Wendy, Wendy, Dumb, Dumb Head

I'm not smart enough to read this book.

There, I said it.

I'm going to state up front that this review for Deception by Kris Kennedy isn't necessarily going to be a "fair" one.  I also will admit, up-front, how ludicrous I'm going to sound.  I am in no way implying that the author should have "dumbed down" her book.  No, it's more like I think this particular story has a very specific audience.

Sophia Darnly's father was a corrupt judge with his fingers in a lot of dirty pies.  Eventually executed, the hunt is now on for a ledger he kept - records of various transactions that many powerful people would be none too please about should it come to light.  For her own purposes, and protection, Sophia needs to get that ledger.  She just didn't plan on running into a former lover on the night she plans to steal it.

Kier was basically one of the judge's hired henchmen, and after some of the very men who did business with Sophia's father try to have him killed, he's determined to have his revenge.  He's got a fairly intricate plan in motion, and then into his lap falls Sophia - a woman he was desperately in love with, and eventually torn away from.  He may still have a passion for her, but Sophia being around definitely complicates things - not to mention she seems determined to become a part of his scheme.

Kennedy writes what I call Very Medieval Medievals.  They're ideal (I think) for hardcore, Old School, medieval romance fans.  She doesn't skimp on the history, detail or language and she uses the "darker" time period to create fully realized, suitably heroic characters, that still have some dubious moral codes.  The thing about the medieval time period though is that it's very fraught, intricate, and uncertain - especially politically.  It's one of the few romance settings where both characters could sell their mothers and readers probably wouldn't whine too much about them "not being nice."  I mean, it's a medieval.  You expect that sort of thing in a medieval.  (Well, at least I do).

The issue here is mostly the plot and writing for me.  Kennedy's language is heavy and the plot itself includes various political maneuverings, subterfuge, and bad men doing bad things while trying to cover it up.  It's all very involved.  It helps matters that the chapters are short here - sometimes only a couple of pages long.  I'll confess, if I had to slog my way though 20 page chapters there's no way in heck this book would have gotten read.  As it is, the smaller, bit-size pieces helped me to keep my head above water.  However, while I got through it, I never found myself riveted, glued to the pages - mostly because it took most of my energy to keep the whole thing straight.

The plot, the medieval setting, the language - this was just a very heavy book to read.  I like medievals, but I tend to read them as "palate cleansers."  They're the sort of historical I go to when I want a change of pace.  I'm not what you would call a Super-Duper Medieval Fangirl.  And this story?  Is a Super-Duper Medieval.  I think you almost have to be a fan of the setting and time period within the romance novel world in order for this book to work for you on a bigger level.

Which just makes me sound like a brain-dead ninny twit.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I've enjoyed Kennedy's other books, this one didn't strike as "accessible" like her others.  While I do feel her other stories can appeal to a broad romance-reading fan base?  This one I think is more geared towards those medieval fans, the readers who have really devoted themselves to the time period over the years, cut their teeth on Roberta Gellis and the like.  For the rest of us?  Might I suggest The Irish Warrior?

Final Super Librarian Grade = C

Final Super-Duper Medieval Fangirl Grade = B or higher

The King, The Priest, The Knight, And The Mystery Woman

Here's a fairly useless factoid, before doing time in graduate school to earn my library degree, I slogged through four years of undergraduate work where I earned a degree in history.  My specialty (such as it was) was British History.  Yes, the girl who loves westerns got a degree in British History.  That being said, despite four years of my life given to this task, I'm pretty much clueless on those wacky Brits pre-Henry VIII.  Which sort of helps explain my reaction to Kris Kennedy's latest book (and her first for Pocket), Defiant.

England is in turmoil.  King John isn't exactly a warm and cuddly sort, various barons are threatening civil war, and the Magna Carta is on the horizon.  Knee deep in all of this is Jamie Lost, our hero, and one of the king's most trusted knights.  John has sent him on a mission to find Father Peter of London, rumored to be back in England after many years living in exile.  The problem being that there are quite a few people running around who want to find Father Peter - including our heroine, Eva.

Eva owes her life to Father Peter, and cannot for the life of her understand why the man came back to England.  The problem is that England is not safe for Eva, nor for her young traveling companion, teenage Roger.  She takes one look at Jamie and knows her mission will not be easy.  This is a hard man.  A scary man.  And they both want the same thing - Father Peter.

