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jscarpa14's review against another edition
2.0
*** NOTE MY REVIEWS OFTEN CONTAIN SPOILERS ***
Usually with a Mary Jo Putney novel I can't put it down. It's one of those books that you think you're going to read a few chapters of before bed and then it's morning and it's time to get up and the couple chapters had turned into the whole novel. Unfortunately with this book that was not the case.
If I was religious it probably wouldn't have been that bad for me, but since I'm not it felt like I was kind of reading a warped version of the bible. However her portrayal of the Adrian, the male lead in this novel, proves my persistent opinion that many upstanding members of the church are some of the most hypocritical there are and many devout religious church goers seem to think they can behave however they want and all will be forgiven. While it reinforces my jaded opinion of religion I doubt it will go over well with those who are devoutly religious.
Adrian was one the youngest son of a baron who was taking his vows in the monastery when his family was massacred by a neighboring baron seeking control of the same land. Now the air to the barony he forgoes taking his final vows to take up his father sword and avenge the deaths of his family.
Meriel is the youngest daughter of a poor Norman Baron and is initially living in a convent studying to become a nun, when the day approaches for her to take her vows she realizes she can't do it. She can't lock herself away in the convent for the rest of her life.
The years pass and Adrian becomes one of the most powerful barons in England, fighting for the Empress Matilda in the great civil war, he is granted the Earldom of Shropshire and permission to hunt in the Royal Forest. Meriel is taken in by her youngest brother who is enfeoffed by Lord Theobald, a baron fighting for King Stephen in the great civil war. She is the Mistress of Avonleigh as her brother is an unmarried knight. Still yearning for Freedom she goes alone with her hawk hunting and is befallen by the worst sort of bad luck. First the hawk flies off into the Royal Forrest where she doesn't have permission to hunt. Then she and her horse are attacked by a boar where she is thrown and the horse escaped, then covered in mud she is surrounded by armed men, including the Earl of Shropshire fighting got the opposite side of the war. Worried about endangering her people she lies to the earl about her identity and is taken prisoner when she is thought to be a peasant girl on royal land with a hawk she doesn't that the station to own.
The ultra religious Earl has an obsession with the girl and is unwilling to set her free though her crimes are minor and he can't really prove she did anything wrong. He offers her a position as his mistress and when she refuses he continues to keep her captive. He tries every method possible to win her and then in desperation almost rapes her. His way of trying to make it right is to then propose to her. When he refuses to set her free and her only options seem to be death or rape Meriel attempts suicide by jumping out a window. The Earl desperate to save her jumps in behind her.
Though she shouldn't have lived she does survive, but has amnesia. It is during this time that the Earl convinces her to fall in love with him and marries her. He neglects to tell her what happened before she woke up. During a tempest she's almost struck by lightning and in the fall regains her memory of everything except the months during which she married. When she tries again to escape she is captured by a rival baron, almost raped again and the heroic male lead save her and murders the man who massacred his family.
I'm all about character growth but I can't get over the fact that I'm somehow supposed to like and feel for a man who tried to rape the girl. Whether he stopped himself eventually or not, he ripped her clothes, and caged her torturing her like an animal and this sis supposed to be the good guy. Add to this the man refuses to allow Jews to settle on his land until after they tried to help his wife. It's like I owe you one so I'll let you stay but if you hadn't done for me I'm not going to let you live here because you don't believe the same thing as me.
What was really creepy to me is that they were quoting bible verses during sex. That just seems somehow wrong. And of course at the end they somehow end up happy and together the captive and the captor who tortured her.
The book has some exciting scenes and a lot of historical information about at time period that isn't often covered well in historical romance, but it's lacking a lot everywhere else.
Usually with a Mary Jo Putney novel I can't put it down. It's one of those books that you think you're going to read a few chapters of before bed and then it's morning and it's time to get up and the couple chapters had turned into the whole novel. Unfortunately with this book that was not the case.
If I was religious it probably wouldn't have been that bad for me, but since I'm not it felt like I was kind of reading a warped version of the bible. However her portrayal of the Adrian, the male lead in this novel, proves my persistent opinion that many upstanding members of the church are some of the most hypocritical there are and many devout religious church goers seem to think they can behave however they want and all will be forgiven. While it reinforces my jaded opinion of religion I doubt it will go over well with those who are devoutly religious.
Adrian was one the youngest son of a baron who was taking his vows in the monastery when his family was massacred by a neighboring baron seeking control of the same land. Now the air to the barony he forgoes taking his final vows to take up his father sword and avenge the deaths of his family.
