4 stars.
“Men who hurt Women are my favorite men to kill. Touch her and I’ll send you straight to hell – with a smile on my face!” ~Nicholas
This is the first real historical romance novel that I’ve read (not counting the big epic ones). It came highly recommended to me as a touching romance and it was.
On the Frontier, in the mid 1700’s, Bethie is a woman 8 months old pregnant with the child of her newly-deceased older husband that her family married her off to. Nicholas is from a wealthy family but currently living as a soldier/trapper/tracker and comes across her house badly wounded and demands she tend his wounds at gunpoint. Naturally she does the logical thing lol, she drugs him and ties him to her bed and their relationship goes from there 😛
One of the book’s major themes is overcoming sexual abuse. Bethie (and to a certain extent Nicholas) were abused in their pasts and the fears, concerns and trust issues are something that Nicholas helps Bethie overcome over the course of the book. Actually at the front of the book is a dedication from the author saying:
“This book is dedicated to all victims of sexual assault. May you find the courage, love, and healing you need to live a full life.” – PC
The way Nicholas cares for her is deeply touching – I loved all the parts of the book that dealt with the development of their relationship. And I also loved how easily and whole-heartedly he accepted Bethie’s daughter into his life despite her not being his biological child. He was a wonderful hero – strong, protective, possessive, gentle, caring… The book has sweet moments, hot moments, external drama (battle/war) moments, no romantic heartbreak moments… all in all a good read. Its also not very long – only took me about 4 hours.
Buuuut, I’ll say that despite really enjoying the story, this genre is not for me. I’m not fond of the ‘old style’ language (all the ’twas’, bonny faces, heavy stones, and all). I understand that it makes sense for the timeline of the story, but it takes away from my reading enjoyment.
I also found all the historical background/plot stuff boring, I’ll freely admit that I skimmed some of the battles a bit. In a 350 page book, there simply wasn’t the time time make me engrossed enough in the overall background history enough to fully care about their war with the Indians, or the defence of their fort etc enough to want to follow that storyline, I really just cared about Nicholas and Bethie’s relationship.
I’m glad I read this book, and I’d highly recommend it to any historical romance fan or anyone who wanted to try a HR out, but I don’t think I’ll be reading anymore within the genre myself.
Tracy fritts says
I would love to read these book