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The Border Chronicles #1
A Dangerous Love
Orphaned by England's War of the Roses and betrayed by her half- sister, Elizabeth of York, Adair Radcliffe is taken captive during a border raid and sold into servitude to Scottish laird Conal Bruce. The laird seeks a housekeeper-but finds that beneath the girl's dirty, disheveled appearance is a spirited violet-eyed beauty who refuses to be tamed. It is she who will teach the stubborn Scot that love recognizes neither borders nor rank...
464 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
147 people are currently reading
1442 people want to read
About the author
Bertrice Small
216 books1,128 followersBertrice Williams was born on December 9, 1937 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA, the daughter of Doris S. and David R. Williams, both broadcasters. She studied at Attended Western College for Women and Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School. On October 5, 1963, she married George Sumner Small, a photographer and designer with a History Major at Princeton. They had a son Thomas David. She lived on eastern Long Island for over 30 years. Her greatest passions were her family; Finnegan and Sylvester, the family cats; Nicki, the elderly cockatiel who whistles the NY Mets charge call; her garden; her work, and just life in general.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
Published since 1947, Bertrice Small was the author of over 50 romance novels. A New York Times bestselling author, she had also appeared on other best-seller lists including Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and the L.A. Times. She was the recipient of numerous awards including Career Achievement for Historical Romance; Best Historical Romance; Outstanding Historical Romance Series; Career Achievement for Historical Fantasy; a Golden Leaf from the New Jersey Romance Writers chapter of Romance Writers of America; an Author of the Year (2006) and Big Apple Award from the New York City Romance Writers chapter of RWA, and several Reviewers Choice awards from Romantic Times. She had a "Silver Pen" from Affair De Coeur, and an Honorable Mention from The West Coast Review of Books. In 2004 she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by ROMANTIC TIMES magazine for her contributions to the Historical Romance genre. And in 2008 she was named by ROMANTIC TIMES along with her friends Jennifer Blake, Roberta Gellis and Janelle Taylor, a Pioneer of Romance.
Bertrice Small was a member of The Authors Guild, Romance Writers of America, PAN, and PASIC. She was also a member of RWA's Long Island chapter, L.I.R.W., and is its easternmost member on the North Fork of Eastern Long Island.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
July 30, 2009
First thing’s first : this book is really bad, and I mean really bad. From the stupider than stupid language to the unfathomably annoying historical detail I was just about ready to pull out my hair in frustration once this bit of crap was over. The complete and utter joy I felt when I was finished, is indescribable ;)
I had high hopes for this read, for starters because it’s the legendary Bertrice Small and because the back blurb sounded like just the kind of story I’d like. Yet another life lesson learned here: one should never assume anything (!) Here’s the story of Adair Randall, a pain in the butt to the core since she was a little girl. Then there’s the hero Conal Bruce. Bit of a heads up for those of you brave enough to read this, you have to wait ‘til nearly halfway through the book to meet him so sit back and consider popping on a wig before you lose all your hair early on ‘cause there’s lots of food for fodder here (!) Once you get past the first half the gist of the story is Laird Conal ends up buying Adair from a slave trader and they fall passionately in love –eventually, like around page 375 of 400! What were they doing for the rest of the time? Well they were retelling their story and how they got to where they were for the umpteenth time just in case the patient reader forgot. The rehashing in this story is unbelievable. No wonder it’s over 400 trade size pages. Adair ends up with two husbands before Conal and it’s so boring that you want to cry from the tedium of the story. We also get to hear ad nauseam how “the king sired her on her mother” because her husband couldn’t –basically the king had an itch for her and her mother’s dad decided to let him scratch it with the bonus that it might produce an heir for him. Adair wore this like shiny gold badge throughout the book –good on you sister is what you feel like saying after reading it so many times.
The plot (if you can manage to count them all) is everywhere and the writing is worse. You meet Adair as a 6 year old but she talks like an adult and says some of the most inane things. Six year olds don’t speak like that and trying to dupe the reader into believing otherwise is shoddy writing. Then there’s the excessive attention to historical minutiae –OMG like I give a rat’s a** about King Henry the whatever who’s friends with Prince James who later becomes King James the whatever but then he’s not because his cousin’s sister’s wife’s friend’s mother’s daughter Jilly is base born so he destroyed the village –this (if you can make any sense of it) has no bearing on anything at all in the story either. There is an endless reporting of historical facts that I felt like I was reading a history text book –and a bad one at that. In no way did any of this drivel advance the story, if anything it bogged it down to the point where you’ve forgotten where the h/h left off. This is not a historical romance. This is a story that takes place as history is unfolding, so for those of you who want to know about how King Richard liked to drink his wine, how Henry Tudor’s mother was too ambitious for her station or how James the I-don’t-remember-what-number of Scotland felt bad about killing his dad you’re in for a treat and a half. Pages and pages of this stuff. At first you’re like, “ok this is interesting I guess now what about the h/h”, but no! There’s more! And you get to read all about the battles and who’s leg got hacked off and where or who betrayed who –like I care!!! I’m reading a romance novel not “Key Moments in English History”! It’s as if the author was trying to impress with all her ‘knowledge’ –whether it was accurate or not I don’t know and again I didn’t care. It reminded me of those heart-breakingly boring history teachers that kill an otherwise good subject because they drone on and on about stuff that’s inconsequential. So, there’s the history element that I didn’t particularly ‘enjoy’.
