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1333. Edward III is at war with Scotland. Nineteen-year-old Sir Harry de Lyon yearns to prove himself in the war, and jumps at the chance when a powerful English baron, William Montagu, invites him on a secret mission with a dozen elite knights. They ride north, to a crumbling Scottish keep, capturing the feral, half-starved boy within and putting the other inhabitants to the sword.But nobody knows why the flower of English knighthood snuck over the border to capture a savage, dirtyteenage boy. Montagu gives the boy to Harry as his squire, with only two rules: don't let him escape, and convert him to the English cause.At first, it's hopeless. The Scottish boy is surly and violent, and eats anything that isn't nailed down. Then Harry begins to notice things: that, as well as Gaelic, the boy speaks flawless French, with an accent much different from Harry's Norman one. That he can read the language - Latin, too. And when Harry finally convinces the boy - Iain mac Maíl Coluim - to cut his filthy curtain of hair, the face revealed is the most beautiful thing Harry has ever seen.With Iain as his squire, Harry wins tournament after tournament and becomes a favourite of the King. But underneath the pageantry smoulders twin secrets: Harry and Iain's growing passion for each other, and Iain's mysterious heritage. As England hurtles towards war once again, these secrets will destroy everything Harry holds dear.… (más)
I was immediately intrigued to read a queer romance set in late medieval England. Besides the romance aspect, there is a lot of insight into knighthood and tournaments, royal lineage, and farming tenements. I'm not a historian by any means but it read like de Campi really did their research and brought this small part of the world to life for me. However, readers should be aware that Ian and Harry's relationship is the main point of the book. While the book does take place during Edward II's continued war with Scotland, that's just the setting, not the plot, so if one goes in expecting a lot of real world historical references or to learn something about the time, they'll be disappointed. While I really enjoyed this book, there was a few issues as always. The formatting of the writing when Harry is internally grappling with his sexuality and its consequences in a Christian-ruled nation goes into weird poetry formatting with short stops and things which are obviously meant to create impact but it doesn't really flow with the rest of the book. There also is hardly any character development with Harry as he doesn't seem to really learn anything from his time with Ian besides that he likes anal. This would have been a good opportunity for Harry (and thus the reader) to learn more about medieval Scotland or perhaps why Ian was so important to Edward I and his house in the first place but he's too occupied with running his farm, fighting off his childhood friend turned enemy from taking his farm, and also touching Ian's bits whenever he could without someone catching them. Past reviewers complained about the amount of sex in this book - while that wasn't a problem for me, an avid reader of historical MM romance, it's definitely something readers should be aware of ahead of time. The cover shouldn't have to be plastered with two ripped models in each other's arms for people to realise this is first and foremost a romance novel. I'd recommend this to more mature and seasoned MM historical fiction readers. ( )
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book when I started it, but it delivered an intriguing package of historical fiction, adventures, secret identities and romance. ( )
1333. Edward III is at war with Scotland. Nineteen-year-old Sir Harry de Lyon yearns to prove himself in the war, and jumps at the chance when a powerful English baron, William Montagu, invites him on a secret mission with a dozen elite knights. They ride north, to a crumbling Scottish keep, capturing the feral, half-starved boy within and putting the other inhabitants to the sword.But nobody knows why the flower of English knighthood snuck over the border to capture a savage, dirtyteenage boy. Montagu gives the boy to Harry as his squire, with only two rules: don't let him escape, and convert him to the English cause.At first, it's hopeless. The Scottish boy is surly and violent, and eats anything that isn't nailed down. Then Harry begins to notice things: that, as well as Gaelic, the boy speaks flawless French, with an accent much different from Harry's Norman one. That he can read the language - Latin, too. And when Harry finally convinces the boy - Iain mac Maíl Coluim - to cut his filthy curtain of hair, the face revealed is the most beautiful thing Harry has ever seen.With Iain as his squire, Harry wins tournament after tournament and becomes a favourite of the King. But underneath the pageantry smoulders twin secrets: Harry and Iain's growing passion for each other, and Iain's mysterious heritage. As England hurtles towards war once again, these secrets will destroy everything Harry holds dear.
While I really enjoyed this book, there was a few issues as always. The formatting of the writing when Harry is internally grappling with his sexuality and its consequences in a Christian-ruled nation goes into weird poetry formatting with short stops and things which are obviously meant to create impact but it doesn't really flow with the rest of the book. There also is hardly any character development with Harry as he doesn't seem to really learn anything from his time with Ian besides that he likes anal. This would have been a good opportunity for Harry (and thus the reader) to learn more about medieval Scotland or perhaps why Ian was so important to Edward I and his house in the first place but he's too occupied with running his farm, fighting off his childhood friend turned enemy from taking his farm, and also touching Ian's bits whenever he could without someone catching them. Past reviewers complained about the amount of sex in this book - while that wasn't a problem for me, an avid reader of historical MM romance, it's definitely something readers should be aware of ahead of time. The cover shouldn't have to be plastered with two ripped models in each other's arms for people to realise this is first and foremost a romance novel.
I'd recommend this to more mature and seasoned MM historical fiction readers. ( )