Medieval Romance

Azalais goes on a mission to rescue her father, dressed as a man. She finds it difficult to keep her disguise. She sings in harmony with her knight, and she is falling in love with him. What happens when William finds out her identity? It is a dangerous journey. The two minstrels will face many obstacles. When they reach France, can they ransom her father? William is a poor knight. Could he marry a woman like her? If you like Medieval romance, you might enjoy this story.

4.5 stars

I enjoyed this medieval read. William is a Knight and is asked by his friend Ben to look after a minstrel. This minstrel is going to France to rescue his father. Alain is supposed to be illegitimate and it's been left to him to rescue the father because the heir finds it expedient not to have the father around. In actual fact Alain is Azalais, Ben's legitimate sister who is escaping from a lecherous would be spouse imposed on her by the dodgy elder brother.

There's lots of earthy humour and refrences to sodomy but Willaim, attracted to the life of a troubadour, accepts the quest and it takes a long time for him to sort out his fellow singer is actually female.

Cara is a new author to me and I will look out for more of her work. It was pleasing that Azalais actually saved the day herself and didn't have to rely on Guillam.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This story takes place in 1367. A time when a woman had no choices in her life at all. Azalais de Keldy wants to rescue her father in France, who has been imprisoned and held for ransom for two years. Azalais is hopeful by rescuing her father she will have the freedom to chose who to marry. She ends up dressed as a boy traveling with Sir William of Fauconberg who has been tasked to protect "the boy".
Overall, I enjoyed reading this story about minstrals, and the populations overall view of them at that time period. Singing and performing for a meal and a place to sleep, usually on the floor, sounds like a hard life.
I look forward to reading the next story in the series.

This book was confusing.
Spoiler alert:
It seemed written in the medieval time, but the way the characters spoke and the topics of conversation were not historic to the period.
The young sisiter of a monk tells her brother that she is going to ransom her father because the eldest brother is waiting for their father to die as a hostage so he doesn't have to pay the ransom. The heroine has brought jewelry from her decesed mother to pay the ransom. The jewelry makes up her dowry. The monk brother had asked his childhood friend who wants to be a minstrel and not a knight anymore to take his "bastard half-brother" to ransom their father. The friend, the hero, promises to keep the young "man" safe. The hero,who is a talented minstrel listens to him play and sing and is won over. They will make money on the way to ransom the father. But two travelling minstrels get into trouble. They are not rich. And minstrels have to sing for their supper and meet some very low class people. The heroine thinks the hero sleeps with every woman and the hero can't understand why he is attracted to the young "man".
This book was written in the medieval period where a woman dressed as a man would be put in an asylum since she was pretending to be a man. I think this book had promise, but the story ws stretched too far. It did not read like a romance. They were very matter of fact about her dressing this way and this was the period of chivalry, not women being independent! A woman was supposed to let her man protect her, she was not supposed to protect the man. I give this book 3 stars. I was not impressed with the story, but I did like the characters a little. I do not recommend this being a first choice to read.

1367

Transport yourself back to medieval times, when a lady is desperate to get out of her brother's grip so she will not have to marry a brute he has picked out for her.

She disguises herself as a boy and a minstrel to work her way to her father. Unexpectedly she comes into the company of William, a knight, who shares her love of music.

A journey of secrets, disguises and a slow developing attraction!

tl;dr
A steamy historical romance centered around a love of music with just a splash of danger. Plot is a little thin.

About
Lady Azalais' father is being held for ransom, and her brother seems content to leave him to die. With no other options, she decides to disguise herself as a minstrel and retrieve him herself. But the journey is a dangerous one, and she'll need an escort. Sir William is a knight who prefers music over killing, so when the opportunity arrives for him to escort a minstrel through dangerous territory on a secret mission, he jumps at the chance. The two of them instantly bond over a shared love of music, but as the journey winds on, they might find they have a lot more in common. If their secrets don't separate them first.

Thoughts
Fans of romantic pining and steamy lovemaking scenes rejoice - this book has both of those in spades. The leads spend a lot of the book pining for each other, separated by societal expectations. When they finally decide to eschew said expectations, they dedicate a lot of energy to making up for lost time. Interestingly, the scenes in which they play music together are written with the same sort of intimate language as sex scenes. I was initially surprised, but that choice lends powerful support to their romantic connection and makes their interest in each other a lot more stable. I was also surprised by the thoughtful portrayal of Azalias' emotional experience with disguising herself as a man - specifically her feelings of vulnerability and self-consciousness. The plot itself is fairly straightforward, with very little by way of political intrigue.

Potential readers should be aware that sexual assault is one of the recurring themes of the book. There are two actual events (not between the MCs), a couple threats, and a lot of discussion on the topic.

Lady Azalais needs to hide from her brother and ransom her father who is being held in France. She has a mad idea about how to do it but needs the help of her other brother who is a monk.

Sir William is a second son whose father demands he return to the fighting. William would much rather make a living as a wandering minstrel.

Our characters take a journey full of discovery about music and the power it holds on the very souls of the people who play it.

It is an amusing and dangerous journey. Will they complete it with the desired results or must it be abandoned??

An interesting read.

I thought this book was overly long and tended to drag, especially before they made it to France. I wasn't too impressed with Sir William of Fauconberg /Guilhem the Minstrel in the beginning. He was much too flippant. My impression gradually changed after he and Alain/Azalais de Keldy landed in France and began their journey. I can understand why Azalais wanted to wait until they got to France to tell Will she is a woman, but it was even longer after that before she did. May be too long?
The overall story to ransom her father was interesting, but ended very anticlimactic. I was more interested in this part of the story and less interested in how they made the music.
Overall I still gave it a 4* rating and would be interested in reading another book by this author.
Heat level 4
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I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book

I enjoyed the development of passion between Sir William and Lady Azalais. Every chapter left you wanting more. Cannot wait to learn what happens in the next book.