Moving on to the language: good gawd the repetition! If I read one more time how Adair was “born on the wrong side of the blanket” or how after every single dead person somebody said “god assoil his good soul” I was going to start hitting my head against the wall. Enough! Get a thesaurus! Stop repeating yourself! What in the world is your editor being paid for?! I’m already not a fan of authors who do a lot back tracking/retelling in their book –you feel like saying, you know, I just read that so why are you telling me again (!). The word “filler” comes to mind here :-o Another thing about the writing is that when a scene changes there is no split between paragraphs, it just continues as if it’s part of the same scene, so here you have, oh let’s say King James the whatever talking about the battle of Who Cares, and in the next sentence you have the h/h saying how much they’d like to get it on --!! Editing!!!
As for the steam, it’s there but only really towards the end and though it’s moderately descriptive with some of that reader favourite stereotypical bad romance book lingo (manroot, sword, lover’s lance, rod of pleasure, honey pot, dripping sweet sheath --that was so gross), --why not just add his ‘wily wiener’, really, we’re on a roll with the stupidity let’s see how far we can go (!) There’s this one scene that just defies the idiotic when Conal tells Adair to go down on him and he says something like ”suckle my manroot Adair” –I think you could write a review on that line alone (!). Or there’s the “Oh hurry, hurry, my honey love! I am so hot for you tonight” –the vomit’s making its way up isn’t it? (**shudder shudder**) You might think ‘well it’s out of context so of course it sounds bad’ –believe me I am sparing you the ‘context’ so that those dry heaves back off (!) Oh yeah, can’t forget this one: there’s a way way out in left field menage scene –we’re talking a whack me upside the head with a 2x4 where did that come from kind?! Again it’s as if the author suddenly remembered she’s supposed to be writing a historical romance so she throws this in and you’ve got a wannabe orgy scene that is not only inappropriate but it’s the farthest thing from hot and sexy imaginable. It comes across as lewd. There’s also a lot of attempted rapes and gropings in the book –it’s like is that all they did? Adair gets pawed more than once by the pervy future King James. He grabs her boobs in public, tries to shove his hand up her crotch and his tongue in her mouth whenever he sees her, all that’s missing is the lascivious drooling old man look. Just ew. She tells him ‘stop’ but then proceeds to take his arm and merrily they walk into the crowd of people exchanging smiles –every single time!
No cootie shelfer book is complete without one of those “made up” problems that’s just about as bad as 368 misunderstandings. Adair wants Conal to say that he loves her but time and time again Conal, in a stellar example of abject male stupidity, says all flabbergasted: “I don’t know what love is”, cue the Homer Simpson ‘doh!’ bubble :-/ It gets so old. You feel like yelling at him “get a clue already Conal, ya dumb a** moron!”
This book is so bad on so many levels. The story jumps around like a kangaroo on crack, the writing is worse than a B-movie, and the time you waste trying to make heads or tails of it all will leave you with the proverbial ‘splitting headache’. Oh wait, the cover is very good because it actually looks like how the heroine is described. Remember however when you were small and your mom said not to judge a book by its cover, yeah, well mom must’ve been burned big time by this baby I tell ya!
Sooo, suffice it to say that this author will be not be appearing on my auto-buy list any time soon ;)
I had high hopes for this read, for starters because it’s the legendary Bertrice Small and because the back blurb sounded like just the kind of story I’d like. Yet another life lesson learned here: one should never assume anything (!) Here’s the story of Adair Randall, a pain in the butt to the core since she was a little girl. Then there’s the hero Conal Bruce. Bit of a heads up for those of you brave enough to read this, you have to wait ‘til nearly halfway through the book to meet him so sit back and consider popping on a wig before you lose all your hair early on ‘cause there’s lots of food for fodder here (!) Once you get past the first half the gist of the story is Laird Conal ends up buying Adair from a slave trader and they fall passionately in love –eventually, like around page 375 of 400! What were they doing for the rest of the time? Well they were retelling their story and how they got to where they were for the umpteenth time just in case the patient reader forgot. The rehashing in this story is unbelievable. No wonder it’s over 400 trade size pages. Adair ends up with two husbands before Conal and it’s so boring that you want to cry from the tedium of the story. We also get to hear ad nauseam how “the king sired her on her mother” because her husband couldn’t –basically the king had an itch for her and her mother’s dad decided to let him scratch it with the bonus that it might produce an heir for him. Adair wore this like shiny gold badge throughout the book –good on you sister is what you feel like saying after reading it so many times.
