This one, provided by netgalley, has got to be hands-down one of the most infuriating, intriguing and downright frustrating books I've read in a very long time. The first 40% of it is so gothic I felt almost compelled to pull out my grandma's white nightie and run around the house shrieking "Wo, is me!"

I'm going to write this one a bit differently than usual and start with what I didn't like so much:

- I really struggled to get over the writing for the first half-ish. It reads like something from the 80s, dreadful purple prose and that dire fake-Medieval speak that really annoys me, and just felt very clumsy, and was really very distracting. Interestingly, the writing REALLY got a whole lot better after the plot started to thicken (exception noted below). Even if I hadn't read the author's bio, I could easily tell the political stuff is what the author really gets her teeth into.

- The writing during the sexy bits was just not my thing at all. Too much use of phrases like "pulsing jewel", "searing blade of arousal" and "sheltered crevasse" were just too, too, well, too much! It felt so forced that I wasn't quite sure if the author was taking the p!$s or not. It spoilt my enjoyment and I personally found it so dire that if I had gotten this book from the library I might have thrown it straight into the DNF pile.

- The heroine is supposed to be (a) astonishingly smart (in a common sense kind of way) and (b) so attractive that all the men drone on about how she must be a "witch". Well, clearly she's smart because after all, if some bloke (built like a brick s$&thouse) forces his way into your bedroom, waving a rather lethal sword around (no, a real sword, not one of those!), and then proceeds to corner you on the bed, of course your first thought would be that he means you no harm. And, well, I got a bit sick and tired of being told she had bewitched all the male characters in the book. It was almost like the author was telling me to pity the heroine because she's so damned beautiful. Ugh.

So, why didn't I give this 1 star then?

- Well, I really liked the basic plot on this one. I loved the politics, the intrigue, the underhanded wheeling-and-dealing, and the way it clearly showed that a medieval king in the British Isles was really only one noble among many rather than the all-mighty ruler, and so had to be cruel and conniving. I have a real weakness for historical romances which manage to use politics and intrigue in a convincing way, and this one did.

- I loved, loved, loved that the heroine loves two men, and we get to see her romances with both of them, who are very different individuals. Now, I know that some readers have a real problem with characters going from one lover to the next, but it actually redeemed the heroine in my eyes. Her attraction and love for both men is credible and I loved it. I also thought both men were really great characters.

So, if you can get past the completely awful writing during the sexy bits, and you can stick with it, this is actually a rather different story, that I will keep and read again.

3 stars. I liked it, and just check out that absolutely gorgeous cover.