Meriel is the youngest daughter of a poor Norman Baron and is initially living in a convent studying to become a nun, when the day approaches for her to take her vows she realizes she can't do it. She can't lock herself away in the convent for the rest of her life.
The years pass and Adrian becomes one of the most powerful barons in England, fighting for the Empress Matilda in the great civil war, he is granted the Earldom of Shropshire and permission to hunt in the Royal Forest. Meriel is taken in by her youngest brother who is enfeoffed by Lord Theobald, a baron fighting for King Stephen in the great civil war. She is the Mistress of Avonleigh as her brother is an unmarried knight. Still yearning for Freedom she goes alone with her hawk hunting and is befallen by the worst sort of bad luck. First the hawk flies off into the Royal Forrest where she doesn't have permission to hunt. Then she and her horse are attacked by a boar where she is thrown and the horse escaped, then covered in mud she is surrounded by armed men, including the Earl of Shropshire fighting got the opposite side of the war. Worried about endangering her people she lies to the earl about her identity and is taken prisoner when she is thought to be a peasant girl on royal land with a hawk she doesn't that the station to own.
The ultra religious Earl has an obsession with the girl and is unwilling to set her free though her crimes are minor and he can't really prove she did anything wrong. He offers her a position as his mistress and when she refuses he continues to keep her captive. He tries every method possible to win her and then in desperation almost rapes her. His way of trying to make it right is to then propose to her. When he refuses to set her free and her only options seem to be death or rape Meriel attempts suicide by jumping out a window. The Earl desperate to save her jumps in behind her.
Though she shouldn't have lived she does survive, but has amnesia. It is during this time that the Earl convinces her to fall in love with him and marries her. He neglects to tell her what happened before she woke up. During a tempest she's almost struck by lightning and in the fall regains her memory of everything except the months during which she married. When she tries again to escape she is captured by a rival baron, almost raped again and the heroic male lead save her and murders the man who massacred his family.
I'm all about character growth but I can't get over the fact that I'm somehow supposed to like and feel for a man who tried to rape the girl. Whether he stopped himself eventually or not, he ripped her clothes, and caged her torturing her like an animal and this sis supposed to be the good guy. Add to this the man refuses to allow Jews to settle on his land until after they tried to help his wife. It's like I owe you one so I'll let you stay but if you hadn't done for me I'm not going to let you live here because you don't believe the same thing as me.
What was really creepy to me is that they were quoting bible verses during sex. That just seems somehow wrong. And of course at the end they somehow end up happy and together the captive and the captor who tortured her.
The book has some exciting scenes and a lot of historical information about at time period that isn't often covered well in historical romance, but it's lacking a lot everywhere else.
bookhaulin's review against another edition
1.0
I can't abide by the events portrayed in the book. The hero locks the heroine in a tower, and when he refuses to let her go (and at one point nearly rapes her), she chooses death and literally jumps out of a window.
Horrific, right?
Yeah, she miraculously survives, and then gets amnesia. The hero chooses to use this opportunity to lie to her.
Irredeemable hero. Irredeemable acts. Could not condone even as a guilty pleasure a la "dark romances", because this isn't written/advertised in that niche. We're just supposed to accept that the hero's actions are redeemable because of love?
Horrific, right?
Yeah, she miraculously survives, and then gets amnesia. The hero chooses to use this opportunity to lie to her.
Irredeemable hero. Irredeemable acts. Could not condone even as a guilty pleasure a la "dark romances", because this isn't written/advertised in that niche. We're just supposed to accept that the hero's actions are redeemable because of love?
shms's review against another edition
3.0
Given the rave reviews I expected to be swept up and absorbed into the telling of this romance yet while I was appreciative of the writing I was also emotionally divorced from it. Something was off and I don't necessarily blame the book. It might have just been the mood or something.
What I did connect with is the strong thread of faith that runs through this. I think I may yet come back and reread it sometime in the future.
What I did connect with is the strong thread of faith that runs through this. I think I may yet come back and reread it sometime in the future.
shmsy's review against another edition
3.0
Given the rave reviews I expected to be swept up and absorbed into the telling of this romance yet while I was appreciative of the writing I was also emotionally divorced from it. Something was off and I don't necessarily blame the book. It might have just been the mood or something.
What I did connect with is the strong thread of faith that runs through this. I think I may yet come back and reread it sometime in the future.
