"To the dashing Roland St. Sebastian, a king-decreed marriage to the biddable daughter of his enemy was bad enough...but when the blushing bride turned out to be her spitfire sister, Meredyth, Roland's wrath was boundless. And though the redheaded vixen's kisses drove him nearly mad with yearning, he wondered if he would ever learn to tryst her--or if he was destined to live a life of loneliness with the woman he loved."
Hello and Happy New Year! I'm starting off 2021 with a period romance novel review. Catherine Archer was a new author for me (another book pulled from my overflowing collection of unread books), so I was looking forward to trying something new after working my way through several Amanda Quick novels. I have often struggled with period romances set so far back in time (1200s, to be exact), probably because I know for a fact how damn hard life was for them. Knights in shining armor and castles and Crusades all sound glamorous, but life was horrible for most; even many of the better-off lived in questionable conditions (to say nothing of the hygiene). I know I'm reading far too much into this time period, but I can't help it. Coupled with all of this, the mentalities were so vastly different from what we know. The men in these types of books are often rough and a bit too domineering for my tastes. They lack a sense of respect for the female leads and, in turn, the female leads have to be overwhelmingly headstrong and outspoken in order to make dent in the mentalities of the times. This can sometimes be a bit too much for me. Archer managed to dance along this line fairly well and better than some other authors I've read with books set in this time and place. Roland was intriguing and attractive. I found his personality to be strong, but not abusive toward Meredyth, despite his distaste for women after what his mother had put his family through. He knew his role in the world and his marriage; he wasn't afraid to exercise his power, but he stopped just short of becoming and overbearing brute a time or two. Had he stepped over that line, however, I probably wouldn't have cared for him. Meredyth went back and forth from being the selfless, soft woman born to help others, to a sharp-tongued shrew who was far too headstrong for her own good. She had quite a few redeeming qualities and I found a great amount of sympathy for her because of her backstory, but she frustrated me on many occasions. I found her to be a tad too strong willed for a woman of her position. She had been raised to care for her family's household and to put her sister first, caring for her above all others because Celeste was seen as more "delicate" by their father. A woman who was so used to being in her sister's shadow and working (unappreciated) on things behind the scenes would surely not have been so forward with Roland. Of course, this is all personal opinion and many may not agree with my assessment. I just found the duality of her personality to be a bit too contrary.
Overall, I really enjoyed the premise of the plot. Celeste is ordered by the king to wed Roland in an effort to stop the feuding of their families once and for all. In a desperate move, Meredyth disguises herself and is wed to Roland in Celeste's place. Upon realizing that he has ben tricked, of course, Roland is incensed and believes it to be a final trick played upon him by his old enemy, Meredyth and Celeste's father. He finds out that the women were the masterminds and he decides he has no choice to honor his marriage to Meredyth and they must begin their lives as man and wife. Poor Meredyth realizes she's gotten in far over her head with this latest attempt to help Celeste. No sooner does she realize the gravity of the situation then she's swept away from the only home she has ever known and thrust into Roland's own unruly household filled with staff and villagers who have nothing but animosity for her family. Not only this, but she must grapple with a new husband who did not choose her, who has a mighty distrust for women, and who butts heads with her attitude. I did like the chemistry between Roland and Meredyth. They had a nice spark and the tension between them seemed palpable. However. I found the "romance" to be a bit lacking in variation. I don't know if it's because this book is "older" (as in, I read the 10th Anniversary print and the copyright date is 1998...) or if it's a style choice, but it was all a bit more tame and each scene felt like a rewrite of the same thing over and over again. (Probably WAY too much TMI, but does Roland not know any other way to pleasure a woman than to touch her breasts and use his "member"?!? I feel like I need to refer him to Monica from "Friends" -- my apologies if you don't get the reference, but I promise it's a good one.)
I will say another area in which I struggled a bit was the inner dialogue. Almost the entire book seemed to take place in Roland's and Meredyth's minds! There was a remarkable lack of actual dialogue. I think this made it feel like the story dragged on far longer than it needed to. Since so much took place within their minds, there was very little action for a majority of the story. I think this is part of the reason that the last few chapters felt a bit rushed. There was so much build up with their respective inner musings and indecision that everything moved so very quickly once actual action occurred. The conclusion of the book was a bit too "Brady Bunch" for me. I like a satisfying ending; and this doesn't mean it has to be all happiness and rainbows. It was tied up a bit too neatly for my tastes and it felt a bit sudden. There wasn't even an epilogue where we were given a taste of what life was like after the conflict resolution. I think the addition of an epilogue might have made me a bit happier in this particular instance just because it all ended up feeling so rushed.
I will say that this was an easy, quick read. I liked reading a new author and I liked this one better than others set in 1200s England. There were some imperfections and some things fell a bit short, but I didn't dislike the book. I'm tempted to read more by Catherine Archer in the future.
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