Honeyed Lies

The Moorish Series #1

by Claire Delacroix

Honeyed Lies by Claire Delacroix released on Dec 24, 1993 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Historical Romance, Medieval, Historical, Romance

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Claire Delacroix sold her first book in 1992, an historical romance called ROMANCE OF THE ROSE. Since then, she has published over sixty romance novels and novellas, and has also been published under the names Claire Cross and Deborah Cooke. She has an honours degree in history, with a focus on medieval studies. She is an avid reader of medieval vernacular literature, fairy tales and fantasy novels.

For books written under the pseudonym, Claire Cross, see:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

For books written under Claire's own name, Deborah Cooke, please see:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

In October and November 2009, she was the writer in residence for the Toronto Public Library, the first time that the library has hosted a residency focused on the romance genre.

Visit her two websites here:
http://www.delacroix.net
http://www.deborahcooke.com

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Reviews

[Nightwitch]

Since Goodreads is disinclined to be forthcoming on the topic of this book, I will do it for you: it is set in eleventh century Muslim-ruled Spain, hero and heroine are both Jewish (heroine lives in Andalusia, hero is visiting from Tunis), and all of the characters are Jewish or Muslim. 

We open at the funeral of our heroine Rebecca's husband. He was kind of a dick and, because this is a Harlequin novel from the 1990s, also uninterested in sex, making her that most Harlequin of heroines - a virgin widow. Our hero, Jacob, a successful merchant, shows up shortly thereafter - his aunt has asked him to check in on Rebecca (her first husband was a cousin of theirs) and meanwhile merrily penned a letter to Rebecca offering Jacob as husband #2, complete with tricking Jacob into signing a ketubah (marriage contract) and sending it along. Jacob mistakes Rebecca for a servant and shenanigans ensue. In the meantime, Rebecca has made a mysterious discovery hidden in the courtyard of her home...

This book is so much fun, y'all. Jacob and Rebecca's world is presented in as forthright and matter-of-fact a way as eleventh-century England is in more typical medievals. The suspense plot is fun and suspense-y. Medieval Andalusia - ruled by Muslims and religiously tolerant - is a great setting, particularly if you find historically accurate antisemitism exhausting; Rebecca is originally from Madrid and had to flee the Reconquista, and King Alfonso is in the process of invading Andalusia over the course of the book, but it's all very medieval siege warfare - the reader doesn't actually have to deal with any racist knights running around murdering "infidels."

Contentn warnings: It is a 1990s Harlequin, so the hero and heroine do a lot of lying to and misunderstanding each other, but there are no consent issues (they hook up early but Rebecca basically is like "oh hey you're hot let's see what this sex thing is about" and Jacob thinks she's a servant; they have a lot of lying sex but no angry or rapey sex - when they have one of their many, many stupid fights one of them invariably storms off in a huff). It's the middle ages so lots of murder. There is a sex worker who kind of has a thing for the hero (but it looks like she's the heroine of the next book, which OMG). In general, though, it's a pretty Romancelandia view of history - less dirt, more derring-do.

In conclusion, someone needs to come out with an ebook edition of this, like, yesterday. The author's website indicates that she has the rights to all of her medievals and is bringing them out in electronic format after revisions. I can only hope she gets this one out shortly, because it deserves a wider audience. In the meantime I may need to buy another copy because I'm certain that as soon as Covid is over one of my aunts is going to steal it off my bookshelf. 

[scarr]

Okay so this was a pretty fast DNF due to inaccuracies and anachronisms that I couldn't let go lol The nusach and minhag for this time and place was waaay too modern. Specifically, Mourner's Kaddish! Mourner's Kaddish is a prayer said in a minyan (group of ten Jewish adults if in a liberal movement or ten Jewish men in Orthodox movements.) Although Mourner's Kaddish is one of the most important and well-known prayers in the Jewish liturgy (across all movements) it wasn't tradition to recite until about the 12th or 13th century . . . this book is set in 11th Century Spain (there are more than one kind of Kaddish in the liturgy and they are used as ways to like separate the service.) Also! Kaddish isn't found in the Torah. Also! Women didn't say Mourner's Kaddish for husbands and didn't attend services like they do in more modern times. This was all in the first few pages so, you know, why bother reading the rest lol

[Susan Ross]

There is one other review and the only inaccuracy is that Rebecca is not a virgin. She did have sex with her first husband but the rare instances were brief and unfulfilling so she had no idea that sex could be pleasurable.

I was eager to read the book since it was about a Jewish couple but there was very little that related to the religion in the book. It also defied belief that Rebecca would have sex with a stanger (Jacob) immediately, regardless of how hot he was.

I found Rebecca totally dislikable. She was a consummate liar and I had little sympathy for her after a while. She was also totally clueless about the mysterious little red book she found, not putting the pieces together about who wanted the book. She also put herself and Jacob in danger by not telling Jacob about the repeated break-ins and the threat against her life.

I liked Jacob except for him having sex with Rebecca when he thought she was a servant. I'm not sure if I would have forgiven Rebecca for her biggest lie, however. I guess love conquers all.

Yusuf was a big surprise and I would have liked a book about him. He was Muslim but wanted to marry Jewish Rebecca which, by the way, is permitted in the Muslim religion.

Here's a Wikipedia link if you would like to learn more of the history of Jewish culture in Spain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_...

[Josh]

This was a bit meh. I liked the characters and the plotline of the mysterious book should have been interesting but I found it a bit boring.