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Enchantress Mine
Flame-haired Mairin of Aelfeah was a ravishing beauty who caught the attention of three extraordinary men—Basil, Prince of Byzantium, who taught her love’s mysterious secrets; Josselin of Combourg, a gallant knight of William the Conquerer; and Eric Longsword, the powerful Viking whose tragic love for Mairin would mark her forever. To these men, Mairin was the Enchantress— and in a world gone mad with savage war and fierce desire, only their love could save her.
438 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Bertrice Small
216 books1,143 followersBertrice Williams was born on December 9, 1937 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, the daughter of Doris S. and David R. Williams, both broadcasters. She studied at Attended Western College for Women and Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. On October 5, 1963, she married George Sumner Small, a photographer and designer with a History Major at Princeton. They had a son Thomas David. She lived on eastern Long Island for over 30 years. Her greatest passions were her family; Finnegan and Sylvester, the family cats; Nicki, the elderly cockatiel who whistles the NY Mets charge call; her garden; her work, and just life in general.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 10, 2021
Like in all Bertrice Small novels, the history in "Enchantress Mine" is richly detailed, the villains are just whacked-out, and there's a lot of WTF situations that make you shake your head, blink and wonder, "What just happened?"
But, I don't know...I guess I just don't enjoy Bertrice Small's books as much as I do other bodice rippers.
The heroine Mairin...I both hated and pitied her. So many horrific things happened to her, but I didn't care, because she was SOOOO perfect, SOOOO beautiful, SOOOO resilient! Every man desired her and had to have her (stop me if you've heard this before)! She was just the typical most-beautiful-woman-on-earth heroine that Bertrice Small adores and I had no patience or love for her.
Still, poor Mairin! Her love life sucks. Of her three love interests, one lacks a manhood, another's "manhood" is questionable (at least by the social mores of the time), and the other--the worst of all--is just plain boring!
Nevertheless, Ms. Small can do better! I prefer "Skye O'Malley," "Love, Wild and Fair" or "Wild Jasmine" instead.
2 1/2 stars/ D+
But, I don't know...I guess I just don't enjoy Bertrice Small's books as much as I do other bodice rippers.
The heroine Mairin...I both hated and pitied her. So many horrific things happened to her, but I didn't care, because she was SOOOO perfect, SOOOO beautiful, SOOOO resilient! Every man desired her and had to have her (stop me if you've heard this before)! She was just the typical most-beautiful-woman-on-earth heroine that Bertrice Small adores and I had no patience or love for her.
Still, poor Mairin! Her love life sucks. Of her three love interests, one lacks a manhood, another's "manhood" is questionable (at least by the social mores of the time), and the other--the worst of all--is just plain boring!
Nevertheless, Ms. Small can do better! I prefer "Skye O'Malley," "Love, Wild and Fair" or "Wild Jasmine" instead.
2 1/2 stars/ D+
January 17, 2025
Once again, a fantastic read for this avowed Bertrice Small fan. She is not everyone's "cuppa" but for me, she is the antidote to many book slumps. Her writing is over the top but so compelling.
The story is set in 11th century England. We get a meticulous historical background about the rival factions that want to take over the throne of England, from Harold Godwinson to Edward Atheling to William the Conqueror. The plot also takes us to Byzantium and Scotland.
The romance centers on a typical Bertrice Small heroine, the impossibly beautiful Lady Mairin. Some readers will roll their eyes at the constant mention of Mairin's beauty, intelligence, etc. But I find Smalls' heroines the opposite of the boring Mary Sues of so many bodice-rippers. Her heroines conflict never consist of wringing their hands over a man, marriage or children. In fact, these are usually burdens that are imposed on them. Instead, Small likes to write heroine overcoming obstacles in order to achieve true freedom, independence, and happiness. They are often involved in multiple relationships. As such, it makes Small's books unpredictable, because though we suspect the heroine will get an Happily Ever After at the end, we never know who she will end up sharing her life with, if anyone. This is the case here with Lady Mairin. A bonus for Small's fans is that there is a cameo from the patriarch of the Scottish Glenkirk clan, so people who have followed her O'Malley series and the Kadin and its sequels will appreciate that.
The story is set in 11th century England. We get a meticulous historical background about the rival factions that want to take over the throne of England, from Harold Godwinson to Edward Atheling to William the Conqueror. The plot also takes us to Byzantium and Scotland.
