SCOUNDREL’S KISS Carrie Loty, Zebra, 2010, $5.99, pb, 361pp, 9781420104769 Ada o Keyworth is unusual or a medieval woman. Educated by her amily, she’s adventurous, headstrong, and strikingly beautiul—but she’s also addicted to opium and on the run rom debtors. Gavriel de Marqueda has plenty o his own problems, but when he nds Ada being auctioned as a slave, he liberates her, and in the process makes her problems his own. As the pair journey across Spain, they nd that they have more in common than they expected, and they also nd that their chemistry is undeniable. Troughout the novel, Loty avoids the easy clichés o the genre in avor o the original. Te 13 th -century Spanish setting is unique or historical romance, and Loty makes good use o the history o the era. Struggles between royal houses, tension between Spaniards and Moors, and monastic history gure prominently. But like any good historical romance, the love story eclipses all else, and it’s a scorcher. Both characters are damaged, but their love or each other helps them heal their wounds. Scoundrel’s Kiss is thoroughly enjoyable, and I look orward to reading Loty’s uture historicals. Nanette Donohue THE WHALER’S FORGE Christine Echeverria Bender, Caxton, 2009, $16.95, pb, 201pp, 9780870044748 Over a centur y beore Columbus “ discovered ” the New World, Basque whalers were already hunting whales and setting up whaling camps in what are today Canada’s Atlantic maritime provinces. In this well-researched novel set in 1364, Bender tells the story o Kepa de Mendieta, a harpooner who is presumed drowned ater his boat is capsized by a whale; his shipmates return to Spain without him, leaving only a gravestone on the beach in his memory. He is rescued by Achaku, a beautiul Indian healer, with the help o a riendly whale. Kepa, who is himsel practiced in the medical arts, is entranced by Achaku’s beauty and kindness as well as the savage beauty o a strange new land. As the days pass, Kepa orges close bonds with Achaku and her community, realizing all the while that he would return to Spain when the whaling feet came back in the spring. Or would he? Would the love that is undeniably growing between him and Achaku hold him there orever? Bender’s research in writing this novel was meticulous—including joining a Smithsonian Institution archaeological dig at a Basque whaling site in Canada—and it shows, not only in her depiction o Basque whalers and their whaling methods but in the customs and culture o the native people as well. Te Whaler’s Forge is an entertaining and inormative read or anyone interested in knowing more about pre-Columbian explorations o North America and its native people. John Kachuba THE HIGHLANDER’S SWORD Amanda Forester, Sourcebooks Casablanca, 2010, $6.99/C$8.99/£3.99, pb, 337pp, 9781402229480 Destined or lie in a convent, Lady Aila Graham nds hersel exchanging marriage vows with Sir Padyen MacClaren. Facing devastation wrought when their crops are torched in 1347, her ather needs strong warriors to deend Graham lands. With Padyen’s people destitute ater his long absence ghting in France, marriage is the only way to save them. A previou s woman’s betrayal, however, results in a misunderstanding on his wedding night. Tis rit between the couple permits a traitor within the Graham clan to set a trap that eventually leads to Aila’ s imprisonment and possible destruction o the Grahams and Padyen. Only love and trust will stop the impending evil, but are the tenuous ties between Aila and Padyen strong enough to bring them together and protect those they love? Tis is a typical historical romance, set predominately in the Lowlands, albeit with a ew missteps in the historical research, like the wearing o a belted plaid and calling the two-handed great sword a claymore. In spite o this, readers in search o a story that transports them to medieval Scotland where men and women, who prize honor and duty , ace evil villains should enjoy this tale. Cindy Vallar NO LAW IN THE LAND Michael Jecks, Headline/raalgar Square, 2009, £19.99/$24.95, hb, 384pp, 9780755344185 Make no mistake about it: in Michael Jecks’s latest Knights emplar Mystery, No Law in the Land, there is no law and precious little justice or anyone. Set in October 1325, the story centers on Baili Simon Puttock and Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, Keeper o the King’s Peace, and the lawlessness they encounter upon their return to England ater escorting Queen Isabella to France. When Simon and Sir Baldwin inorm King Edward II that the queen has no intention o ever returning to England, Edward is urious and dismisses Simon and Baldwin rom court. Meanwhile, Osbert, a villain worthy o any C O, JULIET Robin Maxwell, NAL, 2010, $15.00, pb, 352pp, 9780451229151 Maxwell delivers a mesmerizing retelling o the amous star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, in her latest novel, set in Italy at the beginning o the Renaissance. Juliet Capelletti is a headstrong, intelligent young lady who is acing an arranged marriage to Jacopo Strozzi, her ather’s new business partner. She does not look orward to her match but knows that it will make her parents happy. Juliet’s entire uture is orever changed one night at the engagement party o her best riend, Lucrezia, when she meets the handsome Romeo Monticecco. Romeo is at the party to seek reconciliation between his amily and the Capelettis, who have been euding and retaliating against each other or years. Juliet and Romeo nd a chance to talk together alone under the stars, and their destiny unolds. Both are surprised by the other’s passion or poetry and shared interest in Dante Alighieri’s Vita Nuova. Ater their rst meeting, Juliet is determined to nd a way out o her upcoming marriage to Jacopo, even though this means deying her amily’s wishes or her and possibly destroying the business between her ather and her betrothed. What unolds is a beautiul love story between the soul mates Romeo and Juliet. Maxwell realistically po rtrays the torment with which Juliet is aced as she wonders what her uture holds. Te things I enjoyed the most about the novel were how Maxwell drew parallels between Dante and his love, Beatrice, and Romeo and Juliet, and her use o poetry and quotes rom Dante throughout the novel. Readers will savor this exquisite and magical love story. Troy Reed EDITORS’ CHOICE | 14th century | HNR Issue 51, February 2010 | Reviews | 25 1th Century — 14th Century