I've taken a break from the more paranormal romance and returned to my roots; Historical Romance. That's right, the first romance story I read was historical and it imprinted a love for these types of novels. While I know a review coming from me isn't the best achievement to be had I had to pass on a really nice romance I stumbled across.
Hidden Honor by Anne Stuart
Let's start with the story itself. The blurb of the book covers it best."Independent and headstrong, Elizabeth of Bredon wants only to become a nun, but her journey to the convent of St. Anne's threatens her choice. It's not the escort of holy friars who tempt her, but the man they are taking to do penance for his many sins. Elizabeth has heard whispers about Prince William's treatment of women --- the king's only son is a man well schooled in deception, cruelty and murder --- yet she cannot entirely resist his charms.
But when the journey takes a treacherous turn, masks of deception fall and there is no safe place but in the wicked prince's arms. With treachery drawing near, they are soon racing against time, murderous revenge ... and their own sinful desires."
That is exactly who Elizabeth, the heroine, is: headstrong and independent. Of course she is also very naive in the world outside of her life long home. She doesn't even realize that not all men are beasts who want to beat her into submission. That's kind of a nice touch for me. I love a character that learns that s/he is wrong on a larger scale. The downside for me was the low self-esteem that Elizabeth has. She stupidly believes that because there were no men before to find her attractive that she will never be a true target for, shall we say uninvited male advances.
The hero of the book is a little harder to understand. I'll admit I got confused once or twice trying to keep Prince William figured out. I don't want to ruined the plot for any readers, but Prince William is not who or what he seems to be. The confusion over Prince William is combined with a second love interest, Brother Matthew.
Prince William is known to be a very bad guy when it comes to women. In fact he is sent with the group accompanying Elizabeth to the convent because he killed a woman and must repent. His father, the King of England, arranged all of this, but the monks who are also in the group threw in a twist to help protect the rather vile prince from harm. Don't worry this twist is reveled early on.
I have to admit for a chick determined to become a nun, Elizabeth sure does find men attractive. While this is not an overly hot and heavy story, it drops enough tasteful steam to make it worthy of romance.
There are two side characters in this story that have a little love story of their own. Dama Joanna and Sir Adrian are wonderful. Dama Joanna has made her way through a less than happy life on her back. She also has a very bad impression of men and becomes friends with Elizabeth. Sir Adrian is mixed up with the confusion of Prince William and while he at first appears to be a monk, Joanna is happy to learn that he is in fact no such thing.
Final thoughts of this book: It's worth putting on the shelf for a second or even third read through. I really enjoyed it even with the few confusing points and slight dislikes of the main heroine.
Happy reading all!
No comments:
Post a Comment