A battle between Kingdoms
Love &
Doing what’s right
Love in Two Acts: A Romance Novella (The Flowers of Penruddock) by Ronnda Eileen Henry is a romance novella set in the fantasy medieval Island Continent of Penruddock. The people of the Kingdom of Tenby have been outcasts for a few centuries living in The Fells, a rugged rangeland north of where their Kingdom stood. They lost their land and port to other adjacent kingdoms, one of these the Kingdom of Crosby. Here is where most of this story evolves.
This is supposed to be the story of Andro, the Prince of Tenby, and the Princess of Crosby. What he doesn’t know yet is he will fall in love with someone else. It’s also about the feuding history between three medieval kingdoms. The heir to the King of Tenby is in need of a wife, so his father sends him out to fetch one. He does, he kidnaps a princess and brings her to his father’s court. The wedding totally lacked pageantry and pomposity. It was basic, stale, and oh so short. At this point, what kind of romance is this?
As I mentioned before, in previous centuries the survivors of the Kingdom of Tenby had fled to the north, the most rugged areas of their kingdom. They had become brutal warriors known to the rest as land pirates. This is where Andro had come from, a warrior who could be savage and ruthless.
However, the love story evolves from a horrific kidnapping through the months of these two characters learning about each other to blossom into enchanting love that could last a lifetime. Though Andro shows a thuggish character to outsiders, as you read along in the story you realize he is compassionate and kind.This romance is wholesome and enchanting in the end.
I feel as if the setting of this story could’ve been a real time and an actual place. The politics and social stressors are palpable when the two characters, who are from warring kingdoms, clash and collide to finally arrive at an understanding of each other. In contrast to their lineage, both Andro and his wife’s politics cared for the people. I wish our real world six hundred years ago, where I sort of place this story, had evolved to the point to practice the politics Andro did. Today’s world would be a bit different. Anywho 🤷🏼♀️.
Henry’s descriptions of forests, mountains, the terrain, and the villages transports the reader to feel surrounded by nature. Throughout the paragraphs you ride on horses, travel through forests and villages, sleep in caves and take shelter in the villages and hamlets. It’s incredible how one’s imagination make us live there, experience it. I love ❤️ books.
Ronnda Eileen Henry has written many books in the series of “the Flowers of Pennruddock.” She has also published many stories in the award wining Windflower Saga series under the pen name of Aleksandra Layland.
❤️❤️❤️