Hostage of the Heart edition by Linda Acaster Romance eBooks
Download As PDF : Hostage of the Heart edition by Linda Acaster Romance eBooks 
England, September 1066 the northern militia has been raised to support the new English king, leaving the Welsh marches dangerously unprotected. Rhodri ap Hywel, prince of the Welsh, sweeps down the valley to reclaim by force stolen lands, taking the Saxon Lady Dena as a battle hostage.
But who is the more barbaric a man who protects his people by the strength of his cunning and sword-arm, or Dena’s kinsfolk who swear fealty to a canon of falsehoods and refuse to pay her ransom? Betrayed as worthless, can she place her trust, and her life, in the hands of a warrior-knight shielding dark secrets of his own? And when the tables are turned, with whom does she stand?
HOSTAGE OF THE HEART
Genre Mediaeval Romance (Romantic Suspense); heat level sweet
71,000 words.
Review for HOSTAGE OF THE HEART
“Wars are fought on many fronts. Dena’s peaceful existence is shattered when marauding Welshmen arrive to reclaim their stolen domains. But the distant struggle for the English crown spreads to the border lands and Dena’s captor Rhodri is himself taken hostage. Dena must now fight for her love in the unfamiliar world of the court, facing intrigue, spite, jealousy and treachery. Linda Acaster has written a cracking romance set in a cataclysmic period of English history.” – Madeleine McDonald, author of ‘Enchantment in Morocco’.
HOSTAGE OF THE HEART also includes additional material
5,000 word excerpt from BENEATH THE SHINING MOUNTAINS by Linda Acaster
Genre Historical Romance (Romantic Suspense); heat level sweet
A compelling story of honour among rival warrior societies of the Apsaroke First People before the coming of European settlers, and one woman’s determination to wed the man of her dreams.
About the Author
Linda Acaster is an award-winning author of four novels and 70+ short stories, and lives in the United Kingdom.
Her current novel is TORC OF MOONLIGHT, the first of a trilogy of time-slip thrillers set in northern England, available in paperback and ebook.
Visit www..co.uk to read multiple reviews of the paperback
Hostage of the Heart edition by Linda Acaster Romance eBooks
I discovered this little gem after asking authors if they'd like to be interviewed for my blog. Ms. Acaster volunteered and after reading her responses to some of my questions, I decided to purchase the Kindle edition of her book. What a good choice! This story is definitely a romance, but is a very sweet one without all of the overtures and exaggerations of emotion and physical attraction you find in the typical run of the mill romance novels. The hero and heroine come off as real people, and both of them nestle their way into your heart. Some of the secondary characters are interesting as well, and by the end of the book I was surprised at the revelation that was made (I'm usually able to weed those out while I read). All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys European history, a heartwarming romance and a good dose of intrigue. Bravo on a story well written!Product details
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Tags : Hostage of the Heart - Kindle edition by Linda Acaster. Romance Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.,ebook,Linda Acaster,Hostage of the Heart,FICTION Romance Historical Medieval
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Hostage of the Heart edition by Linda Acaster Romance eBooks Reviews
Rhodri ap Hywel, Prince of the Welsh, had crossed the border to reclaim by force those lands taken from him by force. Caught up in the bloody conflict and held hostage was the Saxon Lady Dena. Torn between loyalty to her kinsfolk who would not pay her ransom, and passion for this barbaric Welshman, who was her true enemy?
This is a sweet romance and a gripping historical tale combined, set in the Welsh borderlands and Anglo-Saxon Northern England in medieval Britain. If you are looking for romance and adventure this is a good story to lose yourself in.
Overall I liked this story. Sweet, headstrong heroine and a good guy hero. But there were several things that annoyed me. They were not together enough, which meant there was a lack of tension. I personally also prefer a bit more sexual tension. Not sex all over the place, but in this one, there was none. One heated incident that never turned into something more. A bit more character description would have been nice too. Although I am really curious as to Rhodri's very interesting past! Loved the epilogue although I felt it a bit rushed.
As a man, this is not the sort of novel I would normally pick up. But, having read Linda's other books, I knew what a good writer she is and was therefore prepared to give this a go.
Though clearly intended for the women's market, this is a love story with so much more than mere romance going on right from the start. It is no surprise to me that the novel is fast paced, full of tension, both emotional and sexual, and tells a great story. The research has been done thoroughly so that the reader is easily lost in the medieval world of the Welsh border country around the time of the Battle of Hastings, when so much was happening.
