Marsha Canham, $4.99
Paranormal Romance, 2019
In 1291, the woman known as Ellyn the Fletcher tries to hide what she believes to her true identity: Endolynn Ware, the daughter of a woman who was killed for being a witch for what seems to be bringing back a newborn from the dead. No good deeds ever goes unpunished back in those days, unfortunately. Her life turns upside down when the Sheriff of Nottingham decides that she’d make a useful pawn in his personal intrigues, but fortunately, she comes under the care of our hero Rennwick de Beauvoir and his companions, who are tasked by a mysterious benefactor to escort Endolynn safely to this person instead. Of course, she and Rennwick fall in love. Why not? For a warrior in that particular era, our hero is actually on the chivalrous side. Sure, he’d cut down enemies like a sexy lawnmover, but he’s all sweet and gentlemanly when it comes to Endolynn.
Endolynn’s story is just half of the overall plot of The Mark of the Rose, though. We also have another one set in the present day. We have another Endolynn Bowe – although she goes by Ellen – a working class lady who has two jobs to pay the bills, discovers that she has inherited a castle as well as 274 million pounds. The rest of the story sees her looking into her family’s past as well as finding her own bloke to shag and marry. As you can tell, the two stories are linked – I mean, come on, the two heroines have the same names, for a start.
However, don’t be fooled by the “paranormal romance” label of this review into thinking that this is a time-travel romance. It’s actually two stories – one set in the past, one set in the present – that eventually figuratively come together in the sense that something rather… magical… let’s just say, happens. That and some woo-woo elements give this story that label, but for the most part, things are very down to earth, so to speak. This is not Canada’s answer to Outlander, let’s just say.
Let me start off by saying that The Mark of the Rose, compared to the author’s last two independent releases, feels so much more like the stories by the author that I’d come to enjoy in the past. The pacing is noticeably tighter and better, the romantic tension feels more palpable, and everything flows smoothly without anything resembling filler or padding.
Having said that, I don’t know how well this one will fare with readers who either haven’t read or can’t remember much of the author’s previous medieval trilogy, because the entire course of both story lines end up at an explosion of meta-references that would likely be best appreciated by readers who know the trilogy better. A completely unfamiliar reader may be annoyed by how the last few chapters are basically last minute revelations involving some family ties that would be convoluted to newbies, I suspect.
As for me, I like this story, even with its meta nature, but I do have one predictable grumble: the present day story bores me silly. It doesn’t have the drama or intensity of the story set in medieval era, and after a while I start to think of those parts of the story as commercial breaks. That story line to me holds little surprises or interesting twists; in fact, it reads like a short Hallmark segment. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this part of the story is bad or anything like that – it’s actually okay – it just feels uninteresting when sharing space with the other story line.
All in all, I like this, although I wish I like it more since in many ways it’s a return to form for the author. As I’ve mentioned, I also hesitate to recommend this one to folks who have not read the previous medieval romances by the author (they are all linked). So, I’d suggest reading those titles first if you haven’t (they aren’t bad at all, in my opinion – I actually had fun with them) before tackling this one, and even if you have, maybe have a fresh reread before tackling this meta-heavy entry.
