Review of Fires of Winter

Fires of Winter

Roberta Gellis

Sourcebooks Casablanca

ISBN 9781402255014

   The family of Melusine of Ulle is destroyed by the ravages of war. She is taken in by King Stephen and his Queen; but the Queen considers her a threat to the crown because of her connection to Scotland. Since she does not trust her, she is forced to marry the King's right hand man, Bruno. Bruno shows complete loyalty to the King so Queen Maude feels this is the best way to keep watch over Melusine.

   Melusine is completely lost in her grief due to the loss of her entire family and is to all appearances completely mad. The Queen is not convinced and thinks it is all an act, albeit a very good one. Melusine and Bruno have absolutely nothing in common; but eventually sparks smolder and affection and love develop.

   This is the second in the Tales of Jernaeve series. The first book is A Tapestry of Dreams. I did not read the first book; but this book can be easily read as a stand alone. The description of the book, as well as, the book cover is very deceiving. I chose this book because I thought it was going to be an historical romance. There is a romance in the book; but I found the book to be consumed with more historical fact then anything else. The author did a fantastic job of research for the book; but this is not why I wanted to read it. Since I am not a real history fan, I cannot say I enjoyed the book. Readers who enjoy factual descriptions would do well with this book. If you are looking for a real romance, you will not find it here.

   The book is written in the first person and alternates between Bruno and Melusine chapter for chapter. There is a considerable amount of information that is repeated between the two and tends to drag the story on forever. I am not fond of first person writing so this was another strike against this book for me. Why did I read the book? From the information that was provided concerning the book, I had a totally different impression of what I was getting into. Even though I would not recommend this book, historical fiction fans may enjoy the book.

   I wish to thank Sourcebooks for providing me with an ARC for reading and reviewing purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. I was not compensated in anyway except for receiving the review copy.

I give Fires of Winter 2.5 out of 5 stars.