This is a fine book that I would recommend to book clubs. I got some of the generals and army people confused. The sense of place is strong. There is moral conflict as John Riley cheats on his wife with Ximena, although we are rooting for her.

Title: A Ballad of Love and Glory
Author: Reyna Grande
Narrated by: Yareli Arizmendi and Aidan Kelly
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Length: Approximately 13 hours and 32 minutes
Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster. Thank-you!

What period of history would you like to learn more about? I didn’t know much about the Mexican American War, and I was excited to review this audiobook. It was the first historical fiction book I have read that was set during the Mexican American War.

After Texas became the 28th state, a dispute arises between Texas and Mexico over the strip of land by the Rio Grande River. The Mexican American war starts between the United States and Mexico in 1846. As United States Troops come to fight, disputes soon arise as roughly forty percent of the troops are comprised of immigrants. Most of these immigrants are Irish Catholic immigrants. As they find themselves fighting against the Catholic Mexicans who are defending themselves against an invading force, the Irish start to realize they may have more in common with the enemy.

John Riley is an Irish Catholic immigrant fighting in the United States army. His family is still in Ireland and he dreams of bringing his wife and son to America. After facing brutal oppression, Riley joins the Mexican Army with the promise of a grant of land, the ability to practice his Catholic faith, and the ability to advance in the military. He becomes the leader of the St. Patrick’s Battalion of fellow Irish immigrant deserters from the United States army. He meets the beautiful Ximena, a gifted Mexican healer and nurse. Ximena’s beloved husband was killed by Texas Rangers and she decides to help the Mexican Army. Will these two survive the war?

I was riveted by this audiobook. I recently found out that one of my ancestors was a Mexican American War veteran. I was at first put off by the brutal treatment of the Irish immigrants by the United States army officers. I looked it up and discovered that this unfortunately all true and not exaggerated. The Irish immigrants were treated better by the Mexican Army, but they found themselves poorly led and without rations. I enjoyed that real life characters Zachary Taylor and Santa Anna. I thought this was a well-researched story and was fascinating. After this war, the United States gained a lot of territory from New Mexico to California. The author states in an afterward that this is a war the United States has forgotten, but Mexico cannot forget. I learned a lot from this book. I admit, I wasn’t sure what to think about the love story at first because I am not a fan of love stories where someone is cheating on their spouse. I ended up feeling their complicated love story.

Yareli Arizmendi and Aidan Kelly both narrated this novel. They did a great job. The chapters alternated between John Riley and Ximena’s points of view and these two narrators took the parts. I like when two narrators are used for dual narration.

Overall, A Ballad of Love and Glory is a fascinating and unique historical fiction novel. I highly recommend it.

I was so excited by the subject/setting of this novel-- the Mexican-American war and a love story of a Mexican widow and an Irish man who deflected from the American to the Mexican side. I did not enjoy the aspect of the book of the descriptions of battles and the slow pace. I stopped reading halfway through the book as it did not capture my attention..

Loved this historic read! A time period I had little knowledge! Love mixed with war…. Had me glued to the pages!!! Thank you for your ARC!

“We Irish know what ‘tis like to be oppressed by an aggressive neighbor.”

Reyna Grande can really write. This is the first of her novels I have read, but it surely won’t be the last. My thanks go to Net Galley and Atria Books for the review copy; this book is for sale now.

A Ballad of Love and Glory encompasses two genres, romance and historical fiction. It’s the story of John Riley, an Irish immigrant to the USA in the mid-nineteenth century, who is met at the dock by military recruiters that want him and his compatriots to serve in the US army, fighting the war against Mexico. Riley arrives half-starved and worried sick about the fate of his family that he left behind. The promise of soldier’s wages is enough to persuade him, and he enlists.

It's also the story of Ximena, a Mexican naturopath whose husband is killed by Texas Rangers. She follows the army to help care for the wounded; she and Riley are drawn together.

As for me, I am drawn to this tale by my love of military history, whether nonfiction or fiction, and by the unconventional point of view regarding the U.S. land grab. At the time of the annexation of Texas, followed by the war against Mexico, most Americans accepted the official explanation and believed that the war was initiated by Mexican aggression toward U.S. citizens across the border. Some, including an up-and-coming politician named Abraham Lincoln, saw through the ruse and understood that the whole thing was a pretext on the part of the US designed to capture Texas, California, and points in between. This is the background information that I bring with me as I begin reading this novel.

