I liked Ai Li, who reminded me a bit of Jen from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I can attest to the fact that the author gives the book an authentic flavor I could picture everything happening quite clearly and certainly it fit into the image I have of historical China. So I can’t attest to the accuracy of the historical content nor how the characters’ behavior fits into their time period. I will admit right off that I know nothing of Chinese history that I have not learned from films such as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and House of a Flying Daggers. But what can he, a barbarian, offer to one such as she? And how can they ever be together when she is promised to another? As he and Ai Li make their way across hostile territory he easily becomes enamored of this beautiful, honorable girl. Little does he realize that he will quickly have the opportunity to repay his debt. When the woman in boy’s clothing offers him her meal, he is deeply grateful. Now walking the long distance back to Yumen Guan, he is alone, tired and hungry. He had been trusted with a mission that he feels he failed.
Ryam is not only far from home, he is tired, defeated and worried.
Can she trust this reluctant rescuer with her life? And more importantly, her honor? He is an extraordinary swordsman and could easily provide all the protection she needs for the journey home. Her battle against them is valiant, but ultimately would have been lost if not for the help of the yellow haired, blue eyed foreign devil. Then she is betrayed by the very people she trusts to get her home. Instead, this is a ruse, arranged to help her flee a wedding Ai Li feels will ultimately bring dishonor and destruction to her family. Had this been an ordinary battle, she would have proven to be no ordinary princess. But her swords are no toy, and she is well skilled in the use of them. She had brought them to her wedding, “needing some reminder of home, the way another girl might find comfort in her childhood doll”. When Ai Li’s marriage caravan is attacked, she reaches immediately for the butterfly swords she had placed behind the padded cushions of her seat. This is a wonderful, complex tale full of solid writing, wonderful characters and the wonders of life in a foreign land during a long ago time. Guess it has become such familiar territory I consider it home.) But I was intrigued enough by the advertisements I saw here at AAR to purchase the novel and I can tell you emphatically that they did indeed pull it off. (I don’t think of Regency England as a foreign nation. I didn’t really know if Harlequin could pull off a historical novel set in a foreign nation. To be honest, I had my doubts about this story.
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