I think I may have enjoyed this book more than her previous two novels. This book is set in the second generation/second High King after Arthur (i.e. the characters are the grandchildren of people in the Arthurian tale). However, post-Arthur Britain and the relevant family ties are just used as a backdrop for a retelling of the Tristan & Essylte (Isolde, whatever) story. I knew going into this book that it was going to be a romance novel in the trappings of historical fiction/fantasy, and I got what I was expecting (although the sex was mostly kept "off camera"). Readers who come in expecting strict historical fiction or Arthurian legend will be disappointed.

In general, the characterization, plotting, and pacing were good, although Tristan came off as much more three-dimensional than anyone else, and Essylte managed to be both at times overly-romanticized flawless and yet still weak and annoying. We get that she's beautiful, but what else has she got that makes Tristan so ass-crazy in love with her? It's hard to tell. Tristan's actually more attractive when he's interacting with anyone BUT her. The supporting women, Esmereé, Iseulte, and especially Branwen are much more interesting characters, and I wish more time had been spent with them.

Overall, there was also less wailing about honor and betrayal than I was expecting, and more plotting and scheming and action, which I appreciated. That's not to say that there was NO wailing about honor and betrayal, because... of course there was. It was less clear what the point of all this wailing was... in the recent movie version, Mark (High King and Essylte's husband) is a really decent guy and probably a good husband, if a bit old for her, so there's some actual pain and torn emotions over Tristan and Isolde's betrayal - neither of them want to hurt Mark, but they can't help themselves. In this book, Mark's a boorish asshole who's not above a little bit of torture and rape, and apart from honoring some oaths that they were practically coerced into swearing, and the fact that they must now live with deceit, it doesn't seem there's much reason for them to get so torn up about their affair.

Final verdict? Enjoyable if you go in expecting a love story in historical fiction trappings, and if you're adept at skimming over some of the more clothes-rending angsty wailing bits. ( )

The first book was amazing, the second was good. This one started to make me feel like the series was taking a turn towards the romance novel genre. Don't get me wrong, I liked the story - good characters, good plot, good writing. ( )