The plot (if you can manage to count them all) is everywhere and the writing is worse. You meet Adair as a 6 year old but she talks like an adult and says some of the most inane things. Six year olds don’t speak like that and trying to dupe the reader into believing otherwise is shoddy writing. Then there’s the excessive attention to historical minutiae –OMG like I give a rat’s a** about King Henry the whatever who’s friends with Prince James who later becomes King James the whatever but then he’s not because his cousin’s sister’s wife’s friend’s mother’s daughter Jilly is base born so he destroyed the village –this (if you can make any sense of it) has no bearing on anything at all in the story either. There is an endless reporting of historical facts that I felt like I was reading a history text book –and a bad one at that. In no way did any of this drivel advance the story, if anything it bogged it down to the point where you’ve forgotten where the h/h left off. This is not a historical romance. This is a story that takes place as history is unfolding, so for those of you who want to know about how King Richard liked to drink his wine, how Henry Tudor’s mother was too ambitious for her station or how James the I-don’t-remember-what-number of Scotland felt bad about killing his dad you’re in for a treat and a half. Pages and pages of this stuff. At first you’re like, “ok this is interesting I guess now what about the h/h”, but no! There’s more! And you get to read all about the battles and who’s leg got hacked off and where or who betrayed who –like I care!!! I’m reading a romance novel not “Key Moments in English History”! It’s as if the author was trying to impress with all her ‘knowledge’ –whether it was accurate or not I don’t know and again I didn’t care. It reminded me of those heart-breakingly boring history teachers that kill an otherwise good subject because they drone on and on about stuff that’s inconsequential. So, there’s the history element that I didn’t particularly ‘enjoy’.
Moving on to the language: good gawd the repetition! If I read one more time how Adair was “born on the wrong side of the blanket” or how after every single dead person somebody said “god assoil his good soul” I was going to start hitting my head against the wall. Enough! Get a thesaurus! Stop repeating yourself! What in the world is your editor being paid for?! I’m already not a fan of authors who do a lot back tracking/retelling in their book –you feel like saying, you know, I just read that so why are you telling me again (!). The word “filler” comes to mind here :-o Another thing about the writing is that when a scene changes there is no split between paragraphs, it just continues as if it’s part of the same scene, so here you have, oh let’s say King James the whatever talking about the battle of Who Cares, and in the next sentence you have the h/h saying how much they’d like to get it on --!! Editing!!!
As for the steam, it’s there but only really towards the end and though it’s moderately descriptive with some of that reader favourite stereotypical bad romance book lingo (manroot, sword, lover’s lance, rod of pleasure, honey pot, dripping sweet sheath --that was so gross), --why not just add his ‘wily wiener’, really, we’re on a roll with the stupidity let’s see how far we can go (!) There’s this one scene that just defies the idiotic when Conal tells Adair to go down on him and he says something like ”suckle my manroot Adair” –I think you could write a review on that line alone (!). Or there’s the “Oh hurry, hurry, my honey love! I am so hot for you tonight” –the vomit’s making its way up isn’t it? (**shudder shudder**) You might think ‘well it’s out of context so of course it sounds bad’ –believe me I am sparing you the ‘context’ so that those dry heaves back off (!) Oh yeah, can’t forget this one: there’s a way way out in left field menage scene –we’re talking a whack me upside the head with a 2x4 where did that come from kind?! Again it’s as if the author suddenly remembered she’s supposed to be writing a historical romance so she throws this in and you’ve got a wannabe orgy scene that is not only inappropriate but it’s the farthest thing from hot and sexy imaginable. It comes across as lewd. There’s also a lot of attempted rapes and gropings in the book –it’s like is that all they did? Adair gets pawed more than once by the pervy future King James. He grabs her boobs in public, tries to shove his hand up her crotch and his tongue in her mouth whenever he sees her, all that’s missing is the lascivious drooling old man look. Just ew. She tells him ‘stop’ but then proceeds to take his arm and merrily they walk into the crowd of people exchanging smiles –every single time!
No cootie shelfer book is complete without one of those “made up” problems that’s just about as bad as 368 misunderstandings. Adair wants Conal to say that he loves her but time and time again Conal, in a stellar example of abject male stupidity, says all flabbergasted: “I don’t know what love is”, cue the Homer Simpson ‘doh!’ bubble :-/ It gets so old. You feel like yelling at him “get a clue already Conal, ya dumb a** moron!”
This book is so bad on so many levels. The story jumps around like a kangaroo on crack, the writing is worse than a B-movie, and the time you waste trying to make heads or tails of it all will leave you with the proverbial ‘splitting headache’. Oh wait, the cover is very good because it actually looks like how the heroine is described. Remember however when you were small and your mom said not to judge a book by its cover, yeah, well mom must’ve been burned big time by this baby I tell ya!
Sooo, suffice it to say that this author will be not be appearing on my auto-buy list any time soon ;)
May 13, 2025
Read: 5/13/25
This was an okay book.
There was a lack of romance for me. The h has 3 husbands in the story. I didn't hate any of them, but I didn't care about them either.
The history was badly researched. I know my War of The Roses' history, so the inaccuracies drove me crazy! The most annoying part was about Sir Jasper. The h marries his fictional bastard son. First, Tudor didn't get his title until after Henry Tudor became king. Second, He wouldn't be bargaining for a marriage from King Edward since he was in exile with Henry at the time.
I also hate how modern authors try to portray King Richard III as a good guy. Power corrupts, and a loyal man changes because of it. This is her second book suggesting that Richard sent the two princes north for safety (because two heirs are safe in a castle in York 🙄) and someone else murdered them. At least the White Princess makes a more plausible story for other suspects.
