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The Barden #1
One Night in Hartswood
Oxford 1360
When his sister’s betrothed vanishes the night before her politically arranged marriage, Raff Barden must track and return the elusive groom to restore his family’s honour. William de Foucart ― known to his friends as Penn ― had no choice but to abandon his fiancé, and with it his own earldom, when he fled the night before his enforced marriage. But ill-equipped to survive on the run he must trust the kindness of a stranger, Raff, to help him escape. Unaware their fates are already entwined, their unexpected bond deepens into a far more precious relationship, one that will test all that they hold dear. And when secrets are finally revealed, both men must decide what they will risk for the one they love…
When his sister’s betrothed vanishes the night before her politically arranged marriage, Raff Barden must track and return the elusive groom to restore his family’s honour. William de Foucart ― known to his friends as Penn ― had no choice but to abandon his fiancé, and with it his own earldom, when he fled the night before his enforced marriage. But ill-equipped to survive on the run he must trust the kindness of a stranger, Raff, to help him escape. Unaware their fates are already entwined, their unexpected bond deepens into a far more precious relationship, one that will test all that they hold dear. And when secrets are finally revealed, both men must decide what they will risk for the one they love…
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 19, 2023
About the author
Emma Denny
3 books251 followersEmma Denny is a queer author of LGBT+ historical romance stories about yearning, swordplay, and kissing in the woods. She enjoys walks in the forest, collecting daggers, and overpriced craft beer.
Winner of the Mills & Boon Romance Includes Everyone competition.
Winner of the Mills & Boon Romance Includes Everyone competition.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 855 reviews
September 11, 2023
Where should I start? How about with the optimism I felt when the epigraph was a quotation from Euripides as translated by Anne Carson?
... Though there was that niggling doubt: Which play by Euripides? Carson has translated several, so why, Emma Denny, are you not distinguishing?
But optimism flagged only briefly, as I reminded myself that Freya Marske blurbed this. Freya Marske!
... and then I started reading and hit this sentence: "Even in early winter, the trees were packed so closely that it posed a near impassable barrier, despite so many of them lacking their leaves."
Uh-oh. Look, I'm not making an itemized list of everything wrong with that sentence, because I have a lot to get to in this review, so I'll just point out that "it" has no antecedent and that the final clause is a grammatical mess. No, wait, I can't resist: "Even in early winter, the trees were packed closely"? Where does Emma Denny live that trees move away from one another in cold weather? Fascinating.
Shortly afterward, I began to suspect that Denny's idea of medieval history went something like this: There were castles. People rode horses and wore tunics.
- Penn's dead mother had "a collection of Arthurian tales." Funny, Malory's Morte d'Arthur dates from the 15th century and we're in the 14th; earlier there's the Alliterative Morte d'Arthur and the Stanzaic Morte d'Arthur, but those are poems; the dates for Geoffrey of Monmouth would work, and The History of the Kings of Britain does include Arthurian tales but is, you know, a (pseudo-)history of Britain from the year zip ... and would a 14th-century noblewoman have been literate in Latin, anyway? See, this is all finicky of me, except that it would have been so easy for Denny to give Penn some keepsake of his mother that didn't depend on familiarity with the publication history of the Arthurian legends.
What does it matter, you say. It matters because writers of historical romance owe it to their readers to depict the history credibly. And because one kind of sloppiness foretells others. (Who needs Merlin to make prophecies?)
Moving on, we have Penn and his boyfriend-to-be, Raff, displaying an utter lack of common sense in the mercy killing of a deer. This part is awful so I'm putting it under a spoiler tag: No lie, I was whisper-screaming at the page.
And the thing is, you don't need any special research for an episode like that. If you want to get fancy, you can take a little time to look at snares and what kinds of animals they catch, but at least give your characters half a gram of common sense.
Moving on. Raff's speech has a "Scottish twang." A Scottish what now?
"There would be no need to bundle together when sleeping indoors, dry and sheltered from the biting winter winds." They're traveling in the dead of winter. How warm does Denny think houses, inns, and barns were in the 14th century? And speaking of the dead of winter, Raff is feeding them by hunting the apparently abundant game. He has a knife and he lays snares, I guess? Anyway, his luck must be phenomenal, because he seems to get at least a couple of animals every time. Also, he's likely poaching, so it's a good thing he never gets caught.
And then we have the horse episode. So, there's this horse. It's tied to a well and a dog is harassing it, eventually going for its throat. A few things about this struck me as odd, so I checked with a friend who's a farmer and has long experience of both dogs and horses, and of dogs and horses living together.
- The fictional horse stamps and snorts but doesn't kick at the dog or try to bite it. A real horse would do both those things, especially when a predator was going for its legs and belly.
- The fictional dog, unlike dogs who live around horses in the real world, isn't keeping out of range of the horse's hooves and teeth. See above.
- Dogs who live around horses generally learn quickly to stay out of range, because, as my friend the farmer put it, one or two kicks or bites generally suffice to teach the lesson.
- It would have to be some dog to get anywhere near the horse's throat, on account of horses are tall.
Also, I rolled my eyes at how long the MCs kept lying to each other, and at Raff's delightfully accepting family ("Our Son: He's a Sodomite, but We Don't Mind"), and at what a dumbass Penn is (he flees his father's castle -- dead of winter, remember -- without taking a cloak!), at the fact that Raff and Penn keep traveling even in heavy snow (on, what, the excellent roads in 14th-century England?), and at Penn's father's mysterious passivity once Penn busts Raff out of the cell where Penn's father is keeping him, and at -- oh, this is a really good one -- the infected crossbow wound to Raff's shoulder which he somehow survives. He even keeps the arm. Like, please. Could authors take two minutes to look up the anatomy of the shoulder before deciding that it's a good place to inflict a wound survivable when the victim goes days and days without treatment?
The tl;dr here is that Denny has been historically and medically sloppy and given her MCs no common sense whatsoever. Add stilted dialogue and period-inappropriate attitudes toward women and sexuality, and this book is bad to a degree that's insulting to readers.
Lagniappe: The MC nicknamed Penn has as given name William, which leads me to believe that not one single person involved in making this book knows any US history. Fair enough, maybe -- since it was published by Mills & Boon, the production team presumably comprises only Brits. But still.
[ETA: More lagniappe. @Aldi's comment here points out that we're in 1360 and there's not an inkling that the Black Death ever happened, though it "decimated London in 1349 and reached Scandinavia and northern England by 1350," eventually killing 25 million people, a third of the population of Europe (Kathryn A. Glatter and Paul Finkelman, "History of the Plague: An Ancient Pandemic for the Age of Covid-19"). Guess I was too distracted by the infected crossbow wound to even register the plague!]
ARC from NetGalley and I'm sure it's obvious this review reflects my honest opinion.
... Though there was that niggling doubt: Which play by Euripides? Carson has translated several, so why, Emma Denny, are you not distinguishing?
But optimism flagged only briefly, as I reminded myself that Freya Marske blurbed this. Freya Marske!
... and then I started reading and hit this sentence: "Even in early winter, the trees were packed so closely that it posed a near impassable barrier, despite so many of them lacking their leaves."
Uh-oh. Look, I'm not making an itemized list of everything wrong with that sentence, because I have a lot to get to in this review, so I'll just point out that "it" has no antecedent and that the final clause is a grammatical mess. No, wait, I can't resist: "Even in early winter, the trees were packed closely"? Where does Emma Denny live that trees move away from one another in cold weather? Fascinating.
Shortly afterward, I began to suspect that Denny's idea of medieval history went something like this: There were castles. People rode horses and wore tunics.
- Penn's dead mother had "a collection of Arthurian tales." Funny, Malory's Morte d'Arthur dates from the 15th century and we're in the 14th; earlier there's the Alliterative Morte d'Arthur and the Stanzaic Morte d'Arthur, but those are poems; the dates for Geoffrey of Monmouth would work, and The History of the Kings of Britain does include Arthurian tales but is, you know, a (pseudo-)history of Britain from the year zip ... and would a 14th-century noblewoman have been literate in Latin, anyway? See, this is all finicky of me, except that it would have been so easy for Denny to give Penn some keepsake of his mother that didn't depend on familiarity with the publication history of the Arthurian legends.
What does it matter, you say. It matters because writers of historical romance owe it to their readers to depict the history credibly. And because one kind of sloppiness foretells others. (Who needs Merlin to make prophecies?)
Moving on, we have Penn and his boyfriend-to-be, Raff, displaying an utter lack of common sense in the mercy killing of a deer. This part is awful so I'm putting it under a spoiler tag: No lie, I was whisper-screaming at the page.
And the thing is, you don't need any special research for an episode like that. If you want to get fancy, you can take a little time to look at snares and what kinds of animals they catch, but at least give your characters half a gram of common sense.
Moving on. Raff's speech has a "Scottish twang." A Scottish what now?
"There would be no need to bundle together when sleeping indoors, dry and sheltered from the biting winter winds." They're traveling in the dead of winter. How warm does Denny think houses, inns, and barns were in the 14th century? And speaking of the dead of winter, Raff is feeding them by hunting the apparently abundant game. He has a knife and he lays snares, I guess? Anyway, his luck must be phenomenal, because he seems to get at least a couple of animals every time. Also, he's likely poaching, so it's a good thing he never gets caught.
