Review: Wonderful by Jill Barnett

by 9/03/2014 2 comments
Paperback336 pages
Published September 1st 1997 
by Pocket Books 
(first published 1997)
Series: Medieval Trilogy, #1 
My Rating:     
Genre: Historical Romance


After too many years on the battlefield, Merrick de Beaucourt is looking forward to a simple life of peace and quiet with a docile wife at his side. But when he finally fetches his bride-to-be from a secluded English convent, he finds he needs more than his knight's spurs to bring order to his life.

When she was betrothed at fifteen to the legendary English knight she had never met, Lady Clio of Camrose believed that love was something magical. But her youthful hopes faded as she languished in a convent for six long years, never hearing a word from Merrick.

Weary of war, Lord Merrick finds little peace guarding the wild Welsh borders, and even less with the wife whose trust he destroyed. But as Lady Clio comes to understand the dark knight she so blindly wed, she sees a chance to make her dreams come true. Amid the enchanted mists that envelop Camrose Castle, they will battle together to discover a place where all things are possible, even a love that is rare and wonderful.

I don't know if it's just me, but I find it hard to find historical romances that are set during medieval times. I know they are out there, but I can't always seem to stumble upon them as easily as I do everything else that I love to read. So when I learned about this series, I immediately picked up the first book. 

There are some absolutely great things about this book. A heroine that is feisty and liberal minded, but who is also willing to hold to the ideas of honour that her father held her. Clio fully intends to marry Merrick, but she also plans to make him suffer for making her wait an additional two years before finally arriving back in England for their wedding. And she really does drive Merrick to distraction when all he wants is peace and quiet. He soon learns he's not likely to have that as Clio gets into one scrape after another.
Book Two 

What really made this book a solid romance for me was the way the characters interacted. Merrick was a stubborn hero who expected Clio to do as she was told, but Clio had never been good at doing what she was told. Moreover, her "ideas" gave rise to some really hilarious moments in the novel, which made was great storytelling because the banter between them is witty and sometimes infused with a natural smugness when one or the other of them gets the last word. The action towards the end, and the hardships these characters have to endure are realistic and solidified how strongly Clio and Merrick loved one another.

This book had moments that made me laugh, and moments that made my heart ache. Moments of laugh out loud fun combined with sweet romance and characters that are brightly painted make this a truly wonderful book to read.



Jewels E

Author

I'm a thirty something girl who loves to read, write and dream. Because I'm so addicted to the written word in all its forms, I created this blog to share the books that devastate me with you.

2 comments:

Jonetta (Ejaygirl) said...

Have you read Monica McCarty's Highland Guard series? I think you'd love it (set in a medieval period).

Jewels E said...

No, but I plan to. I found out about it recently so it's on my list.