I stuck it out with this lengthy historical romance, which gets off to a really slow start. And when I say “start” I’m referring to the first 268 pages of the book. Jennifer Blake is a master at detail, however, so little happened for me for such a long time that it was surely my refusal to put down a book once I’ve started reading it that urged me to continue. Sonia Bonneval is to be delivered to her awaiting groom, Rouillard, and who better to accept the job than Kerr Wallace, master swordsman who, by no coincidence, despises the man awaiting them at the end of their journey, the man who is responsible for his brother’s death. The premise is intriguing enough but the book drags on for a considerable amount of time as Sonia and Kerr, who share a mutual attraction, one which develops far too slowly in my humble opinion, await their fate as their days slowly pass onboard a ship headed to Mexico. Perhaps I’m exaggerating, or simply don’t have a photographic memory of everything I read in those early pages, but get ready for a ton of introspection, lengthy descriptions of what everyone’s eating for dinner and other such erroneous details, and eventually a kiss, after which the tension continues, mainly on Kerr’s part, but it will still be a considerable amount of time before anything to speak of actually happens.
The big shift of events occurs when the ship Kerr, Sonia and the others are sailing on is attacked by the Mexicans and Kerr and Sonia, who are on deck at the time, escape a dramatic episode only to end up taking the rest of their journey, on foot, along their own dramatic course. Though I wasn’t particularly riveted by the attack itself, it serves as a major turning point as hero and heroine, who’ve now been fighting their attraction to one another for more than half the book, are left to their own devices. As they fight to survive in the wilds of Mexico, it is soon learned that they share a mutual hatred of the man they’re headed to see and it isn’t long after when Sonia devises an ingenious plan. Now abundantly aware of Kerr’s attraction to her, as she’s been trotting around in the equivalent to underwear of her day, she considers that perhaps Rouillard wouldn’t be so keen on taking his bride to be for his wife if she were “ruined.” She puts her proposition straight to Kerr and then, for the next 114 pages this book quickly turns from being a toss-aside to one of the most exciting stories I’ve ever read. Kerr and Sonia’s attraction sparks from a low flame to a roaring fire, and it’s a matter of seconds before they’re acting on their passion, passion which becomes a drug as, once they give into it, it seems they can’t get enough. Their final time together, or at least, what they believe will be their final time, is as hot as the first, described in red hot detail which brings their erotic experience to life and sets the stage for the next suspenseful twist, when Rouillard’s men appear from what feels like nowhere and shoot Kerr (not dead, but he’s injured pretty badly) and take him and Sonia prisoner.
Ms. Blake wastes no time showing us what a truly evil man her villain, who’s finally on-screen so to speak, really is. We learn of his crimes, including the ones Sonia’s father is involved in (gasp!). And with Kerr locked in a secret room and Sonia at his mercy, Rouillard is determined to know one thing – what happened between Wallace and his bride to be when the two of them were alone. Sonia, who’s essentially realized her plan was a whopping failure, (ya think??) attempts to find and rescue Kerr on her own but her plan fails yet again and when she and Kerr are backed against the wall, Kerr proposes the one card he has, challenging Rouillard to a duel. The duel takes a dramatic twist and ends in a stunning conclusion that had me on the edge of my seat, bringing the very exciting and suspenseful portion of this story to a close. I would have been happy to see the book end shortly thereafter, keeping the excitement level high, especially since the conflict has essentially been resolved for Kerr and Sonia, something they might have realized if only they’d talked to each other. But alas, they DON’T talk to each other, at least not right away and instead we get another 30 pages of introspection and dragging things out. Fortunately, I was completely invested at that point. And the ending is VERY satisfying, when at last it comes.
Kid yourself not. This book may get off to a slow start but when it gets good, it gets really, really good! If I were strictly rating pages 268 – 382 I would have given it 5 stars without question. Honestly, you can probably skim a lot of what happens before that time and simply jump ahead, if you really have no patience at all. Or, if you’re like me, just push through those early pages and when you get to the good part, you’re in for a real treat. It took a while, but I really enjoyed Gallant Match. You’ve still got it, Jennifer Blake!