And then we have the horse episode. So, there's this horse. It's tied to a well and a dog is harassing it, eventually going for its throat. A few things about this struck me as odd, so I checked with a friend who's a farmer and has long experience of both dogs and horses, and of dogs and horses living together.
- The fictional horse stamps and snorts but doesn't kick at the dog or try to bite it. A real horse would do both those things, especially when a predator was going for its legs and belly.
- The fictional dog, unlike dogs who live around horses in the real world, isn't keeping out of range of the horse's hooves and teeth. See above.
- Dogs who live around horses generally learn quickly to stay out of range, because, as my friend the farmer put it, one or two kicks or bites generally suffice to teach the lesson.
- It would have to be some dog to get anywhere near the horse's throat, on account of horses are tall.
Also, I rolled my eyes at how long the MCs kept lying to each other, and at Raff's delightfully accepting family ("Our Son: He's a Sodomite, but We Don't Mind"), and at what a dumbass Penn is (he flees his father's castle -- dead of winter, remember -- without taking a cloak!), at the fact that Raff and Penn keep traveling even in heavy snow (on, what, the excellent roads in 14th-century England?), and at Penn's father's mysterious passivity once Penn busts Raff out of the cell where Penn's father is keeping him, and at -- oh, this is a really good one -- the infected crossbow wound to Raff's shoulder which he somehow survives. He even keeps the arm. Like, please. Could authors take two minutes to look up the anatomy of the shoulder before deciding that it's a good place to inflict a wound survivable when the victim goes days and days without treatment?
The tl;dr here is that Denny has been historically and medically sloppy and given her MCs no common sense whatsoever. Add stilted dialogue and period-inappropriate attitudes toward women and sexuality, and this book is bad to a degree that's insulting to readers.
Lagniappe: The MC nicknamed Penn has as given name William, which leads me to believe that not one single person involved in making this book knows any US history. Fair enough, maybe -- since it was published by Mills & Boon, the production team presumably comprises only Brits. But still.
[ETA: More lagniappe. @Aldi's comment here points out that we're in 1360 and there's not an inkling that the Black Death ever happened, though it "decimated London in 1349 and reached Scandinavia and northern England by 1350," eventually killing 25 million people, a third of the population of Europe (Kathryn A. Glatter and Paul Finkelman, "History of the Plague: An Ancient Pandemic for the Age of Covid-19"). Guess I was too distracted by the infected crossbow wound to even register the plague!]
ARC from NetGalley and I'm sure it's obvious this review reflects my honest opinion.
April 15, 2023
'We have been apart for less than a day.'
'And I have missed you for every moment of it.'
One Night in Hartswood is such a beautiful historical romance. The majority of the book is spent travelling through countryside, forests, and villages. I enjoyed how Penn and Raff got closer the further they travelled. And hey, it gets cold camping outside so it's only smart thinking to share body heat. >.>
Penn and Raff are basically on a Hero's Journey. The 'call to adventure' is escaping an arranged marriage and an abusive father, the action is trying to keep a low profile and not be caught while fitting in some bow chicka wow wow time, and the revelation is the fact that Penn's arranged marriage is to Raff's sister! gay gasp
This book deserves way more flowers, and I can wait to read what Emma Denny puts out next.
'And I have missed you for every moment of it.'
One Night in Hartswood is such a beautiful historical romance. The majority of the book is spent travelling through countryside, forests, and villages. I enjoyed how Penn and Raff got closer the further they travelled. And hey, it gets cold camping outside so it's only smart thinking to share body heat. >.>
Penn and Raff are basically on a Hero's Journey. The 'call to adventure' is escaping an arranged marriage and an abusive father, the action is trying to keep a low profile and not be caught while fitting in some bow chicka wow wow time, and the revelation is the fact that Penn's arranged marriage is to Raff's sister! gay gasp
This book deserves way more flowers, and I can wait to read what Emma Denny puts out next.
January 26, 2024
I would like to thank Edelweiss and Mills & Boon for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.
***full disclosure, this arc was gifted quite late and post release!***
what a cute story this was! it was a light historical with nothing really heavy about it. i felt its length though, ngl. and even though i knew what was going to happen at the end, i found myself invested enough that the 3rd act still stung! my only niggles really were that i wish there was greater retribution for the wrongs done to penn, as well as some actual historical content instead of it being just the backdrop. but that would have been a different book so it is what it is!
i thought raff and penn were both adorable and it was an interesting take to show lordlings who are both sort of outdoorsey, but not in the poncey sense. raff was a tracker and a damn good one, so it's kinda cool that he was known for that, and that he was in his element traipsing through the wild and sleeping rough! and though penn's was born of privilege and was more eponymous, his characterization was like a soft take on the romance of falconry, and more on the nose, his peregrine growing up was his namesake. i'm voting for pendragon as well, if we're going for obv, as he was a fan of arthurian legend!
all in all this was a soft sweet low-angst story of two young men finding love on the run! so glad to have discovered emma denny's work now and i am definitely looking forward to whatever else she releases in the future!
***full disclosure, this arc was gifted quite late and post release!***
what a cute story this was! it was a light historical with nothing really heavy about it. i felt its length though, ngl. and even though i knew what was going to happen at the end, i found myself invested enough that the 3rd act still stung! my only niggles really were that i wish there was greater retribution for the wrongs done to penn, as well as some actual historical content instead of it being just the backdrop. but that would have been a different book so it is what it is!
i thought raff and penn were both adorable and it was an interesting take to show lordlings who are both sort of outdoorsey, but not in the poncey sense. raff was a tracker and a damn good one, so it's kinda cool that he was known for that, and that he was in his element traipsing through the wild and sleeping rough! and though penn's was born of privilege and was more eponymous, his characterization was like a soft take on the romance of falconry, and more on the nose, his peregrine growing up was his namesake. i'm voting for pendragon as well, if we're going for obv, as he was a fan of arthurian legend!
all in all this was a soft sweet low-angst story of two young men finding love on the run! so glad to have discovered emma denny's work now and i am definitely looking forward to whatever else she releases in the future!
December 21, 2023
I don’t know how a book that is 80% two men walking through the woods in the dead of winter while lying to each other turned out to be so goddamn cute but here we are. The inns! The pining! The bedrolls! Everything is cold all the time! Sword oil! 5/5 crossbows
November 28, 2022
I haven’t read a good historical romance in a while, so I was excited to throw myself into One Night in Hartswood.
I found this book to be a really charming dose of historical queer romance. Both Penn and Raff had distinct voices, and I enjoyed them as a couple. I had no trouble falling into the world and following the romance, which started off strong. Penn, who I feel had more depth than Raff, was an intriguing character. There was a lot of trauma that he was struggling to deal with, and I loved the moments where he opened up to Raff.
Abuse is a difficult topic to read in any book. It’s always tricky when it’s a part of a romance because it will usually take a backseat. I think the author did a decent job. I appreciated how Raff challenged Penn’s shame and insisted that the abuse was not his fault. After being treated horribly for years, it was wonderful to see Raff be so tender with Penn. My favourite moments were those shared between Penn and Raff on the road. I loved how the climate forced them together. Raff yearned for Penn. Their stolen moments in the cold wilderness were my favourite part of this novel.
Their romance is built on a lot of lies, which naturally explodes in their faces. It was hard to feel bad for either of them when they were both keeping secrets. I found their dynamic on the road interesting. The romance developed slowly because Raff was hesitant to do anything with Penn because of the power imbalance. I wish the slow burn lasted longer and that there were more obstacles.
The story felt very contained within Raff and Penn’s romance. I would have loved to see more exploration of the period.
I will say that the ending felt slightly predictable, and I wish there had been more of a conflict to achieve the HEA. It felt like Penn spent most of the book struggling with his father’s abuse, then seamlessly destroys him. He did so by being an expert at manipulating lords and ladies and navigating politics. I was confused by this as Penn sees himself as a terrible heir. Penn also didn’t have a lot of independence throughout the novel. Raff mostly took charge. I was unsure if Penn’s insecurities were only because he was queer (and if that was the main reason his father hated him). Yet, Raff’s family openly accepted and explored queerness, while the idea of them being together seemed completely impossible. Penn was not able to be queer within the walls of his father’s home, hence why he fled. There was no hint at the prospect of same sex marriage. I wasn’t sure how queer people fit into this world or if homophobia was common within this story. I did think there were some strange choices for a book set in the fourteenth century, but I overlooked them because I’m always in favour of normalising queerness. I’m no expert on the Middle Ages, and if sexuality and gender were actually more fluid back then, I’m all for seeing it in this book, I just wish there was more clarity. I’m not sure if I was just confused or if there were actually contradictions.
This book started off really strong, and I loved Raff and Penn’s meeting in Hartswood forest. Their stolen moments of tenderness were touching, but I did fall a little out of love with their romance by the end of the story. Nonetheless, there is a lot to love in this book, and I would definitely recommend it to people who enjoy queer historical fiction.
