
Fantasy Romance
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Sarah
Fair and noble General Merin had no idea what was in store for him when the emperor ordered him back to the Turi Village to escort the fearless Turi princess, Belavalari back in order to be considered for the position of empress. Uncertain that Bela’s village would receive a stranger kindly, He pledged to go himself and escort the Princess back. Their encounter years previous had been fiery as fearless Bela had seduced him and left him sleeping.
To gain her freedom as a warrior, so that she could be left to live her life free of the dictates that other women were forced to follow, she had drugged General Merin, and, unbeknownst to him, married him, then seduced him. Poor Bela thought she was fighting for her freedom when it turns out she was fighting for love.
When Merin returns to the village and learns that he was married to Bela, he resolves to undo this false marriage and deliver Bela to the emperor. In order to do so, he must spend 22 days and 22 nights bound to her side.
I greatly enjoyed reading 22 Nights, because it is a genuine romance novel with bits of enchantment woven throughout. It didn’t have to include the fantasy, and would still have been a wonderful story, but it does have magic, and that adds some charm to those of us who are attracted to such things.
The characters have flaws and personalities and seem so alive. The relationship between Merin and Bela is rocky and uncertain, but grows into a friendship and partnership.
As a young, beautiful, tomboy, Bela made some bad decisions out of ignorance, and that’s something we as people can relate to. She does a lot of emotional growing throughout the book, though, and becomes a wonderful woman at the hands of the author.
Merin, as a man, is an excellent example of what it means to be male. He doesn’t do anything rash or react in any overly dramatic way, but takes each situation and tries to find the best way out of it. I fell in love with his temperate attitude and good looks.
The storyline is fantastical. It’s supposed to be, and it flows along beautifully. Intermittently, a different story is told, and sometimes that gets tedious. I almost wish the author had left out the other story, but I imagine it will be of greater importance to the over-all storyline. I’m only sorry I haven’t read book one first. Even though I hadn’t, the story is complete and well told, with no extraneous characters and no tedium. As a matter of fact, the author really plotted her time frames with care, and set up the intrigues with finesse. The cultural parts are superficial, but, what it lacks in backdrop attention is more than made up for by our hero and heroine.
Did I mention the romance is wonderful?
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