Christina wants to be a knight but she is the daughter of Lord Michael, Earl of Gladsbury. Her father wants her to dress and behave as a girl. He has a plan but Christiana is not happy with it. Arriving to joust at Gladsbury is Rowan, the fifth son of a Normany lord. He pledges his allegiance to Lord Michael but his heart belongs to a woman in Normandy. Guy DeBere, a knight who saved Sir Michae's life in the Crusades, wants to marry Christiana. Chistiana does not want to get married. What is she to do?

I enjoyed this story. I did not think I would but I could not put it down. Christiana is feisty and has a mind of her own. Rowan is at a loss as to what to do. He has been besotted for years with Diantha but does not have enough money to provide a house for her. Now he is attracted to Christiana. When Christiana runs away, Rowan goes hunting for her and they come to an understanding. I liked their solution as well as her father's.

The medieval period comes through very well. I felt I was back in that time period. This is worth reading. I also have seen a few more books by Carolina Valdez that I want to read.

Ceara is a rarity in medieval times, taking the helm of battle against the Normans after her father falls in battle. Successful in fending off a first attack against her home, she's not so lucky going against Luc Louvat, who ends up conquering more than her lands. 

This read is mixed with a whole lot of history and political intrigue - which got a bit much in places, but the sprinkles of romance and Ceara's indomitable antics, along with her somewhat tamed wolf pet, made this a good read.

The Vow features: 

historical romance

sexual content

intrigue

mystery

suspense

This was a really good medieval romance. I wonder why there are not that many of these out there anymore? When I was growing up I always saw a romance cover with a heroine (bosoms heaving) being clutched by a man with a sword with a castle in the background.

Ah well.

"Desire" has Lady Clare of the Isle of Desire being forced to wed after her father's death. Her guardian suggest that she marry Sir Gareth of Wyckmere or her closet neighbor, Sir Nicholas of Seaborn. Due to Lady Clare being abducted by Sir Nicholas a few months back and not caring for him, she feels like she's trapped between no good choices. But without realizing it, Lady Clare starts to develop feelings for Gareth and his knights that chose to ride alongside him. 

I have to say that I was more in love with the hero in this one. Gareth has an interesting backstory (no spoilers) but we know that he is a bastard that was raised in his father's household. All he wants is a place to call his own and a wife and he starts to see Clare and the rest of the people there as his to protect. 

Clare is kind of stupid. Yeah I said it. She has a hair trigger temper at times and sometimes does really dumb stuff that if this was a different kind of book would probably have caused Gareth to beat and or rape her (thank God that didn't happen). 

The two of them make a lot of sense and I can see why they were so strong together. The love scenes were pretty hot too though. 

With all of this going on we have a murder mystery to solve that could lead to Clare and Gareth's death as well. 

The writing is clever and I have to say that I laughed at the horrible songs that Clare's minstrel was playing. The rhyming was just bad. 

I thought the ending was abrupt though. We just go to Clare throwing down another gauntlet that Gareth doesn't call her out on (and honestly I would have) and then the book ends. Still give it five stars though. 

• Page: A Sweet Scottish Medieval Romance (Sweet Scottish Brides Book 1) by Tanya Anne Crosby (Author), Alaina Christine Crosby

England/Scotland 1124: Page FitzSimon has lived her entire life in the shadow of the man she called father. Left to her own devices, with her mother imprisoned, she still might never have imagined that Hugh FitzSimon would deny his only daughter. Alas, when Scottish Chieftain Iain MacKinnon comes to barter for his son's release, she learns how expendable she truly is...

Vowing to stop at nothing to secure his young son's return, Iain MacKinnon captures Page with the intent of bartering her for Malcom's freedom. Little does he realize that Page's father doesn't want his daughter, and although he will win Malcom's freedom by other means, he will also find himself a reluctant champion to the Sassench lass who now has no home.

dutiful daughter. A prince forced to find a bride. If the shoe fits...
Once upon a time...
When the Emperor's army comes recruiting, Mai signs up, seeing it as the perfect escape from her stepmother and a lifetime of drudgery. Armed with her mother's armour and a pair of magic shoes, Mai marches off to war...only to find herself sharing a tent with the General's arrogant nephew, Prince Yi.
The best swordsman in the Empire, Prince Yi wants to make war, not love, but the Emperor insists this will be Yi's last campaign before he must marry. Prince Yi has never met his match...until now.
Can one woman win the war and the prince's heart?

What did I think
First off I want to say thinks to the author for letting me know her book was for free , and even though its book 3 in her series it can be read as a standalone, with that said here is what I thought of it, while it's called Dance: Cinderella retelling , it's doesn't come off like a Cinderella type story ,there is only a little aspect of the Cinderella story and that's where the mother dies and the stepmother and magic ,the rest of the story reminds me 100% of the Disney movie Mulan, which takes place doing the same time period, even though I was looking for more of a Cinderella retelling I ended up loving the story ,the characters , basely everything about the story, so if you never checked this series out you need to. Expressly you love the Disney movie Mulan