Rachel A. James

The Kingdom of Elmetia falls on account of the ruthless King of Dyrah, so an Elmetian princess, Teagen, disguises herself as a servant to survive. She spends the next eight years in slavery but escapes when she hears that her brother is alive. Still, the Dyrahn king has his sights set on revenge in Elmetia by author Rachel A. James.

I was quite excited to come across this first book in a ChristFic historical fantasy series. Although it becomes a bit much when the princess here has to be repeatedly saved from peril, I like that Teagen does have brains, ability, and grit to her. She has spirit without being a jerk as she navigates through this tale of harrowing adventure.

Now, sometimes the scenes and emotional development seem rather rushed, and the story takes some actual history for granted without explaining how it fits so literally into this fantasy world. Like, when the characters read from the Gospel of Luke—who is Luke? When they refer to Jesus (not only the Christ, but Jesus), who is he? In our world, he was a Jewish man from Nazareth, but Jewish people and Nazareth don't exist in this novel's world of imaginary peoples and places, or do they? Even so, those aspects weren't as big an issue to me as a critical issue concerning the romance.

*Spoiler-ish: I'm leaving out names and some other specifics, but skip the next paragraph if you wish.*

Although you may forgive a person for a grievous wrong they've done, it doesn't mean there won't be consequences the person has to live with. God Himself can forgive someone who commits a serious crime, but that doesn't exempt the person from, say, standing trial in a court of law or going to prison. "I was just following orders" is not a sufficient explanation or justification for knowingly committing crimes against humanity (we've seen this with Nazis on trial after World War II, as one example), and there are some major violations and atrocities that disqualify a person from being a truly romantic heroine or hero, in novels and in real life. Forgiving someone does not necessarily make them an appropriate marriage choice for the person they wronged. I also think the forgiveness theme leads to another unwise choice in this book, in regard to war and a cold-blooded killer.

*End of spoiler-ish part.*

Nevertheless, I really do like Teagen. Apart from the romance, I enjoyed the novel's overall concept, and I plan on reading more of the series.… (plus d'informations)

I picked this book almost as soon as I realized it was written by a British author. They are few and far between in the Christian Historical Fiction Genre (and I naturally gravitate towards my fellow country people), and because am fascinated by Britain in the seventh and eighth centuries. The period of warrior Kings and saints, when the disparate Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms were gradually converting to Christianity. The world which inspired Tolkien’s Middle Earth.

This was certainly a very sweet and very heartfelt Christian story, which would certainly appeal to young girls obsessed with Princesses, or teens looking for a clean romance with a deeper theme behind it. On that level, I did in some sense enjoy the book- but- (here it comes), I do prefer my historical fiction to be more realistic and plausible- in other words to really get a ‘feel’ for the time.
I understand that this is Historical Fantasy, rather than straight Fiction, but for me the main problem was that there seemed to be no real sense of period. Swords and some of the clothes aside, it could have been set is almost any age.

Overall, this is a worthwhile story with a strong Christian message that does not demand too much of the reader. It would very much appeal to the target audience, and is worth a read for adults, but it’s just not a favourite. However, I would certainly consider reading more by this author, and see her writing develop.

See the full review on my blog http://crossromance.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-forgotten-princess-of-elmetia.htm...… (plus d'informations)

'The Last Princess' was a sweet, tale geared towards a young adult audience. It could also appeal to adults looking for a quick, undemanding read.

This book g many of the characters from the author's first book 'The Forgotten Princess of Elmetia' they complement each other well- with the lead character, Princess Alena, finding love with one of the lead characters from the last book.

There was certainly enough action and intrigue to keep the reader interested, even if the characters could be a little bit one-dimensional. Still, Alena was an interesting character, struggling with her place in the world and the demands of society. I found very interesting the references to herbalism, and the various uses of herbal remedies- but I am sort of nerdy in that way.
Perhaps the romance was a little on the cliched side at times, and there were a few historical inaccuracies, but generally a good, clean read.

I recieved a copy of this book from the author for review. I was not required to write a positive one and all opinions expressed are my own.… (plus d'informations)