Thank you to El & Harper Insider for sending me a proof in exchange for an honest review!
I post about queer books on: Instagram Twitter TikTok
I found this book to be a really charming dose of historical queer romance. Both Penn and Raff had distinct voices, and I enjoyed them as a couple. I had no trouble falling into the world and following the romance, which started off strong. Penn, who I feel had more depth than Raff, was an intriguing character. There was a lot of trauma that he was struggling to deal with, and I loved the moments where he opened up to Raff.
Abuse is a difficult topic to read in any book. It’s always tricky when it’s a part of a romance because it will usually take a backseat. I think the author did a decent job. I appreciated how Raff challenged Penn’s shame and insisted that the abuse was not his fault. After being treated horribly for years, it was wonderful to see Raff be so tender with Penn. My favourite moments were those shared between Penn and Raff on the road. I loved how the climate forced them together. Raff yearned for Penn. Their stolen moments in the cold wilderness were my favourite part of this novel.
Their romance is built on a lot of lies, which naturally explodes in their faces. It was hard to feel bad for either of them when they were both keeping secrets. I found their dynamic on the road interesting. The romance developed slowly because Raff was hesitant to do anything with Penn because of the power imbalance. I wish the slow burn lasted longer and that there were more obstacles.
The story felt very contained within Raff and Penn’s romance. I would have loved to see more exploration of the period.
I will say that the ending felt slightly predictable, and I wish there had been more of a conflict to achieve the HEA. It felt like Penn spent most of the book struggling with his father’s abuse, then seamlessly destroys him. He did so by being an expert at manipulating lords and ladies and navigating politics. I was confused by this as Penn sees himself as a terrible heir. Penn also didn’t have a lot of independence throughout the novel. Raff mostly took charge. I was unsure if Penn’s insecurities were only because he was queer (and if that was the main reason his father hated him). Yet, Raff’s family openly accepted and explored queerness, while the idea of them being together seemed completely impossible. Penn was not able to be queer within the walls of his father’s home, hence why he fled. There was no hint at the prospect of same sex marriage. I wasn’t sure how queer people fit into this world or if homophobia was common within this story. I did think there were some strange choices for a book set in the fourteenth century, but I overlooked them because I’m always in favour of normalising queerness. I’m no expert on the Middle Ages, and if sexuality and gender were actually more fluid back then, I’m all for seeing it in this book, I just wish there was more clarity. I’m not sure if I was just confused or if there were actually contradictions.
This book started off really strong, and I loved Raff and Penn’s meeting in Hartswood forest. Their stolen moments of tenderness were touching, but I did fall a little out of love with their romance by the end of the story. Nonetheless, there is a lot to love in this book, and I would definitely recommend it to people who enjoy queer historical fiction.
Thank you to El & Harper Insider for sending me a proof in exchange for an honest review!
I post about queer books on: Instagram Twitter TikTok
August 27, 2025
“I am not lost. I’m following the sunset.”
A sweet, queer romance set in 1360.
How refreshing it was to read a historical romance not set during the regency era. And how much more refreshing to read a queer romance novel that's not contemporary. Emma Denny also did a wonderful job of balancing historical accuracy and making the story palatable for contemporary readers. It did play on a trope that I don't always love which is miscommunication, but I can forgive the author that because it actually made sense for the plot to move along.
I've heard book two is even better, very excited to read that one hopefully soon.
2025 Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo categories hit: Road Trip, Medieval, Rival Teams)
A sweet, queer romance set in 1360.
How refreshing it was to read a historical romance not set during the regency era. And how much more refreshing to read a queer romance novel that's not contemporary. Emma Denny also did a wonderful job of balancing historical accuracy and making the story palatable for contemporary readers. It did play on a trope that I don't always love which is miscommunication, but I can forgive the author that because it actually made sense for the plot to move along.
I've heard book two is even better, very excited to read that one hopefully soon.
2025 Ripped Bodice Summer Bingo categories hit: Road Trip, Medieval, Rival Teams)
December 10, 2024
I dunno it just never really clicked. Despite all these people being grown adults there was a very YA feel to it all. Each story beat was painfully predictable. And despite being set in the 14th century nothing and no one FELT very rooted to the time. This feels like an AU fanfic of something that got published. Is it?
October 31, 2023
We read a lot of historical romance, but not a ton of medievals, and definitely not a ton of queer medievals. In fact, we think this was our first trad-published LBGTQ+ medieval romance. It hits a lot of spots:
It's a road trip romance set in a time when just traveling through the forest was a scary undertaking;
A romance where both leads are hiding aspects of their identities from each other (but are able to be more themselves by not being their "public" selves);
A hard look at families of origin, and how they end up affecting us in ways we might not even realize;
A tender romance between two really appealing characters who get a true HEA.
We wouldn't say this is lighthearted, but it's not as angsty as MM Medieval Romance might make you think. It's also an open door romance - Emma Denny doesn't shy away from showing the reader what weeks of forced proximity on the road will explode into once our characters get a chance to act on their feelings!
Definitely recommended for fans of historical romance who are looking for something new!
Laine: Raff can't let the guy he made out with in the woods freeze to death, so he takes him all the way home. Proximity breeds affection, not honesty.
Meg: Raff has the best family of all time, while Penn’s is the worst. They’re supposed to be brothers-in-law but they don’t realize it until they’ve already boned. Oops.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
It's a road trip romance set in a time when just traveling through the forest was a scary undertaking;
A romance where both leads are hiding aspects of their identities from each other (but are able to be more themselves by not being their "public" selves);
A hard look at families of origin, and how they end up affecting us in ways we might not even realize;
A tender romance between two really appealing characters who get a true HEA.
We wouldn't say this is lighthearted, but it's not as angsty as MM Medieval Romance might make you think. It's also an open door romance - Emma Denny doesn't shy away from showing the reader what weeks of forced proximity on the road will explode into once our characters get a chance to act on their feelings!
Definitely recommended for fans of historical romance who are looking for something new!
Laine: Raff can't let the guy he made out with in the woods freeze to death, so he takes him all the way home. Proximity breeds affection, not honesty.
Meg: Raff has the best family of all time, while Penn’s is the worst. They’re supposed to be brothers-in-law but they don’t realize it until they’ve already boned. Oops.
This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.
June 28, 2024
This book was really cute, I think it is a debut novel so that makes it even more impressive.
The mutual pining was very well done, especially since we know that after their first meet at Hartswood forest, they were both still craving each other but were both unsure if that’s what they were both wanting.
Penn was especially adorable despite all his awkwardness and fumbling and with the whole thing of him being unable to survive by himself. Raff was really his rescuer and his hero.
I get why Raff would feel betrayed after the big reveal but I have to say I’m still on Team Penn, my poor baby boy was literally feeling like an abusive parent.
Suffice it to say I really enjoyed this book, historical fiction was the first genre I’ve ever read, so mix that with mm romance and I’m sold.
My only complaint and is not really a complaint but rather a preference is that I’d have liked to see a bit more of a historical setting. Like let’s be honest, manors in that time didn’t have that many rooms, and everybody slept together in the hall (most likely), but besides that, 10/10, would definitely read from this author again.
The mutual pining was very well done, especially since we know that after their first meet at Hartswood forest, they were both still craving each other but were both unsure if that’s what they were both wanting.
Penn was especially adorable despite all his awkwardness and fumbling and with the whole thing of him being unable to survive by himself. Raff was really his rescuer and his hero.
I get why Raff would feel betrayed after the big reveal but I have to say I’m still on Team Penn, my poor baby boy was literally feeling like an abusive parent.
Suffice it to say I really enjoyed this book, historical fiction was the first genre I’ve ever read, so mix that with mm romance and I’m sold.
My only complaint and is not really a complaint but rather a preference is that I’d have liked to see a bit more of a historical setting. Like let’s be honest, manors in that time didn’t have that many rooms, and everybody slept together in the hall (most likely), but besides that, 10/10, would definitely read from this author again.
March 11, 2023
i read this book because someone described it as having "too much gay sex" and i will read anything that has "too much gay sex" in it.
it didn't have too much sex in my opinion, but the sex wasn't very well written, and neither was the rest of the book. the writing style felt like an over-used style in fanfiction (if you've read a lot of fanfiction, you will recognise it), the dialogue especially felt like reading a mediocre fanfic that uses way too many cliches.
it's also clear there was absolutely no research done for the book, since the story is supposed to take place in 1300s and it... absolutely does not.
the relationship is a bit insta-lovey and the author didn't manage to make me care about them at all (in fact i didn't care for any character in this book). it was mostly: they met - liked each other - fell in love, and that was it. there was some conflict and drama but meh. i guess i need more angst in my ships. i also just didn't care for the writing style, like i stated before.
i wouldn't recommend this. there's so many far better mlm historical romances out there.
it didn't have too much sex in my opinion, but the sex wasn't very well written, and neither was the rest of the book. the writing style felt like an over-used style in fanfiction (if you've read a lot of fanfiction, you will recognise it), the dialogue especially felt like reading a mediocre fanfic that uses way too many cliches.
it's also clear there was absolutely no research done for the book, since the story is supposed to take place in 1300s and it... absolutely does not.
the relationship is a bit insta-lovey and the author didn't manage to make me care about them at all (in fact i didn't care for any character in this book). it was mostly: they met - liked each other - fell in love, and that was it. there was some conflict and drama but meh. i guess i need more angst in my ships. i also just didn't care for the writing style, like i stated before.
i wouldn't recommend this. there's so many far better mlm historical romances out there.
