What do you think?
Rate this book
The Freelancer
It has been more than a decade since he ran away from his abusive father and turned his back on Wildenham, the kingdom he was to inherit. Now over a score in age, Lord William has earned the reputation as a renowned mercenary. Despite rumors of a restless spirit haunting the kingdom, he accepts a contract to return to Wildenham to kill Lord Clayborn, the man who murdered his father.
Lord Clayborn’s only child, Lady Christine, is a beautiful, high-spirited seventeen-year-old, who prefers to spend her time practicing with a sword rather than fulfilling her role as the Lady of Wildenham. Many suitors have asked for her hand in marriage, but she has refused every offer. Against her father’s wishes, she vows only to marry for love.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring kingdom of Thornwick, a notorious thief, Harlan, hides among the kingdom’s defenders in order to escape prosecution for his crimes. His vindictive nature draws the attention of his lord, who orders Harlan to travel to Wildenham and assassinate Lord Clayborn. Aware of her rumored beauty, Harlan demands Lady Christine’s hand in marriage as payment for the deed.
As the race against time begins, who will kill Lord Clayborn first? Will Lady Christine be forced to marry a man she does not love? Will Lord William have the determination to fulfill his contract and return to his solitary lifestyle as a mercenary, or will he accept his destiny and become the Lord of Wildenham?
Lord Clayborn’s only child, Lady Christine, is a beautiful, high-spirited seventeen-year-old, who prefers to spend her time practicing with a sword rather than fulfilling her role as the Lady of Wildenham. Many suitors have asked for her hand in marriage, but she has refused every offer. Against her father’s wishes, she vows only to marry for love.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring kingdom of Thornwick, a notorious thief, Harlan, hides among the kingdom’s defenders in order to escape prosecution for his crimes. His vindictive nature draws the attention of his lord, who orders Harlan to travel to Wildenham and assassinate Lord Clayborn. Aware of her rumored beauty, Harlan demands Lady Christine’s hand in marriage as payment for the deed.
As the race against time begins, who will kill Lord Clayborn first? Will Lady Christine be forced to marry a man she does not love? Will Lord William have the determination to fulfill his contract and return to his solitary lifestyle as a mercenary, or will he accept his destiny and become the Lord of Wildenham?
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 18, 2014
1 person want to read
About the author
Brenda Hasse
22 books14 followersBrenda is a multi-award-winning author who writes both fiction and nonfiction. Her primary genres are young adult historical romance and young adult romantic suspense. She has also written second-chance romance, metaphysical/visionary, and picture books for children. In nonfiction, she published a biography of a young woman who was human trafficked and a pair of books about the history and hauntings of her hometown of Fenton, Michigan. She shares her knowledge of writing and publishing at an annual writers' conference. Brenda loves chocolate, coffee, and cats, especially her two rescue cats, Petey and Max.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Read
November 10, 2015DNF, so no need to worry about spoilers.
To be quite honest, I couldn't get past the first page before I started flipping through to see if I would actually enjoy this book. From the bits and pieces I did read, I felt as though I was back in the roleplay forums of my youth, where everyone would write incredibly flowery introductions of their characters, but proceed to "act out" most of the drama with sentence fragments that were designed to read well as individuals, but together make for a stilted narrative. I can't help but imagine that, should anyone ever stumble across roleplays and decide to string them together to make a story, they would have something quite similar in composition to "The Freelancer".
This book is supposed to be geared towards Teen/YA according to Amazon, yet I would consider this more of a Midgrade reading-level book. There's a lot of repetition in the beginning of sentences ("He selected...He lifted...He found...He picked up...He placed" all in the second paragraph of Chapter 13, for example), a vocabulary quite similar to that which a child in elementary or primary school would use, and plenty of simple sentences strung together to make paragraphs that come across as quite choppy to an older reader.
To be quite honest, I couldn't get past the first page before I started flipping through to see if I would actually enjoy this book. From the bits and pieces I did read, I felt as though I was back in the roleplay forums of my youth, where everyone would write incredibly flowery introductions of their characters, but proceed to "act out" most of the drama with sentence fragments that were designed to read well as individuals, but together make for a stilted narrative. I can't help but imagine that, should anyone ever stumble across roleplays and decide to string them together to make a story, they would have something quite similar in composition to "The Freelancer".
This book is supposed to be geared towards Teen/YA according to Amazon, yet I would consider this more of a Midgrade reading-level book. There's a lot of repetition in the beginning of sentences ("He selected...He lifted...He found...He picked up...He placed" all in the second paragraph of Chapter 13, for example), a vocabulary quite similar to that which a child in elementary or primary school would use, and plenty of simple sentences strung together to make paragraphs that come across as quite choppy to an older reader.
August 29, 2016
Read my full review at http://blackwords-whitepages1977.blog...
I can sure see how this story won an award. This was a gripping story with many rough moments and twists and turns for each character, but in the end turned out to be happily ever after. I could not put this book down. It took me on a magical adventure of love, hope, courage, trust, and a happy ending worth smiling and tearing up about. This awesome author has a knack for storytelling and reeling her readers in from beginning to end. I found myself enchanted and captivated by the words that came off the turn of each page. The characters were phenomenally well written and the story-line was incredibly intriguing. I highly recommend this story to all adventurers to devour and enjoy as much as I have. This author not only receives a five book review from me, but a standing ovation for this outstanding story. Bravo.
I purchased a copy of this book from the author at the Once Upon A Book Author Signing that was held in Michigan in August 2016.
I can sure see how this story won an award. This was a gripping story with many rough moments and twists and turns for each character, but in the end turned out to be happily ever after. I could not put this book down. It took me on a magical adventure of love, hope, courage, trust, and a happy ending worth smiling and tearing up about. This awesome author has a knack for storytelling and reeling her readers in from beginning to end. I found myself enchanted and captivated by the words that came off the turn of each page. The characters were phenomenally well written and the story-line was incredibly intriguing. I highly recommend this story to all adventurers to devour and enjoy as much as I have. This author not only receives a five book review from me, but a standing ovation for this outstanding story. Bravo.
I purchased a copy of this book from the author at the Once Upon A Book Author Signing that was held in Michigan in August 2016.
June 12, 2018
I never figured out the time frame of this novel. Medieval? The author has some lack of understanding of how land transferred from one lord to the next. Other historical mistakes confused me. A man curtsied? The ebook has weird breaks, almost like page breaks which should not occur in ebooks. It also has repeated sentences. I read the entire book, mainly trying to figure it out. I think the author might be good with a bit more editing and proper historical setting.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews