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reads2love's review
5.0
This was a delightful tale. I'm a fan of Merlinian tales and this was a charming spin, a "what happens after the legend" kind of tale. Merlin has been cursed to a tree for casting a love spell. One of his descendants must find love without spells or trickery for Merlin to be freed. Time is running out though. This is where Rolf comes in. From the time he sees Melissa, he is enchanted, and she's been seeing him in her dreams, too. Unfortunately, she's betrothed and it's a "favourable match" that her father had arranged. Melissa has a choice to make, and the flames between her and Rolf are going to warm you from your head to your toes. This story was quite charming with just enough magic. Fans of historical romance will love this story.
bethanmay's review
3.0
General Outline of the Plot
Rolf is a descendant of the great wizard of Arthurian legend, Merlin. To rescue Merlin and his own descendants from a curse placed upon Merlin by Vivien, Rolf must find and marry his true love without the use of magic or trickery. Time is running out, but when Rolf discovers the woman of his destiny, she is already betrothed to another.
My review:
On the whole, the book is enjoyable and a nice easy read.
I'm not sure who the intended audience is; I found the book listed under a "fantasy" thread on twitter, and I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but the cover does give the impression of a fantasy. However I'd say in truth this book is more of a romance with a slight fantasy theme running through (in that Rolf is a wizard). When I approached the book with that in mind I was able to enjoy it much more; if you're expecting fantasy, you may be disappointed.
Love is the main theme of the book, particularly chivalrous love in medieval England. The idea of loyalty is also important, the struggle between loyalty to one's family and following your heart.
The pace of the book is set well, I never at any time felt that the story was dragging or wished the author would get to the point. However I do have some issues with the writing style.
I felt the start of the book was overloaded with adjectives; everything had a description, to the point it felt like an exercise in descriptive writing. There was also a lot of info-dumping through dialogue, making the conversations between characters feel forced and unrealistic;
"Lady Agnes let out a sigh. 'What is going on in that lovely mind?'
'Do you remember the day father signed my marriage contract?'"
which leads to a description of that day from the narrator, rendering the dialogue seemingly pointless.
I also struggled with the passages concerning any conflict. I'm not sure if they were perhaps too hurried? Reading them, it wasn't always clear precisely what was happening, the narrative becomes quite jumbled and the conflict seems to be over before you're completely sure what has happened.
[[SPOILERS
The last two chapters were particularly problematic in this regard; throughout the book the narrative is split between Rolf and Melissa and works well until the final two chapters where the splitting occurs at odd times and jars the flow of the narrative somewhat. We follow Melissa from when she is kidnapped, through arriving at the castle, imprisoned, into the next day where is moved and imprisoned with Roker's mother and through to that evening (I think?) where the castle is attacked and she escaped her room. But here, her narrative ends and we swap to Rolf's perspective, but we also jump back two (?) days to when she is first kidnapped, he discovers and then comes to her rescue. ]]
In conclusion, if you can forgive some of the author's writing tropes, this is an enjoyable love story with well developed characters and attention to details of medieval life.
Rolf is a descendant of the great wizard of Arthurian legend, Merlin. To rescue Merlin and his own descendants from a curse placed upon Merlin by Vivien, Rolf must find and marry his true love without the use of magic or trickery. Time is running out, but when Rolf discovers the woman of his destiny, she is already betrothed to another.
My review:
On the whole, the book is enjoyable and a nice easy read.
I'm not sure who the intended audience is; I found the book listed under a "fantasy" thread on twitter, and I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but the cover does give the impression of a fantasy. However I'd say in truth this book is more of a romance with a slight fantasy theme running through (in that Rolf is a wizard). When I approached the book with that in mind I was able to enjoy it much more; if you're expecting fantasy, you may be disappointed.
Love is the main theme of the book, particularly chivalrous love in medieval England. The idea of loyalty is also important, the struggle between loyalty to one's family and following your heart.
The pace of the book is set well, I never at any time felt that the story was dragging or wished the author would get to the point. However I do have some issues with the writing style.
I felt the start of the book was overloaded with adjectives; everything had a description, to the point it felt like an exercise in descriptive writing. There was also a lot of info-dumping through dialogue, making the conversations between characters feel forced and unrealistic;
"Lady Agnes let out a sigh. 'What is going on in that lovely mind?'
'Do you remember the day father signed my marriage contract?'"
which leads to a description of that day from the narrator, rendering the dialogue seemingly pointless.
I also struggled with the passages concerning any conflict. I'm not sure if they were perhaps too hurried? Reading them, it wasn't always clear precisely what was happening, the narrative becomes quite jumbled and the conflict seems to be over before you're completely sure what has happened.
[[SPOILERS
The last two chapters were particularly problematic in this regard; throughout the book the narrative is split between Rolf and Melissa and works well until the final two chapters where the splitting occurs at odd times and jars the flow of the narrative somewhat. We follow Melissa from when she is kidnapped, through arriving at the castle, imprisoned, into the next day where is moved and imprisoned with Roker's mother and through to that evening (I think?) where the castle is attacked and she escaped her room. But here, her narrative ends and we swap to Rolf's perspective, but we also jump back two (?) days to when she is first kidnapped, he discovers and then comes to her rescue. ]]
In conclusion, if you can forgive some of the author's writing tropes, this is an enjoyable love story with well developed characters and attention to details of medieval life.
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