Scan barcode
30something_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Get yourself a man who yearns for you the way Raff Barden yearns for Penn de Foucart.
A runaway groom and the hunter sent to retrieve him.
Clandestine meeting in the forest.
Secret identities.
Mutual pining.
Huddling close while they camp outside. ("Only for warmth," they say! Not because they wanna hold each other tenderly.)
This was a delight. I would hazard to call this an accurate Historical- more historical adjacent. It was very A Knights Tale coded and I really loved that.
A runaway groom and the hunter sent to retrieve him.
Clandestine meeting in the forest.
Secret identities.
Mutual pining.
Huddling close while they camp outside. ("Only for warmth," they say! Not because they wanna hold each other tenderly.)
This was a delight. I would hazard to call this an accurate Historical- more historical adjacent. It was very A Knights Tale coded and I really loved that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Outing, and Medical trauma
booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
ONE NIGHT IN HARTSWOOD is everything I hoped for, and more; a gay romance which mostly takes place during a several week journey by horse, as one man returns home and the other flees an oppressive household. I love romances that are built on communication, which is somewhat ironic, given that both Raff and Penn are keeping major parts of their identities secret, even if they talk about everything else. Normally, lying in relationships stresses me out, but the symmetry of the fact that both of them are keeping the same level of secret and don’t know if the other one is safe to trust with it helped it be less stressful for me.
This is set up to have at least one sequel, though its particular story is self-contained. Rather than leave an obvious story hook open, it ends with the characters in new situations which grant the possibility of future events without demanding any particular follow up.
I love Penn and Raff, I like them as individual characters and I enjoy how well they work together. They each have very different relationships with their families. Penn seems to be close with two of his several siblings, despite neither showing up for very long. His father is terrible, rather unambiguously playing the villain. Raff has close and mostly loving relationships with his sister and brother, and, despite their differences, they seem to understand each other fairly well. Not much is shown of Raff's relationship with his father, but what is there seems to be filled with respect and care.
Other things I love, in no particular order: how much of the time is spent just traveling and sleeping in the woods and dealing with inns; the wound care towards the end of the book; the way Penn obviously grows as a person; the more subtle ways that Raff starts to trust in other peoples' competence.
This was great, I want more, and I'm eager for the sequel.
This is set up to have at least one sequel, though its particular story is self-contained. Rather than leave an obvious story hook open, it ends with the characters in new situations which grant the possibility of future events without demanding any particular follow up.
I love Penn and Raff, I like them as individual characters and I enjoy how well they work together. They each have very different relationships with their families. Penn seems to be close with two of his several siblings, despite neither showing up for very long. His father is terrible, rather unambiguously playing the villain. Raff has close and mostly loving relationships with his sister and brother, and, despite their differences, they seem to understand each other fairly well. Not much is shown of Raff's relationship with his father, but what is there seems to be filled with respect and care.
Other things I love, in no particular order: how much of the time is spent just traveling and sleeping in the woods and dealing with inns; the wound care towards the end of the book; the way Penn obviously grows as a person; the more subtle ways that Raff starts to trust in other peoples' competence.
This was great, I want more, and I'm eager for the sequel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, Gore, Murder, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Confinement, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Classism, Blood, Death, War, and Medical trauma
Minor: Pregnancy, Child abuse, Vomit, and Death of parent
craftyhilary's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I want to preface this by saying I think that Emma Denny has a lot of potential as a writer. That said, this book just didn't work for me. It felt almost like a plot outline than a fully-realized story. There was a lot of moving from place to place, eating, sleeping, and assorted random encounters, but not a lot of character development. Since both Penn and Raff were lying about who they were for most of the book, it was hard for me to believe they were forming a serious attachment, and the agonizing about the deception became tedious. And once both their secrets were out, I was very disappointed in how Raff handled his feelings of betrayal. He had been just as dishonest with Penn, which he conveniently forgot about till reminded by Ash. Raff also knew Penn had been seriously abused, yet struggled to understand that Penn had much better practical and emotional reasons to lie than Raff did . Some of the plot elements felt overdramatized in a way that would make more sense in a movie, such as Raff chasing Penn for days and riding up to the keep just as Penn was being dragged inside . There were opportunities for more complex political issues to be explored--I was hoping Penn's father was holding Raff's father hostage, and they'd have to come retrieve him --but those were dismissed in favor of less complicated or believable ones, like Penn suddenly finding he is both brave enough to stand up to his father and also a brilliant political strategist I am fairly certain that the throwaway references to Oliver were intended to set up a book for Ash, but including almost nothing about him, when his existence clearly impacted Raff and Ash in a way that's relevant to Raff's feelings about Penn, was a wasted opportunity. I expect Denny may not have wanted to give away too much of what will presumably be Ash's book. The correspondence between Jo and Lily was a bit more deftly handled. Overall, I would definitely consider reading another book by this author, but this one was only ok for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Medical trauma and Physical abuse
More...