Medieval (1066-1540) – Page 2 – Flippin' Pages Book Reviews

Alliance with Her Renegade Knight by Lissa Morgan

Series: Standalone

Release Date: July 1, 2025

Life has not been kind to Isolda Breydon, first her father and brother perished at sea leaving her to run the family wool business, a predominantly male profession whose members did nothing to help her succeed, and then she was betrayed by her betrothed, which left her reputation in tatters. But none of that deterred her, but when the Duke of York crossed King Henry and went into exile, leaving the people in his village at the mercy of the new Lancastrian regime, things became hard for the common man and Isolda could not stay silent. She began anonymously penning scathing poems criticizing the unfair taxes and corrupt leadership. But setting herself against the hierarchy has consequences and she finds herself under the eagle eye of Sir Henry Wevere a knight in the service of the new overlord, the Earl of Shrewsbury. But Henry poses a threat not only to her freedom, but to her heart as well.

Sir Henry Wevere has been sent to Ludlow to find the author of the disparaging poems, and he too has more than his fair share of heartache and has vowed to never love again. But when he meets Isolda, his heart refuses to listen to reason and falls fast and hard for her. When he realizes that she is the author of the poems he is torn between his duty and his heart. He tries to get to the truth and finds himself falling harder for Isolda, but can he risk his heart or should he turn from love and just concentrate on doing his job?

I loved the blurb for this book and really liked Isolda and Henry, they are wonderful characters. I loved how well Isolda and Henry worked together against the injustice, and it was easy to believe their love for each other as well as their fear of embracing that love. Overall, I liked this story, but I did feel that it was repetitive at times, especially concerning their individual heartaches, and I found that a bit frustrating. But if you prefer a slow burn, no spice type of love story, with intense feelings, then this story is definitely for you. Please note, this story does have deep roots in grief, so if that is a sensitive subject for you, I would suggest checking the content warnings before reading this book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

The Highlander’s Fallen Angel by Heather McCollum

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Brotherhood of Solway Moss, #2

Release Date: April 29, 2025

Widow Tierney MacNicol’s father betrothed her to Ranulf Matheson, and now that her father has gone missing, her cousin Asher MacNicol has left and her clan has been decimated by war and sickness, Ranulf is insisting that she marry him, but lucky for Tierney there was a clause in the betrothal contract stating that the contract would be void if Tierney marries another clan chief. To save herself and her daughter from another brutal man, Tierney needs Kenan Macdonald, and desperate times call for desperate measures! During the wedding for Kenan’s sister Sara and Rory MacLeod, Tierney steals Kenan’s flying machine and crashes it into the ocean, which leads to Kenan saving her and ultimately leads to her taking him captive. She needs to convince Kenan to return with her to Scorrybreac and pretend to be her husband. But nothing could have prepared her for Kenan Macdonald…

Kenan Macdonald has the weight of the world on his shoulders, he was held prisoner for 18 months by King Henry after the Battle of Solway Moss and returned home only to lose his father, be betrayed by his own brother, watch his castle burn and now have his flying machine stolen – again! All Kenan wants is a united Scotland and the bonds he made in prison with his fellow captives are a good start to that, in fact he is on the brink of making an alliance with the powerful Mackinnon clan by marrying Cyrus Mackinnon’s sister Grace. Things are finally looking up, until Tierney MacNicol crashes into his life – literally. She threatens everything he has been working for and her interference could drag his clan into a war, but there is something about her that intrigues him and question everything he has planned.

I am not sure how I feel about this story – I loved Kenan and Tierney, but I didn’t really care for the inequality of the characters. Both Kenan and Tierney have suffered at the hands of others and have been subjected to life-altering horrors that reforged both of them. Overall, this was an interesting story with a strong heroine, a hero who really is a hero, a lot of action, emotion, heartache, betrayal, warm love scenes, wonderful secondary characters, evil villains, redemption and finally a HEA. The problem I had with this story is that while their experiences have changed them both, the reader is still urged to believe that Tierney’s needs and wants are more important than Kenan’s – I just don’t care for stories where one character surrenders their desires to make the other character happy rather than coming to a mutual compromise. This is the second book in the series and could be read as a standalone title, but I would recommend reading the series in order for the best reader experience. It should also be noted that readers with sensitivity to spousal abuse, imprisonment, and spousal rape should read the content warnings before reading this book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *

Share this:

Share this: