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booksuperpower's review
4.0
Glory by Heather Graham is part of the Old Florida series. This book was originally published in 1993 I believe. Open Road Media has re-released this book as well as others in this series, in e book format.
Set in Florida in the Civil War era, Rhiannon, a war widow and rumored witch finds her home invaded by rebel soldiers. Julian McKenzie needs a place to shelter a wounded comrade. Not knowing if this home was abandoned or not, he still had to rest for a while. When he encounters the beautiful Rhiannon, he is indeed bewitched.
But, the ravages of war and the death of her husband, Richard, has Rhiannon sampling her own medicines too often, mainly opium. Julian recognizes it right away. He knows she has become addicted and wishes to prevent her from continuing on that way. But, Rhiannon isn't fooled by Julian's lies about being Union soldiers. She guessed right away they were rebels and she intends to turn them in.
But, in a drug addled state, Rhiannon, dreaming of her husband Richard, shares a night with Julian. She is unsure it really happened though because of her drug use.
When Julian guesses her intent to betray them, he manages to escape. But, his brother arrives at Rhiannon's home and is the spitting image of Julian, only he is on the opposite side from his brother. However, both brothers wish to remove Rhiannon from her home so she can overcome her addiction.
This begins a saga that involved both bothers and their extended family of uncles and cousins. The family is divided by the sides they have chosen to fight for and their fierce loyalty to the cause they each represent. But, they still love their family despite the differences they have. Rhiannon is often caught in the middle, as she struggles with her feelings for Julian and the horrible dreams she has that often prove prophetic.
Rhiannon shakes her addiction, and proves quite useful in healing the wounds of soldiers. When she begins having dreams about Julian's death she makes a fateful decision, that will forever change her life and Julian's.
The author does an excellent job of depicting the conflicts on both sides of the Civil War. Families divided and separated, the diseases acquired on the battlefield, and the incredible agony suffered of the body, heart, mind and soul.
The love story between Rhiannon and Julian is fraught with difficulties. Their relationship seems doomed, but these two people are incredibly strong in mind and spirit. They love each other and despite the feelings they had about the war, they decided to chose life and living over all else.
To me, these historical romances written by Heather Graham back in the 1980's and 1990's are really her forte. To me this is where she really shines. These days, she has carved out a niche for herself writing paranormal romances and while I like to read those from time to time, I must say, these historical romances are just awesome.
Yes, the subject matter is controversial, but that was the way things were. The author did an excellent job of showing both sides of the war, and did it such a manner that it read like an actual piece of history. So, although it is fiction and there was some steamy sex scenes once or twice, this book could also be categorized as historical fiction because often times the romance took a back seat.
Again, I am happy to see Open Road Media releasing these older titles in digital format. I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the DRC copy of this book. This one gets a solid A.
Set in Florida in the Civil War era, Rhiannon, a war widow and rumored witch finds her home invaded by rebel soldiers. Julian McKenzie needs a place to shelter a wounded comrade. Not knowing if this home was abandoned or not, he still had to rest for a while. When he encounters the beautiful Rhiannon, he is indeed bewitched.
But, the ravages of war and the death of her husband, Richard, has Rhiannon sampling her own medicines too often, mainly opium. Julian recognizes it right away. He knows she has become addicted and wishes to prevent her from continuing on that way. But, Rhiannon isn't fooled by Julian's lies about being Union soldiers. She guessed right away they were rebels and she intends to turn them in.
But, in a drug addled state, Rhiannon, dreaming of her husband Richard, shares a night with Julian. She is unsure it really happened though because of her drug use.
When Julian guesses her intent to betray them, he manages to escape. But, his brother arrives at Rhiannon's home and is the spitting image of Julian, only he is on the opposite side from his brother. However, both brothers wish to remove Rhiannon from her home so she can overcome her addiction.
This begins a saga that involved both bothers and their extended family of uncles and cousins. The family is divided by the sides they have chosen to fight for and their fierce loyalty to the cause they each represent. But, they still love their family despite the differences they have. Rhiannon is often caught in the middle, as she struggles with her feelings for Julian and the horrible dreams she has that often prove prophetic.
Rhiannon shakes her addiction, and proves quite useful in healing the wounds of soldiers. When she begins having dreams about Julian's death she makes a fateful decision, that will forever change her life and Julian's.
The author does an excellent job of depicting the conflicts on both sides of the Civil War. Families divided and separated, the diseases acquired on the battlefield, and the incredible agony suffered of the body, heart, mind and soul.
The love story between Rhiannon and Julian is fraught with difficulties. Their relationship seems doomed, but these two people are incredibly strong in mind and spirit. They love each other and despite the feelings they had about the war, they decided to chose life and living over all else.
To me, these historical romances written by Heather Graham back in the 1980's and 1990's are really her forte. To me this is where she really shines. These days, she has carved out a niche for herself writing paranormal romances and while I like to read those from time to time, I must say, these historical romances are just awesome.
Yes, the subject matter is controversial, but that was the way things were. The author did an excellent job of showing both sides of the war, and did it such a manner that it read like an actual piece of history. So, although it is fiction and there was some steamy sex scenes once or twice, this book could also be categorized as historical fiction because often times the romance took a back seat.
Again, I am happy to see Open Road Media releasing these older titles in digital format. I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the DRC copy of this book. This one gets a solid A.
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