Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 starsGisela and Dominic
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2018
Gisela with her three-and-a-half-year-old son, Ewan, are fleeing from her abusive husband, Ryle Balewyne. She settles in the town of Clovebury under her middle name "Anne" and works as a tailor. Gisela accepts a commission from a French merchant, Crenardieu, to sew two garments from cornflower-blue silk. The money from the commission will provide enough money for Gisela and Ewan to travel north, away from Ryle's reach.
Dominic de Terre is hired by Lord Geoffrey de Lanceau to locate a stolen shipment of expensive silk clothe and to discover who stole it. While in disguise Dominic thinks he sees his long lost love, Gisela. He chases the woman only to find out it is her, but not her. This Gisela isn't the same woman he met in the meadow three and a half years ago. This woman is suspicious, distrustful and wary.
Dominic feels Gisela is hiding something. Finding out she has a son leads him to believe she has a husband. Gisela tells him she calls no man husband. (She decides not to tell him about Ryle, yet.) Dominic discovers Gisela has some of the stolen silk. She admits that Crenardieu commissioned her to sew two garments from the silk. When Crenardieu's thugs break down her shop door with an injured Dominic in tow, she realizes it might be too late to confess her secrets. She knows her only option is to travel to Branton Keep and admit to Lord de Lanceau her crime and beg for him to save Dominic.
Catherine Kean has written another fine novel. The characters are personable. Dominic reminded me of Jamie from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Both men take severe beatings and rise to fight and love another day. The plot and subplots have enough twists and turns to make this reader question a HEA for Dominic and Gisela. This medieval romance has some kissing and touching with one steamy love scene at the end of the story.
