Category: Tudor Era (1485-1603)

The Tudor period is the period between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England whose first monarch was Henry VII.
Preceded by: Late Middle Ages
Including: Elizabethan era
Followed by: Jacobean era

Alliance with Her Renegade Knight by Lissa Morgan

On By TracyIn Check Content Warning/Triggers, Historical Mystery, Medieval (1066-1540), Medieval - Early (410 - 1066), Middle Ages / Medieval (476-1454), Standalone Title, Tracy's Reviews, Tudor Era (1485-1603)Leave a comment

Alliance with Her Renegade Knight (Harlequin Historical: Medieval)Alliance with Her Renegade Knight by Lissa Morgan

Tracy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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 Wild Flame by Heather McCollum – Review

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Medieval (1066-1540), Part of a Series, Scottish/Highlander, Tudor Era (1485-1603)Leave a comment

The Highlander’s Wild Flame

Barbara’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Brotherhood of Solway Moss #1
Publication Date: 7/23/24
Period: Medieval – 1544 – Isle of Skye, Scotland
Number of Pages: 384

The prologue briefly acquaints us with the four members of the Brotherhood and how it came to be. For me personally, I would have liked that expanded a bit to learn more about their actual escape and the formation of the Brotherhood rather than just learning their escape was successful and they had formed a Brotherhood. These were four expendable members of their clan who had been given to the English for imprisonment in place of a non-expendable member. No, these weren’t common clan members – they were sons and even heirs to the Lairdships of their clans. All were from various warring clans from the Isle of Skye – sworn enemies – who had to learn to work together so they could escape their captivity. I don’t know if we’ll learn more over the course of the series, but I would have liked to see it in this book. There are plenty of spots that could have been skipped or shortened so the Brotherhood formation could have been expanded.

This book follows Rory MacLeod and Seraphina (Sara) MacDonald, but we also learn more about Sara’s brother Kenan who was imprisoned with Rory in the English prison. We also get an interesting set-up for the second book in the series which will feature Kenan.

Rory MacLeod is the second son of Laird Alasdair MacLeod who is a mean, manipulative, hateful, deceitful man who rules his clan with an iron fist. Rory’s brother, Jamie, heir to the lairdship, is a carbon copy of his father. Both Jamie and the Laird have always taken great pleasure in tormenting and manipulating Rory – even to the point of turning him over to the English to serve in Jamie’s place. Oh! They promised they would ransom him out – but they never did. So, over a lifetime, Rory had learned to never, ever, trust anyone – and the one time he did, she was a traitor and spy.

Sara MacDonald, daughter to Laird Walter MacDonald, has grown up as the target of her father’s wrath and ridicule. While she could have grown bitter, wrathful, distrustful, and disdainful, she was a protector and peacemaker instead. Sara was truthful, always truthful, even when a lie would have saved her from harm or humiliation.

Sara has no love for the MacLeod clan because she has always been taught that they are the enemy and only want to destroy the MacDonald clan. However, she agrees to wed Jamie MacLeod to unite the clans and bring peace. Her father’s actions directly after the wedding shocked her! He locked the entire leadership of the MacLeod clan in the church where the wedding ceremony had just taken place and set the church on fire to burn them all to death. At great risk to her own life, Sara finds a way to save them – only to be met with calls for her own death.

There are spies, thieves, and murderers within Clan MacLeod and it is their mission to make Sara appear to be the guilty party. Do they succeed? They do in a way because Rory is very distrustful of anyone and everyone – especially a female MacDonald. Rory was distrustful of Sara in his head, but in his heart, he felt differently. Sadly, too many times Rory allowed his head to rule.

I did enjoy this book and I thought it was a good setup for the second book and the series. That said, I think Rory’s head ruling his heart went on for too long. Another thing was the issue of the ‘annulment’ of Jamie and Sara’s marriage. Just because the priest agreed and the marriage documents were destroyed as soon as the ceremony was over, I believe the marriage would still have been binding at that time in Scotland. During that period in Scotland, all you had to do was declare you were married before witnesses – and you were married – you didn’t even need a priest. So, the marriage was witnessed by both clans – and should have still been legal. After reading some reviews, I was surprised to find that I not only tolerated but somewhat liked Rory. Sara was my favorite character and I was happy to see her get her HEA – and the setup for the next book sounded like a fun introduction to the heroine.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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