There were other inaccuracies, but those were the ones that bothered me the most.
One positive in the story was the h. She was strong and resilient. This girl could definitely make lemonade at of lemons. I like a competent h that understands the world.
Conclusion: This was just a bland BS book. Not bad, but not great either.
This was an okay book.
There was a lack of romance for me. The h has 3 husbands in the story. I didn't hate any of them, but I didn't care about them either.
The history was badly researched. I know my War of The Roses' history, so the inaccuracies drove me crazy! The most annoying part was about Sir Jasper. The h marries his fictional bastard son. First, Tudor didn't get his title until after Henry Tudor became king. Second, He wouldn't be bargaining for a marriage from King Edward since he was in exile with Henry at the time.
I also hate how modern authors try to portray King Richard III as a good guy. Power corrupts, and a loyal man changes because of it. This is her second book suggesting that Richard sent the two princes north for safety (because two heirs are safe in a castle in York 🙄) and someone else murdered them. At least the White Princess makes a more plausible story for other suspects.
There were other inaccuracies, but those were the ones that bothered me the most.
One positive in the story was the h. She was strong and resilient. This girl could definitely make lemonade at of lemons. I like a competent h that understands the world.
Conclusion: This was just a bland BS book. Not bad, but not great either.
October 16, 2021
1 Star of 'Look at my Updates, and No More Needs to Be Said.'
Except I will say more. *Sighs*. I should have listened to my instincts. And yet... here I go starting on another Bertrice Small bodice-ripper epic (Unconquered). Will I ever learn? Probably not.
Just in case anyone reading medieval romance is under the mistaken impression that this bodice-ripping virgin fetishization was what Medieval Britain was like--don't worry, it’s not and the historical record is pretty clear on that point. Think of it more like: lots of war, yearly rounds of the plague, and the consumption of weird birds because #wealth. No but really, the medieval period was a time when culture and religiosity as we know it kind of STARTED. They were doing a hell of a lot more than talking about banging. They had more imporant stuff going on than fulfilling one's lust. SO much more. The historical events described were honestly, extremely well done... but the culture and social mores were not. To the point that I wanted to chuck my iPad across the room and snarl like the... I dunno a mythical creature? Shriek like a banshee? There we go.
Oh! Also, yes I gave up around 65% because about 300% of the conversations were about Adair's virginity or sexual needs. Or a man's sexual needs. There were boners and more boners, boner threats, and pontification about everyone’s boners and it was so bad. In case that wasn't already clear. ALSO WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK I DON'T UNDERST--*Sighs*.
I'll leave it there.
Except I will say more. *Sighs*. I should have listened to my instincts. And yet... here I go starting on another Bertrice Small bodice-ripper epic (Unconquered). Will I ever learn? Probably not.
Just in case anyone reading medieval romance is under the mistaken impression that this bodice-ripping virgin fetishization was what Medieval Britain was like--don't worry, it’s not and the historical record is pretty clear on that point. Think of it more like: lots of war, yearly rounds of the plague, and the consumption of weird birds because #wealth. No but really, the medieval period was a time when culture and religiosity as we know it kind of STARTED. They were doing a hell of a lot more than talking about banging. They had more imporant stuff going on than fulfilling one's lust. SO much more. The historical events described were honestly, extremely well done... but the culture and social mores were not. To the point that I wanted to chuck my iPad across the room and snarl like the... I dunno a mythical creature? Shriek like a banshee? There we go.
Oh! Also, yes I gave up around 65% because about 300% of the conversations were about Adair's virginity or sexual needs. Or a man's sexual needs. There were boners and more boners, boner threats, and pontification about everyone’s boners and it was so bad. In case that wasn't already clear. ALSO WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK I DON'T UNDERST--*Sighs*.
I'll leave it there.
December 20, 2020
I don't know why so many people were hating on this book in the reviews. Yeah, sure the synopsis given was only the latter half of the book, but it was a good story nonetheless. More that the whole book focused on the first half of Adair's life than specifically her romance with Conal Bruce (I kept pronouncing that in my head as "colonel" lol). I would have liked to know that she had more kids w Conal, but it's okay. Also, I'm surprised the place is as populated as it is. It seems that half the time, the mom or the baby dies in childbirth; it was such a risk back then.
Adair was married twice before Conal, but I didn't find the marriages boring like the other people in the reviews. And trust me, I've read some long historical romances, by Kathleen Woodwiss for example, and I was thinking to myself, I don't know how anyone gets through this book; it's arduous. This book was long, but it wasn't so hard to get through. Look, I stayed up till either 3 or 4 am reading it.
I feel like I would have really liked Jamie (the prince who became the King) irl. I didn't care too much for Henry. Pretty cool how Adair met four kings, 3 she was related to.
What I didn't like the most was I felt how the author was bashing Andrew for not being good in bed. Ummm, he was a player and had a reputation for being good with the ladies?? I didn't like that turnaround. I really liked Andrew, and I felt that the author wanted the reader to move on from Andrew and really like Conal. But Andrew, I felt, had a bit more to recommend him than Conal. Also, didn't Andrew give her an orgasm?? Yes, maybe he was gentle, and she didn't feel so much pleasure during the actual sex, but she seemed to enjoy his kissing and foreplay. idk, I didn't like the bashing of him. Furthermore, when I read "Adair seemed to love him more in death than she had in life", I thought that was disrespectful, and also, she was sad but not THAT sad.