The romance centers on a typical Bertrice Small heroine, the impossibly beautiful Lady Mairin. Some readers will roll their eyes at the constant mention of Mairin's beauty, intelligence, etc. But I find Smalls' heroines the opposite of the boring Mary Sues of so many bodice-rippers. Her heroines conflict never consist of wringing their hands over a man, marriage or children. In fact, these are usually burdens that are imposed on them. Instead, Small likes to write heroine overcoming obstacles in order to achieve true freedom, independence, and happiness. They are often involved in multiple relationships. As such, it makes Small's books unpredictable, because though we suspect the heroine will get an Happily Ever After at the end, we never know who she will end up sharing her life with, if anyone. This is the case here with Lady Mairin. A bonus for Small's fans is that there is a cameo from the patriarch of the Scottish Glenkirk clan, so people who have followed her O'Malley series and the Kadin and its sequels will appreciate that.
March 4, 2022
“Will you please get a wet-nurse for William, enchantress? It is extremely unfair that these beauties,” and now he fondled her breasts lovingly, “be the sole possession of a toothless babe unable to appreciate their finer points."...
“My lord,” she half-protested, “would you deny your heir his only sustenance?”
“Let some fresh-cheeked farmer’s wife with big tits like cow’s udders give him sustenance,” Josselin said. “These beauties should belong to me alone!”
If someone would ask me to explain what Bertrice Small's books are like, I would honestly have no words to describe it. Every time I finished a book of hers, the more mysterious and the more harder for me to explain it.
The proses were laughable at times and yet it possessed that je ne sais quoi charm that none other authors have. And don't mention the problematic content they have, reflection of those old school bodice rippers.
My point is this. They're so bad that they're good.
“My lord,” she half-protested, “would you deny your heir his only sustenance?”
“Let some fresh-cheeked farmer’s wife with big tits like cow’s udders give him sustenance,” Josselin said. “These beauties should belong to me alone!”
If someone would ask me to explain what Bertrice Small's books are like, I would honestly have no words to describe it. Every time I finished a book of hers, the more mysterious and the more harder for me to explain it.
The proses were laughable at times and yet it possessed that je ne sais quoi charm that none other authors have. And don't mention the problematic content they have, reflection of those old school bodice rippers.
My point is this. They're so bad that they're good.
December 4, 2014
Enchantress Mine was THE first romance book I've ever read (I started when I was 12). When I first read this, the writing style and the characters were so dramatic and over-the-top that I was left VERY frustrated and confused, so over the years I kept coming back to it and really see how bad (or good) it was.
As sad as I feel to say this--this novel did not withstand the test of time (or its time when it was first published). Any seasoned reader (even those who love romance novels) would quickly hear alarm bells when they first read Mairin's POV, because no child ever thinks or talks like Mairin does.
To me, Mairin is like...Twilight's Reneesme. She's too perfect to exist and her mentality is extremely inappropriate for her age (she literally THINKS and speaks in purple prose, gushes about her looks as if she was an adult, and is actually pretty creepy). She also suffers from being antagonized by an ~evil~ stepmother who views her as a threat (and she promptly sells her off to slavery, but luckily Mairin is kept pure thanks to her bodyguard and is also luckily bought by a nice guy who becomes her foster parent). It's like an old B-movie where the plot treats the main heroine with kid gloves while trying to sell how 'sad' she is and 'poor her' because life is so hard to her.
It's also VERY difficult to like any of her suitors. Basil the Byzantine prince acted way older than her and I was getting some Humbert Humbert vibes off of him (he also finds her 'innocence' so amusing--and frankly that got old every time he says that), plus he only served to further tragedy when he gets killed by a jealous gay lover. There isn't a lot of romance between him or Mairin, because the novel was written about Hero A and Heroine B *having* a romance, not the two of them *being* romanced by each other. The same goes for Josselin (the guy with barely any personality, and became even jealous of his own infant son later because the 'piglet' needed to be breastfed by his mom (and sadly, Mairin didn't tell him to get over himself)) and Eric Longsword (the rapey douchebag who knew Mairin since she was VERY young and innocent, yet still called dibs on her like she was a piece of meat). I remember being 12 and HATING Eric Longsword for doing that to her instead of treating her like a person (even if he was a viking (which STILL makes no difference)).
