Book Review: The Forbidden Rose

Book review time again. Woo hoo!

I’m always delighted to happen upon an author I’ve never read before whose work I love. So this is a book review I am especially delighted to write.

I know I love a book when I keep putting it down not because I am bored but so I can make the experience of it last longer. That is the case with Joanna Bourne’s The Forbidden Rose.

It’s not that the story or the characters are so radical. She uses common themes and plot devices which are comfortably familiar. And the characters, while engaging, are super achievers. Personally, while I admire superheroes as much as the next girl, I don’t usually gravitate toward books which feature them. Plus, I tend to avoid historical romances since authors are often so excited about being historical, they neglect depth.

But this is not the case here.

I appreciate the comfort Ms. Bourne demonstrates with the time period she has chosen – Robespierre’s terrible reign. The references to time specific elements in the plot are neither professorial nor precious. Bourne is clear and specific without being overt about educating the reader.

I’m also impressed that no matter how many secondary characters Bourne introduces, none of them and none of the external events do anything more than ricochet off the central relationship of the two main characters.

However, what I love, love, love about this book is the sneaky generosity of the prose.

“Night stripped away the man and left myth. It was the myth she hungered for. This was the way the Old Gods came to the daughters of men. In dark strength, wearing the night around them like a cloak.”

Or this.

“The sun was low in the sky to her right, round and gold as a coin. The valley was a bowl of silence tipping away into a flat distance. Tiny figures of men had come out an hour ago to dig at a ditch in a field close to the horizon. Their piles of mud marked both sides of the black slash where they had worked. A sort of punctuation.”

See why I am dawdling?

Rose Grey has written three romance novels and is hard at work on a fourth. A book review occurs every week or so, depending. If you liked this post, come visit the rest of the blog at www.rosegreybooks.com. Hot Pursuit and Not As Advertised are available as ebooks and as paperbacks online.