RomanceChallenge2011 - Review
The Border Vixen - Bertrice Small
This author was a "go to" for a very long time. Her "Skye O'Malley" series was one of the romantic series that brought me initially to romance. The Border Vixen revisits Small's beloved 16th century United Kingdom - this time the borders of England and Scotland.
Maggie Kerr is called Mad Maggie because she can out-fight, out-run and out-ride any of her border neighbors. She runs the keep at Asir nam Breug and sees to the pass between her cousins on the English side and her home in Scotland. The pass has been used for peaceful traverse only for the past 500 years. Maggie is, however, the last heir to her grandfather and as such, needs a husband to ensure the future of the Scots Kerrs and the safety of the pass.
Intelligent, beautiful and savvy, Maggie soundly defeats the only suitor willing to take up her challenge. Humiliated, the suitor turns to James V, hoping to secure by royal decree what his skills in the field could not. James the king trusts no one but family and instead sends his cousin, Lord Fingal Stewart to marry Maggie. The king has picked the perfect man, even if he does not know it. Fingal sees he must win Maggie's heart and admiration before even competing and winning her challenge. The pair make a love match of strength, respect and smoldering - more than a match for the border wars, machinations and schemes of all who try to steal their home and the pass it protects, several of which carry this book to its conclusion.
Ms Small paints her heroines with respect - they are bright, learned, strong (or strong-willed sometimes) and every bit a match for the heroes she offers. At one point, her writing of the intimacies between characters seemed to be a little "out there" - but this book returns me to some of my favorite heroines. Mad Maggie is the traditional spitfire, but Fingal Stewart has qualities of a more modern man in his wooing of the young heiress.
If yo've only read the more current offerings of Bertrice Small and were less than "wowed", give this one a try. I hear my old friend "Skye O'Malley" calling me for a re-read.
This author was a "go to" for a very long time. Her "Skye O'Malley" series was one of the romantic series that brought me initially to romance. The Border Vixen revisits Small's beloved 16th century United Kingdom - this time the borders of England and Scotland.
Maggie Kerr is called Mad Maggie because she can out-fight, out-run and out-ride any of her border neighbors. She runs the keep at Asir nam Breug and sees to the pass between her cousins on the English side and her home in Scotland. The pass has been used for peaceful traverse only for the past 500 years. Maggie is, however, the last heir to her grandfather and as such, needs a husband to ensure the future of the Scots Kerrs and the safety of the pass.
Intelligent, beautiful and savvy, Maggie soundly defeats the only suitor willing to take up her challenge. Humiliated, the suitor turns to James V, hoping to secure by royal decree what his skills in the field could not. James the king trusts no one but family and instead sends his cousin, Lord Fingal Stewart to marry Maggie. The king has picked the perfect man, even if he does not know it. Fingal sees he must win Maggie's heart and admiration before even competing and winning her challenge. The pair make a love match of strength, respect and smoldering - more than a match for the border wars, machinations and schemes of all who try to steal their home and the pass it protects, several of which carry this book to its conclusion.
Ms Small paints her heroines with respect - they are bright, learned, strong (or strong-willed sometimes) and every bit a match for the heroes she offers. At one point, her writing of the intimacies between characters seemed to be a little "out there" - but this book returns me to some of my favorite heroines. Mad Maggie is the traditional spitfire, but Fingal Stewart has qualities of a more modern man in his wooing of the young heiress.
If yo've only read the more current offerings of Bertrice Small and were less than "wowed", give this one a try. I hear my old friend "Skye O'Malley" calling me for a re-read.
posted by dmw at 1:34 PM
2 Comments:
I love her older stuff!! Thanks for this review, Diane!
i was almost NOT going to buy it.. but i am glad i did! more than welcome, debra~!
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