Helpful Score: 3
This is the sequel to "The Moon in the Water," a historical romance set in the era of the English Civil War (1630s-40s). I'm not really a romance reader, but this epic story is so beautifully told and so heartfelt. You can read this one on its own, but reading "The Moon in the Water" first would provide a more satisfying experience, I think.
The blood red tide of civil war ran deep over the land, and Thomazine became the wife of a man she would learn to hate for his perfidy. She married Dominic believing her Francis to be dead. When she learned that Francis lived, Thomazine rode north on a mission hung with the chains of fate. Those chains weighed down her journey, moving through land occupied by enemy soldiers, finding the man she loved at the price of deserting her own child, and losing Francis again to the ugent demands of Montrose's cause in Scotland. Time and again, the chains of fate would tear Thomazine and Francis apart, through siege and battle, through the evil designs of men, yet one day, some day, the chains of love must prove stronger.
Belle manages to follow up The Moon in the Water with a sequel that is just as good of a read as its predecessor. The history and the plot were just as captivating for me as the first book, and, of course, there's the same cast of wonderful characters -- plus a few more you meet along the way. She stays very true to her characters and follows through with a satisfying and endearing conclusion to this part of the story. At times I missed the appearance of Frances Heron, but the book kept my attention anyway.