Saturday 2 March 2019

Review ~ The Bladesmith by Melinda Hammond


On Hist Fic Saturday


Let's go back to ...Northumberland, 1745


12 February 2019

My thanks to the author for my ecopy of this book

A tale of high adventure in the turbulent days of the Jacobite Rebellion

1745: John Steel takes a consignment of swords to Warenford Keep on the wild Northumberland coast. He suspects that the swords are destined for the rebel army of Charles Edward Stuart, but matters are complicated by his growing attraction to Katherine Ellingham, daughter of a known Jacobite and betrothed to the powerful Lord Warenford.

With Carlisle in the hands of the Jacobites, and government troops patrolling Northumberland, John makes a desperate bid to retrieve the swords from the Keep before his family is implicated in the uprising, but can he succeed, and protect Katherine and her family at the same time?

My thoughts..

This lovely romantic adventure takes us back 1745 and to the uncertain days of the Jacobite uprising. John Steel comes from a long line of sword makers who is given the task of taking a consignment of his family's swords to Lord Wallingford, a powerful adversary who lives in a strong fortress on the rugged Northumberland coast. To be caught supplying weapons to the enemy is a dangerous activity and John finds to his cost that the price of his association with Lord Wallingford will change his life forever.

There's a nice mixture of both romance and historical adventure in The Bladesmith , as not only does John get embroiled in some dangerous political events, but also his growing attraction to the beautiful Katherine Ellingham makes for interesting reading. The attraction between them is powerful and, despite their differences, the challenge for them to be together, whilst all-consuming, proves to be filled with danger.

I think that the author captures this uncertain period in history really well, the wild and rugged nature of the Northumberland coast is described beautifully, and it all becomes so atmospheric that I felt as if I walked the area alongside John, his manservant Matthew, and of course, the beautiful Katherine. The attention to detail comes across in the way that the political uncertainty is shown to impact on those characters who rely on Lord Wallingford for their existence and who are living nervously in such uncertain times.

Primarily a love story, The Bladesmith, combines history, adventure and romance to really good effect and, I'm delighted to say, is this author writing at her absolute best. I loved it 😊


Read an interview with Melinda  where she explains the background to The Bladesmith

by clicking here


Melinda on the battlements 




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