Unfortunately this isn't a book I enjoyed and did consider giving up several times but continued in the hope it may improve. The plot is very thin and there is an awful lot of repetitiveness. over 60% in and the same thoughts had been said over and over and nothing much else had happened. The fears of both parties had been sadly stretched out so much, it began to get on one's nerves.

The descriptions of the landscape on the other hand were more engaging.

In the circumstances, this is not an author I would look to read again.

Thank you to Mills and Boon and Lissa Morgan for letting me have an ARC copy of The Warrior’s Reluctant Wife. I rubbed my hands with glee getting the approval for this book because I’m a sucker for arranged marriage tropes in historical romances. It’s like an unwritten pact between the author of such tropes and the reader that the story will put you through the wringer, and dish out plenty of hate, avoidance, and friction before a big HEA. Lissa Morgan delivered all the fronts for this book! I could not put it down and curled up to read in one sitting. I read it again as I couldn’t believe it was as good as it first seemed.

The description of the writing delivers poignantly on the beauty and wildness of the Welsh landscape, where danger lurks hidden in the valleys and mists of this ancient land. The troubles and strifes of medieval life are interwoven with the romance story showing the difficulties women faced in this male-dominated society and the dangers to their lives as property of their male kin. The story gets a little inventive about contraception, but while we can’t say for sure what women did about this shadows on this front with a lot of certainty.

Peredur made my toes curl – a dark, broody knight with a tragic past and a ferocious reputation as a violent warrior. Only looks can be deceiving as beneath the conjecture and armour there is a good man with limited experience of love. Rhiannon has a soul of steel and is spirited under her facade of a dutiful daughter. She’s learned how men of her time can use their women and she is keen to avoid being under the heel of another abusive man like her father. Only everything she expects from Peredur surprises her as she learns to live with the man behind the warrior. There are surprises for both about each other as they get to know their new spouse.

The subplot gets a little dark, but it’s a gripping detail into the politics of Welsh culture and the constant upheaval of the Welsh princes. A clever infusion of history to up the ante on the romance and bring to life the wider tensions of the time. I can’t wait for the next book in the series of the Warriors of Wales.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thought and opinions are mine

An author new to me, I enjoyed this M&B offering

This was an enjoyable romance, with likable characters. Read in one sitting.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.