What I did connect with is the strong thread of faith that runs through this. I think I may yet come back and reread it sometime in the future.
gonturans's review
2.0
This is the first medieval romance I’ve read where both the hero and heroine considered taking vows early on in their lives and that choice actively influences their medieval view of the world.
However this does mean the text engages with anti-semitism and it was pretty jarring for the hero to be like “well, I don’t believe in blood libel, but I also don’t think a Jewish family should live in a town where we also have people who haven’t converted to Christianity yet because they could be lured to convert to Judaism” (spoiler: the merchant and his family help the heroine and are also captured by the villain. The hero is like, now I can allow Jews to live in the town I am Earl of because I see they are good people. It’s weird but I guess appropriate for a guy who was about to take vows when he was pulled out of the monastery. Still odd to read in the context of 2022!). The villain is so anti-Semitic that I assume the hero is supposed to look simply religiously principled in comparison. I don’t have anything to say on this other than idk how to really feel about it but I needed to add this to a review because I haven’t seen it in any others so far.
I read this because it was recommended as a morally grey hero (a trope I am not adverse to) and I’d agree– he decides the best way to make the heroine love him is to abandon her for a week before coming to see her so she’s idk desperate for anything, culminating with him almost raping her because she keeps being like “wtf I’m not becoming your mistress??? please let me go (so I can return to running my brother’s estate which you do not know about)” and her literally jumping out a window to escape his offer of marriage (after the hero realizes he’s being a flaming asshole and can get this mysterious hot girl to sleep with him by binding her with MARRIAGE VOWS).
THEN STARTS THE UNEXPECTED AMNESIA PLOT. I usually hate an amnesia plot and this one did not convince me otherwise because it makes it easy for the hero to convince the heroine to fall in love with him the “right” way instead of the “locked in a guest room alone for a week and almost raped when you continually refuse to become my mistress”. I can love a shitty man, really! But this was not a progression of events that worked for me. Adrian is such a hypocrite given his supposed piety and this is blamed on having a bit of his warrior grandfather’s nature, which also makes him an incredible soldier and leader of men. It just doesn’t work when he goes from a controlling, almost rapist asshole to oh no I’m awful I can’t believe I never thought about how coercing a woman who hates me into sleeping with me until she THREW HERSELF OUT A GLASS WINDOW INTO A RIVERRRRR actually would make her never want to marry me!
But I guess it’s okay because the heroine “wakes up” from her amnesia, does not remember that she fell in love with the hero and is MARRIED TO HIM, and then gets parts of the TWOOOOO MONTHS she was a totally different person back while rotting in the villain’s dungeon. It is amazing to think this is the same author who wrote one of the most emotionally devastating romances I’ve ever read. The thing is, the writing itself is competent, but the content of that writing did not endear me hence the two star rating.
This is a prequel for a regency(?) era trilogy that includes a book with a ludicrously racist plot. What in hell was going on in romance in the 90s (I know the answer to this and I wish it hadn’t)
However this does mean the text engages with anti-semitism and it was pretty jarring for the hero to be like “well, I don’t believe in blood libel, but I also don’t think a Jewish family should live in a town where we also have people who haven’t converted to Christianity yet because they could be lured to convert to Judaism” (spoiler: the merchant and his family help the heroine and are also captured by the villain. The hero is like, now I can allow Jews to live in the town I am Earl of because I see they are good people. It’s weird but I guess appropriate for a guy who was about to take vows when he was pulled out of the monastery. Still odd to read in the context of 2022!). The villain is so anti-Semitic that I assume the hero is supposed to look simply religiously principled in comparison. I don’t have anything to say on this other than idk how to really feel about it but I needed to add this to a review because I haven’t seen it in any others so far.
I read this because it was recommended as a morally grey hero (a trope I am not adverse to) and I’d agree– he decides the best way to make the heroine love him is to abandon her for a week before coming to see her so she’s idk desperate for anything, culminating with him almost raping her because she keeps being like “wtf I’m not becoming your mistress??? please let me go (so I can return to running my brother’s estate which you do not know about)” and her literally jumping out a window to escape his offer of marriage (after the hero realizes he’s being a flaming asshole and can get this mysterious hot girl to sleep with him by binding her with MARRIAGE VOWS).