Luckily, no one was like well, Andrew couldn't have given you children anyways bc that swelling sickness he had as a kid made him impotent...
Adair was married twice before Conal, but I didn't find the marriages boring like the other people in the reviews. And trust me, I've read some long historical romances, by Kathleen Woodwiss for example, and I was thinking to myself, I don't know how anyone gets through this book; it's arduous. This book was long, but it wasn't so hard to get through. Look, I stayed up till either 3 or 4 am reading it.
I feel like I would have really liked Jamie (the prince who became the King) irl. I didn't care too much for Henry. Pretty cool how Adair met four kings, 3 she was related to.
What I didn't like the most was I felt how the author was bashing Andrew for not being good in bed. Ummm, he was a player and had a reputation for being good with the ladies?? I didn't like that turnaround. I really liked Andrew, and I felt that the author wanted the reader to move on from Andrew and really like Conal. But Andrew, I felt, had a bit more to recommend him than Conal. Also, didn't Andrew give her an orgasm?? Yes, maybe he was gentle, and she didn't feel so much pleasure during the actual sex, but she seemed to enjoy his kissing and foreplay. idk, I didn't like the bashing of him. Furthermore, when I read "Adair seemed to love him more in death than she had in life", I thought that was disrespectful, and also, she was sad but not THAT sad.
Luckily, no one was like well, Andrew couldn't have given you children anyways bc that swelling sickness he had as a kid made him impotent...
April 22, 2008
This is a good book although im getting a little sad for her she just lost her husband and i'm wondering what else could happen now.( a little later in the day) I have finished reading this book and i have to admitt Beatrice Small has donr it again I love this book. THe characters growed stronger through the whole book( even faced with all their trials) remarkable.
This book is a keeper and it gives me a week lesson. Always move forward no maatter what is going on i my life. I needed to read this book at the right time.
This book is a keeper and it gives me a week lesson. Always move forward no maatter what is going on i my life. I needed to read this book at the right time.
September 29, 2010
I would give this book 5.5 stars if possible. Loveddddd it and Adair was a perfect heroine. I cried..A LOT,I laughed and unbelievably I learned alot about Scottish/English history to boot! My only complaint would be the overly flowery words Ms Small uses for her sexual scenes. Manroot?? come on now...lol Great story and loved the action. I was so glad I had already gotten the next in the series from the library!!!
April 30, 2023
I read this book so many years ago. But, I can definitely tell you that all of Ms. Bertrice Small Books are #1 Sellers and they are all incredibly well written, with attention to details. Her heroines are all usually beautiful and of course her male characters are gorgeous!!
I found this book for free with my Audible plan! Of course I absolutely loved it since Bertrice Small was my first historical romance author I ever read from! Justine Eyre was perfect for this books narrator.
I found this book for free with my Audible plan! Of course I absolutely loved it since Bertrice Small was my first historical romance author I ever read from! Justine Eyre was perfect for this books narrator.
May 18, 2010
First thing first: you either like Bertrice Small's writing, or you don't. If you have any distaste for historical romance, she is not the author for you. If you don't like sex scenes or long sequences of historical detail, she is not for you. And if you've read her other books and didn't like them, this is definitely not the book for you.
I love Bertrice Small. She was the first romance author I ever read, and I still read her to this day. At current count, there have only been two of her books that I've stopped reading half-way through. The first book of her Hetar series was the first. This is the second.
It's not that there's anything missing from her usual formula here. Helpless but determined heroine, caught up in political intrigue when she would rather be at home with her true love, who she either doesn't meet until two hundred pages in or is separated from for the duration of the story. But for some reason, this one just fell flat for me. It seemed like after each tragedy Adair suffered, a little more of her characterization fell by the wayside. By the time she meets the hero, she's little more than an obstinate paper doll. She starts off incredibly intelligent and strong, and ends mean and self-serving.
I guess every book can't be "All The Sweet Tomorrows", but I'm still disappointed, because Small's books are usually a homerun with me.
I love Bertrice Small. She was the first romance author I ever read, and I still read her to this day. At current count, there have only been two of her books that I've stopped reading half-way through. The first book of her Hetar series was the first. This is the second.
It's not that there's anything missing from her usual formula here. Helpless but determined heroine, caught up in political intrigue when she would rather be at home with her true love, who she either doesn't meet until two hundred pages in or is separated from for the duration of the story. But for some reason, this one just fell flat for me. It seemed like after each tragedy Adair suffered, a little more of her characterization fell by the wayside. By the time she meets the hero, she's little more than an obstinate paper doll. She starts off incredibly intelligent and strong, and ends mean and self-serving.
I guess every book can't be "All The Sweet Tomorrows", but I'm still disappointed, because Small's books are usually a homerun with me.
July 28, 2011
A great story- one I can defintely relate to, at least from Adair's point of view. A proud landowner(ess), orphaned at a young age, raised in a royal court, used as a pawn until finally she arrives at what is destined to become her forever home, with a man you at first wouldn't expect her to end up with, but as it goes along and the two fall deeper into love, you realize it all makes perfect sense!
