Three Handfastings and a Burial (Nature’s Tribe Book 1)

I have read “12 Days of Yule” and this prequel provides an excellent background for 12 Days. It is delightful to read about Senna and Lyran’s handfasting. It is a wonder how the earth, air, water and sun affect the medieval lifestyle and provided mystical magic. The magic manifested itself with heightened senses of the mind, of touch, of seeing – awake and/or asleep and of listening. The story covers the elaborate wedding of Senna and Lyran that Lyran’s father Ranly had a huge part in the orchestrating. Then it covers the birth of Senna and Lyran’s first child, Lyrelie. Then fifteen years later it talks about the relationship of Lareeta and Taron. How they met, how they came to be employed where they were and they spent time with another couple Baxter and Cedany. The four became fast friends. The book shares how distressing it was growing up for Lareeta. Even her mother lost the joy of living because of her strict father. Lareeta did not know how to act or respond to everyday occurrences. But she was learning. It was quite wonderful the courtship between Lareeta and Taron. Lareeta had many buried secrets and sorrowful pain about her growing up with a difficult father. Finally, Lareeta and Taron were handfasted in the old ways and then married in the christian church for her parent’s sake. Lareeta’s father is intolerant of anything outside of his religion. He is a pious man. When he found out that Taron was not a “christian”, he belittled, bullied and disowned Lareeta. Taron did not idly stand by. He stood up to his father-in-law and defended her. Now Lareeta’s mother did not share her husband’s prejudice. Her grandmother worshiped in the old ways. She felt that Taron was a good and kind man and would take great care of Lareeta. The story takes a turn and the scene is that of preparing a body for burial. The story goes into the ritual of the cleansing and the burying of the body. The person who died was Jarl’s mother Eloise. She is Lyran’s aunt. A new threat is brought into the story. A married man is infatuated by Senna and Lyran is experiencing new feelings of jealousy. The man is Magister Domenyk. He is an important man and could make Lyran’s life inexplicably harder. Lyran knows that Magister Domenyk’s business is causing harm to his workers and convinces Jarl to investigate for more proof. The other thing is that Jarl now accepted his attraction to Senna. He respected her and Lyran’s marriage and took the role of the annoying older brother to Senna. The three were emotionally inseparable. The book describes Yuletide as a wonderful time when “for twelve short days, neighbourly disputes suspended, family feuds truced, and people celebrated from dawn to dusk.” Here the story takes another twist. Lyran has suspected that the owner of a quarry is mistreating his employees. He talks Jarl into infiltrating and getting more information. Things take a turn for the worse and danger ensues. Magister Domenyk is restraining all manners of freedom on the villiage and Jarl was dismissed from his quarry job as well as the men refused to have anything to do with him. Jarl and Lyran are even more convinced that something nefarious is going on. Then the unthinkable happens and there is a collapse and rock slide in the quarry. Many men are hurt and one told Lyran that he was right, they were cutting corners but under threat of their jobs they were never to speak of it. As Lyran tries to help escavate the trapped men, he himself becomes trapped…. dun dun dun…. cliffhanger!!!~ OH NO!!!! I look forward to reading the third book in the series “8 Sabbats of the Sun”. This is an excellent read and I highly recommend it. I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I really liked it!

You could call this book an introduction to the series. An elaborate introduction, where we get to meet Senna, Lyran, Jarl and Lareeta. I found it pleasant! I started out liking it, but that grew into love. I especially loved Lareeta: I just felt such a connection to her! So, my favorite part was Lareeta’s. She and Taron were so sweet together! But the main character is Senna. I liked her too, she is very capable and loving and sensitive. There were other things that I loved about the story, but can’t really mention without spoiling anything. I really liked the book overall. It had the wording of medieval times, for as far as I can judge anyway. I loved the old religion, so in touch with nature. I can’t wait to start on the next book!