I did really like the descriptions of Mairin's travels and her environment (and I really liked her foster family). But that was it. The heroine was unbelievable, her plotline was unbelievable, and her love life was either filled with douchebags or not-so-great sex.
As sad as I feel to say this--this novel did not withstand the test of time (or its time when it was first published). Any seasoned reader (even those who love romance novels) would quickly hear alarm bells when they first read Mairin's POV, because no child ever thinks or talks like Mairin does.
To me, Mairin is like...Twilight's Reneesme. She's too perfect to exist and her mentality is extremely inappropriate for her age (she literally THINKS and speaks in purple prose, gushes about her looks as if she was an adult, and is actually pretty creepy). She also suffers from being antagonized by an ~evil~ stepmother who views her as a threat (and she promptly sells her off to slavery, but luckily Mairin is kept pure thanks to her bodyguard and is also luckily bought by a nice guy who becomes her foster parent). It's like an old B-movie where the plot treats the main heroine with kid gloves while trying to sell how 'sad' she is and 'poor her' because life is so hard to her.
It's also VERY difficult to like any of her suitors. Basil the Byzantine prince acted way older than her and I was getting some Humbert Humbert vibes off of him (he also finds her 'innocence' so amusing--and frankly that got old every time he says that), plus he only served to further tragedy when he gets killed by a jealous gay lover. There isn't a lot of romance between him or Mairin, because the novel was written about Hero A and Heroine B *having* a romance, not the two of them *being* romanced by each other. The same goes for Josselin (the guy with barely any personality, and became even jealous of his own infant son later because the 'piglet' needed to be breastfed by his mom (and sadly, Mairin didn't tell him to get over himself)) and Eric Longsword (the rapey douchebag who knew Mairin since she was VERY young and innocent, yet still called dibs on her like she was a piece of meat). I remember being 12 and HATING Eric Longsword for doing that to her instead of treating her like a person (even if he was a viking (which STILL makes no difference)).
I did really like the descriptions of Mairin's travels and her environment (and I really liked her foster family). But that was it. The heroine was unbelievable, her plotline was unbelievable, and her love life was either filled with douchebags or not-so-great sex.
June 9, 2018
As a dog returns to its vomit....so I have read another Bertrice Small book.
Mairin is a big old Mary Sue. She's so beautiful, everyone who sees her must possess her. Yes, we do this in every BS book. She can also, sorta, see into the future sometimes. Not in any meaningful way, just every now and then.
The guy with no dong or sack was interesting. Especially about how he seemed to believe he had impregnated someone. With his fingers. That will probably be what I'll remember most from this BS book. Sick of reading about "red-gold" hair!
Mairin is a big old Mary Sue. She's so beautiful, everyone who sees her must possess her. Yes, we do this in every BS book. She can also, sorta, see into the future sometimes. Not in any meaningful way, just every now and then.
The guy with no dong or sack was interesting. Especially about how he seemed to believe he had impregnated someone. With his fingers. That will probably be what I'll remember most from this BS book. Sick of reading about "red-gold" hair!
March 31, 2014
A lot more fun than any history of William the Conqueror I’ve ever read... a lot sexier too. Beatrice Small gives us a romantic vision of life in the early Middle Ages, and shows us that, in spite of the barbarians all around them, there were people who were still able to lead kind and generous lives. Small takes us on an interesting side trip to Byzantium and shows just how advanced that civilization had become. Her heroine, Mairin, a strong, self-reliant, but temperamental young woman views her own great beauty almost as a curse. Yet she’s willing to take advantage of it, as well as her own wits, a dedicated giant, and the kindness of strangers to find some measure of peace and security in the midst of all the chaos. As usual there's a lot of well researched historical detail, and some pretty gory statistics that don't seem to fit the courtly behavior of the principles. But, you know, you watch game of thrones and think to yourself, hey, maybe that's how it was: courtly and polite in the castle, a butcher on the battlefield.
October 4, 2013
Fun historical sexy book. Love Bertrice Small's lady leads, they are all so fun. Been reading and re-reading Small's books for years just for easy relaxation factor. Love the history and colorful characters in her books. I'm not ashamed. ;)
March 29, 2026
3/5 stars, though I wish I could rate it higher. This is an old, bodice ripper novel, so I came in expecting to see a lot of sexual assault, racism, and sexism.
And there was quite a bit of that.
Some trigger warnings to people who have not read this book before:
Age-Gap romance (one of the first sexual scenes you see is between a 14-year-old girl and an older man)
Homophobia
Sexism directed towards all women in the book, including the protagonist and antagonist.
