The Warrior Maiden (Hagenheim)

Title: The Warrior Maiden

Series: Hagenheim (Book #9)

Year: 2019

Author: Melanie Dickerson

Summary: Mulan isn’t afraid to pretend to be a son and assume her father’s soldier duties in war. But what happens when the handsome son of a duke discovers her secret?

Mulan is trying to resign herself to marrying the village butcher for the good of her family, but her adventurous spirit just can’t stand the thought. At the last minute, she pretends to be the son her father never had, assumes his duties as a soldier, and rides off to join the fight to protect the castle of her liege lord’s ally from the besieging Teutonic Knights.

Wolfgang and his brother Steffan leave Hagenheim with several other soldiers to help their father’s ally in Poland. When they arrive, Wolfgang is exasperated by the young soldier Mikolai who seems to either always be one step away from disaster... or showing Wolfgang up in embarrassing ways.

When Wolfgang discovers his former rival and reluctant friend Mikolai is actually a girl, he is determined to protect her. But battle is a dangerous place where anything can happen — and usually does.

When Mulan receives word that her mother has been accused of practicing witchcraft through her healing herbs and skills, Mulan’s only thought is of defending her. Will she be able to trust Wolfgang to help? Or will sacrificing her own life be the only way to save her mother?

Review: After a bunch of Dickerson books that weren't so great and regretfully cliche, The Warrior Maiden was a breath of fresh air. I was a bit skeptical going into this book, but once I got into it, I was hooked. The one thing you want in a good Mulan tale (a tale of a girl dressing as a man and going to WAR) is battle scenes. And we got battle scenes. I was sooooo impressed.

Mulan is the illegitimate child of a soldier and a foreign mother. Her father's wife, the woman she calls mother, has raised her and loved her, and Mulan would do anything to protect her. After a priest prophecies that she will be a great warrior one day, Mulan begins training with her father's young friend, Andrei, who accompanied the great Mikolai into many battles and knows how a soldier should act.

Disaster strikes when her father dies two weeks before being conscripted into service again. Forced with the possibility of losing their home, Mulan takes his place, with Andrei at her side. She knows pretending to be a man is a dangerous position, not only because battles can be deadly and because they're going to face the bloodthirsty Teutonic Knights, but also because the Church forbids a woman from dressing as a man.

She earns quick repute among her fellow soldiers when she leads a successful attack on the Teutonic Knights. The duke of Hagenheim's son, Wolfgang, at first feels threatened by her apparent prowess in archery, but soon learns to accept and trust her as a fellow soldier.

The character of Mulan was spot-on. She's fierce and brave, but still feminine in her own right. Melanie Dickerson really made me believe that she was a real person. Mulan loves her mother, and she's incredibly loyal to her. Her fighting skills are incredibly believable, and I loved that (FOR ONCE) she didn't get kidnapped!

I wasn't crazy about Wolfgang, but he's a good-enough hero, once you can get behind him. Mulan really stole the spotlight. Andrei was great, and I wish there could have been more of him. I actually really liked Wolfgang's brother, Steffan, and the complexity that he added to the story. Really looking forward to reading more of him in Dickerson's next novel The Piper's Pursuit (a Pied Piper retelling), and I'm hoping she doesn't water him down too much to become the next Hagenheim hero.

The whole historical aspect of this novel was super interesting. Mulan must keep her secret of dressing as a man because it's against Church law for a woman to wear men's clothing. And then you've got the whole angle of her mother creating a special healing salve that people think could be demonic, and how THAT all plays into the story. Dickerson really pulled out all the stops to impress me with this one.

The religious language and preaching in this book seemed a bit heavier than Dickerson usually does, but it didn't bother me. Since so much of the plot is dependent on Church laws and tradition, I didn't think it was terribly overdone. I had a lengthy talk with a history expert/snob about the book once I was done reading it, and we agreed that most of the historical details in this novel were really well done. (Teutonic Knights for the win!) Except for the Church's Trial by Combat. I'm sorry; for that, I really think Dickerson just wanting to write another dramatic jousting scene. So, it's really cool, but (in my opinion) stretching the historical accuracy a little too far.