Bravo, Ms. Small!
Encore, encore!
Bravo, Ms. Small!
Encore, encore!
May 28, 2025
This is my first time re-reading this particular title, and can confidently say it was even better the second time around. There is nothing like Bertrice Small at the top of her game, when it comes to lush, immersive historical romance, and this book delivers exactly that. Adair Redcliffe holds her own with some of the best Small heroines, there are healing helpings of history, to drive plot and romance (or romances - this is Small, after all) and the ending satisfies on all accounts.
August 9, 2011
Would have been 3 stars except for a few WTF moments.
May 23, 2018
I am so bummed. This had the potential to be a great plot, but the writing was so juvenile and repetitive. Everything that happened got repeated in full boring detail to every other character introduced. It felt as if the author was explaining the story to a three year old and afraid that no one understood. I actually fell asleep on page 93.
September 8, 2018
It was not a bad book but compared to some of the other books I read by Bertrice Small, this was forgettable. The story takes place during the War of the Roses. As a child, the heroine, Adair Radcliffe, is sent off to London by her parents to seek the protection of the York King Edward IV, her biological father.
Adair grows up in Court with her legitimate, royal half-siblings, under the tutelage of the Queen' s most senior Lady in Waiting, Margaret Beaufort, who is only paying lip service to her allegiance to the Yorks and is working feverishly behind the scenes to support a coup by her own son Henry Tudor.
Adair is not close to her royal father but she does find fatherly affection in the person of Edward's youngest brother, Richard, who would go on to become the next, infamous King of England, before eventually being defeated by Henry Tudor.
As usual, Small likes to place her characters in the thick of royal intrigue so that she can write about subjects that obviously arouse her passion, the Courts of Medieval England and Scotland. Here, however, her combination of historical romance and fiction works less well than in some other books because she seems to rush through years and events, giving scant attention to major historical events such as the execution of Edward's other brother or the continuous civil strife in England, not to mention the tragic mystery of the Princes in the Tower and the bloody usurpation of the English throne by their uncle Richard.
As a Richard apologist, she whimsically interprets facts to support wild theories that put in the best light the self-serving, shrewd, political actions of Richard and his wife Anne Neville, while slandering the Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, and the triumphing Tudors.
Adair' s travails, , are moving insofar as they realistically portray the horrendous ups and downs suffered by regular people whenever another piece of the political chess board was moved about in this unending feud between Royal cousins, but it makes for less than compelling reading as a romance because the characters, including Adair, lack the spirit and charisma I have come to expect from Bertrice Small.
A Dangerous Love is not a bad book, just not a great one.
Adair grows up in Court with her legitimate, royal half-siblings, under the tutelage of the Queen' s most senior Lady in Waiting, Margaret Beaufort, who is only paying lip service to her allegiance to the Yorks and is working feverishly behind the scenes to support a coup by her own son Henry Tudor.
Adair is not close to her royal father but she does find fatherly affection in the person of Edward's youngest brother, Richard, who would go on to become the next, infamous King of England, before eventually being defeated by Henry Tudor.
As usual, Small likes to place her characters in the thick of royal intrigue so that she can write about subjects that obviously arouse her passion, the Courts of Medieval England and Scotland. Here, however, her combination of historical romance and fiction works less well than in some other books because she seems to rush through years and events, giving scant attention to major historical events such as the execution of Edward's other brother or the continuous civil strife in England, not to mention the tragic mystery of the Princes in the Tower and the bloody usurpation of the English throne by their uncle Richard.
As a Richard apologist, she whimsically interprets facts to support wild theories that put in the best light the self-serving, shrewd, political actions of Richard and his wife Anne Neville, while slandering the Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, and the triumphing Tudors.
Adair' s travails, , are moving insofar as they realistically portray the horrendous ups and downs suffered by regular people whenever another piece of the political chess board was moved about in this unending feud between Royal cousins, but it makes for less than compelling reading as a romance because the characters, including Adair, lack the spirit and charisma I have come to expect from Bertrice Small.
A Dangerous Love is not a bad book, just not a great one.
September 3, 2015
4 and 1/2 Stars! Wonderful and Unique Historical Romance
This is the first in Small's Border Chronicles series...and it's a good one. Small delivers a deep historical setting with well-developed characters whose life experiences are realistic for the time, in this case the late 15th century, and the place (the border between Scotland and England). She uses long narratives, repeated scenes told through different characters' eyes, "head hopping" from one character's perspective to another, but also a well-woven tapestry of the characters’ lives. Of course, you must adjust your expectations for the hero and heroine. Not all have one love and live happily ever after. Oh, there will be a happy ending, don't get me wrong, but it won't be what you expect and maybe not with the hero you expect.
This first book tells of strong-willed Adair Radcliffe, the Countess of Stanton, and the "brat" (bastard daughter) of King Edward IV. When she is six, during the War of the Roses, her mother and her "adoptive" father are killed by the Lancasters, and she is taken into King Edward's household to be educated and raised in the royal nursery. At 16, she flees to her family's estate to avoid the king's plans to wed her to a Lancasterian. While she's on the run, the king marries her by proxy to a 14-year-old Tudor boy. When he shows up at her estate, Adair refuses to accept him but he is not in the picture long.
