Thank you Netgalley for the eARC. I am not sure how I feel about this book. It was not what I was expecting, thats for sure. There were too many characters for me.

Really enjoyed this book. The plot was fast paced and historical facts were accurate to the best of my knowledge. It did seem wordy at times.

The premise of this story sounded promising and caught my attention. In my opinion the story is slow to start but I kept at it and it picked up quickly, I was engrossed with the plot, The main characters at first kind of annoyed me. But as the story continued I could see the their growth. An entertaining historical fiction story and a great plot.

Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and Greenleaf Book Group for this review copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Symbol Maker’s Daughter is set during the War of the Roses.
Lord Weldon began having dreams and he recreates the symbols he sees in these dreams in pieces of jewelry. When his home is seized and he is imprisoned in his dungeon he enlists his daughter Nicola to bring the pieces to Henry Tudor. Nicola, honoring her Father’s wishes escaped the house and sets out to deliver these symbols on a perilous journey.

While on the journey, she receives help from a cast of characters most notably Dru a prince from a neighboring country and Lizzie a young woman who has not had a privileged life.

A slow read but a wealth of history, some romance, fear of witchcraft and murder. I received this novel from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Great Book!!!
The history, mystery and politics in this story were awesome. This book was hard to put down. It has something for everyone: history, intrigue, royal families, action, romance, adventure, politics, mystery and wars.
I just had never thought about the politics around a throne. Many want to control who is king for different reasons. When a king dies young and unexpectedly, it causes lots of turmoil in England in the 1400s. People from all over Europe want to impact the future king.

This book had potential and there were definitely elements of the story I enjoyed but found the characters to be lacking and the flow of the story and perspective shifts confusing at times.

The Symbol Maker’as Daughter by Clare Gutierrez

436 Pages
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group, River Grove Books
Release Date: September 13, 2022

Fiction, Historical Fiction, British History, Monarchy, Royalty

Nicola Weldon lives with her father in Weldon Castle near the ocean. Lord Weldon was a seer and had predictions of future events. He created two stones with markings and gemstones but did not know their meaning. He takes Nicola on a trip into the woods to meet a crone. She also has the vision and confirms Lord Weldon thoughts. Soon after the castle is attacked and Nicola with a maid escape along the cliffside hidden from the attackers.

They come across men that call themselves the Guardians and tell them they will provide safe passage for them. Nicola is young and naïve but has trouble believing these men are who they say they are. This begins her travels to deliver the two symbols to Henry Tudor and his mother, Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy.

The story has a slow pace with a lot of time of contemplation. The characters are well developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I enjoyed this book, and the historical events appear to be accurate, but I believe the story could have been shortened. There is a bit of everything: action, adventure, romance, violence, and murder. If you like historical fiction pertaining to the British monarchy, you may enjoy this book.

Rich in historical detail ,this was a very interesting but slow moving story. I had to keep going back to it. It is very well researched and written.
Many thanks to Greenleaf Book Group and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Symbol Maker's Daughter was okay. I didn't mind the characters and the setting had some nice details, but the plot just didn't interest me much. I think people who like this period of history will enjoy it more than I did and/or those interested in a "clean" historical romance book. Honestly, I don't have much more to say and I feel bad, but...yeah.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance read copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased opinion.

Once I got into the story, I couldn't put it down. This was a historical adventure/romance but it was a clean romance. No sex scenes. The story flowed and the characters were strong. I felt like I was on the journey with them. It was real and believeable and never too much.

I would recommend this book to lovers of historical romance (keeping in mind that it is not erotica) and a book with adventure and court intrigue.

I wasn't able to finish it due to personal issues, but I enjoyed the 45-50% of it I got through. The characters and plot line were intriguing, although the writing itself was a tiny bit flat. I would recommend it to readers of historical fiction and will probably seek out the book again and finish it.

The book started out beautifully and kept my interest. It then bogged down and I had to put the boook down.
I'm sure others will love the book. Just not for me.

I just did not care for this. The plot was too convoluted. I did not like the characters. I have studied English and French history and either because of that, or in spite of that the political machinations were not understandable. I received this as an arc and was not influenced in my review.

Loved this historical fiction by Clare Gutierrez. The story of Nicola and Drue is told over several years during a period of political upheaval as Nicola’s father has visions of the future and gives his daughter the daunting task of ensuring those visions, told through symbols, lands in the right hands. Nicola must avoid those accusing her of treason or being a heretic with the help of Drue. Through their journey they begin to depend on one another and share secrets that test their limits and change their lives forever. Although the story seemed to happen in a matter of weeks, comments indicate the timeframe was over several years. Details about significant characters were also missing leaving unanswered questions but overall it was a great story. Would recommend for those who enjoy historical fiction and love stories. #NetGalley #RiverGroveBooks #ClareGutierrez

The idea of this book is great, but the execution really fell flat for me. The romance was not exciting for me, and the book was too long.

I was super conflicted on this one and almost abandoned it a couple times. The story was really interesting and kept my attention but there were significant gaps in context to details, I had no concept of the time elapsing, and whenever Drue and Nicola were around each other they both acted like petulant children and I disliked both of them.

I found myself frustrated often with the lack of detail and context, forcing me to re-read sections I thought I must have missed but didn’t. Someone would be riding a horse in once sentence and the next, they would be standing next to someone; details in the scenes were not nearly descriptive enough to paint a good picture; Nicola or others would make judgments about people and you would have no idea why; etc. and then found out towards the end of the book 2 years had apparently lapsed. When?? It just didn’t make a lot of sense.

Also Drue, a skilled assassin/fighter/royalty couldn’t control his explosive temper, freaking out at the very slightest challenge or argument from a women. Not realistic. Someone like that would be forced to have good control over himself, and while sure, could have a temper, he wouldn’t just lose it and stalk off like a toddler immediately. Same for Nicola - she was super naive and foolish and would antagonize Drue with no good sense and also stalk off like a child, however towards the 2nd half of the book she thankfully got better. Overall neither had much grace or kindness towards each other when the slightest difference between them came up, especially Drue.

It just all made the book have points of being obnoxious in what could have been a really great story with tons of potential.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are mine.

Very adventurous, interesting & entertaining story. Kept me captivated. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! The main character is a young woman who needs to learn who to trust and how to get by in a world where women are perceived to be not nearly as smart as the men who control her. She sees some horrible things and people and decides to play her cards close and follow her own best instincts.

A beautiful young woman, living a lovely life, soon finds that life greatly disrupted Lady Nicola Weldon embarks on a perilous road as there are men vying for the throne in England and it becomes Nicola's responsibility to add in Henry Tudor's rise to power.

She makes a very dangerous journey into the heart of conspiracy and the men who would do anything to see that Richard, Duke of Gloucester becomes the next king. Along the way on this journey she is protected by some especially the dashing Drue, who provides both her strength and love interest.

The intrigues, the killing, the presence of magical elements gave this story along with many historical elements an interest factor. However, it was just too long and became somewhat of a laborious read.

Always enjoy when an author tries to embellish history, but in fact this one took an inordinate amount of time and effort to get through. Too much going on sometimes overloads a good story and in this case that as true.

Thank you to Clare Gutierez, River Grove Books, and NetGalley for a copy of this book which published in September o this year.

A very true-to-time tale. I enjoyed my journey back in time a whole lot. I would like the same quality in every historical book I read.