She Serves the Realm by Lee Swanson is a historical fiction novel with some romance and medieval action adventure. It’s set between August, 1311 aShe Serves the Realm by Lee Swanson is a historical fiction novel with some romance and medieval action adventure. It’s set between August, 1311 and mid-1312 and is the fourth book in the No Man Is Her Master series. King Edward II knighted Frederick Kohl for his bravery fighting for him. However, Frederick is his sister Christina, who must carry on Frederick’s role as a master merchant and king’s knight. She’s also in love with Lady Cecily, a young widowed noblewoman who is part of Queen Isabella’s court at Westminster Palace. Attempting to get the king’s permission to marry, Christina is assigned several tasks before he will give her an answer. Civil war seems inevitable with the king’s opponents demanding changes, including the banishment of the Earl of Cornwall. Will Christina succeed in her tasks? Will the king find out she is a woman? Will Christina and Lady Cecily be married?
The author’s expertise in medieval history and specifically, that of merchants and knights, brings to life the characters and the cultural lifestyles of the times. Therefore, the characterization and world-building in this novel are great. Christina is impatient with court protocol, intelligent, loyal, brave, thoughtful, skilled in fighting, and a good negotiator. The secondary characters are well-developed as well. An Alphabetical listing of characters is included at the end of the book.
Despite a slightly slow-paced beginning, this novel is better paced than the previous novel and the second half of the book has plenty of action. While readers should expect some violence, there is one scene that is especially disturbing towards the end of the novel. The book has the right amount of action, history, and romance. Themes include revenge, secrets, treatment of women, merchant trade, tournaments, respect, love, friendship, family, power, and more.
Overall, this is a well-rounded and heartfelt tale with a compelling storyline. It was an entertaining and insightful novel that transported me to medieval times. It did a great job of highlighting the life of knights and merchants as well as the political upheaval that was occurring during the early 1300’s. The author has included a Historical Notes section at the end of the book that is terrific.
Stephanie Barko and Lee Swanson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for June 11, 2024. ---------------------------------------- My 3.98 rounded to 4 stars review is coming soon....more
Her Dangerous Journey Home is a historical fiction novel with some romance and action adventure. It’s the third book in the No Man Is Her Master sHer Dangerous Journey Home is a historical fiction novel with some romance and action adventure. It’s the third book in the No Man Is Her Master series and is largely set in London England in 1310 and 1311. King Edward II knighted Frederick Kohl for his bravery fighting for him. However, Frederick is his sister Christina who must carry on his role as a master merchant and king’s knight. She’s also in love with Lady Cecily, a young married noblewoman joining Queen Isabella’s court at Westminister Palace. Additionally, the wife of an influential man in the city provokes Sir Frederick into joining a group fighting the pirates in the Baltic waters.
The author’s expertise in medieval history and specifically, that of merchants, brings to life the characters and the cultural lifestyles of the times. Therefore, the characterization and world-building in this novel are great. While the first half of the novel is interesting from a cultural and historical standpoint, it was quite slow in pacing. The pace picks up in the second half of the book with some plot twists that caught me by surprise as well as plenty of action. However, the ending left too many threads open for my satisfaction. Themes include revenge, love, friendship, family, piracy, and more.
Overall, this was an entertaining novel that gave me insight into the piracy threats to maritime trade in the early fourteenth century. It has great excellent characterization and world-building. At the end of the book is a list of characters and a historical note.
Merchant's Largesse Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles, Stephanie Barko, and Lee Swanson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Publication date is currently set for August 1, 2023. -------------------------------------- My 3.28 rounded to 3 stars review is coming soon....more
Raising the Bar: A Lawyer’s Memoir by Ruth Rymer is a fascinating read about a woman who faced adversity in her life, but with courage and perseveRaising the Bar: A Lawyer’s Memoir by Ruth Rymer is a fascinating read about a woman who faced adversity in her life, but with courage and perseverance has accomplished a lot during her lifetime and improved the lives of others through her pioneering work focused around family law.
I don’t read a lot of memoirs, but this one sounded like one that I needed to read. Ruth was born Patricia Ruth Rymer. Her mother was a biochemist and her dad a psychiatrist giving her an unusual childhood for the 1930’s and 1940’s. In college, Ruth met Sherwin Miller and the first meeting with her family went well. However, when they found out about his faith and ethnic background, her parents said they would disown her if she married him. They elope and her parents disown her and used their influence in the Denver area to cause problems for them.
Life with Sherwin was difficult. They had agreed that they would alternate years to finish college, but it turned out that Sherwin got his medical degree first and Ruth did not get her law degree until her fortieth birthday in 1971. In between, they had three children and experienced marital difficulties.
Ruth started her own law practice one year after the California Family Law Act of 1970 became law. This law eliminated fault in divorces and had other major changes that affected division of community property and alimony.
Ruth started getting involved in the professional organizations and committees for lawyers. She felt the treatment of women litigants and women attorneys was unacceptable in both San Mateo County and throughout the state of California. Through her professional organizations, she worked to improve this situation. She created committees, joined organizations, and accepted appointments to groups of lawyers who sought equality for women. There was a negative perception of family law by many and she worked tirelessly to get it established as a certified legal specialty and was successful in 1979 when it became the fourth certified legal specialty in California.
Ruth is an unconventional individual with resilience and dedication who put in the hard work to improve not only her life, but the lives of women in society. On her 77th birthday, the Queen’s Bench (San Francisco Women Lawyer’s Club) gave Ruth their Lifetime Achievement Award. I am happy to have gained some insight into the efforts and sacrifices Ruth made on behalf of women and in creating family law as a certified legal specialty. Her strength of character has not only allowed her to overcome personal adversity, but has helped improve the lives of many others.
The book is well organized with sections focused on different parts and times of her life. The memoir also talks about special cases in her career and the exploration of divorce. It is well written and inspiring as well as somewhat sad at times. While social norms were for a working husband and a wife who stayed home with children, Ruth wanted and attained more.
Overall, this story is one of achievement and fighting for what is right. There are moral questions, friendships, professional changes and challenges, issues around diversity and gender, as well as travel, children, grief, and much more. The author delivers an honest narrative that makes readers feel as though the story is being told by a close friend. This caused me to reflect on how family and professional relationships shape our journeys through life.
Stephanie Barko and Ruth Rymer provided a complimentary copy of this novel and the opportunity to read and provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way. The publication date is currently set for April 5, 2022. ...more
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