Published by Crooked Cat Publishing in August 2012.
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AD 71 Northern Roman Britain
Lorcan of the Brigantes knows that unity of the northern tribes is essential when the Ancient Roman legions advance northwards to Brigantia. Yet, everything comes at a price. Using his captive, Nara, as a political bargain with the Selgovae comes with impossible stipulations. Battle at Whorl – Iron Age tribes against the Romans – is inevitable.
Will Nara have her Beltane choice?
The adventures of the Garrigill Clan begin…
I was intrigued by Nancy Jardine's Celtic Fervour series being set towards the beginning of the Roman occupation of Britannia. I haven't read any novels set in this period since Skin by Ilka Tampke, set three decades earlier, and it is a time of great social change across what would become Britain so ripe, I think, for a stirring historical fiction series. Jardine has researched and envisaged various tribal communities across the country. They have been intermittently at war with each other for generations, but now the Roman threat from the south can only successfully be countered if all these enemies can work together. With a lot of testosterone pride at stake, it seems unlikely that any proposal along these lines will be accepted by enough tribes. Added to be mix is a Romeo and Juliet-style narrative of potential lovers, Lorcan and Nara, being thwarted by their families each being the leaders of different tribes.
I enjoyed Jardine's portrayal of late Iron Age life and the landscapes through which our travelling - and sparring - protagonists pass. As she says in an epilogue essay, archaeology is constantly changing our understanding of how these people lived, but I felt I got authentic and honest descriptions from The Beltane Choice. I admit I am not particularly a romance reader so the breathy bickering between our potential partners did start to grate on me after a while. I always believed in the progression of their relationship though and the political manoeuvres were certainly convincing. If anything, I felt that The Beltane Choice could have done with being a longer novel! At times I wanted to know more of the background and minutiae. I already have the next book in the series awaiting reading though so I may discover more there and I look forward to returning to Iron Age Britain soon.
Meet the author
A member of the Historical Novel Society; Scottish Association of Writers; Federation of Writers Scotland; Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Independent Alliance of Authors, her work has achieved finalist status in UK competitions.
Author links:
Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon
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Win x1 signed paperback of The Beltane Choice to one UK winner and x1 kindle copy worldwideOpen internationally until the 19th September 2019.
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Thank you so much Stephanie Jane for your super review of The Beltane Choice. I'm delighted you found the era interesting since it's a particular passion of mine, and as you point out not a period that's written about very often! The northern Roman Britain - Roman Scotland in later books of the series - locations are not written about often either.
ReplyDeleteI was fascinated to learn more about both the era and the locations through this series :-)
DeleteI love this timeframe- the Celtic and Roman worlds colliding- and this sounds great! I'll have to take a look. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was a time of intense culture clashes and I think that comes across well in the novel
DeleteSometimes it is a secret wish to get more details of the author's research when its a period we haven't read about. However hopefully its woven into the story. I'm glad this was such a winner for you Stephanie!!
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to read nonfiction about this time period too. Archaeologists keep making fascinating discoveries that improve our understanding
DeleteAnything about the Romans is so fascinating! So political and intriguing! "testosterone pride" love that term. So much to blame to that in humankind's history!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely! And there's lots of it in this story!
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