This book was ok. I love a strong heroine so that was definitely a good part. The story was fine and to be completely honest, I think the only reason I wasn’t a huge fan was just that it wasn’t really what I was expecting. Maybe I was just surprised.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the arc. All opinions are my own.

This book wasn't my usual fare and it's the first of the series that I read. What I like most about romance is when the protagonists first meet and you know it's going to flourish and that there will be obstacles but it will all be alright in the end. I think the thing that I found difficult about this book was that it started sort of mid-way through the couple's relationship. They were both wonderful characters but I missed an important part of their relationship and therefore never really engaged with the story. It was also a bit longer than I expected. It was still an enjoyable read but I won't be reading more of the series until I can go back and read the first one.

This book was alright. It wasn't my favorite book of the year so far but the author did a good job and I won't hesitate to pick up another book from her in the future.

Lady Raell can fight, ride, and argue politics as well as her brothers. Only being mistress of her father's household keeps her in skirts. In Naed, the new Lord of Druemarwin, she has found devotion, a kindred spirit, and a marriage promise. But when a forgotten and unwanted betrothal comes to light, she has no choice but to run. Amidst sweeping revolution, Naed must rally his people, fend off assassination attempts, and fight against claims he's a traitor. Then he discovers everything about his lineage and family is a lie. And his beloved belongs to another. With lives and a kingdom at stake, Raell and Naed must find a way to protect the innocent and save their love.
This was a pretty decent read. I did like both characters. My problem was how long it was. There just seemed to be a lot extra that didn’t need to be in there. I found myself stopping and starting frequently. Overall, not a bad read though.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

Review Lord of Druemarwin
by Helen C. Johannes

A medieval historical story with it a woman who can think and fight like a man (not known during her time) battles intrigue romance.

This book has everything a good story needs. A bit slow to get going but excellent read if you stick through first few chapters. Throughly enjoyed it even though not a genre I normally read. Really gripping once you get into the storyline.

Lord of Druemarwin is the second book in a series and having not read the first book, I was at a slight disadvantage but this book can absolutely be read on its own. Overall I really enjoyed the storyline and thought the author had strong writing skills that held a readers attention. The romance in the book, while only truly found in a few chapters, is actually enough and the tension is held throughout the entire story. I like the characters overall, even though they did have unusual and hard to pronounce names, they were well developed. The author did a good job of showing the various clans or regions and who was on what side and why. I thought having Raell be such a kick ass female lead was great and she can fight with the best of them too.
This is set in a medieval fantasy setting although there are no dragons or mythical beasts. One thing that did bother me was the use of and mentioning of glass in the castle windows. Medieval fortresses and castles did not have glass and they didn’t really have windows. Glass was expensive and not used regularly in housing until the 17th century, stained glass however was used in cathedrals and churches and in some castles from early on. While no time was given for this story setting, it felt much older to me, as in early medieval times. A minor issue.
There was a lot of repetition and a lot of back and forth talk but needed in order to set the scene. Great action and very real feeling. Good plot lines. Overall a good read for anyone interested in medieval romances.

ARC from NetGalley

I regret not reading the first one. This was a great book. It would have been all the better if I had read the previous book. The romance/action/politics were all well done. I read this book in a span of hours. I have work I should have done yesterday that I did not do today because I had reading to do damnit. This is very sword and sorcery fantasy without the sorcery. I am sure that has its own subgenre, but the name of it is escaping me right now, so there you have it. There is a lot of old timey dialogue, ale, wenchs, etc. Actually... were there wenches? There were no wenches. Wait. One wench, but she didn't do much active wenching. At any rate, lords and ladies and all that good stuff. The romance was well done, steamy. A good book!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This has not influenced my review.

This book started off very strong and remained so for a good 60% of the book, which is high praise considering how long this is. It's very long.

This book did many things right. It handled the multiple perspectives and the switching between them very well as well as it did a very good job building up the romance. I honestly believed that the character loved each other more than the initial "love at first sight"/lust scenario that I often end up reading about. They truly cared for each other and wanted to spend their lives together.

There was a subplot having to do with the politics and marriage alliances. It didn't really come into play until 1/2 way through the book but the first half was littered with seeds so it did not spring up out of anywhere. However, I feel like that part of the book was a bit weaker and more boring as it involved a lot of inner reflection and people just running around and reacting to circumstances and it was the part that brought this down from four stars to three.

The first half was by far the strongest. The speech of all the characters was different than our own which nicely reflected the medieval influenced society as well as the fact that the world is entirely fictitious. It was refreshing. However, this did get tiresome in the latter half of the book. I'm not sure if the writing quality dipped but phases included "yesternight" and "belike" in particular started to sound a bit cheesy. The author did have a large vocabulary which she used excellently. I came across some ancient words I've never read before and was quite glad my kindle dictionary could enlighten me on adjectives being used a way I'd never seen them before (like steepled) or words I'd plainly never heard or read before (like moue). While it was pretty obvious of their meaning through the sentences, I still looked up the definitions out of curiosity and was impressed.

I think fans of the romance genre will enjoy the romance. It was strong and prevalent. There was a bit too much obsessing over one's scent for my liking. With a paragraph dedicated to it in chapter 19:
"Her scent called him. Despite mingled odours of fear and fresh blood and his own sweat, her unique scent teased at his nostrils, arising from her hair, her throat, the delicate shell of her ear. For three heavy heartbeats Naed surrendered, covering her with his body, infusing her with the heating venting from his skin, wanting nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and quiet her shaking."
There was also lots of talk of caged beasts that made me think of werewolves and a supreme protectiveness after the wedding on the last 20% of the book that manifested in Nead thing "Mine" whenever he saw Raell. Those were the only thing that stood out to me though and rest was very enjoyable.

In the end, I think I was hoping for a bit more fantasy than just an alternate world, but the battling and the different culture were done well though I did wish some character had difference vocabulary set or cadence/accent to the way they spoke to distance characters from other countries than just them constantly mentioning how different their customs were. I do think there is precedent for more fantasy, at least in terms of the mythology of the world with the necklaces at appeared throughout the book and it's something that might convince me to pick up the sequel to see if it gets fleshed out more.

So, in conclusion, this is a solid romance in its own world book for people who like historical romance but are bored with the current tropes/time periods/what have you in the genre.

Lady Raell was raised with her brothers to learn how to fight and defend herself. When her betrothed Naed, Lord of Druemarwin, returnes home to rally his brethren at the request of the Prince, Raell soon finds herself trailing after him in order to escape a betrothal she new nothing about and to wed the one she loves. But will they find their happily ever after when unknown forces are set on murdering the Lord of Druemarwin?

This was an amazing read that kept me hooked from beginning to end. This is the second book in the series but I did not feel that I had missed anything important by not reading the first. Ms. Johannes keeps us on the edge of our seat throughout, just when you think you know who the culprit is - you find out something new that leads you in a completely new direction! I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

This book was given to me an an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in an exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated in any way.

This review is in my own words and is voluntarily given for this ARC. I do love a good medieval well written tale. Unfortunately, this one was not enjoyable for me at all. Too many cross chapters and wording verbiage that just didn't flow in my mind. Authors put so much work into their books and so i do not give a review like this easily.