Title: The Mark of the Rose
Series: Robin Hood/Black Wolf
Author: Marsha Canham
Read copy: eBook (Kindle)
Published: March 4, 2021
Publisher: Oliver Heber Books
ASIN: B08Y62RB2B
This is the story of two women, born seven centuries apart, but connected by a series of mysterious and magical events.
Ellen Bowe discovers she is the sole heir to an estate in Northern England, complete with manor house, castle, and ghostly visitations.
Enndolynn Ware is being held captive by the Sheriff of Nottingham. She escapes with the help of four bold knights led by Rennwick de Beauvoir, a black-haired, green-eyed champion who has been charged to find the witch and take her to Burgundy.
The lives of the two women are bound together by the archaic writings in the rose folio, by a document written by Stephen Langton, and by a birthmark they both share: the mark of the rose.
My rating:
Ellen Bowe discovers she's inherited a large estate in Lincolnshire, complete with the ruins of a medieval castle once known as Bloodmoor Keep. But what's more intriguing than the estate and fortune is a leather folio written in gibberish only Ellen can read, the leather emblazoned with the mark of a rose—a mark similar to Ellen's beauty spot.
The folio turns out to be a diary of Enndolynn Ware, who, in 1291, is rescued from the castle of the Sheriff of Nottingham by four knights spiriting her God only know where.
The two women appear to have nothing in common, but the facial features, coloring and the shared Mark of the Rose.
Maybe I should've digested it a little more, before I started to write this review; it's hard to be concise with everything so fresh, but here I am. One more in Marsha Canham's medieval world. Though this is a dual timeline story (there is no time-travel, just an occasional time warp), most of the story (and the better parts as well) take place in the past.
The moment the marriage certificate involving Alinora and Henry was mentioned, I suspected where this was going, and I wasn't wrong. Those who've read the first three books in this series will also make the connection immediately. For those who haven't...what are you waiting for? Yes, the book can be read as a standalone, but it's the information in the "original trilogy" that will make you appreciate it so much more.
The places, names, tidbits, the big reveal, the bittersweet appearance of one of the original characters that showed the sad passing of time...
The contemporary part of the story pales in comparison to the historical. Though it is used masterfully to also show the inexorable passing of time, throwing in sharp contrast the state of Bloodmoor Keep at the height of its "life" to the decay of its ruins from one chapter to the next.
The romance between Ellen and Ben, the archaeologist (convenient!) also paled in comparison to the turbulent, moody, explosive pairing of Enndolynn and Rennwick. But that's probably because most of the action happening in the past, that particular romance had time to bloom, grow, and evolve, while the contemporary was almost instantaneous, without giving the reader time to get to really know the characters and start rooting for them to end up together. Which was so effortlessly accomplished in the historical half.
I didn't mind the jumping in the timeline from past to present and back, it was cleverly done and written, but I wouldn't have minded a little more time spent with the present characters.
Ellen followed his progress, thinking of all those young men who believed it was fashionable to wear their pants hanging half off their butts and loose enough to fit an entire basketball team. They should see the way a real man wore jeans.
"Please. You must let me go," she whispered. "Or I will be lost."
He bowed his head, his lips almost touching hers. "You will never be lost. I will always find you."
"And yet, as we have discovered, you are someone entirely different," he said gently. "You are no longer Ellyn the Fletcher."
"And because of that you no longer love me?"
"I will love you as long as I draw breath. But it may not be my right to love you any other way."
"When I left, Ethan was planning an assault on the wine cellar to fetch up some of Henr...er...your fine reserves. Veronica's hair finally toppled over, and when she lifted a hand to straighten it, her breast popped out, which caused the Reverend Podd to topple over."
5 stars, contemporary, contemporary romance, favorites, historical, historical romance, Marsha Canham, medieval, paranormal
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