Bayard de Villone is forced, through political and familial manoeuvring, to enter a contest to win a particular woman, Esmeraude of Ceinn-beithe, as his bride. Esmeraude is attracted to Bayard from the beginning, but refuses to marry without a declaration of love. Bayard, for his part, sees love as a weakness he will never succumb to. Or at least never admit to. Hijinks and flirtation ensue as Esmeraude tries to coax a declaration out of her stubborn knight.I've read a fair amount of historical fiction and this stands out as much less frustrating than most. There are a few things that I really enjoyed:1) The hero has a sense of humour about his heroine’s adventures, and admits early on that he would not like her if she were typical. I hate heroes who cling to a feeble belief that a meek and obedient woman is what they want and need. 2) My other pet peeve with romance novels generally is that authors often create conflict by making characters behave in unrealistic or uncharacteristic ways, which is easily enough to ruin a book for me. I like that both Esmeraude and Bayard have reasons to behave the way they do, and their behavior almost never goes beyond what their histories would justify. The only time I felt a bit disappointed was when Bayard changed his opinion so drastically just because Esmeraude was in danger. The author didn’t sell that shift for me.3) The book isn’t solely focused on the two main characters. It also deals with their families, with all the love and dysfunction that families can bring. I enjoyed these parts for the secondary characters themselves and also for the insight they bring to Bayard and Esmeraude’s motivations.I have a few minor complaints, as well:1) The bits with Lady Fortuna and the saints seemed totally out of place to me, not adding anything particularly and just taking up space.2) The whole magical vine thing just seemed so out of place in a book that otherwise stuck fairly closely to historical fact. Why bother? It doesn’t particularly drive the plot, and again just seems to be taking up space. The author seems to be trying to straddle fantasy and historical fiction without completely committing to either.Overall, though, I really enjoyed the book. It made a nice light read for a spring day.
The Temptress (Bride Quest 6) by Claire Delacroix. With quasi-archaic ye know naught the knots of yearning plots that perplex and beset, overly feminist inclinations, family from the series, another shrew-taming variation unfolds. More light than serious, much introspection, magic extraneous. Leisurely rhythm soothes, homage to traditional tales."Esmeraude knew that she would have need of naught for all her days and nights than this knight" Bayard, loyal Crusader for King Richard. "Will would find the way". "She was unpredictable", foolish, selfish. She runs off with just an old maid, leaves riddles for suitors to follow, risks rape, sleeps with (to her, not him) a stranger, "shooting star blazing" on p66/376. Despite good advice, "You cannot tell which man will hold your heart with so little as a glance, regardless of what the old tales say", she flirts and more, learning another's "kiss made her think of the lips of fishes". Stubborn, "her heart had known Bayard from the first ... she would force Bayard to confess". Deeds are not enough, she insists on the L-word. She starts to take on responsibility, gives "counsel for those hens disinclined to surrender their eggs". But the goddess Fortuna decides to trip up her formerly favored hero. A strong silvery vine flourishes in time with his wooing ballad of Tristan, that engages her attention like Scheherazade. (Spoiler: He throws away his heritage for her view of honor (love achieves no property), and only his brother's love and courage provides for the newlyweds. The saints and vine are diverting, but could be made use of more to advance the story.)