THEN STARTS THE UNEXPECTED AMNESIA PLOT. I usually hate an amnesia plot and this one did not convince me otherwise because it makes it easy for the hero to convince the heroine to fall in love with him the “right” way instead of the “locked in a guest room alone for a week and almost raped when you continually refuse to become my mistress”. I can love a shitty man, really! But this was not a progression of events that worked for me. Adrian is such a hypocrite given his supposed piety and this is blamed on having a bit of his warrior grandfather’s nature, which also makes him an incredible soldier and leader of men. It just doesn’t work when he goes from a controlling, almost rapist asshole to oh no I’m awful I can’t believe I never thought about how coercing a woman who hates me into sleeping with me until she THREW HERSELF OUT A GLASS WINDOW INTO A RIVERRRRR actually would make her never want to marry me!
But I guess it’s okay because the heroine “wakes up” from her amnesia, does not remember that she fell in love with the hero and is MARRIED TO HIM, and then gets parts of the TWOOOOO MONTHS she was a totally different person back while rotting in the villain’s dungeon. It is amazing to think this is the same author who wrote one of the most emotionally devastating romances I’ve ever read. The thing is, the writing itself is competent, but the content of that writing did not endear me hence the two star rating.
This is a prequel for a regency(?) era trilogy that includes a book with a ludicrously racist plot. What in hell was going on in romance in the 90s (I know the answer to this and I wish it hadn’t)
showmethemonet's review
2.0
Wow, Mary Jo what mind-altering substance were you on when you dreamed up this nightmare of a plot -- and how on earth did you decide, "You know what? This would make a GREAT romance novel."
...
%#*!
$@¿&>, Mary Jo!
This is like horror movie level **** right here!
Meet Lord Adrian:
HiiiiIIIiii! My name is Adrian! I almost became a monk! You smell nice. I think I shall keep you...
So...let me preface that there is nothing that I enjoy more in romance novels than a fat slice of near death angst.
This book ruins this trope like a fat kid stretching out your hammock by ...so no matter how much angst the hero feels about the heroine's injuries... Adrian is still the ultimate, irredeemable creeper.
The book reads like a love letter to the ways of a sociopath (offered below for you in shorthand:)
H: I locked you away-but it's okay BECAUSE I WANT TO BONE YOU.
h: We ...seriously just met. Can you please let me--
H: I SAID I WANT TO BONE YOU.
h: I gathered that but you've been freaking me out for days on end and keep violating my physical boun--
H: LET US BONE.
h: I'm kind of a free spirit and I'm borderline hysterical from the way you keep--
H: MARRY ME THO SO WE MIGHT BONE.
h: ::mutters:: You're never going to stop are you?
Anyway - thanks for making my favorite trope nauseating AF, Mary Jo! 🤢 Imma just leave this right here to warn others...
...
%#*!
$@¿&>, Mary Jo!
This is like horror movie level **** right here!
Meet Lord Adrian:
HiiiiIIIiii! My name is Adrian! I almost became a monk! You smell nice. I think I shall keep you...
So...let me preface that there is nothing that I enjoy more in romance novels than a fat slice of near death angst.
This book ruins this trope like a fat kid stretching out your hammock by
Spoiler
instead of having the heroine getting hurt after a loving relationship has been established --- having the heroine try and kill herself epically in a justifiable fit of maidenly hysteria in order to escape the escalatingly obsessive, unwanted sexual pursuit by the hero to become his mistress after being imprisoned at his home for weeks.The book reads like a love letter to the ways of a sociopath (offered below for you in shorthand:)
H: I locked you away-but it's okay BECAUSE I WANT TO BONE YOU.
h: We ...seriously just met. Can you please let me--
H: I SAID I WANT TO BONE YOU.
h: I gathered that but you've been freaking me out for days on end and keep violating my physical boun--
H: LET US BONE.
h: I'm kind of a free spirit and I'm borderline hysterical from the way you keep--
H: MARRY ME THO SO WE MIGHT BONE.
h: ::mutters:: You're never going to stop are you?
Spoiler
... Like the martyrs of old!Anyway - thanks for making my favorite trope nauseating AF, Mary Jo! 🤢 Imma just leave this right here to warn others...
una_macchia's review
5.0
Wow, I loved this book. Very emotionally intense and a great atmosphere. I'm really interested in medieval history and Putney did a great job of capturing the setting and creating characters who fit into that period realistically, particularly in incorporating their religious views. There's a memory loss plot that might strain credibility, but it worked for me because it fit in with the sort of mysticism that I associate with medieval stories.
bella1109's review
5.0
Well, what a story! The book totally sucked me in from the 1st page. Ms. Putney rarely disappoints. I find this to be one of her best works.
