Rosalind of Ipsworth and Sir Randel Penigree are both from different sides of the tracks. She's a peasant and he's a knight. They live in the 1200s embarking on a children's crusade to the middle east lead by the young girl Sapphira who has been lead by God in dreams and visions that this is what He is leading them to do.

Rosalind and Randel has a many things in common and both carry very heart wrenching secrets that are eating their souls. They both are seeking forgiveness, and feel that they need to just serve God as a monk and a nun. They get closer in their friendship due to two other problem people on broad the ship. In order to distract Lady Jocelyn and Lord Rumsford from their pursuits, Rosalind and Randel decide to embark on a faux relationship. They decide to act out a romance in order to protect each other.

I also want to note that there is a mysterious character that talks for several pages periodically in the book. It's hard to figure out who this person is that has such animosity towards Randel and the reason behind the feelings. This person also sees that Rosalind is a hinderance to their plan of revenge.

Will Randel and Rosalind be able to over come their hurts and learn to forgive themselves? Will they learn that God forgives them no matter what they have done sinfully? Will Randel and Rosalind soon see the relationship that is budding?

My opinion:
Well... I got this free through Bethany House Publishers for my honest review. This was a very good book once I got into it. At first it felt like a drag to read this book. However, once I got more involved in the grievances of the characters were under going I could relate.

The author was very good at portraying the pain of the Randel and Rosalind. In this generation, Randel would be suffer from Post-Tramatic Stress Sydrome. Rosalind was also dealing with a great amount of regret and gulit.

I recommend this book for younger adults and beyond, because there were some graphic scenes of battles and slashing blood.

First book by this author, great book. Really looking forward to reading more.

So, next up is Courageous by Dina Sleiman. It is the third book in a series called Valiant Hearts. I have not read any of the other books in the series, but had no trouble following along.

courageous

The book’s description:



Inspired by the vision of the Young Lady Sapphira, Rosalind of Ipsworth joins a group of men, women, and children as a defender of the cross, seeking to free captives from prisons near Tripoli. She gladly gives herself to the cause, as she’s haunted by a tragic mistake and no longer deserves such joys of marriage and family might bring.



Sir Randel Penigree was reared to serve in the church, but dreams of protecting the innocent as a knight. Joining a crusade to escape humiliation at home, he finds himself drawn to Rosalind as they partner to train and protect a group of young adolescents. When they face political machinations, danger, and an unknown enemy bent on their destruction, they are forced to reconsider their priorities and the very nature of the God they serve.



My Thoughts:



I believe this book is geared more towards a young adult audience, that doesn’t bother me any. Even though I’m way past that age range, I can still enjoy it. From what I understand, the characters in this book were mentioned as secondary characters in the previous books in the series, which is why you can jump in and read this story without having read the rest.



The characters were likable and of course, you are rooting for them to get together in the end. There is both romance and action in this period story. I also enjoyed Rosalind and Randel’s relationships with the children under their care. And if you couldn’t tell from the description of the book, this is Christian fiction, with a theme of redemption and forgiveness.There were some parts of the characters’ back stories that I was surprised by, but not bothered by. But of course I don’t want to give away what those were. There were also elements to the story behind the Crusades that are clearly still relevant today.

From reading some other reviews, I believe that the previous books in the series might even be better, so I look forward to reading those eventually too.