May 29, 2023
❤️ One Night in Hartswood - Emma Denny ❤️
⚔️ historical romance
😍 love at first sight
👑 lordship
🌈 gay × bi pairing
🗣 TRIGGER WARNING
.
.
.
.
.
mentions of abuse
One Night in Hartswood sounded really promising yet it missed something for me ☹️ personally I couldn't really relate to either Raff or Penn who are the main characters... their instant connection didn't feel like it was that strong and as the story progressed I just couldn't get into their relationship 😔 the switching pov were a little bit confusing at some points but that probably has something to do with me having a preference for (single) pov chapters 🤷🏼♀️ but I LOVED Ash tho and I HOPE that Emma Denny will write a book for him 😭❤️
⚔️ historical romance
😍 love at first sight
👑 lordship
🌈 gay × bi pairing
🗣 TRIGGER WARNING
.
.
.
.
.
mentions of abuse
One Night in Hartswood sounded really promising yet it missed something for me ☹️ personally I couldn't really relate to either Raff or Penn who are the main characters... their instant connection didn't feel like it was that strong and as the story progressed I just couldn't get into their relationship 😔 the switching pov were a little bit confusing at some points but that probably has something to do with me having a preference for (single) pov chapters 🤷🏼♀️ but I LOVED Ash tho and I HOPE that Emma Denny will write a book for him 😭❤️
July 17, 2023
Well, then. This was a lovely historical romance set in the 14th century. Penn meets Raff once he decides to skip out on his arranged marriage and get out from under the thumb of his abusive father. Little does he know that the helpful Scottish tracker he’s befriended is the brother of his jilted bride to be. With both main characters concealing their true identifies, the two grow closer as they travel through the forest and country together.
This book drew me in immediately and I loved the unique historical take on a traditional road trip story. There is, however, always a bit of tension in queer historical romance where you’re never quite sure what the HEA will look like and how they will find their way there. This is especially the case here as you’re waiting for the truth of their identities to be revealed. Towards the end, the plot got a bit muddled for me, as the politics of the day come into play but I still enjoyed the ultimate resolution.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper360 for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was honestly surprised that this was a debut and I look forward to what Emma Denny writes next.
This book drew me in immediately and I loved the unique historical take on a traditional road trip story. There is, however, always a bit of tension in queer historical romance where you’re never quite sure what the HEA will look like and how they will find their way there. This is especially the case here as you’re waiting for the truth of their identities to be revealed. Towards the end, the plot got a bit muddled for me, as the politics of the day come into play but I still enjoyed the ultimate resolution.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper360 for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I was honestly surprised that this was a debut and I look forward to what Emma Denny writes next.
Read
August 29, 2025Part of my kill-my-tbr project, in which I'm reading all my physical, unread books, which number around one thousand!
This is an arc that got away from forever ago! I went through a romance phase when I first joined Bookstagram. I mostly decided it's not for me, but I do like the occasional sweet romance 💒.
DNF @p41
This is not for me.
This is an arc that got away from forever ago! I went through a romance phase when I first joined Bookstagram. I mostly decided it's not for me, but I do like the occasional sweet romance 💒.
DNF @p41
This is not for me.
July 25, 2023
⭐︎
4.25 Stars Rounded Down
⭐︎
This, overall, was a strong debut novel by this author.
Set in 1360, Penn and Raff are two sons of Earls, one from the south and one from the north of Englan.
Raff's younger sister is betrothed to Penn - his birth name being William, he prefers to go by Penn - yet they have never met and they don't know what the other looks like.
The day before they're to be wed, Penn sneaks out into the Hartswood forest to kind of get one last night to be on his own. There he meets Raff, as Raff and his brother and the rest of their retinue, aside from his sister and father, are further back for the night near the forest. Raff needed to get away after an argument with his older brother.
Since Penn goes by Penn, and he isn't dressed in his usual clothes as he sneaked out, and Raff as well isn't dressed expensively, they assume the other is a servant, and neither clears that up.
It makes sense at first, as they're thinking to just know each other for a night and then never again, but after that, when Penn truly runs away and Raff is sent after him to find him, and they run into each other, they don't clear up the lie.
And again, it makes sense at first as they don't know each other well at all. But of course the lies become these big unspoken things between them and even after Raff's lie is found out, Penn doesn't tell the truth and at that point I was just done with the lies. When lies go on for that long in books, I really dislike it. Especially when it gets to the point where it's like...why are you even lying anymore? At this point it's lying just to lie. I wish characters would just own up to the truth at some point.
With both Raff and Penn, their lies are found out by other people recognizing them, not because they owned up to their lies and just told each other.
That was one niggle with this. Another is this really drew things out between these two, and the slow burn became almost too much. The steam was also very low in this. What we got was good, we did get two steamy scenes, one fully penetrative, but neither was as fully detailed as I would have liked and was kept to a lot of vagueness. Almost to the point of...what was the point of them at all, if you weren't really going to go into them?
I wanted more steam, less about them just walking day after day, going to inns, blah blah blah. When something was happening, it was great and interesting, but there was a lot of just these two...not talking enough, almost doing something or wanting to do something, and not doing it, and them delaying the journey North to spend more time together and just have as much freedom as they wanted.
Which, understandable, but it didn't always make for exciting, entertaining material to read. Things got interesting when Ash showed up, but then he left fairly quickly.
Things really picked up at the end, though, and I think the ending was the strongest part of this book, actually.
While the rest of the book did build these two up to being in love, the most exciting things happened at the end when they were already there and had to find some way to be together in what seemed like an impossible situation.
I also wish the epilogue had been a little longer, it was fairly short. I wanted more of them getting their HEA together, but it was more of just a snapshot of it. Very rushed.
But overall, this was enjoyable and a strong debut novel. Definite room for improvement, and I do hope this author is steamier in her future works, but this was really enjoyable, and I really loved Penn and Raff as characters and together.
Definitely worth picking up this newbie author. Don't let the overall rating fool you, this is quite enjoyable.
I will be keeping my eyes open for more from this author in the future. This one was a delight to read and our main couple was good together.
Definitely has potential to get even better with time 🥰
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
This, overall, was a strong debut novel by this author.
Set in 1360, Penn and Raff are two sons of Earls, one from the south and one from the north of Englan.
Raff's younger sister is betrothed to Penn - his birth name being William, he prefers to go by Penn - yet they have never met and they don't know what the other looks like.
The day before they're to be wed, Penn sneaks out into the Hartswood forest to kind of get one last night to be on his own. There he meets Raff, as Raff and his brother and the rest of their retinue, aside from his sister and father, are further back for the night near the forest. Raff needed to get away after an argument with his older brother.
Since Penn goes by Penn, and he isn't dressed in his usual clothes as he sneaked out, and Raff as well isn't dressed expensively, they assume the other is a servant, and neither clears that up.
It makes sense at first, as they're thinking to just know each other for a night and then never again, but after that, when Penn truly runs away and Raff is sent after him to find him, and they run into each other, they don't clear up the lie.
And again, it makes sense at first as they don't know each other well at all. But of course the lies become these big unspoken things between them and even after Raff's lie is found out, Penn doesn't tell the truth and at that point I was just done with the lies. When lies go on for that long in books, I really dislike it. Especially when it gets to the point where it's like...why are you even lying anymore? At this point it's lying just to lie. I wish characters would just own up to the truth at some point.
With both Raff and Penn, their lies are found out by other people recognizing them, not because they owned up to their lies and just told each other.
That was one niggle with this. Another is this really drew things out between these two, and the slow burn became almost too much. The steam was also very low in this. What we got was good, we did get two steamy scenes, one fully penetrative, but neither was as fully detailed as I would have liked and was kept to a lot of vagueness. Almost to the point of...what was the point of them at all, if you weren't really going to go into them?
I wanted more steam, less about them just walking day after day, going to inns, blah blah blah. When something was happening, it was great and interesting, but there was a lot of just these two...not talking enough, almost doing something or wanting to do something, and not doing it, and them delaying the journey North to spend more time together and just have as much freedom as they wanted.
Which, understandable, but it didn't always make for exciting, entertaining material to read. Things got interesting when Ash showed up, but then he left fairly quickly.
Things really picked up at the end, though, and I think the ending was the strongest part of this book, actually.
While the rest of the book did build these two up to being in love, the most exciting things happened at the end when they were already there and had to find some way to be together in what seemed like an impossible situation.
I also wish the epilogue had been a little longer, it was fairly short. I wanted more of them getting their HEA together, but it was more of just a snapshot of it. Very rushed.
But overall, this was enjoyable and a strong debut novel. Definite room for improvement, and I do hope this author is steamier in her future works, but this was really enjoyable, and I really loved Penn and Raff as characters and together.
