Series: Brotherhood of the Border, #1
Traits & Tropes: arranged marriage; enemies to lovers
Publication Date: 11.02.21
Genre/Setting: Historical; Medieval; Northumberland, England, 1300
Heat Level: 5
Rating: 4.5/5
Lord Haydn Waryn is furious at his current circumstances. Thanks to a growing distrust of his family’s pro-Scottish leanings, he’s to marry the daughter of one of King Edward’s closest advisors. Haydn is sure the woman is being sent to act as a spy and he has every intention of leaving her at one of his seldom-frequented estates and seeing her rarely, as much as it upsets him that he won’t be blessed with a love match like the one his parents enjoy.
Lady Phillipa has been ordered to keep her father informed of her new husband’s actions as the king suspects him of being a Scottish sympathizer. Her father has threatened the safety of her beloved younger sister to ensure her compliance, but as Phillipa comes to care for Haydn, she must find a way to betray the king to protect the husband she has come to love.
This series is off to a fast-paced and wholly engrossing start with this book. I tore through this story very quickly, which is exceedingly rare for me right now given how short my attention span has been, and I truly didn’t want to put it down. The communication issues between the MCs here, a trope I usually don’t care for, were handled so well, and resolved so quickly that I actually really loved it. I think the way the situation these characters faced was presented and handled here made them seem more real and believable. Haydn and Phillipa both struggled through an untenable situation, and it brought them closer in a very short period of time as they traveled so we also got some delicious road trip forced proximity, which is a trope I adore. I was nervous about this series being set in the tumultuous time of William Wallace and afraid it would make me too stressed about the safety of beloved characters but that didn’t happen. I’m super excited now about the rest of this series and revisiting beloved characters from the Border series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/2816577452
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4311418158
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