The sense of threat felt by the heroine, Dena, is palpable and her confusion, heightened by her imaginings combined with misinformation, is always understandable. She is a courageous woman, whose faults arise from her upbringing and circumstances. Her emotions are portrayed with great subtlety and flair so that it is easy to empathise with her as one injustice is piled on another and she faces doubt and danger in a world that is rapidly falling apart around her.
The sexual tension between her and the hero, Rhodri, is very real as she journeys through fear, despair, loathing, terror, treachery and humiliation on the road to love. The passion is wonderfully expressed through the understated intimacy experienced by the lovers on their ride to self discovery.
Surrounded by lies and the politics of the age, Dena is forced to grow up very quickly as she suffers kidnap, betrayal, the blackening of her name, the threat of rape and death.
Rhodri, a fighting man as much as he is a lover, will find a place in the hearts of women readers with his strength, recklessness, courage and sheer male magnetism. Those who enjoy historical romance will find this book easy to pick up and difficult to put down.
Dena is a young Saxon noblewoman, come to live with her uncle Edwulf after her father, his estranged brother, dies. She doesn't fit in very well at her uncle's manor; both he and his wife Ethelin have aspirations of grandeur and are 11th century social climbers, so where in her former home, Dena would have felt at ease with the farmers and servants tending her father's house, here, she is forbidden to fraternize with those "beneath her station." At the present, Edwulf is away, helping King Edward guard his shores from the attacking Norwegians. With the estate left relatively unprotected, Gwylan, the Welsh warrior whose lands Edwulf had confiscated, decides to take back his property. In the confusion of abandoning the manor to take refuge at a neighboring lord's castle, Dena is left behind, only to be captured by the attacking Welsh. She is saved by Rhodri ap Hwyel, a young man who obviously has some relationship with Gwylan, and also has no love of the Saxons, having been sent as a hostage to Edward's court and there abandoned by his relatives to the Saxons' cruelty. Laid low by poisoned ale left behind just for that purpose, he and his men are tended by the girl and when they ride out, he takes him with her. On the journey, as if decreed by Fate, the two young people realize they are falling in love.
When they are attacked by a party of Lord Baldric's men, Rhodri has a chance to escape but his fear for Dena causes him to be captured. At the Lord's castle, Dena comes to believe that Wybert, her uncle's steward, purposely abandoned her to divert the Welsh in order to give his men time to get away. Discovering that Gwylan is just as devious as both Wybert and her uncle in sacrificing those they love to gain a victory, she attempts to save Rhodri's life by convincing the others he's more valuable as a hostage than a corpse. When Rhodri sees a chance to escape and takes it, he's overcome by Wybert who orders him killed, and for her obvious love of one of the enemy, Dena is carried away to a hermitage in the forest while Wybert himself lights the wood piled around the stake to which Rhodri is chained...
MY OPINION Once I started this book, I hated to put it down to get to sleep, in fact, I think I actually fell asleep while reading it. Not that it was dull, far from it, but because I stayed up until 500 AM to finish it! There's so much to say about Hostage of the Heart but I don't have that much space. Like Linda Acaster's other historical tales, the research she's taken with the story shines through. We've had so many stories about the Normans' treatment of the Saxons but very few about the Saxons' treatment of the Welsh or any other of the peoples inhabiting England in the 11th century. It's a view not seen very often and this is an entertaining story pointing that out. I'd like to have learned more about Rhodri's background and the time he spent at the English court, because the few bits of explanation were merely tantalizing. There's probably enough speculation there for another novel! I also like that the author includes a epilogue telling what happened to the characters in later life. All in all, this is a lovely story and one everyone who reads it should enjoy.
I discovered this little gem after asking authors if they'd like to be interviewed for my blog. Ms. Acaster volunteered and after reading her responses to some of my questions, I decided to purchase the edition of her book. What a good choice! This story is definitely a romance, but is a very sweet one without all of the overtures and exaggerations of emotion and physical attraction you find in the typical run of the mill romance novels. The hero and heroine come off as real people, and both of them nestle their way into your heart. Some of the secondary characters are interesting as well, and by the end of the book I was surprised at the revelation that was made (I'm usually able to weed those out while I read). All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys European history, a heartwarming romance and a good dose of intrigue. Bravo on a story well written!
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