Reading Defiant is an exercise in patience, and I suspect it's going to divide readers.  With Kennedy's previous two medievals, I strongly recommended them to not only medieval fans, but to general historical romance lovers as well.  Defiant is just as strong (if not stronger) in terms of "history" - but that said, it's a very medieval-y medieval.  There's a lot of medieval political intrigue, two-timing, back room dealing, and the author writes it out in drips and drabs, leaving a small trail of bread crumbs for the reader to follow.  This is good, because it saves us from a mind-numbing info-dump, but it's not so good for those readers (uh, like me) who might not be entirely up on their medieval history.  This was not a book I was immediately engaged in.  There are a lot of unanswered questions early on.  The author does get around to answering them, but it takes time.  Again, it saves from the info-dump, but readers are going to have to stick with it to get to the pay-off.

Now that being said, not all historical romances being published these days feature the depth, breadth, and sheer amount of "history" in them quite like Kennedy's work does.  Readers hungry, and at this point probably desperate, for actual "history" in their historical romances will probably be more than willing to exercise patience.  Yes, the author does tweak a few details to make her fictional story work, but this is still a book with a very strong sense of place (and lengthy author's notes at the end - which I lurve).

The romance is also a bit of an exercise in patience.  One has to remember, Eva and Jamie are at cross purposes for the vast majority of this book.  They both want the priest, but for totally different reasons.  Not to mention that Jamie is loyal to King John, a man Eva does not think highly of (to put it mildly).  So readers should expect quite a bit of animosity and bickering.  Now, it's certainly amusing animosity and bickering, but it also means it takes a good while for the reader to see, and buy into, a romance between these two people.  On that score, I found this to be a second half book.  The lack of truth telling, the lies by omission, after a while it gets to be very exhausting.  However by the halfway point, while not everything is out in the open, there's enough on the page to get me to believe a happy ending will work.

This wasn't an entirely easy read for me, and it's not my favorite of Kennedy's work, but I can still appreciate it for how special it is in a lot of ways.  Medieval fans should rejoice, and those of you looking for something different, something with some actual history to back it up?  Yeah, when was the last time you read about the Magna Carta in a romance novel?

Grade = B-

The Warrior And The Dye-Witch

Last year I reviewed Kris Kennedy's debut medieval romance, The Conqueror. What I said back then holds true for her second novel, The Irish Warrior. If you're a medieval fan and miss that big, sweeping quality of the old-school historical romances? Seriously, you need to drop everything and start reading this woman's books. Call in sick to work, tell your husband to make his own damn dinner, and threaten the kids that they should leave Mommy alone unless someone is on fire. Trust me, you've been waiting for these books.

Finian O'Melaghin was sent on a mission by his king to uncover just how much the treacherous Lord Rardove knows about the mythical Wishme dyes. Oh, like the fact that not only is the legendary dye capable of creating the most astonishing shade of indigo, but that it's also explosive. Needless to say, given the unsettling times of late 13th century Ireland, a lot of people want that recipe - including the evil Rardove, who immediately takes Finian prisoner, and goes about torturing him for answers.

Enter, stage left, Senna de Valery, an English wool merchant. She's come to Ireland to conduct business with Rardove, not realizing that she's walking straight into a trap. She's there to secure what could be a very lucrative deal (thereby saving her father's gambling butt...again). What she doesn't realize is that Rardove thinks she can reproduce the Wishme dyes for him, which means she's in a whole lot of danger. She learns quickly enough though, and immediately goes about trying to save her bacon. And to do that? She has to free a certain Irish warrior from the dungeons.

What follows is your classic textbook example of a road romance. Finian and Senna escape Rardove's clutches and then are on the run for pretty much the rest of the book. The sticking point, besides the bad guys, is that now Finian and Senna are at cross purposes. She wants to go in one direction, him another. But, no matter. They get it sorted out, and adventure ensues.

Finian is probably what is going to sell this book to a lot of romance readers. He's everything good about the old-school romance heroes. He's noble, he's loyal, he's fierce, and he finds himself falling hard for the heroine. Naturally, when he does fall, he will do anything to protect her. There's a moment towards the end of the book, during the climax, where he says something that actually made my heart melt. This is a man who, while having lived a hard life and been betrayed in the past, will not meekly toss aside the woman he not only has fallen in love with, but the woman who, literally, saved his life. Like I said, loyal.

Senna was a bit more problematic, mostly because I found her character a wee bit inconsistent. Make no mistake, she's breathtakingly awesome during the early chapters. She's a perfect romance heroine in every way. She's smart, she's fierce, and she's feisty (in a good way, not a braindead way). She connives, schemes and plans. She takes a stand. I wanted to run away with this woman and have babies with her, that's how much I loved her.

