Book Review Club: Stealing Heaven
Earlier this year I joined Barrie Summie’s Blog Book Club at my other blog Flights-a-Fancy. This month I read so many good books I had a hard time choosing one, so I decided to do two reviews, one here and one at Flights-a-Fancy.
STEALING HEAVEN by Madeline Hunter
I hadn’t read a Medieval romance in a long time, and this is a good one. It’s set in 1340 during the reign of Edward I. Marcus of Anglesmore, a knight who supports the king, is ordered to wed a Welsh maiden in hopes of staving off further rebellions. When he goes to visit his betrothed in a moonlit garden, he finds a sensual creature who responds to his advances. The next day he learns that the woman he thought he was to wed is the older sister, Nesta, a widow known as “the King’s whore”. What actually happened between Nesta and the king isn’t revealed until very late in the story, but the encounter prompted her father to rebel. Nesta and her sister Genith are involved in plots to revive the rebellion, but not if Marcus can prevent it. When Genith runs away with a Welsh bard, he decides that one sister will do as well as the other. In truth, he had no real interest in Genith; Nesta is the one he has wanted from the beginning.
The attraction between Marcus and Nesta is palpable and the love scenes are sensual and emotional. This is an excellent, old-fashioned historical romance with a meaty plot, good conflict and great sexual tension between the hero and heroine. I kept reading late at night wondering how Hunter was going to resolve her very complicated plot and romantic conflict. This is the first Madeline Hunter romance I’ve read, but it won’t be the last. It won a Rita award in 2003 for Best Long Historical Romance, and I recommend it to any fan of Medieval romance.
The author’s website has a great history page: http://www.madelinehunter.com/.
Lyndi
The Book Review Club is the brain child of Tween/Teen Author Barrie Summy. Click here for more reviews.
I have trouble getting into historical fiction because i keep asking myself is this fact or fiction. But this sounds interesting.
No problem, Patti. Not everyone like historical romance/fiction. Hunter seems to do a pretty good job with the details of Medieval life and the historical background though. Thanks for dropping by my newish blog.
Linda/Lyndi
Guess what? I have actually met Madeline Hunter! She came to speak at a writers’ meeting in San Diego.
Cool! I’d love to hear her speak some time.
Lyndi