Wednesday, July 31, 2013

THE GUARDIAN'S WITCH by Ruth A. Casie


Publisher: Carina Press
Date published: July 1st, 2013
ISBN: 978-14268-9577-7
Historical Paranormal Romance
E-book
Reviewed by Helen


Obtained via publisher



The seventh son, Lord Alex Stelton is well aware only his sword will provide for his future. He promises King Edward he will control the harsh triangle of land where Scotland, England and Wales meet, in return for a fine castle and land.

Lady Lisbeth Reynolds’ parents were killed, perhaps murdered, in all the troubles. Lisbeth is tortured by visions of coming trials to those she cares most about and determines to hide away from everyone she loves to protect them.

But the king has other plans and Alex and Lisbeth are caught up in his machinations as well as their own agendas.

It’s the year 1290 and relationships between England, Scotland and Wales were as unsettled as ever, partly due to the lack of a king on Scotland’s throne. The author makes good use of this history as the background for her novel. In such a full-length historical novel (71k) it is inevitable there’d be a lot of characters, but I did find myself distracted from the story at times trying to keep them all straight in my head.

I was also distracted by items which may not precisely be historical inaccuracies, but that didn’t strike me as quite right. I found I was busy trying to believe that there was a library in a very ordinary border castle back then, when all books were hand written, usually by monks, and even the wealthiest families seldom had more than a bible, a prayer book, and maybe two or three other books, instead of concentrating on the story.

And that was without misused words such as smirk. In this story everyone smirks. Look it up, people. A smirk is a cruel, nasty smile, not something a hero should ever do to his heroine, his friends, or even his brothers.

I liked all the main characters and enjoyed their stories. I liked the action, the adventure, and the setting. There are a couple of excellent scary/adventure/fight scenes. But I never really got invested in the book.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

 

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