James, BROKEN WING
Judith James, Broken Wing
: set in the Napoleonic period, the hero is a former orphaned child raised as a prostitute and the heroine is an unconventional widow who wears trousers and studies astronomy. The book has a very old-school feel; the traveling adventure section in the middle section reminded me of novels like Captain Blood. At the same time, the romance is very tender and emotional. Definitely worth reading, even with what I felt were pacing problems..
It could have been a much longer book. The middle section, in which the hero is off having adventures he doesn't really want to have, and experiencing more angst which he will have to overcome later, has some summarizing, and much of what the heroine's doing during that period is only shown briefly. I found myself getting impatient to have them meet again, so we could get back to the romance, instead of simply enjoying the renegado mercenaries and bloody boy's own adventures and such. By the time I reached the last section, when the hero returns to Europe, I was ready to skip ahead of the final problem hero and heroine must overcome, and had to restrain myself from doing so. I was glad they overcame their problem by actually talking about it.
The book's from Medallion Press, who specialize in romances that are a little bit different, for example a couple set in Australia after World War One, and one set in 11th century India. I'll be interested to see what James does next.
: set in the Napoleonic period, the hero is a former orphaned child raised as a prostitute and the heroine is an unconventional widow who wears trousers and studies astronomy. The book has a very old-school feel; the traveling adventure section in the middle section reminded me of novels like Captain Blood. At the same time, the romance is very tender and emotional. Definitely worth reading, even with what I felt were pacing problems..
It could have been a much longer book. The middle section, in which the hero is off having adventures he doesn't really want to have, and experiencing more angst which he will have to overcome later, has some summarizing, and much of what the heroine's doing during that period is only shown briefly. I found myself getting impatient to have them meet again, so we could get back to the romance, instead of simply enjoying the renegado mercenaries and bloody boy's own adventures and such. By the time I reached the last section, when the hero returns to Europe, I was ready to skip ahead of the final problem hero and heroine must overcome, and had to restrain myself from doing so. I was glad they overcame their problem by actually talking about it.
The book's from Medallion Press, who specialize in romances that are a little bit different, for example a couple set in Australia after World War One, and one set in 11th century India. I'll be interested to see what James does next.