Advisory: One of the things that did kinda annoy me was the romance. But as usual, for a Dickerson novel. It doesn't take Mulan to be attracted to our hero, and once he discovers her secret, he's fairly quickly attracted to her. They think an awful lot about kissing each other before it actually happens, and then they share a number of kisses before the book ends.

Fighting/violence. Since there are battles and sieges, people are injured and killed, but nothing is too terribly descriptive.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

At Your Request (Apart from the Crowd)

Title: At Your Request

Series: Apart from the Crowd (Book #0.5)

Year: 2017

Author: Jen Turano

Summary: After Miss Wilhelmina Radcliff’s father lost the family fortune in a poor investment decision, she finds herself banished from the fashionable set within New York society and directly into the wallflower section. Taking on work as a social secretary in order to help with family expenses, she spends her time penning out invitations to all the most sought-after events, wondering if her life will ever improve.

While languishing one evening at a ball given by one of the esteemed New York patriarchs, Wilhelmina is appalled to discover that Mr. Edgar Wanamaker, her oldest and dearest friend, and the first gentleman to offer her a marriage proposal, has shown up at the ball unexpectedly, having been absent from New York ever since she rejected his offer years before.

Review: Sometimes one needs to post a negative book review; and as much as it hurts, it's necessary.

I picked up this e-novella on my Kindle a while ago when it was free on Amazon. I tend to do that kind of thing, to give myself a variety of things to read when I'm bored or in otherwise need of entertainment. This was a quick read. It's only a few chapters long, and I'm trying desperately to keep that in mind as I'm writing this review. I will say now (and not repeat) that it would have been much better fleshed out and longer.

Wilhelmina Radcliff has been reduced to a wallflower at social events. Once the bell of the ball, her social standing has taken a turn for the worse after her father loses his fortune in a bad investment and her suitor dumps her and spreads around a story of a flawed personality.

But that's before Edgar Wanamaker comes back into her life. Once her childhood best friend, there's now an awkwardness between them since she rejected his proposal of marriage at her debut into society.

My biggest problem with this book is that there's -- incredibly -- no action. The whole novella is basically conversations of things that happened previously, and we never get to follow the action of what actually happened WHEN it happened. It may just be a pet peeve of mine, but if you're going to tell me a story, let me SEE it happen. SHOW me the story; don't give me the play-by-play synopsis by a dialogue after the fact. The novella still could have kept its length, I believe, even with just following the action. And this story COULD have had a good bit of stuff happening. I mean, Edgar falls on the ice -- but we don't even get to see his fall. Seriously?

The only interesting thing about Wilhelmina is her name. I'm sorry to say it, but it's true. She's almost set up as a proud, stubborn young lady, but she does absolutely nothing to live up to that. She overcomes every problem far too easily, and gives up any prejudice and pride to get her happy ending.

One last soap box: The most unrealistic part (I agree on this point with a number of other reviewers on Goodreads) is the beginning when Wilhelmina gets stuck under her chair in an effort to avoid Edgar. Why on earth does she go under her chair? Unless it was a large, overstuffed divan or lounge chair, I can't imagine how she thought she could actually hide behind it. Especially since she's not a small woman and she has a rather large bustle on the back of her dress. And then her hips and bustle get stuck under the chair in a situation that should be hilarious but turns out more unrealistic and painful to read.

Hey, at least it has a really pretty cover.

Advisory: Light romance leading to a few kisses.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

The Redemption (Legacy of the King's Pirates)

Title: The Redemption

Series: Legacy of the King's Pirates (Book #1)

Year: 2006

Author: MaryLu Tyndall (M.L. Tyndall)

Summary: Charlisse Bristol sets off on a voyage in search of a father she never knew, only to become shipwrecked on an island. She longs for a father’s love to fill the emptiness in her soul from an abusive childhood, but resigns herself to a lonely death of starvation. Her salvation comes in the form of a band of pirates and their fierce, enigmatic leader, Captain Merrick. 

