This is a compelling, well-written novel set during the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda. Fifteen year-old Leah is married to the much-older Cain, Lord Radnor, and their love develops in spite of the various plots that are being woven around them. Roberta Gellis is brilliant at creating atmosphere, and while there are inaccuracies, this does not detract from the skill with which she creates her settings, which include isolated castles on the Welsh border, London and the Royal Court. (The characters wearing velvet in the twelfth century, the possible lack of understanding of native Welsh inheritance law and the hero's father holding the title of duke, are examples of these inaccuracies). Her characters are well drawn and the lead characters involving. Cain's disability creates interest, as we see how the various characters react to it. When I first read this book I was approximately Leah's age, and a keen reader of medieval-set books so the age of the heroine has never really shocked me, nor the age difference between herself and her husband. (The canonical age for marriage for girls in the Middle Ages was 12). Roberta Gellis has tried very hard to recreate this time period and her interpretation of gender roles in the period is not quite as happy as many writers who have written medieval-set novels more recently. Her heroine is generally obedient, she is relatively submissive. Her husband is warlike, selfish, domineering and overwhelmingly possessive. The double-standard is well and truly alive in this book. Gellis' characters treat marital rape, and wife-beating as normal. Probably the main reason why this book is not in print now is because it would offend the "PC Police". I find this book so well-written that I can overcome my distaste for such scenes, mainly because they fit into the context of the novel, and the time period in which it is set. For anyone interested in following the story further, one of the key secondary characters in this book, Roger of Hereford, features in his own book Knight's Honour. Also a good read, and one I may re-tackle soon. Both books are well worth making the effort to track down.
Set in England during the reign of King Stephen. A noble fifteen-year-old girl is married off--for political reasons--to a neighboring lord. He's a hardened soldier with a foot deformity. She's sweet and innocent. And her father is secretly plotting at very high levels to kill his son-in-law, recoup his own lands as well as his son-in-law's, and consolidate a power base in Wales. A lot of the plot of the book revolves around this scheme and its resolution, as well as related conspiracies involving Henry Plantagenet (later Henry II).The hero of this book is the first romance hero I've read in a long time who is actually horrible in bed! And he's--let's say less abusive to the heroine than her father is. This book is probably historically accurate when it comes to relationships but still sounds horrible to modern people--the husband is possessive, jealous, unfaithful, and inconsiderate, and beats the heroine on a few occasions. The heroine is submissive and uses her tears to manipulate her husband; on the other hand, her own behavior at court shows that she is smart as a whip. I would have liked to see them working together as a team in the court-intrigue-political part of the plot, that would have been more compelling but their lack of trust--for good plot reasons--precluded this.And they call this a romance! or they did in 1975.
What do You think about Bond Of Blood (1985)?
**2.5 stars**I'm very surprised that after having read the entire novel, I found myself giving 3 stars instead of what I expected. Before reading Roberta Gellis for the first time and after seeing such positive reviews on this novel, I thought it would be a 5 star read, but sadly it did not hold up to that. I am kind of disappointed to be truthful. First of all, it more likely sounded like a historical book rather than a historical romance. There was almost no romance in the story between the H&H at all and at any time. At least when I was reading I didn't feel the intimate moments between H&H were anything resembling romantic at all. Their interaction was a summary of typical men and women during that historic medieval time in England. There was also nothing likeable about the hero or heroine either. Both were dry and dull so was the storyline. Sadly, I found myself can't wait to finish the entire book and be over with and ended up skipping pages.
—Dendera
This is not a romance novel. This should be a historical document of how disgusting and disrespectful men were in that era. What a revolting read. I can not believe this book has such high rating; the romance between poor innocent Leah and the hero was so sad and repulsing. The hero was the worst thing ever, he was violent, crude and had an inferiority complex that he kept projecting onto Leah. I have read other books in medieval times, this is one the first that was so bad I almost threw my iPad across the room. I really, really hated this book.
—Didichan
4.5 rounded up to 5I read this one back in June and cannot believe that I haven't written a peep on this beauty. This is a story about an older man (a whopping 29 if I can remember correctly) marrying a tender little thing of 15 or 16? This is an arranged marriage between neighboring families, which was actually a plot by the girl's parents to do in the H so they can take his lands. I loved this story for its details. The author gives us a little history lesson at the beginning, telling us some truths about our knights in shining armor (they stunk to high heaven), what it really meant to lord over a land and what they had to do to maintain their position, as well as the beliefs of society (such as those with deformities being viewed as being of the devil.) I also loved the hero, who was the picture of imperfection. He was beat all to hell, had a limp due to a foot deformity (didn't detract from the story for those who require more perfection), was an insecure tortured soul, was apparently one of those stinky knights mentioned in the preface, and was known to take it whether the woman was willingly giving it up or not (though we never acutally get to see any of this taking followed through to its fruition, but not for a lack of trying.) There is a rather big hard limit: (view spoiler)[He cheats on the heroine, though she made his ass sorry. See! That's why I could've sworn I wrote a review for this story, because I remember I was going to take off a star for that. Well, changed my mind anyway ;D (hide spoiler)]
—Julz
