"The Princess" (Bride Quest 1) Brianna is the "perfect tiny fairy queen" of 1100s Irish Tullymullagh. She falls for Luc, eldest of three (trilogy, duh) Welsh brothers Fitzgavin (son of nasty G). To thwart conqueror English Henry II, Bri declares the winner for her hand will be the son who brings the gift that makes her laugh most. Claire Delacroix adds humor, heat, and double murder to an otherwise sappy sweet with lush lingo. Twas naught a-tangle the morn can over-wrought us the morrow. Tis almost a spoof 'pon tis-self (sic). Luc has a "great" honker, dresses plainly, gave up knighting after the Crusades 15 years before, gardens rather than compete, even advises her to choose heir Burke (next book). The blushing maiden is so soft because she does "precious little", even "loathes embroidery". Predictable plot. Traditional happy ever after. Not-spoiler: Before the marriage he satisfies only her, epilogue pregnancy. I know exactly what to expect when I'm in the mood for a sequel.
My family history had a castle in Ireland. When I visited the home country, one-room towers overlooked and ruled a surrounding field. Kingdoms small like the island. Puts olden days in context of few people.