Book Reviews

Book Blurb

17th century Perigord is a county of sun-drenched villages and dark forests, languid rivers and moonlit lakes. It is a corner of France teeming with spirits, dryads and nymphs, and like everywhere else, witches are burned at the stake.

Born with the second sight, young fisherman Jehan wants nothing but to keep his head down, work hard, and stay out of trouble. Which works well enough until a suspicious string of bad luck befalls the village smith and his wife. Their adoptive son Giraud is everybody’s dashing darling, who behind his sooty smile and swashbuckling manners has buried a painful connection to the supernatural himself. Fearing that some evil is afoot, Giraud turns to the only other man in town who knows about the hidden world around them - Jehan. 

Before long, they are embroiled in a quest involving brigands, witches and noble fey, while their friendship and attraction gradually shifts into something deeper. If they manage to survive ancient feuds and everyday prejudice, they might even have a chance to forge a Happily Ever After all of their own... 

From Rainbow-Award-winning authors Beryll & Osiris Brackhaus, ‘The Blacksmith Prince’ is an old-fashioned, swoon-worthy historical fantasy romance about tender love in a time when history and fairy-tales were one and the same.

Book Review

Ah, a good old-fashioned fairy tale, set in a world that resembles the Perigord of the 17th century, yet contains some distinctly alternate-reality elements as well. The setting in a dreamy region of France is wonderfully described and pulled me into a world full of charm, traditional values, and hidden dangers from the first page. The supernatural makes a quick entrance, since both main characters have links to a reality their compatriots fervently refuse to acknowledge. If either Jehan, born with the second sight, or Giraud, the village blacksmith’s adoptive son with a similar connection, are caught, they will be burned at the stake. Not to mention they are attracted to each other instead of to the young women in their village. How’s that for an immediate raising of the stakes?

Jehan is a fisherman, and even though his ancestors have all been witches with all sorts of talents, he wants nothing to do with any of it. Yes, he enjoys communicating with all kinds of supernatural beings that nobody else can see, but he knows that nobody can ever find out or he will die a gruesome death. As if that weren’t enough, he is attracted to men, a second reason for the death penalty in those days. Jehan is trying to be unobtrusive, to live a quiet life, but - lucky for me who loves a good fairy tale with a few fantasy elements woven in – this is not meant to be. Bad luck, curses, and some sort of dark threat that even Jehan’s grandmother thinks is very, very serious force Jehan into action.

Giraud may be the adopted son of the village’s blacksmith and everyone’s darling, but he has more than one dark secret as well. His and Jehan’s adventures begin with what they expect to be a short, if slightly dangerous trip, but it soon becomes apparent that lifting the curse is going to be far more difficult than Jehan thought. The quest expands, as does the danger, and one revelation and twist chases the other as Jehan and Giraud discover secrets and truths they never could have imagined.

Woven into the physical journey they take and the physical dangers they overcome, is a hesitant slow-burn romance that has both young men realizing they want to be together. The enemies are plentiful, the obstacles many, and it doesn’t seem possible for them to get what their hearts desire, no matter how much they (and I) want it. All I can say is: expect the unexpected. I take my hat off to the author for coming up with a truly magical solution for creating a happy ever after that is no less than marvelous.

If you like heroic tales of bravery and courage, if you want to see two young men battle for their lives and love in equal measure, and if you’re looking for an entertaining read that is as adventurous and occasionally funny as it is suspenseful and emotionally touching, then you will probably like this imaginative novel as much as I do. I recommend it to anyone in search of a creative fairy tale with all the proverbial trimmings.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 216 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	14-July-2017
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Blacksmith-Prince-Beryll-Brackhaus-ebook/dp/B071QZG4R5