The title and book cover both focus on romance, and if a friend hadn’t mentioned this story, I would have passed it by; most romance is too sappy for my tastes. But an entire brigade of Irish immigrants that jump sides in the midst of the conflict and fight, instead, for Mexico? I have to read this!

Grande honors historical truth in her storytelling, and as such, this is one sad read. The Irish soldiers are treated more savagely by the American-born officers than I had known, and Grande gives us plenty of detail. And although I know, when I begin reading, exactly who wins this war, it’s hard to face the inevitable once I am bonded to these characters.

That said, I do think Grande does a better job with the military end of this thing, and of developing John Riley in other regards, than romance. There’s this tension between Riley and Ximena, because he is a married man with a child back home—and I can guess immediately how this conflict will be resolved. Until that resolution, the tension, part of the “honor” mentioned in the title, is drawn to nearly ridiculous proportions; at one point, as the two are straining passionately toward one another, they both stop simultaneously, whip out their rosaries, and start saying Hail Mary’s together. I threw back my head and laughed!

Nevertheless, this is a wonderful novel. If you enjoy historical fiction; unconventional points of view; working class fiction; or tales of forbidden love, this book is for you. If you are in need of a good ugly cry, this book is your catalyst.

If you’re looking for a historical fiction novel covering a section of history largely glossed over, look no further. A Ballad of Love and Glory is a vivid, hard look at the Mexican-American War.

It's 1846, and the US is pushing hard against the Mexican Army along the Rio Grande River. This “war” is for the land that the US would claim for its own, including the states of Texas and California.

In Mexico, Ximena Salomé watches her husband die as Texas Rangers come and burn their ranch. She escapes and vows to help the Mexican soldiers in any way she can. On the other side of the river, John Riley serves in the US Army. He is an Irish immigrant hoping to earn enough wages to bring his wife and son to the States. But he and his fellow Irishmen continually suffer racism and terrible abuse at the hands of the American soldiers.

John and his fellow immigrant brothers take a risk and desert to the Mexican Army. It is here John becomes the leader of the St. Patrick’s Battalion; it is here he and Ximena meet. Although John fights bravely, nothing prepares him for the horrors he faces.

All he wants is to be with Ximena and to see the shores of his beloved homeland once again.

This book was very heavy on the war and its atrocities. The writing is beautiful, atmospheric, and very detailed, but be ready for grit and gore. It was hard for me to connect to these characters, and I am not a big war history buff, but I can’t deny how well-written this book is.

Thank you to @atriabooks and @simonandschuster for the gifted ebook.

Totally forgot that I read this immersive historical fiction book quite some time ago, and had planned to post about it closer to its publication date. Well … its publication date was March 15 🤦🏼‍♀️. Better late than never.

The year is 1846. After the controversial annexation of Texas, the US Army marches south to provoke war with Mexico over the disputed Río Grande boundary.​ This sweeping historical saga follows Ximena Salome, a gifted Mexican healer who becomes an army nurse, and John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army who, sickened by the unjust war, swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army, a desertion punishable by execution. When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction grows between them and, as the war intensifies, so does their passion. Swept up by forces with a power to change history, they fight not only for the fate of a nation, and their own survival, but for their love and a hoped for future together amidst the atrocities of the Mexican-American war.

A period of history and a war I knew nothing about, particularly as a 🇨🇦, but with impeccable research inspired by true events and actual historical figures, Grande really brought the time period and the events to life. However, while the book was well written and the plot engrossing enough, I felt that the characters were a little under developed, and lacking in nuance (eg. Ximena was a little too perfect), and as a result I didn’t feel particularly invested in the characters and their love story felt a little cliché. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction of this nature so if this is your jam, you might see it in a different light and enjoy it more than I did. The book has received some great reviews. I did appreciate learning a little more about the history of the southern border of my southern neighbour. So there’s that 👍

The writing is absolutely lovely and the setting descriptions were fantastic. I enjoyed the history aspect and learned a lot. The characters were well rounded and interesting. This was missing an emotional piece that kept me from being invested in the story. While a great book, the emotional disconnect kept it from reaching the next level for me. 3.5 ⭐️

