PLEASE NOTE: This story contains mature themes and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.The Bed Wife Chronicles: Love brought them together. Would tradition tear them apart?Once inseparable childhood friends, Luana and Baylin are now grown and living in two separate worlds. Luana, the daughter of the town drunk, cares for her family’s goat farm to make ends meet. Baylin, Prince and … Baylin, Prince and future King of Grasmere, is off combating the evils that lurk in the Kingdom.
However, Fate intercedes with a time-honored tradition that has been custom for the past five hundred years. Luana’s life is now forced into the hands of her long-lost childhood friend. Will resentment, hurt and duty consume them?
Or will Luana and Baylin rekindle their friendship and finally find love?
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This review is for the audiobook version.
Rating; 4.5 Stars
This audiobook was my first introduction to Ms. Lynn’s work. I’m glad that I had the chance to listen to this beginning of The Bed Wife Chronicles. But a little sad that it took me so long. That fault is mine alone because I’ve come to listen/read more contemporary tales and historical ones have been taken to the back burner. Our author is good at teasing which had me wanting to know “will they, won’t they”. It made the couple of hours pass by too quickly.
This story reminds me how far we’ve come since days long gone. It made me wonder how the women of today would handle the situation that Luana finds herself in. Baylin seems that he would be an honorable man whether in his own point in time or in this one. It was not hard to picture the scenes as they went by and part of that was due to Mr. Maxwell. In no way does he attempt to take on Luana’s persona. I could see him as a bard and we would sitting at his feet as he tells us his latest tale. Having an accent helps the reader with the setting and how the characters might talk.
Part of my regret is the fact at how quickly this story went by. Even though I knew this was a novella, I didn’t want this tale to end. I wanted some more time in the presence of Baylin and Luana. The good thing is that I can follow the Chronicles and once finished, I can go back and revisit at any time. It will make my commutes a lot more pleasurable. The author’s ending left me with a smile. It will remind you what historical romances are all about.
I voluntarily reviewed an Audiobook copy of this book.
This book is just a set up for the next one. If you want a happily ever after, maybe you should look elsewhere.
This is part one of a series of novella’s set in the fictional realm of Wintervale.
Our story occurs in the kingdom of Grasmere the largest and strongest of the five kingdoms.
The inhabitants of this fantasy realm the Keld are an ancient bloodline with superior strength and stamina.
So genre-wise this reads like a historical fantasy and reminds me almost of a fairy-tale retelling.
Basically there is an ancient tradition to keep the bloodlines themselves strong that every century males of the royal line take a Bedwife to breed from the common stock.
Eventually, they will take a wife from there own class and these chosen Bedwifes are really little better themselves than kept breeders.
There is almost a certain honour and prestige among the lower classes attached to this position and the families of those chosen are compensated richly for there sacrifice.
Prince Baylin chooses former childhood companion Luana for the coveted position.
But where he sees it as an honour he is bestowing on her elevating her position almost she is less than convinced and fights his attentions from the get-go.
So as I said earlier this is the first novella of three.
I did enjoy this and the writing itself was descriptive and imaginative but I wasn’t always feeling the actual connection between Baylin and Luana.
Maybe because of the short length this somewhat failed to convince and invest me in their overall connection.
I also felt that the two mains themselves could have done with some slight fleshing.
Despite that, this was still an enjoyable and imaginative story and I thought the actual concept of this was a great idea.
This very much had a whole fantasy fairy/tale kingdom vibe and I did like this aspect very much.
This concluded itself in an HFN ending but the story itself here is yet to complete.
There are two further novellas in this series to conclude Baylin and Luana’s tale and great news no waiting as these stories are already completed.
If your thing is the older type historical romances of past this one would definitely be a great fit for you, its got a real romantic old-time type vibe to the whole thing that I really did appreciate.
I voluntary reviewed a copy of The Bed Wife (The Bed Wife Chronicles, #1).
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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