The Merchant’s Love (Chronicles of Tournai, #6)

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

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The Merchant’s Love
Series: The Chronicles of Tournai, Book 6

343 Pages
3rd person, dual POV (with additions by Amory/Philip)
Would I read it again? Probably.
Genre: Fantasy, LGBT, Romance, Historical
Pairings: MM
Heat Level: (the sex is skimmed over, mostly)

When I started this book, it was directly after re-reading books 1-5 and I’m glad I did. I know it says it’s a standalone, that people who left reviews say they read only this book and didn’t have trouble understanding it, but I would have. I can’t abide to read books out of order and, with this one, I’m not sure how anyone can read it and not feel just a bit lost or confused. As with the other books (not so much book 5) it relies heavily on the actions, events and characters of the previous books. Without reading them, you’re missing out on a lot of information that will help you understand this book better. It deals with Savarin’s spellwork from book 4, mentions the threat from Ardunn from book 2, as well as mentioning heavily the kidnapping incident from book 3, with Tristan’s family taking centerstage again due to Maxen being one of the MC’s.

When it came to characters, I liked Faelen. I knew I liked him during the previous book and it was only because he was an MC, and he was being paired with Maxen, who intrigued me in book 3, that I picked this one up. I told myself after the disappointment of book 5 that I wouldn’t. That I wouldn’t buy the paperbacks anymore, due to the changed covers, and that I wouldn’t continue the series. Which this book didn’t blow me away, I’m glad I changed my mind and gave this book a chance. It redeemed a little of book 5 took away from the series, for me.

Faelen was a great character, with a demi/pansexual personality that made him feel wrong or strange for most of his life, until he realised that his lack of interest in men wasn’t wrong at all. He was strong in a way that most people didn’t see, and I loved that. I also loved that he stood up for himself when he had to, especially when it came to his twin, Alexander’s, sometimes overbearing personality and smothering. I loved the exploration from uncertain to knowing what he felt was right, and though his character was similar to Etan in many ways, he was also different in enough ways that he became someone new and intriguing. Someone who was a little naive and underestimated but proved himself in the end.

Maxen, too, was a surprise. He was similar to Tristan in many ways but unique enough to be a refreshing new character. I love so much that he understood Faelen’s lack of interest in the beginning, when Maxen first approached him, and favoured a friendship over romance. I love that he noticed that Faelen wasn’t interested and proved himself different to all the other fawning sycophants that crowded Faelen at court. He took the time to get to know Faelen, cherishing his friendship over the idea of pushing for more, and that progression of relationship was so sweet, so refreshing after the heat of books 2-5 that it took me back to how Amory and Philip were, when they were first together.

I absolutely loved the mention that Alain and Julien have become friends, and that we got to see a little bit of that. It was a lovely addition, but one that wouldn’t be as exciting to anyone who hadn’t read Savarin/Loriet’s story.

I really did like the romantic relationship and how it was explored, however, I do feel disappointed that it ended up being ALL the book was about. With every previous book, the fantasy came first, then the criminal element, then the romance. The romance was a nice interlude from all the crazy chaos of the kidnapping/assassination attempts or the political intrigue that was the center plot. This story didn’t have that, so it was a short read, read in one day, and for a book of over 300 pages, it read like something half that length. I was missing the intrigue, the excitement of something else going on, the distraction from the family drama.

For me, that’s all this book was about – Faelen dealing with his twin, as he ventured into the unknown of a physical relationship; and Maxen dealing with his mother. There was a very tiny hint of Faelen helping Savarin with the magical protections of Tournai, and Faelen helping Etan catalogue the archives, but I wanted MORE of that. I wanted so much MORE of both of those plot points. They were what should have been the center point, when I think about the previous books. However, just like Corentin’s dragon Talent, they were pushed aside, barely mentioned, and not made use of, despite being far more interesting and engaging than the repetitive complaints from Maxen about his family. The minor incident of Faelen helping Savarin took place maybe halfway through the book, and wasn’t mentioned again until the 90% mark. 90%. That is far too long. I really thought I’d finish the book and have to give it 2 stars for the very fact that it had forgotten about the one plot point I wanted answers to.