The story was extremely well written and historically detailed. I wouldn't know how accurate it is. It was a nice change to read that it was the hero, instead of the heroine who fell in love (and hard!) for the heroine first.
I absolutely adore Adrian. He was a bit of a villain in the beginning as he wanted to force Meriel to become his mistress by imprisoning her (and almost raping her!). However, he just couldn't let her go. He felt that they were fated to be together. Unfortunately, Meriel didn't feel the same way and this is the reason I couldn't give the book a solid 5 star. I have to deduct 0.5 star because I couldn't understand why Meriel kept rejecting Adrian. Adrian was described as being good looking and a just and kind lord. She even hurled herself out of the window when Adrian offered marriage. Of course, this was after he almost raped her, but I still think she went overboard with her reactions. It could be because she was convent bred? It was just so dramatic. After the fall and Meriel suffered from amnesia, her attitude towards Adrian totally changed (360 degrees!). She welcomed his attentions. And after they got married and she regained her memories (and forgotten all about the 2 months that they were married), she refused him again. She kinda gave Adrian a whiplash with her reactions. I totally pity the guy. Adrian just couldn't help himself when it comes to Meriel. He realised that he needed to let her go if he really loved her.
Despite these points, it was a lovely read. It was full of angst and I feel that Adrian was the reason the book was so good. 4.5 stars from me.
The story was extremely well written and historically detailed. I wouldn't know how accurate it is. It was a nice change to read that it was the hero, instead of the heroine who fell in love (and hard!) for the heroine first.
I absolutely adore Adrian. He was a bit of a villain in the beginning as he wanted to force Meriel to become his mistress by imprisoning her (and almost raping her!). However, he just couldn't let her go. He felt that they were fated to be together. Unfortunately, Meriel didn't feel the same way and this is the reason I couldn't give the book a solid 5 star. I have to deduct 0.5 star because I couldn't understand why Meriel kept rejecting Adrian. Adrian was described as being good looking and a just and kind lord. She even hurled herself out of the window when Adrian offered marriage. Of course, this was after he almost raped her, but I still think she went overboard with her reactions. It could be because she was convent bred? It was just so dramatic. After the fall and Meriel suffered from amnesia, her attitude towards Adrian totally changed (360 degrees!). She welcomed his attentions. And after they got married and she regained her memories (and forgotten all about the 2 months that they were married), she refused him again. She kinda gave Adrian a whiplash with her reactions. I totally pity the guy. Adrian just couldn't help himself when it comes to Meriel. He realised that he needed to let her go if he really loved her.
Despite these points, it was a lovely read. It was full of angst and I feel that Adrian was the reason the book was so good. 4.5 stars from me.
chels_ebooks's review
I got about 1/3 of the way through before some pretty blatant antisemitism stopped me. I was caught off-guard.
rebecca_3's review
4.0
A version of this review also appears at: A Match Made in Heaven
This was a unique and captivating romance. Adrian, a dark hero who daily struggles against his darker nature, and only just defeats it through the devout worship of god and constant prayer. But his darker nature wins out when he sees the beautiful and free Miriel who he cant resist. He attempts to cage and control her and make her his. It takes a long time but eventually he learns the error of his ways, and Miriel eventually learns that there is more than one side to her captor and would-be lover.
This book had me conflicted over my feelings for Adrian. He was so tormented and tried so hard to be good that I felt bad for him. But at other times he was so bad it was hard to accept him as a love interest for Miriel. It was a wonderful storm of emotions that I enjoyed immensely. I was as torn and confused as Miriel. This book was not full of warm fuzzies and I loved it for that. But it still had an HEA. That is a must for me no matter what kind of book I am reading.
This was a unique and captivating romance. Adrian, a dark hero who daily struggles against his darker nature, and only just defeats it through the devout worship of god and constant prayer. But his darker nature wins out when he sees the beautiful and free Miriel who he cant resist. He attempts to cage and control her and make her his. It takes a long time but eventually he learns the error of his ways, and Miriel eventually learns that there is more than one side to her captor and would-be lover.
This book had me conflicted over my feelings for Adrian. He was so tormented and tried so hard to be good that I felt bad for him. But at other times he was so bad it was hard to accept him as a love interest for Miriel. It was a wonderful storm of emotions that I enjoyed immensely. I was as torn and confused as Miriel. This book was not full of warm fuzzies and I loved it for that. But it still had an HEA. That is a must for me no matter what kind of book I am reading.