The aforementioned sexual assault
In addition, though I cannot be sure if this was the author’s intention, there seems to be a presumption in the book that all Scottish or Irish people are brutes in some sense, and not as civilized as the people our MC grows up with, even though they do have their own royalty. I can’t be sure if this was intentionally racist, or just a stereotype (still racist) that was typical for the time period this book was written.
It also leans into an older style of writing its antagonists. Most of the antagonists in this book are depicted as being dumber, malformed in some manner, or mentally lacking…as in, they’re crazy. If it’s not because of their gender, or where they came from, then it’s because they’re evil. They’re evil, therefore they’re dumb. They’re evil so of course they suffered a deformity. They’re evil because they’re gay.
It makes the depiction of the villains suffer greatly as a result, they’re not given much characterization outside of how they affect the protagonist.
Also, I knew going in Bertrice Small tends to repeat herself. As in, she’ll have her character sit down and retell passages of the whole story, even though you as the reader would have already known this information. Those are easy to skip over, however, so it didn’t bother me as much.
What I also believe was poorly handled was the fall-out from the sexual assault that was inflicted on the MC. Everyone gangs up on her for not immediately forgiving her partner, even though she was perfectly justified in her anger. What’s even worse was that perfect strangers that she’d only known for a few months were able to take her at her word, but her partner, who had known her for years, doubted her until verifiable proof came in corroborating her story.
That being said…I do think the book was written rather well. It’s sort of like an adult fairytale, with a near-perfect princess, an evil stepmother, a handsome prince and then later a handsome knight….with the historical backdrop of the battle between Harold Godwinson, and William of Normandy.
Small does a great job of bringing you into the world of the novel, elaborating on the politics of high society where needed, and introducing 3 very different cultures to the reader.
One character, Dagda, while I question how offensive his depiction is, and especially how his harrowing backstory is framed as a tale of how he became the good man he is today—For all his faults in the story, I do like him as a character. He plays the role of guardian very well.
It was a very novel experience reading this book, because when the MC begins her story after losing everything she has, from a modern context you would expect her to start training as an assassin or a soldier of some kind, so she could one day return home and reclaim what is rightfully hers.
While she does end up doing that eventually, it’s not a lifelong quest of hers. The MC’s story, is basically about her growing up, experiencing the different stages of life, and trying to live her life the best she can. She recognizes her limits, and does her best to work within those limits, and stands up for herself when necessary. Even when no one else stands with her, or stands for her. It’s a different type of feminine strength that I’m not used to seeing.
I’m at odds with myself, because even though I enjoyed the book, there’s still a lot written within the story that I object to. At the same time, I found it to be a valuable experience.
Obviously this book won’t be for everyone, and especially if you’re put off by the age gap relationship shown in the first part of the book, you will not read much further.
Just keep in mind when you start this book you will run into problematic elements that definitely wouldn’t be considered kosher in today’s society.
And there was quite a bit of that.
Some trigger warnings to people who have not read this book before:
Age-Gap romance (one of the first sexual scenes you see is between a 14-year-old girl and an older man)
Homophobia
Sexism directed towards all women in the book, including the protagonist and antagonist.
The aforementioned sexual assault
In addition, though I cannot be sure if this was the author’s intention, there seems to be a presumption in the book that all Scottish or Irish people are brutes in some sense, and not as civilized as the people our MC grows up with, even though they do have their own royalty. I can’t be sure if this was intentionally racist, or just a stereotype (still racist) that was typical for the time period this book was written.
It also leans into an older style of writing its antagonists. Most of the antagonists in this book are depicted as being dumber, malformed in some manner, or mentally lacking…as in, they’re crazy. If it’s not because of their gender, or where they came from, then it’s because they’re evil. They’re evil, therefore they’re dumb. They’re evil so of course they suffered a deformity. They’re evil because they’re gay.
It makes the depiction of the villains suffer greatly as a result, they’re not given much characterization outside of how they affect the protagonist.
Also, I knew going in Bertrice Small tends to repeat herself. As in, she’ll have her character sit down and retell passages of the whole story, even though you as the reader would have already known this information. Those are easy to skip over, however, so it didn’t bother me as much.
