Jessica Neale’s faith is lost the day of her husband’s death, and with it, her belief in love. In a journey to find peace, she encounters a gentle, green-eyed stranger who leads her to the ruins of the medieval castle, Gallimore.

On his way to battle, Colwyn Haukswyrth, knight of Gallimore, comes face to face with a storm the likes of which he’s never seen, and a woman in the midst of it who claims to live centuries in the future. The Lady Jessica of Neale is an irksome, provoking bit of woman to be sure. And she’s about to turn his beliefs on end.

The product of a family rooted in pain and evil, Colwyn has focused on naught but himself—until Jessica. To a mysterious prophecy stitched on a tapestry, through the invasion of Gallimore itself, Colwyn and Jessica are bound together by a lesson in forgiveness and love—a bond that might be strong enough to survive the grave.

Rating:

Reviewer: Stacey

Jessica Neale is on vacation, headed to London. She shares her flight with an intriguing English History professor named Cole Hawksworth, who gives her some recommendations for sightseeing, and his phone number. But that’s not the strangest thing that happens to her. She finds herself in the woods, sitting in the ruins of Gallimore castle, which he told her about, and caught in a storm. She finds her way back to her car, but something catches her eye outside the window and, with the lightning and rain, she loses control of her car and crashes. And when she wakes up everything is wrong. There’s a guy dressed as a knight and he forces her on a march through the woods that ends at the very ruins she was sitting in, only now there are no ruins - there’s a whole castle, full of people who ignore her pleas for help. But the knight, Colwyn, forces her inside and into the presence of his brother, the Earl, who takes an immediate interest in her. His dark magic tells him she is important, but Colwyn has taken it upon himself to protect her despite the way she irritates him, except that he must leave the castle. How will she fare without her protector? Will he return for her? Or will he find himself in harm’s way before he even has a chance?

I’ve never really liked fictionalized history. That said, I loved Gallimore! It’s got all the historical beauty of the stories of the Knights of the Round Table without the over-dramatization and ignorance that most modern stories set in medieval times usually take. There’s enough detail so that you really feel you’re in the period, without pushing it to the extreme like some authors do to prove they did their research. I liked that Ms. Griep was able to make you feel the emotions flying between Jessica and Colwyn without having to have them kissing all the time or feeling each other up. And the ending is great - happy without having to be perfect, because we all know that endings don’t always turn out perfect, a lesson I wish more authors would learn.

Disclosure: Manic Readers receives books from authors, publishers, and publicists which are given to reviewers in exchange for their honest opinion. Each review represents the opinion of the reviewer which may or may not have been influenced by receiving the book at no cost.