3 out of 4 stars
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Kings of Swords by Anna Durbin is a book in the romantic fiction genre. It is the first book in the King of the Tarot series. Honestly, the cover of this book didn’t impress me, but as I hadn’t read a love story in a long while, I picked up this one. Fortunately, the book turned out to be good.
Lady Cassandra Gardner has successfully avoided matrimony for more than a decade. In a couple of months she’ll have complete control over her dowry, and she has already made plans to use it for a noble cause. However, her brother, Duke of Benthower, wants her dowry by hook or by crook, and devises a sordid scheme to ruin her reputation. Lord William Poniard doesn’t want to have anything to do with this brother-sister duo. Fortunately for William, circumstances provide an opportunity for him to get even with the duke. Unfortunately for Cassandra, the only way to avoid her brother’s machinations is to elope with William, and pretend to be married to him. However, their plan goes awry and both get married for real. Will these two find a way out of the situation or are they stuck together for good?
The storyline is pretty straightforward; therefore, a lot of emphasis is on the characters and their emotions. The female protagonist, Cassandra, is an interesting mix of vulnerability, determination and noble intentions. The male protagonist, William, on the other hand is slightly difficult to like. He is shallow, and doesn’t seem to be worried by proprieties, for example, he doesn’t shy away from dallying with a married woman, though he’s motivated by love (or so he convinces himself at that time). Added to that, there is also this streak of disregard for Cassandra’s independence, especially how he reminds her that now her dowry belongs to him. Eventually though, he does undergo a change, and becomes likable in the second half of the book.
Coming to the writing style, it is akin to other novels in the Regency romance sub-genre. The story is narrated in third person. I liked how the author expressed Cassandra’s feelings of rejection, humiliation, heartbreak, pride, etc., because they endear her to the readers. There is a lot more depth in explaining Cassandra’s perspective as opposed to William’s, though portions expressing William’s confusion about his feelings is well done.
I was little disappointed with how the depiction of that period was handled, because some of the scandalous episodes were brushed under the rug, which seems a little unlikely for the early nineteenth century. Also, the plot line is somewhat predictable, which could have been avoided. However, since I largely enjoyed this book, I rate it 3 out of 4 stars. Readers who enjoy simple love stories, with some passionate moments, should give this one a try.
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King of Swords
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