What I also believe was poorly handled was the fall-out from the sexual assault that was inflicted on the MC. Everyone gangs up on her for not immediately forgiving her partner, even though she was perfectly justified in her anger. What’s even worse was that perfect strangers that she’d only known for a few months were able to take her at her word, but her partner, who had known her for years, doubted her until verifiable proof came in corroborating her story.
That being said…I do think the book was written rather well. It’s sort of like an adult fairytale, with a near-perfect princess, an evil stepmother, a handsome prince and then later a handsome knight….with the historical backdrop of the battle between Harold Godwinson, and William of Normandy.
Small does a great job of bringing you into the world of the novel, elaborating on the politics of high society where needed, and introducing 3 very different cultures to the reader.
One character, Dagda, while I question how offensive his depiction is, and especially how his harrowing backstory is framed as a tale of how he became the good man he is today—For all his faults in the story, I do like him as a character. He plays the role of guardian very well.
It was a very novel experience reading this book, because when the MC begins her story after losing everything she has, from a modern context you would expect her to start training as an assassin or a soldier of some kind, so she could one day return home and reclaim what is rightfully hers.
While she does end up doing that eventually, it’s not a lifelong quest of hers. The MC’s story, is basically about her growing up, experiencing the different stages of life, and trying to live her life the best she can. She recognizes her limits, and does her best to work within those limits, and stands up for herself when necessary. Even when no one else stands with her, or stands for her. It’s a different type of feminine strength that I’m not used to seeing.
I’m at odds with myself, because even though I enjoyed the book, there’s still a lot written within the story that I object to. At the same time, I found it to be a valuable experience.
Obviously this book won’t be for everyone, and especially if you’re put off by the age gap relationship shown in the first part of the book, you will not read much further.
Just keep in mind when you start this book you will run into problematic elements that definitely wouldn’t be considered kosher in today’s society.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2019
A couple of years ago I bought a few Bertrice Small books at the Lifeline Bookfair because I saw some comments that she was an old skool crazysauce author, which yes please! Maybe I’ve read so much batshit stuff that this didn’t seem... that bad 🤷♀️
I did like the settings and time periods. The lead character is a total Mary Sue, but whatever.
I wasn’t wowed, but I’ll try some of the other books by her I’ve got.
I did like the settings and time periods. The lead character is a total Mary Sue, but whatever.
I wasn’t wowed, but I’ll try some of the other books by her I’ve got.
January 25, 2018
Een mooi boek. Drama, liefde en interessante personen.
wnr
November 18, 2023Have 2 copies hardcover book club edition published in 1987 and two copies of 1987 first edition trade
March 29, 2024
DNF @ 40%. I think Beatrice Smalls is just not for me. I hate how literally PERFECT all of her heroines are.
April 14, 2024
It's been my least favorite Beatrice Dmall book, but it is still good
August 15, 2026
Begin lijkt interessant, maar slaat snel om in goedkoop liefdesverhaal
December 27, 2015
The first romance novels I ever read were written by Bertrice Small. They were the most sexy, romantic, adventurous books I'd ever read and I loved them. I even think they may partially be responsible for my love of history. Of course, I think I was 15 or 16 when I first encountered The Kadin, and then I quickly devoured Skye O'Malley (I desperately wanted to be just like her!). Unfortunately for me, Mairin's tale just didn't hold up to my memories. She didn't have the grit of Skye or the adventurous nature of some of Ms. Small's other heroines. Mairin mainly annoyed me throughout the book by being whiney and bad tempered when even the smallest obstacle crosses her path. It was still worth revisiting though, because Bertrice Small was a master and her historical details are always incredible.
April 26, 2026
reread dropped from 5 to 4⭐ understanding that marin was a 13-16 yr old for most of the book she still got annoying and eric longsword felt like a rushed last minute villian hell blanche at least made sense
April 2, 2014
A fantastic book set in 11th century England, one of my favorite periods to read about.
January 14, 2015
Fantastic
I am never disappointed with Bertrice.
She always weaves a sensational story
After reading this I will have to read Blaze's story again.
I am never disappointed with Bertrice.
She always weaves a sensational story
After reading this I will have to read Blaze's story again.
Read
August 20, 2016author goes into too much detail about everything. too long.
Read
August 28, 2016I didn't finish this one. Made it to 63 % and decided to put it aside for now. I may decided to pick it up later.
January 24, 2017
Found this on my shelf and realized I'd never read it. Started off promising, but got boring 1/3 of the way through.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews