As the story opens, I was expecting an alpha hero, but Giles Fitzhenry is anything but. Gentle and kind, with patience that exceeds my own, it’s clear this conquering warrior’s resume is reflective of the time in which he lives, and the station he is forced to overcome in life, as opposed to who he is inside. His relationship with heroine Fayth is tender and sweet, and he exhibits great understanding, demonstrating that, even in the most tense of moments that he is incapable of unleashing his anger on the people he loves. Nor can he help in inclination to show his enemies mercy, when their fate rests in his honorable hands.
I got stuck in the middle of the story for a bit. As I recently commented of Dreaming of You by Lisa Klepas, which I finished days before completing this story, it’s a long wait before this newly married couple consummates their union. We lose a bit of the spark that ignites when the couple first engages in foreplay, and I got tired of waiting. But, when they do finally come together, the pace picks up.
In spite of my gripes, I found Giles and Fayth extremely likeable and easy to relate to, which is an impressive feat for the author to achieve considering the book is set in 1066. The challenges they’re faced with both individually and as a couple are tremendous and they handle them with honor and grace. (Not sure I would have been able to do the same, under such wild circumstances!)
Some of this story was lost on me – there is just so much going on – but what I loved most about it is the tender relationship between hero and heroine, present from their very first encounter and never lost, not during the black moment or when circumstances are at their most dire. There is an element of trust and concern which simply exists, connecting these well-intentioned characters and developing into something that is so impenetrable, it can withstand anything. I truly felt their love and I greatly enjoyed reading their story.