Duty: a novel of Rhynan

Duty to King

Tomas Dyrease, the newly made Earl of Irvaine and the village of Wisenvale, owes his good fortune to his king and the recent civil war. When his benefactor demands Tomas marry the cousin of a noble, he obeys. However, no one warned him that she wasn’t a typical noblewoman.

Duty to Others

Brielle Solarius struggles to keep her village from starvation under the new Lord Wisten, her cousin. The men rode off to war and never returned. The remaining women and children face a dire winter if they do not find a solution soon. When she learns her cousin sold her into marriage to save his life, she isn’t surprised. However, she is taken aback by Lord Irvaine’s unpolished ways. Was this man a noble or a foot soldier?

Duty to Each Other

Bound by the words of their vows, they face a rough future. They must forge a marriage while battling betrayal, accusations of treason, and villains from the past. Survival depends on their precarious trust in each other. Failure could mean death.

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My Review

 

Set in a medieval fantasy world, Duty: A Novel of Rhynan, by Rachel Rossano, tells the tale of Lady Brielle Solarius. With the crowning of a new king, Brielle is essentially sold into an arranged marriage to the new Lord Tomas by her evil cousin Orwin. But because of her duty to her people, the poor widows also forced into marriage to strangers, Brielle determines to willingly marry this man Tomas. Besides, because of her cousin’s work, her village will starve through the winter if she doesn’t have Tomas’s help. Yet, as they leave to acquire food for the winter, Brielle’s little village is attacked!

I really liked this book! When I found it, I thought it would just be a sweet little romance, but conspiracies, battles, and sieges abound as well! There is never a dull moment in the novel, what with the romance and the action. And truly, just as I thought all was well and couldn’t imagine how the author would make the rest of the novel interesting, the worst happens and drives Brielle and Tomas into another adventure!

To me, Duty seemed to be written well. There were a few tiny spots that confused me, but they were few and not extremely pertinent to the tale. Aside from that, I have no complaints.

Things you should know: There was definitely violence in this novel, as much of the plot revolved around soldiers and battles. In one instance, a pregnant woman is threatened with death (with a sword to her throat. However, the descriptions of the battles were not graphic. The author wrote that the characters cursed, yet didn’t include what the curse word was. Women are indeed forced into marriage, but the overall attitude toward it, at least by the leading characters, is that it is unfair and wrong. The leading characters kiss and hold each other, but sex is only implied, not described.

I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.