Tag: Adventure Romance

A Review of…

Taken by His Sword by Florence A. Bliss

It’s 1654 in Provence, France and Philippe du Chevalerie, youngest son of Guillaume and Laure, the Duke and Duchess of Chevalerie is knocked off his feet when a beauty from his past once again enters his life, just as he is about to go on a mission for his father.

Alexandra De Voix fled years ago from humiliation at the hands of a young Philippe to become the famous Lady Guide of France. Only her loyalty to her mother’s best friend, Laure, could ever bring her back into his presence.

Now the two must put their past behind them and work together to save the kingdom, but can they stay focused on their mission without someone getting hurt?

Will the Duke need to send in his heir Michel or call in from the see his middle son Serge to help?

My blurb for Taken by His Sword by Florence A. Bliss, a historical romance set in mid 17th Century France.

Click to read 8 Questions with Florence A. Bliss.

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I must admit that I enjoy a good historical romance. I’ve read more than a hundred. Okay, I’ve read that many of the genre, but not all were ‘good’, but as long as I was entertained then they were not a waste of time.

Why I like Taken by His Sword:

I have to say that in a lot of historical romances I get frustrated by some of the cat and mouse games and the this-person-misunderstands-that-person type of thing, almost like a formulaic Hallmark Movie (yes, I even watch those). Very overplayed plot devices, but then I suppose if you read a lot, you see it a lot. Author Florence A. Bliss avoids that, although there is just enough to not let it be an easy go for Philippe, a young man people see as a typical wealthy, handsome, self-entitled, and egotistical son of a Duke. And not so easy for Alex who is an inexperienced woman of the world. Yeah, I know, ‘inexperienced’ and ‘woman of the world’ don’t seem to go together.

Philippe doesn’t come across that way during the story as it is told from his point of view as well as Alex’s. I’m not always a fan of the dual points of view from one chapter to the next, but this time it makes sense to do so.

The romance/relationship between the two protagonists is only one part of the story. The two must work together to discover who has been burning farms around Provence before it escalates and peace is lost. Philippe leads his men to join with Etienne, the Marquis du Ponce, to capture and bring the guilty to justice. The guilty that might be more powerful than Philippe thought.

Alex proves more valuable than some thought she would be. And eventually comes face to face with her most hated enemy.

Philippe proves he’s more than a pretty face who is a skilled swordsman.

What I may not have liked as much:

There is one point in the story where I think the reader is supposed to know more than they have been told. It pulled me out of the story for a moment because I had to think, “Did I miss something?” But I don’t think it takes away from the story itself.

I want to say up front the book is not laced with profanity like some can be. It’s not a bodice ripper, at least I don’t think Alex’s bodice gets ripped. If you are someone who just likes your read as if you were sitting in a pew at church, then the words you might not like appear less than 20 times in the 264 pages. If the F word is all you would count as profanity, it’s only used 3 times.

For word usage and profanity, although I don’t like using it in my own writing, there are environments, situations, and people that words are used for and by that are just real. And if you go too far the other way, then it’s fake. You can get around it, but for the F word here, it is used as an exclamation once, and it makes you blink. You’re like, “Well that got my attention. That definitely told me what that person thought at that moment.”

The other two times the F word is used, I have to say, made a point. I think the message intended by the character might only be delivered with this word.

Using words and phrases so little gives them impact when they are used. The author did this well.

What would I have wanted more or less of:

I can’t really think of anything I would want more of in this story, it was pretty complete.

You may have noticed Philippe has two older brothers, Michel and Serge. The series is called Swords of Chevalerie. Yes, ladies, the Duke and Duchess have two more sons who are single and ready  to… get married?

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4aoWc2l

© 2014-2024- Ronovan Hester Copyright reserved. The author asserts his moral and legal rights over this work.