daemonad's review against another edition
1.0
I enjoyed Bond of Blood, though I rated it low for poor prose and historical inaccuracies. While in Bond of blood I loved Lea for her modesty, strength, forgiveness, I couldn't stomach the willful, prideful, mega twat Alinor.
tucker4's review against another edition
3.0
This book is not a straight historical romance (despite the ridiculous cover). There is probably equal parts history as there is romance. And unfortunately a lot of the history is wrapped up in the characters trying to navigate a very complicated political situation, that is often described in depth, as well as the description of a number of battles - neither of these things which are much interest to me. The author also includes some details about life in the middle ages, that while they may be accurate, certainly un-romanticize the book.
For the first half of the book I found the heroine rather manipulative and didn't particularly like her. And the hero's extreme sense of morals and chivalry didn't really jive with his admission that he had raped women
I found the author's writing itself rather confusing as times - unclear sentence structure, paragraphs that lost the focus of the scene and jumped around too much, etc - and when trying to describe 12th century political strategy, it made some parts difficult to follow.
I also don't like when authors finish one book in a way that only serves to set up the plot of a sequel, which this author certainly did.
For the first half of the book I found the heroine rather manipulative and didn't particularly like her. And the hero's extreme sense of morals and chivalry didn't really jive with his admission that he had raped women
Spoiler
or his basic rape of his wife the first time they were together.I found the author's writing itself rather confusing as times - unclear sentence structure, paragraphs that lost the focus of the scene and jumped around too much, etc - and when trying to describe 12th century political strategy, it made some parts difficult to follow.
I also don't like when authors finish one book in a way that only serves to set up the plot of a sequel, which this author certainly did.
yulannu's review
1.0
I enjoyed Bond of Blood, though I rated it low for poor prose and historical inaccuracies. While in Bond of blood I loved Lea for her modesty, strength, forgiveness, I couldn't stomach the willful, prideful, mega twat Alinor.
lirael's review
5.0
This was my second time reading this book, one of the rare romances that I sought out to purchase. Don't let the disposable series-looking cover fool you--it's meaty historical (medieval) and political, with some romance.
bookadventurer's review
4.0
There were some violent scenes I didn't really enjoy, and one really silly scene. My rating is probably 3.5, not 4.
Overall, this is an atmospheric, not quite nostalgic, novel of the Middle Ages when Alinor of Aquitaine was Dowager Queen of England (Queen Mother?)
The love story is mostly solid, except for some parts (see above). Lots of adventure and danger, what with John Lackland, the Crusades, and an eligible, wealthy heroine.
Fans of Elizabeth Chadwick will most likely enjoy this.
Overall, this is an atmospheric, not quite nostalgic, novel of the Middle Ages when Alinor of Aquitaine was Dowager Queen of England (Queen Mother?)
The love story is mostly solid, except for some parts (see above). Lots of adventure and danger, what with John Lackland, the Crusades, and an eligible, wealthy heroine.
Fans of Elizabeth Chadwick will most likely enjoy this.
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