Book One
Genre: Fantasy/Fairytale Retellings
During a time when legends were born . . .
ENAMORED
A princess in need of a husband, a young Sage who cannot have her, and a web of deceit that threatens their love.
Having been raised by her childless aunt and uncle, the king and queen, Princess Elinor finds herself the only heir to the throne of Norvegia. As she comes of age, she must choose a husband to rule beside her, but she struggles to make her selection from among a dozen noblemen during a weeklong courtship.
With aspirations to become the wisest man in the land, Maxim is summoned home by his father Rasmus, a Royal Sage. Reunited with Elinor, once his closest friend, Maxim is quickly enamored with her even though he can never be considered a prospect for her husband.
Elinor’s feelings for Maxim are rekindled too . . . until she learns he has been unwillingly drawn into Rasmus’s scheme to take control of the throne. With the kingdom under attack both from within and without, can Elinor and Maxim overcome the deceit spinning around them? Or will it destroy their love once and for all?
The real story of Excalibur
Read in January: My Rating, ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I
confess, I wasn't sure what to make of Jody Hedlund's latest Medieval
Fantasy Romance. I'm not sure I was entirely comfortable with the idea
of my country's greatest Legends being picked up and dropped in what is
basically just a barely disguised fantasy version of Scandinavia which
might be recognizable to fans of How to Train Your Dragon.
AFAIK,
The Arthurian Legends, unlike Robin Hood, aren't some universal stories
that can be translated to any culture or country... they're British
(even many of the names are Welsh) were born The British Isles, in these
Isles they should remain. They are not a Viking Saga.
Forgive me for being possessive, LOL.
In
the end, I didn't find there was really too much in the way of
Arthurian Legends here, or maybe I just didn't notice it? I think Maxim
is meant to be vaguely based on Merlin, but its more the young and
attractive BBC version of Merlin than the old man if that's the case.
This
book did do something though that light romantic fantasy hasn't done
for a while with me, and that's get me thoroughly immersed, and I did
rather like it. Hence the rating. I loved Maxim as a character. His
quirks and inner turmoil, and what's all this stuff about Royal Sages?
The
inclusion of dragons in the novel could have cheapened it, but it was
done well, even if the references to them bonding with people seemed
vaguely akin a certain animated movie franchise aforementioned.
There
were only a couple of parts I found less than impressive. One of them
was the Sword of the Magi (c'mon it’s meant to be Excalibur...) loosing
itself from a - cedar case for the One True King.
I know. A cedar
case. Can we just have a stone please? A rock? At very, very least some
kind of Reliquary? It just sounds so unimpressive as though the sword
was a Clarinet or violin or something. Is the one true King meant to
whip it out and play a solo?
Second, Elinor. I kind of didn't
mind her at first, but the way she starts acting towards the end was
inexplicable and felt really, really forced.
Also, this has to be
said, the whole choosing a husband on the day of her 18th birthday
before she can assume the status as heir to the throne, and "Oh yes
let's have a contest/test so you can pick the best one!" seems really
familiar somehow.
An Uncertain Choice,
anyone? Please don't be a clone of Lady Rosemarie, Elinor. Please
don't. This is a whole new story in a whole new world, you don't have to
be her....
So yeah, where was I? I hope you can forgive this
review is on the long side. This was a nice clean Medieval Fantasy
Romance, and the series does have promise. I will read the next one, I
just really really hope it doesn't fall into to trap of recycling
storylines and rehashing characters from the author's previous work.
Especially when you've got the vast wealth of storytelling fodder that
is the Arthurian Legends to work with
Book Two
Genre: Fantasy/Fairytale Retellings
During a time when legends were born . . .
ENTWINED
A princess cursed from birth, a loyal knight worthy of being king, and a sword that can determine their destiny.
After growing up on a remote farm, Lis learns she is the rightful heir to the throne of Norvegia. Even as she does her part to thwart a dangerous plot against the king, she resists pursuing her new identity and resigns herself to a simple life helping her elderly father with their farm.
With the king losing his mind, Sir Ansgar, the highest knight in the land, is desperate to save the sovereign he’s sworn to protect. But before Ansgar can uncover what is causing the king’s demise, he finds himself falsely accused of treason and dismissed from court.
In danger of losing his life, Ansgar takes refuge on Lis’s farm. Love soon blossoms between Ansgar and Lis, even as they realize a future together is impossible. Yet they must unite to save the kingdom from ever-growing forces of evil. Are their destinies entwined? Or will they be ripped apart forever?
The real story of Excalibur continues . . .
Read in April: My Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐
There were also some tropes which kind of got on my nerves as well, or just came over as unrealistic, but aside from that I did like this as vaguely fairytale-like adventure story with dragons. A couple of parts kind of reminded me of Dragonheart, which is one of my guilty pleasures, although I think some of the lore involving dragons might have been borrowed from Game of Thrones/HTTYD as well.
Would recommend for YA readers, and adults who enjoy fairytale or fairytale style romances and retellings and light fantasy
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