The last thing Merrick expected to find in the middle of the Caribbean was a beautiful maiden. Now he is burdened with the task of not only protecting her from his crew, but from himself. A recent convert to Christianity, Merrick is haunted by a sordid past while he struggles to become a better man and accepts a mission from God to hunt down the most vicious pirates on the Caribbean. 

Charlisse can make no sense of Captain Merrick. A pirate who prays and drinks rum? Breaking her vow to never trust any man, she finds herself falling for the pirate/priest, who more than once risks his life to save her. When she confides in him her quest to find her father, Merrick agrees to help. What he doesn’t realize is Charlisse’s father is the ruthless Edward the Terror, the one man Merrick has vowed to hunt down and kill. 

Evil forces are at work against Charlisse and Merrick: enemies, battles, imprisonment, jealousy, and betrayal, all threaten to destroy not only their new found romance but their very lives. It will take a miracle—or several—for either of them to survive. 

Review: I love a good pirate book. Great characters, epic adventures, lots of piratey goodness... and, sadly, that wasn't exactly this book. Good pirate books are really hard to find (unless it's Batson's Pirate Adventures; EPIC).

When I first picked this one up (if I'm completely honest), I almost put it down after the first few chapters because I got bored. There's a storm and sinking ship, a pillaging pirate attack, and all in just the first four chapters, but I got really tired of the author TELLING me everything. The style felt choppy and kinda stunted. But I pushed through and decided to give it a second chance. It got better the further you got into it, as the style got easier to read. She still tells an awful lot, but the writing definitely got smoother.

Charlisse is a young lady from a fine family in England. True, she never knew her father, but she knows enough about him from the loving letters he used to send her mother. But after her mother's gone, and she's left at the abusive hand of her uncle, she flees England to find this amazing father who penned such loving letters.

A terrible storm rips apart her ship as she's traveling to the Americas, and she ends up stranded all alone on an uncharted island. Convinced she's never going to see another human again, she tries to scratch out a life for herself -- but wonders if it would be better to die than to face the hand of what she sees as an unmerciful God.

Merrick has turned from piracy to working for the English and Jamaican governments. After God got a hold of his heart and changed his life, he began questioning everything he used to live for. But a more compassionate hand as a privateer captain doesn't always render him a favorite with his crew. Adding a girl to the mix isn't exactly the best decision, but he knows he can't leave this poor girl alone on the island.

The ship battles were pretty cool. I mean, when you pick up a pirate book, you want some cool pirate action, and the author didn't skimp on the pirates. Sloane was probably my favorite character, and I wish there could have been more of his lovable self. He was such a great friend to Charlisse (almost like a loving uncle or grandfather, I thought) when she was convinced she was friendless, and you couldn't help but cheer him on. Thomas, too, was great.

The father angles in the book were pretty cool. I like a good daddy tale, and this book has two estranged daddys to take care of. Charlisse is trying to find the dad she believes must love her and want to care for her, and Merrick is running away from an over-controlling father.

Advisory: Lots of romance. The author keeps it pretty clean, but it doesn't take long for Charlisse to notice the hero's rippling muscles and handsome features. Likewise, he is attracted to her early on, and then you end up with a boatload of mushy descriptions and kisses. I wasn't too crazy about their relationship as, especially at the beginning, it felt very physical and fake. Further on, as they learned more about each other, I wanted to root for them more, but I got quickly disgusted with the amount of attraction.

Since you're dealing with pirates, there are a few times that the author touches on the immorality and sexual dealings the pirates have with women on shore. Charlisse, as the only woman on a pirate ship, is sometimes put into positions where the men try to make advances on her. The author handles the situations well, but for all that's included in the book, I would have to recommend this for an older audience.

Also, pirate action and violence. There are battles, like I mentioned before, and some descriptions of blood and death (because you can't have a pirate book where people don't die), but I thought it was well balanced for the tone of the book.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars