Adam de Guirande owes his lord, Roger Mortimer, much more than loyalty: he owes Lord Roger for his life and all his worldly goods; he owes him for his beautiful wife—even if Kit is not quite the woman Lord Roger thinks she is. So when Lord Roger rises in rebellion against the king, Adam has no choice but to ride with him—no matter the ultimate cost.
England in 1321 is a confusing place. Edward II has been forced by his barons to exile his favorite, Hugh Despenser. The barons—led by the powerful Thomas of Lancaster, Roger Mortimer, and Humphrey de Bohun—have reasons to believe they have finally tamed the king. But Edward is not about to take things lying down.
Adam fears his lord has overreached, but he has other matters to concern him—first and foremost, his new wife, Katherine de Monmouth. His bride comes surrounded by rumors concerning her and Lord Roger, and Adam hates it when his brother snickers and whispers of “used goods.”
Kit has the misfortune of being a perfect double of Katherine de Monmouth—which is why she finds herself coerced into wedding a man under a false name.
But domestic matters become irrelevant when the king sets out to punish his rebellious barons and the Welsh Marches explode into war. Soon Lord Roger and his men are fighting for their very lives. When hope splutters and dies, when death seems inevitable, it falls to Kit to save her man—if she can.
The first in Anna Belfrage’s new series, In the Shadow of the Storm is the story of a man torn apart by his loyalties to his lord, his king, and his wife.
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“Belfrage is a master story-teller and has done her homework well—she brings the fourteenth century to vivid, colorful life. It will be difficult to read anything better this year.”
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Sharon Bennett Connolly, Book Corner