Definitely worth picking up this newbie author. Don't let the overall rating fool you, this is quite enjoyable.
I will be keeping my eyes open for more from this author in the future. This one was a delight to read and our main couple was good together.
Definitely has potential to get even better with time 🥰
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
Read
February 8, 2024If you've ever seen A Knight's Tale and wished it was gayer, this is a book for you.
We've got...
• secret identities x2
• hurt/comfort
• angst
• swordplay (both kinds)
• a clever twist to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
• a gentle and lovely romance between our leads
Ash is my bad boy fave and every morsel of his tragic backstory just made me ravenous for more. Lucky for me the sequel is out soon.
We've got...
• secret identities x2
• hurt/comfort
• angst
• swordplay (both kinds)
• a clever twist to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat
• a gentle and lovely romance between our leads
Ash is my bad boy fave and every morsel of his tragic backstory just made me ravenous for more. Lucky for me the sequel is out soon.
May 20, 2024
To some extent this feels like a bait and switch. The historical setting is horribly rendered and the whole thing would work better with a generic fantasy setting instead. Every time a real location is mentioned is jarring and each time someone brought up Scotland I had to pause and remind myself what the book was supposed to be.
On a more basic level, the book’s dual POV is handled poorly, with odd repetitions and some rather jarring POV shifts. For all the time we spend in the character’s heads we learn very little about them as people and they are hard to root for.
It’s not that it’s terrible but there are so many better books out there.
On a more basic level, the book’s dual POV is handled poorly, with odd repetitions and some rather jarring POV shifts. For all the time we spend in the character’s heads we learn very little about them as people and they are hard to root for.
It’s not that it’s terrible but there are so many better books out there.
November 16, 2023
Set in 1360 England, a wedding has been arranged and brothers Ash and Rafe are escorting their sister Lily to her nuptials. However, the groom William de Foucart disappears before the wedding occurs, and and as he is returning home, Rafe comes upon a man in the forest, Penn. Over the first part of the book, as the two begin traveling together they learn to depend on one another, while fighting their growing feelings for one another.
Remember the TV series House and Dr. House's credo: "Everyone lies" ? Because Penn is lying, Rafe is lying, and things are not as they seem. Penn and Rafe are richly drawn characters and the author does a very good job of showing rather than telling how these two very different men navigate their feelings. However, the first 1/3 of the book involves Rafe and Penn in the forest, huddling together for warmth on the cold nights due to several unlikely plot devices that force them together. At over 350 pages, the book seems a bit bloated at times.
Otherwise, the plot held my interest throughout the book and the secondary characters are nicely fleshed out, although the big problem with the Earl Marcus de Foucart ends up being much ado about nothing. This is the author's debut novel and the book has good bones, plus Rafe's brother Ash has an intriguing past, and I hope the author continues this series to include his story. 3.5 stars.
I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Remember the TV series House and Dr. House's credo: "Everyone lies" ? Because Penn is lying, Rafe is lying, and things are not as they seem. Penn and Rafe are richly drawn characters and the author does a very good job of showing rather than telling how these two very different men navigate their feelings. However, the first 1/3 of the book involves Rafe and Penn in the forest, huddling together for warmth on the cold nights due to several unlikely plot devices that force them together. At over 350 pages, the book seems a bit bloated at times.
Otherwise, the plot held my interest throughout the book and the secondary characters are nicely fleshed out, although the big problem with the Earl Marcus de Foucart ends up being much ado about nothing. This is the author's debut novel and the book has good bones, plus Rafe's brother Ash has an intriguing past, and I hope the author continues this series to include his story. 3.5 stars.
I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
October 8, 2022
(3.5)
five reasons you'll want to read this book
Rep: bi mc, gay mc, lesbian side characters
CWs: violence, implied child abuse
five reasons you'll want to read this book
Rep: bi mc, gay mc, lesbian side characters
CWs: violence, implied child abuse
November 11, 2023
I've given this a B+ for narration and a B- for content at AudioGals.
There aren’t all that many medieval romances published these days, and certainly not many queer ones, so I was intrigued when I saw the blurb for Emma Denny’s One Night in Hartswood, which promised a story of mistaken identities and a road trip romance between two unlikely lovers set in England in 1360.
When the story opens, Lord Griffin Barden (who goes by Raff) and his retinue are on the final leg of their journey from Dunlyn on the Scottish border, to Oxfordshire, where he and his older brother, Ash, will see their sister, Lily, married to William, the son and heir of Marcus de Foucart. Rumour has it that the Earl – only recently ennobled by the King – is a hard, harsh man, but nothing is really known about his son; Raff can only hope his temperament is different to his father’s for Lily’s sake.
Following an argument with his brother later that day, Raff storms off into nearby Hartswood Forest, needing to be alone with his thoughts (and so he doesn’t do something he’ll regret.) As he walks deeper into the forest, the tangy metallic scent of blood hits him just before he sees its origin – a doe caught in a snare. He’s pondering what to do – he doesn’t want to prolong the animal’s agony, but killing a deer is a crime that carries a severe punishment – when a man emerges from the trees, a man who, by his dress, is clearly not a poacher, but not a nobleman either. The two of them work to release the animal from the snare and Raff appraises the newcomer – taller than Raff but slender, with dark eyes and a mop of dishevelled brown curls, his clothing indicating he’s likely a member of de Foucart’s household staff. Once they’ve put the deer out of its misery the other man offers his name. Penn.
From Penn, Raff learns a little more about the Earl and about the man his sister is to wed, relieved to hear that William is not like his father. They walk a little and talk a little, and an attraction starts to bloom culminating in a passionate kiss that ends all too quickly when they’re interrupted by the sound of people coming closer – and Raff tells Penn to run.
Next morning, Raff is rudely awakened by a boot in the back from his brother, together with the news that William de Foucart has vanished. After the search parties sent out return sans William, the Earl reluctantly asks Raff – who is a skilled tracker – if he will go out to search for him. In the meantime, Ash and Lily are to return to the Barden lands in the north, while their father remains in Oxfordshire.
Raff and Penn eventually meet again as Raff is making his way through Hartswood Forest, and when Penn asks if Raff will take him with him, wherever he’s going, Raff suggests that perhaps they will be able to find Penn a new home and position somewhere along the way back to his home in the north. The extra time on the journey will afford Raff a bit of breathing space where he can just be himself, free of all the responsibilities he’d taken on when Ash went to war, but has shown no signs of wanting to relieve him of since his return.
Listeners already know that Penn is, in fact, William de Foucart, and that he has not only fled an unwanted marriage but also the father who regards him as a waste of space and treats him accordingly. He doesn’t know Raff from Adam, so not clueing him in as to his identity makes sense initially – and Raff doesn’t disabuse Penn of his belief that he’s also a servant, a huntsman and tracker, so the deception is mutual. The days spent on the road give plenty of time for their slow-burn romance to take root, for talking and getting to know each other – and for cuddling together for warmth night after night under the stars. Not a great deal happens during this part of the story, other than Raff and Penn working out where to take shelter each night and Raff teaching Penn how to fight to defend himself, but the characters, their bubbling chemistry and the excellent narration kept me engaged, as did the arrival of Ash, who spends a few days with Raff and Penn on the road, and immediately sees how things are between them. After Ash departs and Raff and Penn are alone again, they both realise that their time on the road together is coming to an end, so they try to find excuses to prolong it for as long as they can, neither of them wanting to break the bubble of happiness they’ve found in each other. But they – and we – know their idyll can’t last much longer.
Despite Penn seeming a bit TSTL to start with – I mean, he goes out into the forest in winter without a coat or cloak! – I liked him and I liked Raff. Penn is kind and good-natured, but has been raised to believe he’s worthless and has little self-esteem, where Raff is much more self-confident, but is struggling under the weight of expectation and guilt at wanting to live his own life. I liked them as a couple, too – they complement each other and share a commonality of outlook and the same dry sense of humour.
The author creates a reasonably believable HEA for Raff and Penn, but the biggest problem I had with the story overall is its total lack of historical feel. I assume that the war Ash fought in must have been the Hundred Years War, but there are few markers to identify this story as set in the fourteenth century. (There’s no mention of the Black Death, which had killed a third of the population of Europe by 1350). And I kept asking myself – why did the author decide to have Raff and Penn travelling through England in the dead of winter when they have to sleep in fields or on the side of the road most of the time? How did they manage to find enough to eat during this journey of several weeks? We’re told Raff is hunting and snaring game – but there would be no abundance of that in winter. It would have made more sense to have set the story in the warmer months of the year. (Spring night are often cold enough to have warranted the open-air cuddling!)
There’s an interview with the author at the end of the audiobook in which she talks about how she’d initially thought about writing One Night in Hartswood as an ‘alt-historical’ or ‘fantasy historical’, but had then decided to write it as an historical romance – I think she should have stuck with the alt/fantasy idea.