Her second marriage is to handsome neighbor Andrew Lynbridge who served Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother to King Edward. But Andrew is killed along with the Duke, now King Richard, in a coup. The new Tudor king brands Adair a traitor for her husband's loyalty to King Richard and strips her of her title and property. Adair returns to her beloved home only to be taken into captivity by Scottish raiders and sold to border laird, Conal Bruce. Can she finally find love?
the Border Chronicles series:
A Dangerous Love
The Border Lord's Bride
The Captive Heart
The Border Lord and the Lady
The Border Vixen
Bond of Passion
This is the first in Small's Border Chronicles series...and it's a good one. Small delivers a deep historical setting with well-developed characters whose life experiences are realistic for the time, in this case the late 15th century, and the place (the border between Scotland and England). She uses long narratives, repeated scenes told through different characters' eyes, "head hopping" from one character's perspective to another, but also a well-woven tapestry of the characters’ lives. Of course, you must adjust your expectations for the hero and heroine. Not all have one love and live happily ever after. Oh, there will be a happy ending, don't get me wrong, but it won't be what you expect and maybe not with the hero you expect.
This first book tells of strong-willed Adair Radcliffe, the Countess of Stanton, and the "brat" (bastard daughter) of King Edward IV. When she is six, during the War of the Roses, her mother and her "adoptive" father are killed by the Lancasters, and she is taken into King Edward's household to be educated and raised in the royal nursery. At 16, she flees to her family's estate to avoid the king's plans to wed her to a Lancasterian. While she's on the run, the king marries her by proxy to a 14-year-old Tudor boy. When he shows up at her estate, Adair refuses to accept him but he is not in the picture long.
Her second marriage is to handsome neighbor Andrew Lynbridge who served Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother to King Edward. But Andrew is killed along with the Duke, now King Richard, in a coup. The new Tudor king brands Adair a traitor for her husband's loyalty to King Richard and strips her of her title and property. Adair returns to her beloved home only to be taken into captivity by Scottish raiders and sold to border laird, Conal Bruce. Can she finally find love?
the Border Chronicles series:
A Dangerous Love
The Border Lord's Bride
The Captive Heart
The Border Lord and the Lady
The Border Vixen
Bond of Passion
April 29, 2018
Cover/Title: Honestly, I didn't even look at the cover. I have read enough by this author to know that I would not be disappointed. So I grabbed a copy and I couldn't wait to read it.
Characters: Adair is exactly the type of heroines that I love to read about. No matter what life threw at her, she dealt with it the best way she knew how.
Plot: Adair is sent away from her family at the young age of 6, in an attempt to save her life. She is thrust into court life. Her life is peaceful, until the king decides that she should marry someone that she doesn't know. She rebels and heads for home. Her life is not easy and she has many trials and several husbands. She loses a lot but gains so much later.
Overall: I loved this book. Adair's life is an adventure full of trials and loss. She is strong and is able to overcome these trials. Then she finds a life and love that made it all worth while. Bertrice Small has never disappointed me. She knows how to write a story. People complain about the language she uses but it doesn't bother me. We use language and slang that people in the past didn't use so I am sure there is language and slang that they used in that time period that doesn't jive with ours. Is it authentic to that time period? I don't know, I didn't live then. Does it matter? Not really. The book is enjoyable. A warning for those who don't like descriptive sex scenes. Bertrice Small doesn't hide these things behind the bedroom door. If it bothers you to read these descriptions, then her books are not for you. For those of you that don't mind, definitely read her books.
Characters: Adair is exactly the type of heroines that I love to read about. No matter what life threw at her, she dealt with it the best way she knew how.
Plot: Adair is sent away from her family at the young age of 6, in an attempt to save her life. She is thrust into court life. Her life is peaceful, until the king decides that she should marry someone that she doesn't know. She rebels and heads for home. Her life is not easy and she has many trials and several husbands. She loses a lot but gains so much later.
Overall: I loved this book. Adair's life is an adventure full of trials and loss. She is strong and is able to overcome these trials. Then she finds a life and love that made it all worth while. Bertrice Small has never disappointed me. She knows how to write a story. People complain about the language she uses but it doesn't bother me. We use language and slang that people in the past didn't use so I am sure there is language and slang that they used in that time period that doesn't jive with ours. Is it authentic to that time period? I don't know, I didn't live then. Does it matter? Not really. The book is enjoyable. A warning for those who don't like descriptive sex scenes. Bertrice Small doesn't hide these things behind the bedroom door. If it bothers you to read these descriptions, then her books are not for you. For those of you that don't mind, definitely read her books.
December 9, 2015
WOW you guys, I don't even know. I thought it was going to be a classic Highlands romance romp but it was actually like three books in one, like the M Night Shyamalan of Scottish romance novels?? Twist! Twist! TWIST!!! Also, not the Highlands at all, all about the Scottish/English border, if you care. Bertrice Small sure cares because I get what she's doing but there was WAY too much British history minutia, like, hey I am just here for the cleaning montages, right? Which, speaking of: cleaning montages! But also every sex scene was actually pretty gross and I paged past them with prejudice. "Juice," "manroot," etc, YUCK, that is not why I am here. I am here for dumb books about riding through the moors and getting castles shipshape. There was that, which I enjoyed, and this is actually a pretty feminist protagonist, though I had to have a lot of talks with myself about the historical context of gender oppression. I quit the Outlander books partway through book 2 and I think there are some similar points here about Hey It Really Sucked To Be A Woman 500 Years Ago, but Outlander made me madder about it. ANYWAY, I'm giving it about a 1.5 out of 5 on the rape scale, bearing in mind historical context. And Reader, I got book 2 today.
