By Grace Possessed-Jennifer Blake

By Grace Possessed
Jennifer Blake
Mira, Aug 30 2011, $7.99
ISBN: 9780778312543

In 1486 England, King Henry VII feels good about overcoming the curse of one of the Three Graces of Graydon sisters when he ordered Lady Isabel Milton and Earl Rand Braesford to marry (see By His Majesty’s Grace). Not one to sit on his laurels, the proactive monarch declares that the second cursed Grace sibling Lady Catherine Milton will wed the ruler’s Scottish freedom fighting “hostage” Ross Dunbar if the man agrees; as the king cannot force him to do so.

Ross thinks the curse that men who marry the Graces of Graydon die if they fail to love their wife is an inane superstition. Still he has no plans to marry her or any Englishwoman. When Ross is severely wounded rescuing Catherine from his enemy, Henry gives him the choice of dying from his wounds in the Tower or marrying the middle Grace. As a rebellion breaks out, Ross is caught in the middle as he remains loyal to Scotland and to King Henry VII, but mostly to his beloved Cate. Ironically the curse will not kill him as he loves his Grace, but the combat could.

The middle sister’s Graces medieval romance is an exciting period piece as armchair readers will believe they are at the court of King Henry VII in the late fifteenth century. Except for her belief in the curse, Cate is a typical historical heroine while Ross is a fascinating protagonist whose loyalty is stretched in diverse directions as he must choose between Scotland (and his father), the English king and Cate.

Harriet Klausner