A Ballad of Love and Glory by Reyna Grande. Pub Date: March 15, 2022. Rating: 3 stars. This novel takes place during the Mexican- American War and has heart, grit and timely scenes throughout. I love historical fiction, so I was excited to see this book and learn about a time in history I knew little about. The story follows Xemina, a Mexican healer and John Riley, a soldier in the Yankee Army and their struggles, survival, fight and ultimately their passion in their relationship. At its core, this story is heartbreaking and resilient at the same time. I found some of this novel to be long and drawn out, but appreciated the historical context and attention to detail of the time period. Read this book if you enjoy historical fiction! Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this free e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I am truly torn on this one. On the one hand it’s beautifully written and absolutely captivating. But, well, on the other it was pretty boring.
I went in expecting a timeless love story set amid a war I knew nothing about but was looking forward to learning of. And I did in fact end up learning a lot about the war. A lot. Because there were moments when it felt like it would just go on. After a while, I’m sorry to say, the battles just started running together.
Off in the background, like the occasional interlude, the romance that I came for. Almost like a second thought, because there were moments where I would forget about it. It very well could have been written without these two characters ever falling in love. It’s not a romance novel with a war, it’s a war novel with a romance.
But as I said the writing style is well worth sticking around for. And I did learn something I not only didn’t know but had actually never even heard of.

In 1846 Texas, Ximena Salomé's husband was killed by Texas Rangers. With her dream of a quiet life at an end, she turned to being an Army nurse. At the same time, John Reilly deserted the Yankee army after growing disillusioned with the atrocities his nativist comrades perform. He forms the St. Patrick's Battalion to help fight for México's freedom. John and Ximena meet, their love growing as the war does.

The Yankee army was built up from different immigrant groups, and the "native" officers looked down on them, belittled and shamed them at every chance they got, and underpaid them for the continuous effort they demanded. It's no surprise that many deserted for Mexico when they promised fairness and higher wages. John tried to hold onto his honor, but ultimately he endured too much torment. Ximena learned herbalism from her grandmother and had premonitions that went ignored; Texans, Tejano, and the US Army were all concerned about the same territory and revenge for past slights. It's a world of danger and fear, skating the knife-edge of war. It's always the poor that are affected by war and the devastation left in its wake.

I hadn't known at all about the battalions of deserters from the early US Army that fought for Mexico, and this novel fleshed out the indignities they suffered, the damage rendered by the war, and the torment when it was lost. (Not exactly a spoiler on that, we have Texas, New Mexico, and California as a result of winning it.) Many of the characters are based on real people, though little is known about the lives they actually led.

"A Ballad of Love and Glory" combines a lot of concepts that I typically love in novels - historical fiction, a setting during a time of war, a strong female protagonist - but it unfortunately didn't fully deliver.

Reyna Grande's novel focuses on two main characters set during the Mexican-American War the 1840s: Ximena Salomé, a Mexican woman who loses her husband in the midst of the violence, and John Riley, an Irish immigrant conscripted into the Yankee Army, but has more and more difficulty accepting the cruelty of his leaders and troops, even to their own soldiers. The two meet after Riley decides to desert his and join the Mexican Army, at this risk of his own life.

I appreciated the plotline of the story, focusing on a lesser-known period in history, and the atrocities that were committed by the US Army - both to their enemies and to their own soldiers. Where the novel fell short, however, was almost everywhere else; the prose was limited and constrained, the characters were one dimensional and boring, and I never felt personally vested or engrossed in their storyline. I also have some personal qualms over the relationship between Ximena and John, as Ximena had just lost her husband and John was a married man when they met.

Set in Mexico during the Mexican American War. John Riley an Irish soldier fighting on behalf of the Yankees abandons them to fight for Mexico. He is hoping to help Mexico for the freedom they desire that he was unable to get in Ireland. While he is there he falls in love with Ximena who is recently widowed. Their love is epic until he is taken prisoner and Ximena fights to save his life.

The story of Ximena and John was beautiful and I wanted them to save each other. However, that is only half the book, which this part reads so much like a history book, I was torn about putting the book down. While I was intrigued by the history, it got a little too academic at times for my taste.