The narrators – Tom Alexander (Raff) and Sebastian Humphreys (Penn) – are new-to-me, but both do an excellent job and added considerably to my overall enjoyment of the listen. They convey a real sense of the emotional closeness developing between Raff and Penn and their voices are pleasant and easy on the ear; Mr. Alexander’s is slightly lower in pitch and he injects just the right amount of gruffness into Raff’s dialogue and has a good stab at the ‘hybrid’ northern/Scottish accent Raff is described as having. The slightly higher pitch and even timbre of Mr. Humphreys’ voice work well to portray Penn as somewhat quieter and less confident than Raff – and both narrators are really good when it comes to reading the dialogue of the ‘other’ lead, so that Raff in Penn’s sections sounds as close to the Raff of Raff’s sections as possible, given a different person is speaking. Both are able to consistently employ a variety of accents – Scottish for Ash, and a kind of all-purpose “Northern” for their father – and their female voices are good, too.
Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy listening to One Night in Hartswood and would cautiously recommend it to anyone interested in a ‘medieval-lite’ road trip romance filled with sparring-as-foreplay, cuddling-for-warmth and mutual pining. The narration by Tom Alexander and Sebastian Humphreys is a definite plus and puts it in the ‘win’ column overall.
This review originally appeared at AudioGals .
There aren’t all that many medieval romances published these days, and certainly not many queer ones, so I was intrigued when I saw the blurb for Emma Denny’s One Night in Hartswood, which promised a story of mistaken identities and a road trip romance between two unlikely lovers set in England in 1360.
When the story opens, Lord Griffin Barden (who goes by Raff) and his retinue are on the final leg of their journey from Dunlyn on the Scottish border, to Oxfordshire, where he and his older brother, Ash, will see their sister, Lily, married to William, the son and heir of Marcus de Foucart. Rumour has it that the Earl – only recently ennobled by the King – is a hard, harsh man, but nothing is really known about his son; Raff can only hope his temperament is different to his father’s for Lily’s sake.
Following an argument with his brother later that day, Raff storms off into nearby Hartswood Forest, needing to be alone with his thoughts (and so he doesn’t do something he’ll regret.) As he walks deeper into the forest, the tangy metallic scent of blood hits him just before he sees its origin – a doe caught in a snare. He’s pondering what to do – he doesn’t want to prolong the animal’s agony, but killing a deer is a crime that carries a severe punishment – when a man emerges from the trees, a man who, by his dress, is clearly not a poacher, but not a nobleman either. The two of them work to release the animal from the snare and Raff appraises the newcomer – taller than Raff but slender, with dark eyes and a mop of dishevelled brown curls, his clothing indicating he’s likely a member of de Foucart’s household staff. Once they’ve put the deer out of its misery the other man offers his name. Penn.
From Penn, Raff learns a little more about the Earl and about the man his sister is to wed, relieved to hear that William is not like his father. They walk a little and talk a little, and an attraction starts to bloom culminating in a passionate kiss that ends all too quickly when they’re interrupted by the sound of people coming closer – and Raff tells Penn to run.
Next morning, Raff is rudely awakened by a boot in the back from his brother, together with the news that William de Foucart has vanished. After the search parties sent out return sans William, the Earl reluctantly asks Raff – who is a skilled tracker – if he will go out to search for him. In the meantime, Ash and Lily are to return to the Barden lands in the north, while their father remains in Oxfordshire.
Raff and Penn eventually meet again as Raff is making his way through Hartswood Forest, and when Penn asks if Raff will take him with him, wherever he’s going, Raff suggests that perhaps they will be able to find Penn a new home and position somewhere along the way back to his home in the north. The extra time on the journey will afford Raff a bit of breathing space where he can just be himself, free of all the responsibilities he’d taken on when Ash went to war, but has shown no signs of wanting to relieve him of since his return.
Listeners already know that Penn is, in fact, William de Foucart, and that he has not only fled an unwanted marriage but also the father who regards him as a waste of space and treats him accordingly. He doesn’t know Raff from Adam, so not clueing him in as to his identity makes sense initially – and Raff doesn’t disabuse Penn of his belief that he’s also a servant, a huntsman and tracker, so the deception is mutual. The days spent on the road give plenty of time for their slow-burn romance to take root, for talking and getting to know each other – and for cuddling together for warmth night after night under the stars. Not a great deal happens during this part of the story, other than Raff and Penn working out where to take shelter each night and Raff teaching Penn how to fight to defend himself, but the characters, their bubbling chemistry and the excellent narration kept me engaged, as did the arrival of Ash, who spends a few days with Raff and Penn on the road, and immediately sees how things are between them. After Ash departs and Raff and Penn are alone again, they both realise that their time on the road together is coming to an end, so they try to find excuses to prolong it for as long as they can, neither of them wanting to break the bubble of happiness they’ve found in each other. But they – and we – know their idyll can’t last much longer.
Despite Penn seeming a bit TSTL to start with – I mean, he goes out into the forest in winter without a coat or cloak! – I liked him and I liked Raff. Penn is kind and good-natured, but has been raised to believe he’s worthless and has little self-esteem, where Raff is much more self-confident, but is struggling under the weight of expectation and guilt at wanting to live his own life. I liked them as a couple, too – they complement each other and share a commonality of outlook and the same dry sense of humour.
The author creates a reasonably believable HEA for Raff and Penn, but the biggest problem I had with the story overall is its total lack of historical feel. I assume that the war Ash fought in must have been the Hundred Years War, but there are few markers to identify this story as set in the fourteenth century. (There’s no mention of the Black Death, which had killed a third of the population of Europe by 1350). And I kept asking myself – why did the author decide to have Raff and Penn travelling through England in the dead of winter when they have to sleep in fields or on the side of the road most of the time? How did they manage to find enough to eat during this journey of several weeks? We’re told Raff is hunting and snaring game – but there would be no abundance of that in winter. It would have made more sense to have set the story in the warmer months of the year. (Spring night are often cold enough to have warranted the open-air cuddling!)
Then, towards the end (spoiler):
There’s an interview with the author at the end of the audiobook in which she talks about how she’d initially thought about writing One Night in Hartswood as an ‘alt-historical’ or ‘fantasy historical’, but had then decided to write it as an historical romance – I think she should have stuck with the alt/fantasy idea.
The narrators – Tom Alexander (Raff) and Sebastian Humphreys (Penn) – are new-to-me, but both do an excellent job and added considerably to my overall enjoyment of the listen. They convey a real sense of the emotional closeness developing between Raff and Penn and their voices are pleasant and easy on the ear; Mr. Alexander’s is slightly lower in pitch and he injects just the right amount of gruffness into Raff’s dialogue and has a good stab at the ‘hybrid’ northern/Scottish accent Raff is described as having. The slightly higher pitch and even timbre of Mr. Humphreys’ voice work well to portray Penn as somewhat quieter and less confident than Raff – and both narrators are really good when it comes to reading the dialogue of the ‘other’ lead, so that Raff in Penn’s sections sounds as close to the Raff of Raff’s sections as possible, given a different person is speaking. Both are able to consistently employ a variety of accents – Scottish for Ash, and a kind of all-purpose “Northern” for their father – and their female voices are good, too.
Despite my criticisms, I did enjoy listening to One Night in Hartswood and would cautiously recommend it to anyone interested in a ‘medieval-lite’ road trip romance filled with sparring-as-foreplay, cuddling-for-warmth and mutual pining. The narration by Tom Alexander and Sebastian Humphreys is a definite plus and puts it in the ‘win’ column overall.
This review originally appeared at AudioGals .
Read
May 21, 2024Due to personal reasons, I will be rage quitting this book
(that one woman from Glee, meanwhile: "I am going to create a third-act breakup that is so stupid")
One Night in Hartswood is queer historical fiction set in 1300s England. While we do need more queer historical fiction, this was just not it for me. For one thing, I don't think this SHOULD have been historical fiction, since not only is it riddled with historical inaccuracies (which I can sometimes accept), but the story just doesn't seem terribly interested in exploring the time period in any meaningful way. If you're going to delve into interesting historical themes while getting some of your details wrong, that's one thing. If you act like your characters barely exist IN the time period cited, that's quite another. Just... make it lite medieval fantasy or nonmagical kingdom adventure, where you don't have to do any heavy worldbuilding and you still get to make up your own rules. That would make so much more sense.
I know this next complaint really is more of a minor detail, but it induced much teeth-grinding during my reading: the characters constantly use the word "keep" when they actually mean "castle"--or, worse, "estate." Guys, the "keep" is simply the fortified central portion of the castle structure!!! Not the castle itself! And DEFINITELY NOT the entire landholding or fiefdom associated with it! "The farther they traveled from his father's keep, the more at ease he felt" Estate. Estate. Estate. You're talking about an ESTATE. AAAAGHHHHH.
However, the biggest reason I quit is the third-act breakup referenced previously; where both characters are lying to each other, and one admits it and is instantly forgiven, while the second guy admits it and promptly gets THROWN OUT ON HIS EAR AND SENT BACK TO HIS ABUSER by his erstwhile lover. The lover who literally just promised to "protect him forever" from said abuser. But oh no, you lied to me after I lied to you, so now you deserve to f'ing die? I'm sorry, but that's unacceptable behavior from any romantic lead.