But then it all starts to slide a bit after she and Finian make their escape. She comes off, at times, as petulant and innocent. One moment she's worldly and wise, the next she pouts. She's a bit all over the map for me. What carried me through was her sheer awesomeness in the early chapters, and that some of that initial fierceness does peak through during the middle section. Also, her character finishes quite strong during the final chapters. I sort of felt like she ended up coming back full circle.

At the end of the day, there really is scads to love about this story. It has that sweeping saga-like feel to it. There's danger, intrigue and a hunky hero. There's a solid heroine who is a good match for him, and plenty of history, with some creative tweaking, to keep it all humming along. I mean, when was the last time you read about exploding dyes in a historical romance? It's unique enough, and plausible enough, to make for a dang intriguing read.

I've never professed to be a huge lover of the medieval time period, but I do love solid historicals, and Kris Kennedy has now written two of them. Run out and buy both, if for no other reason than I said so. Oh, and for the principle of the thing. Otherwise when (or if) you start whining about how all "historical romances are reading the same," I'm likely to throw something heavy at you. And I will aim for your head. Just sayin'.

Final Grade = B

The Golden Age

Back before blogging really took off, I would lurk over at the AAR message boards. Inevitably a thread would crop up every couple of months. Someone bitching voicing their concerns that historical romance just "ain't what it used to be." Too much wallpaper, not enough "meaty" history. Then the historical market seemed to peak and stagnate a bit - and everyone started declaring the historical romance "dead." I never really put much stock into this theory, but I do think the historical romance as we once knew and loved it is poised for a big revival. Sweeping sagas featuring passion, betrayal, loyalty, and above all? Actual history. If you're an old-school romance fan, especially one who adores medievals? Yeah, just stop reading my review right now, run out and buy The Conqueror by Kris Kennedy. It has everything you'll want, and more (!), all for the bargain basement price of $3.99.

Sigh, yes I know the back cover copy says that it's 1152 and Henry II is the King of England. But even though the person who writes the back cover copy at Zebra doesn't know history, the author does; and she employs it to excellent effect, while tweaking things just enough to make this fictional story all her own.

After years of war, Guinevere de l'Ami is tired. Her beloved father is dead, and now the villain who lives on a neighboring estate is trying to force her into marriage. It's while she's busy thwarting his evil plans that she finds herself rescued by Griffyn "Pagan" Sauvage. What neither of them knows? Each others true identity. Griffyn doesn't know that Gwyn (or "Raven" as he takes to calling her) is the daughter of his sworn enemy. And Gwyn has no idea that Griffyn is the rightful heir to her estate. Also? They both are on different sides of the continuing battle over the English throne. Gwyn backs King Stephen and Griffyn is working to secure the throne for Henry II.

There's also the small matter of some long, lost treasure rumored to be hidden on Gwyn's Griffyn's land.

Seriously, this is like the first 50 pages.

There is a lot going on in this book, and it couldn't have been easy for the author to juggle all of this in one story. However, Kennedy makes it work, with mysteries solved, loyalties tested, and the struggle for control of the English throne all be resolved by the end of the story. The author does tweak a few historical facts to make her story work, but they add to the drama and conflict of the story, and force Gwyn and Griffyn to admit their love and devotion to each other.

I suspect the one issue that will be hard for some readers to overcome is Gwyn's unflinching, unyielding loyalty to King Stephen - even after it's apparent to her, and the reader, that she's breathlessly in love with Griffyn. It's a hard thing to understand, I think, as a 21st century reader, that people in medieval times lived and died for their loyalty. So yeah, I'm not above admitting that I got annoyed with her...but a part of me did understand.

This is a big, sweeping saga of a story, and it's also a damn hard one to write a review for. It really has that epic quality that used to be so common place in historical romance, but has been absent for many years as the sub genre took off like a rocket during the late 1990s. For readers who miss "the golden age" of historical romance? The Conqueror has all you want, and more, since the author avoids the many pitfalls that plagued some of those stories of yesteryear (no forced seduction, the hero isn't a jackass, and the heroine isn't a brain dead twit). It's easy to see why this book finaled for RWA's Golden Heart award. It's really a very accomplished debut novel, and fans of medievals should just beat the Christmas rush and start rejoicing now.

Grade = B

ETA: Thanks to Jane from Dear Author for this Twitter update. For those of you who "do" ebooks - The Conqueror is on sale over at Books On Board for $2.38. Seriously. $2.38. Even if you think I'm full of crap and you end up not liking this story? It's $2.38! At that price how can you not try it? Hell, that's cheaper than a lot of the novellas and short stories being sold out in ebook-land.