2017 And The Books I Read This Year

It is the last day of the year and I thought I should do a wrap for the year as pertains to the books I picked up in the year and the ones I finished reading. Prior to the beginning …

By The Sword by Alison Stuart

A romance novel where, for the most part, the hero and heroine live apart. It being a time when letters were the mode of communication, these two had no idea what happened with the other.

Kate Ashley is a young widow who runs her household and is raising her nine-year old son. She does not wish to marry again. Out of the blue, after receiving an invitation to a house named Seven Ways to meet a relative of her late husband whose family has been estranged from that of her husband’s family for a long time.

At Seven Ways, not only she finds friendship but also another love. She finds Jonathan Thornton, a Royalist soldier who has been at war since a decade fighting to keep the rightful King of England on his throne.

There is a catch here. Tom (Kate’s son) is sort of replica of Jonathan Thornton. Family resemblance and all.

 Back to the review.

Jonathan and Kate feel something for each other but they keep their feelings to themselves as both of them know that there is nothing for them in the future because as far as priorities go, Jonathan’s number one priority is his King.

One may wonder, how does their romance stay put?

Here is how.

Though the only times they get chances of being together are in between all the skirmishes and preparations for battle, they remain faithful to each other (unlike other people also mentioned in the novel who only believe fidelity to only to be kept as far as emotions go).

Parliament wins and Jonathan is nothing but a traitor and circumstances demand that he endured self-inflicted exile if he wishes to live. He is no more a free man.

Another catch. When Jonathan finally proposed Kate, she says she will marry him when e will be a free man. She will wait for that day.

While all this plays out, Prescott (a Parliamentarian soldier who hates Jonathan) informs him of his bastard child living in Oxford. He does not know it to be true or otherwise but goes to find the truth of it when he leaves Seven Ways and Kate to live a life in exile. And voila! It is true. He has a daughter who is six years of age.

Not wanting to burden Kate more, he leaves his daughter with an Uncle in London and leaves. And gets caught at the dock and sent to the London Tower.

Having not heard from her love, she seeks out the aforementioned uncle to help her find him as she believes Jonathan to be in trouble. This uncle is also a Parliamentarian but he is Family.

I am not going to give the climax away but it being a Romance there definitely is a Happily Ever After after the reunion which I leave you to find out for yourself.

__________________________________________________

One amazing thing about this one is the not only the dialogue uses the words more popular during the time but the narrative keeps up with that as well. No modern or fancy words to bring you out of the world that is solely the book’s.

The Two Dukes of Wyndham

Following is what Julia Quinn says about her series “The Two Dukes of Wyndham” on her website. Now, I will write what I have to say about the said series. The Two Dukes of Wyndham is a series of course …

Ten Things I Love About You

3rd in the Bevelstoke series by Julia Quinn, Ten Things I Love About You is the story of Sebastian Grey and Annabel Winslow. Neither of whom are Bevelstokes. According to Julia Quinn, the aforementioned series is not about a particular …