July 16, 2014
Historical fiction with the central character interacting in the war of the roses time with the Yorks and Lancasters. Her saviour and "Uncle Dickon," is the Duke of Gloucester who becomes the infamous Richard III. Taking a drastically different view than Shakespeare, this story paints him as an almost saintly man who never wanted the throne and sought to protect and hide his young nephews. The last third of the story leaves England and has our heroine interacting with the plot to dethrone James III in favor of son (her distant cousin) James IV. The love story part is secondary and frankly not as interesting as the historical fiction. 3.5 stars
August 15, 2015
I really enjoyed the historical nature of this book, and I feel like I have come away with a lot of information regarding the warring history between England and Scotland during the War of the Roses (1455-1487). However, information was repeated using the exact same words, which seemed to lack some creativity.
I did like Adair's character. She was a smart, strong woman who knew how to honor her past. I liked Conal as well, but when you have an intelligent female, sometimes a relationship doens't last when the man is not on an equal level. However, given the time period, I suppose it doesn't matter.
I did like Adair's character. She was a smart, strong woman who knew how to honor her past. I liked Conal as well, but when you have an intelligent female, sometimes a relationship doens't last when the man is not on an equal level. However, given the time period, I suppose it doesn't matter.
October 31, 2011
I like this book, in general. I had only 3 issues with this book. The first being it took over 200 pages before the male main character is introduced. The second problem is the history lesson, seriously this book should have been 150 pages shorter. I honestly skipped the retelling of the history. The third problem is that for this to be a historical romance it doesnt start off with a date. I get this in depth history lesson but I don't know when Adair or Conal were born.
March 27, 2012
Definitely one of my favorite books.
I love this book! Hot steamy romance=awesome. It's so adorable how Conal can't say "I love you" to Adair. Like he tries so hard but he just can't. Then, It's even more adorable when he finally does and proclaims it to all! I just love it. Elsbeth reminds me of my grandmother. Murdoc is so cute. He's so caring and sweet!! I just love this book. It was so beautifully written!
I love this book! Hot steamy romance=awesome. It's so adorable how Conal can't say "I love you" to Adair. Like he tries so hard but he just can't. Then, It's even more adorable when he finally does and proclaims it to all! I just love it. Elsbeth reminds me of my grandmother. Murdoc is so cute. He's so caring and sweet!! I just love this book. It was so beautifully written!
December 21, 2012
I love historical fiction and Beatrice Small does it with gusto! I am usually not a fan of the middle ages and have problems remembering which king came when from England and Scotland and who was related to who- and who was a Tudor and who was a Lancaster-- she writes of fictional characters but the times, the clothing the food and the language all make you feel that you are right there and then.
January 7, 2012
I really enjoyed this book. Although I had to suppress a few giggles every time I read the words “love sheath.” I had this on my TBR list because Karen Marie Moning said that Bertrice Small was an author she admired and read earlier in her life before she became an author. I enjoy reading a historical romance with great development of characters and the historical events around those characters.
August 4, 2011
This was the first historical romance I have ever read. I though I would bored by the long descriptions but instead I was really captivated. However, I can't imagine recommending it to anyone else. Its one of those books you have to be in the mood to read because the beginning is extremely slow. Overall, I loved this book because of how real it made every moment feel.
March 17, 2012
I haven't read B. Small in YEARS, but am glad I found this one. I may have to go back and re-read the O'Malley Saga. Skye O'Malley was the very first historic romance I read some 20ish years ago and remains one of my all time faves. :-)
I imagine I will read the rest of this series as well. Woo Hoo Adair!
I imagine I will read the rest of this series as well. Woo Hoo Adair!
June 6, 2011
I love historial books and I love that Beatrice Small has made Adair such a strong woman. This was a very well written novel. Thanks to friends I am now introduced to a new author that I will continue to read.
March 2, 2012
A wonderful story about the strength of a woman who survived countless struggles from childhood to adulthood in the aftermath of the battle between Lancaster and York. A great beginning to a strong series involving strong independent women who find love in the Borders of Scotland.
January 3, 2013
I must say that I was shocked I liked this book, I automatically assumed it was going to be like a Harlequin romance, and I so hate those. This chick is strong, brave, loyal. Loved her and loved the fact she found a man that can match her wits
December 1, 2013
Wow! What a great book! having recently watched The White Queen on TV, I understood the history better. Bertrice Small is one if my all time favorite authors, I'm suprised it took me so long to find this series. On to book 2!
June 6, 2007
A great historical romance from a great author.
Ms. Small is simply one of the best in this genre.
Ms. Small is simply one of the best in this genre.
August 7, 2008
Excellent book, couldn't put it down
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