And don't tell me he's going to have a change of heart and dramatically rescue the guy. I'm sure he will--that's how third-act breakups work, after all--but it doesn't cut it for me.
(that one woman from Glee, meanwhile: "I am going to create a third-act breakup that is so stupid")
One Night in Hartswood is queer historical fiction set in 1300s England. While we do need more queer historical fiction, this was just not it for me. For one thing, I don't think this SHOULD have been historical fiction, since not only is it riddled with historical inaccuracies (which I can sometimes accept), but the story just doesn't seem terribly interested in exploring the time period in any meaningful way. If you're going to delve into interesting historical themes while getting some of your details wrong, that's one thing. If you act like your characters barely exist IN the time period cited, that's quite another. Just... make it lite medieval fantasy or nonmagical kingdom adventure, where you don't have to do any heavy worldbuilding and you still get to make up your own rules. That would make so much more sense.
I know this next complaint really is more of a minor detail, but it induced much teeth-grinding during my reading: the characters constantly use the word "keep" when they actually mean "castle"--or, worse, "estate." Guys, the "keep" is simply the fortified central portion of the castle structure!!! Not the castle itself! And DEFINITELY NOT the entire landholding or fiefdom associated with it! "The farther they traveled from his father's keep, the more at ease he felt" Estate. Estate. Estate. You're talking about an ESTATE. AAAAGHHHHH.
However, the biggest reason I quit is the third-act breakup referenced previously; where both characters are lying to each other, and one admits it and is instantly forgiven, while the second guy admits it and promptly gets THROWN OUT ON HIS EAR AND SENT BACK TO HIS ABUSER by his erstwhile lover. The lover who literally just promised to "protect him forever" from said abuser. But oh no, you lied to me after I lied to you, so now you deserve to f'ing die? I'm sorry, but that's unacceptable behavior from any romantic lead.
And don't tell me he's going to have a change of heart and dramatically rescue the guy. I'm sure he will--that's how third-act breakups work, after all--but it doesn't cut it for me.
November 11, 2022
Thank you so much Mills & Boon for the gorgeous ARC + goodies!
One Night in Hartswood was the perfect heartwarming medieval queer romance I didn’t know I needed! If you enjoyed the Scottish Boy but wished it was more lighthearted and emotionally driven, this is the book for you.
It follows the story of Penn and Raff— two men running away from their situations who find each other in the Hartswood. Penn is the son of a violent, controlling Lord, betrothed to marry a woman he’s never met. A woman who, unbeknownst to both of them, is Raff’s sister. When Penn goes missing Raff sets off to find him, leading to them both embarking on a journey to help Penn escape his situation and his father. Neither of them know who the other are, masquerading as a tracker and a servant, which lets them truly get to know each other and fall in love without expectations or existing ideas about the other person.
With the medieval English setting and a little touch of political intrigue, the story was fast paced and kept me guessing until the last moment. I knew it would have a happy ending being a romance, but I genuinely had no idea how it would work out! The progression of their relationship was incredibly believable and the author really did a great job on selling their romance and chemistry. Each of their POVs were distinct and containing their own brand of humour and personality and I loved seeing the other person through both of their eyes. I finished the book feeling so warm and happy and I genuinely couldn’t say enough positive things about One Night in Hartwood. Thank you so much Mills & Book for the beautiful ARC and a chance to read it early!
One Night in Hartswood was the perfect heartwarming medieval queer romance I didn’t know I needed! If you enjoyed the Scottish Boy but wished it was more lighthearted and emotionally driven, this is the book for you.
It follows the story of Penn and Raff— two men running away from their situations who find each other in the Hartswood. Penn is the son of a violent, controlling Lord, betrothed to marry a woman he’s never met. A woman who, unbeknownst to both of them, is Raff’s sister. When Penn goes missing Raff sets off to find him, leading to them both embarking on a journey to help Penn escape his situation and his father. Neither of them know who the other are, masquerading as a tracker and a servant, which lets them truly get to know each other and fall in love without expectations or existing ideas about the other person.
With the medieval English setting and a little touch of political intrigue, the story was fast paced and kept me guessing until the last moment. I knew it would have a happy ending being a romance, but I genuinely had no idea how it would work out! The progression of their relationship was incredibly believable and the author really did a great job on selling their romance and chemistry. Each of their POVs were distinct and containing their own brand of humour and personality and I loved seeing the other person through both of their eyes. I finished the book feeling so warm and happy and I genuinely couldn’t say enough positive things about One Night in Hartwood. Thank you so much Mills & Book for the beautiful ARC and a chance to read it early!
February 11, 2024
4.5! So solid, heavy miscommunication elements to this book (in part because they’re both lying to each other), but it was paced so well, I loved the characters. Just a VERY fun time.
Read
July 2, 2024I just adored these two characters! And it's so nice to see an Achillean romance set in the 14th century! My only quibble is that I wish the worldbuilding was more immersive and detailed, as sometimes it felt hard to visualise the world beyond the characters.
☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆
☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆
September 12, 2023
*swoons* i think i might have found a new comfort read!
The story of how I've come to finally read this book, might a tale in itself. The short version: Back in 2020 I fell in love with the witcher show on netflix - or more precisely with the incredible fanwork for it. and to this day the witcher remains to be go-to/ comfort fandom for fics. imagine my delight finding out one of my all-time-favourite authors of said fanfiction has released an original novel!
And when I said this book read like an amazing fanfic, then i intend that to be the highest praise. It did have all of my favourite elements and ingredients for a perfect geraskier fic - but with enough twists and differences to make it its entirely own.
I fell in love with so many of those characters- Raff and Penn were the most adorable protagonists and i cannot wait for the sequel about Jo and Lily. But I NEED to do a special shout-out for my boy Ash, because he was the moment!
The story of how I've come to finally read this book, might a tale in itself. The short version: Back in 2020 I fell in love with the witcher show on netflix - or more precisely with the incredible fanwork for it. and to this day the witcher remains to be go-to/ comfort fandom for fics. imagine my delight finding out one of my all-time-favourite authors of said fanfiction has released an original novel!
And when I said this book read like an amazing fanfic, then i intend that to be the highest praise. It did have all of my favourite elements and ingredients for a perfect geraskier fic - but with enough twists and differences to make it its entirely own.
I fell in love with so many of those characters- Raff and Penn were the most adorable protagonists and i cannot wait for the sequel about Jo and Lily. But I NEED to do a special shout-out for my boy Ash, because he was the moment!
September 24, 2024
This books is 340 pages.
And the book is 300 pages too long.
I didn’t like the writing style, it was too slow, no character development, no real communication.
No idea why it takes places in the 13th century?
I was close to DNF this book 3-4 times.
And I skimmed the last 30 pages because I was done.
I didn’t care about what would happen and how it would end.
The only people I cared about was all the siblings.
And we only saw them in like 40 pages.
- - -
I love finding new books and new authors.
I don’t really care about reading “popular” books because I think it’s really hard to climb and establish yourself in the book world.
But this was a miss. A huge miss.
Very disappointed.
1/5 stars.
And the book is 300 pages too long.
I didn’t like the writing style, it was too slow, no character development, no real communication.
No idea why it takes places in the 13th century?
I was close to DNF this book 3-4 times.
And I skimmed the last 30 pages because I was done.
I didn’t care about what would happen and how it would end.
The only people I cared about was all the siblings.
And we only saw them in like 40 pages.
- - -
I love finding new books and new authors.
I don’t really care about reading “popular” books because I think it’s really hard to climb and establish yourself in the book world.
But this was a miss. A huge miss.
Very disappointed.
1/5 stars.
July 26, 2024
Combat training as a way of pushing the two main characters closer and allow them to flirt even more?
Yeah, I can totally see the vision
Yeah, I can totally see the vision
April 7, 2024
Absolutely DELICIOUS. Not one but TWO nobles lying about their status and falling in love? traipsing through the forest in the winter and needing to cuddle for warmth at night? A whole family of queer Scots? Color me pink I loved this. Expertly written, engaging characters, and perfect family dynamics.
rep: Bisexual LI, gay MC, queer side characters
spice: several very vivid sex scenes
tw: discussion of past abuse, gaslighting, public humiliation, bad injury
rep: Bisexual LI, gay MC, queer side characters
spice: several very vivid sex scenes
tw: discussion of past abuse, gaslighting, public humiliation, bad injury
November 15, 2023
Oh wow, I couldn't put this one down! I haven't read a lot of historical romance, much less MM historical romance, but One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny is a GREAT one. It kind of reminded me of a Cat Sebastian book - low angst, lots of feelings, and vivid characters. Add in the fact that it's set in 14th century Britain, and I was absolutely hooked. Definitely check this one out!
The son and heir of a powerful earl, Penn is desperate to escape his marriage to the daughter of an old noble family. To clear his head, he decides to take a walk through the Hartswood forest. There he happens upon an intriguing stranger, assuming him to be a tracker for the visiting wedding party. The men end up spending the entire night together walking in the woods, aware of a growing spark between them. The night before the wedding, Penn decides to run away for good. When the man, Raff, once again runs into him, he assumes Penn to be a wayward servant seeking freedom from a cruel master. They decide to journey together to Raff's home to find a place for Penn to settle, but they never reveal their true identities. As they get closer and can no longer deny their attraction, their secrets become harder to hide. Will they ruin their burgeoning relationship when they both finally tell the truth?