Speaking of repetition, I wasn’t overly keen on the way that Maxen and Faelen’s initial attraction was a carbon copy of Corentin and Bastien’s first glance. The whole “eyes meet across a crowded room” and then one or both of them trying to find out who the other was because they were just sooo infatuated with that person. It spoiled it a little, for me. Sure, if someone picked up the books in this series randomly (which would be seriously confusing) they might not notice, but dedicated series readers notice these things, and it was a disappointment. I was grateful that it was slightly different, with Faelen taking little notice and Maxen not pushing as much, but it still felt too close.

As with book 5, this one deviated from the usual format of continuing the timeline almost exactly or a little later than the events of the previous book. I loved that format, because it meant that there was no crossed wires, no confusion over when things were happening, like there was in book 5. And, honestly, I found it happening again. In book 5, it really frustrated me because of the whole Savarin incident, while this time it was annoying for a whole new reason – it glossed entirely over the incident with Bastien, as though it barely mattered. Just as the talk between Savarin and Corentin took place originally in book 4, but was passed off as nothing, it was revealed to be a huge plot point in book 5, which didn’t make sense. Here, the huge plot point of the entire book 5 was mentioned in passing, for a bare two second moment, that allowed Faelen to seek comfort from Maxen, but didn’t get the credit it deserved.

For an ARC, it had very few editing issues, but I did have a problem with the lack of timeline exploration, and the time jumps that didn’t let us know how long had passed between events or jumpes weeks in a sentence.

Overall, while I really liked Faelen and Maxen with each other, and it’s rejuvenated my interest in the series, I had issues. There was still that lack of consistency within characterisation (Amory never once called Philip ‘Pip’, again! And some characters were a little too closely similar to others) and the repetition of plot points were disappointing but I could have ignored them. I couldn’t ignore the fact that the romance took 90% of the story when it didn’t need to. There was no big drama, no huge fight or misunderstanding between Maxen and Faelen that warranted the attention; there was nothing that made the relationship complicated, other than a slight misunderstanding that was solved in a matter of pages. Sure, I loved the build up, and the exploration of these two previously-barely-mentioned characters, but it didn’t need 300+ pages. And I hate that, once again, what would have been the major plot point of books 1-4 became some unimportant spectacle to leave until the last 5%.

For me, I bought the paperbacks and re-read this series nearly every year, because they’re fantasy first and foremost. They had that fantasy, shifter, historical Royalty theme as the main plot of the story, while there was some political intrigue and danger to keep the attention, to add some element of surprise and concern for the characters and their relationships. Then came the romance. Woven throughout all of that. Sadly, books 5 and 6 focus far too closely on the romance and leave all the interesting stuff happening in the wings of the stage, where I can barely see it properly.

I do want to find out more about the new characters – Valentin, Alexander, Ravello – and how they might fit into the dynamics, and whether any of them might be matched with Griffin, Marcus and Jadis (preferably in that order), so I will continue the series. However, I’m hopeful that the “feel” of Tournai will return, because it’s been sorely lacking in these last two books. While I can enjoy a good romance any day, that wasn’t what I signed up for when I read this series and I hope that indefinable fantasy/shifter “something” comes back soon.

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Favourite Quotes

“I’m not good for much when I first wake up. I’ll try to do better now, or at least wake up before you do so you won’t have to put up with me.”
Warmth spread through Faelen at Maxen’s assumption that there would be more mornings together. “I don’t mind putting up with you.” He struggled for something to say that wouldn’t be utterly emotional. “Now that I know, I’ll just bring a book to the table.”
Maxen laughed and lifted Faelen’s hand to his lips. “Whatever makes you happy.”