Heart of Vengeance
Tracy Cooper-PoseyHistorical romance
Available from Cerridwen Press
ISBN: 9781419924040
July 2010
| Helena has been living a lie for well over a year now, ever since her father was found murdered in the middle of a field. She is now in Oxford with her sponsors, Lady Catherine Fitzwarren and her husband, and has assumed the identity of Lady Isobel of Brittany. The only reason they are now in Oxford is due to the King�s Chief Justiciar, Hubert Walter, calling a Great Meeting. He has heard from King Richard and is about to share this information with the ruling families of England. Helena has received information about her father�s murder from a trusted source. This leads her to York. How will Helena talk her sponsors into going to York?
Stephen, Count of Dinan, well knows what it is like to live under the king�s disfavor. He is �persona non gratis� wherever he goes. It is well known he is still King Richard�s man, even though he is disfavor. This doesn�t stop Count John�s men from trying to win his favor. Stephen, or the �Black Baron� as he is commonly called, has never lost a tournament. Men actually pay him not to fight. He�s not pleased to have been called to this Great Meeting. While working on some sewing for her sponsor, Helena runs out of thread. She goes to a little used room in an effort to find some and runs right into Stephen. He knows she isn�t Isobel, but agrees to keep the information to himself. He offers her trust and asks no questions she isn�t willing to answer. There is an immediate attraction between the two of them. Will Helena ever trust Stephen with her identity? Who murdered her father and why? What has Stephen done to earn the king�s disfavor? Will he ever win back the king�s favor, or will he remain in disgrace? What of the attraction between Stephen and Helena? HEART OF VENGEANCE is a superbly written story of the time of King Richard. The Normans have taken over England and Robert, Earl of Loxley, is ruling Sherwood Forest. Tracy Cooper Posey transports us back to a time long ago, when injustice was normal and earning the king�s disfavor could prove fatal. I really love the way Tracy Cooper Posey used the character of Robin Hood in this story as well. Even though he wasn�t one of main characters, his legend was part of the focus of HEART OF VENGEANCE. I also enjoyed the strength of the hero and heroine and how they related to each other as equals. Helena is a very strong, capable young woman who has lived with more than her fair share of loss. Stephen was coping with the time he spent as a slave in the Holy Land. This is a very realistic medieval tale I highly recommend.
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Reviewer: Chere |