This book is primarily a journey story, and everything about it is subtle, yet I was completely mesmerized from page one. I loved that BOTH guys have hidden identities, so they really get to know each other without pretense from the start. The story switches POV's often, so we get frequent glimpses into Penn and Raff's thoughts, and, while it's obvious from the start that they are attracted to each other, the slow burn is just delicious. We also get some very cleverly done forced proximity ("oh no, it's cold, we have to share a bed roll!"), "who did this to you", and beautiful hurt/comfort scenes (the only real source of serious angst in the story, despite the direness of Penn's situation). Not a ton happens until the end, but while I loved getting to see their relationship develop, the emotional ending gave me all the feels.
I think this book just lit a fire under me to seek out more queer hisrom, I really forget how much I love this subgenre until I read it. If you are looking for something refreshing and unique, this book is it. I'm very grateful to NetGalley for the ARC, it's an amazing new release.
The son and heir of a powerful earl, Penn is desperate to escape his marriage to the daughter of an old noble family. To clear his head, he decides to take a walk through the Hartswood forest. There he happens upon an intriguing stranger, assuming him to be a tracker for the visiting wedding party. The men end up spending the entire night together walking in the woods, aware of a growing spark between them. The night before the wedding, Penn decides to run away for good. When the man, Raff, once again runs into him, he assumes Penn to be a wayward servant seeking freedom from a cruel master. They decide to journey together to Raff's home to find a place for Penn to settle, but they never reveal their true identities. As they get closer and can no longer deny their attraction, their secrets become harder to hide. Will they ruin their burgeoning relationship when they both finally tell the truth?
This book is primarily a journey story, and everything about it is subtle, yet I was completely mesmerized from page one. I loved that BOTH guys have hidden identities, so they really get to know each other without pretense from the start. The story switches POV's often, so we get frequent glimpses into Penn and Raff's thoughts, and, while it's obvious from the start that they are attracted to each other, the slow burn is just delicious. We also get some very cleverly done forced proximity ("oh no, it's cold, we have to share a bed roll!"), "who did this to you", and beautiful hurt/comfort scenes (the only real source of serious angst in the story, despite the direness of Penn's situation). Not a ton happens until the end, but while I loved getting to see their relationship develop, the emotional ending gave me all the feels.
I think this book just lit a fire under me to seek out more queer hisrom, I really forget how much I love this subgenre until I read it. If you are looking for something refreshing and unique, this book is it. I'm very grateful to NetGalley for the ARC, it's an amazing new release.
November 2, 2022
4.5 Stars
This romance was not my usual reading. It’s set in the 14th Century and it has two male protagonists, but almost from the very first page, you are caught up in a romantic, dangerous almost fairytale world – and lost in it.
Raff and some of his family are escorting his sister to the castle belonging to her future in-laws. Penn, unknown to Raff, is the intended bridegroom. I loved Penn, he’s the most unlikely of heroes and the best of heroes – a man who has no idea that he is a hero. He’s been raised to believe that he’s worthless, he has no self-esteem and he’s certainly no warrior. Raff on the other hand is a very competent warrior, seemingly a totally alpha male – bit of course, all is not what is seems with him either. Both of them are outcasts. Oh, how I do love a good outcast romance. And both consider themselves in different ways unlovable. So, right from the start you’re really, really invested in them.
There’s tons of story in this, Romeo and Juliet in one sense with warring families, and echoes of the classic peripatetic comic novels of the 18th Century too, such as Tom Jones and Barry Lyndon, in the journey they take together, the strangers they meet etc. But above all, this is a sweeping romance with such highs and such lows. It’s deeply sensual, it’s dramatic, and it is heart-breaking. Towards the end you get such an awful sense of doom, of lies unravelling, and I really began to wonder, how on earth can they possibly have any sort of happy ever after. Don’t read the last section on the bus as I did, unless you’re happy to sob in public.
There is a happy ever after of course, a very satisfying one. And the promise of more to come from the secondary characters – a romance between the two sisters seems to me on the cards.
Emma Denny won the ‘Romance Includes You’ competition run by Mills & Boon to encourage LGBTQI+ writers, and it’s very easy to see why. This is a really wonderful story that proves exactly what the competition set out to do – romance really does include everyone. I loved it.
I received an ARC from the publisher in return for an unbiased review.
This romance was not my usual reading. It’s set in the 14th Century and it has two male protagonists, but almost from the very first page, you are caught up in a romantic, dangerous almost fairytale world – and lost in it.
Raff and some of his family are escorting his sister to the castle belonging to her future in-laws. Penn, unknown to Raff, is the intended bridegroom. I loved Penn, he’s the most unlikely of heroes and the best of heroes – a man who has no idea that he is a hero. He’s been raised to believe that he’s worthless, he has no self-esteem and he’s certainly no warrior. Raff on the other hand is a very competent warrior, seemingly a totally alpha male – bit of course, all is not what is seems with him either. Both of them are outcasts. Oh, how I do love a good outcast romance. And both consider themselves in different ways unlovable. So, right from the start you’re really, really invested in them.
There’s tons of story in this, Romeo and Juliet in one sense with warring families, and echoes of the classic peripatetic comic novels of the 18th Century too, such as Tom Jones and Barry Lyndon, in the journey they take together, the strangers they meet etc. But above all, this is a sweeping romance with such highs and such lows. It’s deeply sensual, it’s dramatic, and it is heart-breaking. Towards the end you get such an awful sense of doom, of lies unravelling, and I really began to wonder, how on earth can they possibly have any sort of happy ever after. Don’t read the last section on the bus as I did, unless you’re happy to sob in public.
There is a happy ever after of course, a very satisfying one. And the promise of more to come from the secondary characters – a romance between the two sisters seems to me on the cards.
Emma Denny won the ‘Romance Includes You’ competition run by Mills & Boon to encourage LGBTQI+ writers, and it’s very easy to see why. This is a really wonderful story that proves exactly what the competition set out to do – romance really does include everyone. I loved it.
I received an ARC from the publisher in return for an unbiased review.
January 22, 2023
Mistaken Identity. Medieval. Queer Romance.
In some ways, One Night in Hartswood feels more like fantasy (without any fantastical elements) than historical fiction. Given the setting, you'd expect a little more historical detail: some politics, religion, and superstitions... None of that. Instead, we barely get a flavor of medieval England, making the historical setting of this story no more than scenery.
As it is, this is first and foremost a romance. A very sweet romance between two similar, yet very different, characters. Raff, who always preferred his own company, was held back by his sense of duty and responsibility towards his family. While Penn found himself caged in the loneliness of his father's keep, with nothing but his low self-esteem and his father's abuse for company. Having yearned for freedom for so long, they finally get what seemed like a chance by pretending to be somebody else. Hence the false identity trope.
Unfortunately, the story felt very contained and lacking in plot. There was potential to look at the politics of the era, given the identity of the characters, and come up with more complex plot lines. Instead, we were left with conveniences and a feeling of missed potential. In fact, it's like everything is happening inside a bubble of alternative history.
So, go for it if you're in the mood for a slow burn romance with the right dose of tenderness and a rather simple plot, regardless of any accuracy.
PS: I would've preferred it if the writing style was not as hectic as it was sometimes with : jarring switches of POVs, and sometimes misplaced punctuations that often made me go back to reread. It certainly would've done better with some more editing.
In some ways, One Night in Hartswood feels more like fantasy (without any fantastical elements) than historical fiction. Given the setting, you'd expect a little more historical detail: some politics, religion, and superstitions... None of that. Instead, we barely get a flavor of medieval England, making the historical setting of this story no more than scenery.
As it is, this is first and foremost a romance. A very sweet romance between two similar, yet very different, characters. Raff, who always preferred his own company, was held back by his sense of duty and responsibility towards his family. While Penn found himself caged in the loneliness of his father's keep, with nothing but his low self-esteem and his father's abuse for company. Having yearned for freedom for so long, they finally get what seemed like a chance by pretending to be somebody else. Hence the false identity trope.
"Raff wanted to be free, just as Penn had, and this thing between them was that freedom."The book started strong. I liked the slow burn romance, and very quickly came to care for the characters. The author also did a decent job handling the heavy topic of abuse and wrote some of the most adorable, tender, respectful, and thoughtful intimate moments in the romance genre.
Unfortunately, the story felt very contained and lacking in plot. There was potential to look at the politics of the era, given the identity of the characters, and come up with more complex plot lines. Instead, we were left with conveniences and a feeling of missed potential. In fact, it's like everything is happening inside a bubble of alternative history.
So, go for it if you're in the mood for a slow burn romance with the right dose of tenderness and a rather simple plot, regardless of any accuracy.
PS: I would've preferred it if the writing style was not as hectic as it was sometimes with : jarring switches of POVs, and sometimes misplaced punctuations that often made me go back to reread. It certainly would've done better with some more editing.
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