October is Medieval month on
my blog. Some of my very favorite stories are on the best list I’ll update
later this month. I’m beginning with one of my favorite authors, too.
Where Love Dwells won the RITA Award for Best Historical in 1991 and is among several wonderful
romances by this talented author. (Her Scottish historicals are my favorites.) This
is one of those sweeping sagas that draw you in and hold you captive. Stuart is
superb at integrating historical details and building characters with
believable histories. Since she is Welsh, and this is a tale set in Wales in
the late 13th century, it was a labor of love for her.
This is the story of the
battles between England and Wales as the Welsh fought to hold onto their
independence and their lands. Of course, it was a losing battle. The story
opens as Lady Elen of Teifi loses her family (and her betrothed) in a battle that
leaves her, a Welsh princess, the last of her ruling family. Escaping into the
north woods, she helps her remaining people lead raids on the English knights.
The man who has protected her all her life becomes the Welsh Fox the English
dread. In a raid on her rebel camp, Elen is taken prisoner by Sir Richard of
Kent, King Edward’s liege knight who has been given the assignment to rid Wales
of the rebels. He doesn’t know the young woman he has captured is the last of
the royal Welsh family. Instead, he thinks she is the mistress of the rebel
known as the Welsh Fox.
The story of how Elen and
Richard discover their love for each other, notwithstanding they are enemies,
is a wonderful tale, and well told. However, there were some improbable
occurrences early in the story that didn’t quite make sense. I found that
surprising for a RITA award winner until I read on—the book was so worth it, a
5-star keeper.
Here are some examples of
what I found improbable:
--Richard assumes from her
appearance that Elen is a “mere girl”--13 or 14 (she is 16) -- yet he instantly
concludes she must be the mistress of the Red Fox who he believes to be well
over 30, and therefore he also concludes she is not a virgin. He doesn’t even
ask.
--Elen speaks beautiful
French and Welsh, but Richard assumes she cannot speak English, too. He doesn’t
even test his theory and speaks freely of his plans to capture the Fox in front
of her. It seemed unlikely for an experienced warrior.
--Knowing she is the only
hope of her people to birth the next generation of Welsh rulers, she plots to
kill Richard by using seduction to gain his weapon, never thinking that if she
slept with him, she would give birth to the child of her enemy. I had trouble
seeing a patriot engaging in that behavior.
--Richard continues to
believe Elen is the mistress of the Red Fox even after she told him her
betrothed was slain in an earlier battle. If she was 16 and betrothed, she’d be
no man’s mistress. Yet, Richard never thinks about that inconsistency.
Even with those things, this
is an amazing story and I recommend it as a “keeper.” Buy the book on Amazon.
See my post on this author HERE:
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