Overall, I liked this book, but be aware that there is more history than fiction at times in this historical fiction novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A page turner…well written and well researched.
Many thanks to Atria and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

DNF

I am all about the spotlight this book places on a time in history that is most definitely misrepresented and overlooked. I loved that and I Ioved the author's insight at the beginning. That said, I struggled with getting into the story. I think partly because the romance comes with the fact that I was constantly thinking about John's wife and child back in Ireland. The really overshadows the romance for me and I just don't love it. It is also very slow and I am of the opinion if one is not enjoying the read, then it is best to move on. So I am moving on.

Must read historical fiction to expand your historical knowledge beyond the World Wars.

A beautiful book about the love for one another, love for our country and standing up for our morals. I learned so much!

Immigration is the one of the themes I least expected to find in A Ballad of Love and Glory. While immigration is an integral part of wartime conflicts, it is usually portrayed in the sense of the ones being invaded moving to safer territories. I have never read immigration in terms of soldiers from other countries helping and potentially moving to a country they were hired to fight. Through John’s experiences in Ireland, we also glimpse religious tensions and the role they play in making people abandon the groups that disrespect them.

A Ballad of Love and Glory, in a heartbreaking manner through Ximena, is able to convey the effect of changing boundaries and how our perception of where we belong is rooted in our knowledge of history.

Related to immigration is invasion. A Ballad of Love and Glory is the most detailed book I have read in terms of sharing what happens on the battlefield. This is no longer limited to finding a wounded soldier, but actually the physical acts of organizing and training soldiers, working with ammunition, understanding military tactics and formations. This book is more real than most historical fiction I have read because it is about a soldier and a nurse working at the battlefield. Reyna researched this very thoroughly and, in the process, has been able to expose aspects of history that remain buried to people.

For the remaining themes and an in-depth look at the main characters, read the full review on Armed with A Book: https://armedwithabook.com/a-ballad-of-love-and-glory/

Read if you like: immigration experiences, war stories, dual perspectives.
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Following two perspectives as they experience the Mexican American War. We have Ximena, a gifted Mexican header who nurses injured soldiers. We also have John Riley, who is an Irish soldier with the American army who defects to the Mexican army because of the poor treatment of Irish soldiers by the Americans. The book follows their experiences with the war.
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I liked how we got to see the war from these two different perspectives. I didn’t know about the Irish regiment who fought in the Mexican army so I liked learning about that and I really liked Ximena as a main character!
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CW: war, violence, death of a loved one, torture, execution, imprisonments, racism, mistreatment of people.

Totally forgot that I read this immersive historical fiction book quite some time ago, and had planned to post about it closer to its publication date. Well … its publication date was March 15. Better late than never.

The year is 1846. After the controversial annexation of Texas, the US Army marches south to provoke war with Mexico over the disputed Río Grande boundary. This sweeping historical saga follows Ximena Salome, a gifted Mexican healer who becomes an army nurse, and John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army who, sickened by the unjust war, swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army, a desertion punishable by execution. When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction grows between them and, as the war intensifies, so does their passion. Swept up by forces with a power to change history, they fight not only for the fate of a nation, and their own survival, but for their love and a hoped for future together amidst the atrocities of the Mexican-American war.

A period of history and a war I knew nothing about, particularly as a Canadian, but with impeccable research inspired by true events and actual historical figures, Grande really brought the time period and the events to life. However, while the book was well written and the plot engrossing enough, I felt that the characters were a little under developed, and lacking in nuance (eg. Ximena was a little too perfect), and as a result I didn’t feel particularly invested in the characters and their love story felt a little cliché. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction of this nature so if this is your jam, you might see it in a different light and enjoy it more than I did. The book has received some great reviews. I did appreciate learning a little more about the history of the southern border of my southern neighbour.

Thank you to @netgalley and simonandschuster for the advance copy

A richly detailed tale of love during times of war. Settings are vividly described and the historical events provide a suspenseful backdrop that leaves you wondering whether our star-crossed lovers will make it through to peaceful times together or whether the dogs of war will tear them apart. Heart-wrenching drama perfect for any fan of history.

I had a hard time getting into this book but once I did it was really good. It was well written and not a time period I knew much about.