A year and a day Book

The novel begins as the heroine is confronted by a lynx while bathing naked in the river near her castle. Not a metaphorical lynx. An honest-t0-god, real-life wild cat who proceeds to pounce on her and then lick her breasts erotically. ROFL. Oh, Virginia Henley, you crazy old cat!!!

The novel then proceeds to introduce the human version of the lynx, named, creatively, Lynx de Warenne. He does a handfasting wth the heroine because he desperately wants a son. Neither his mistress of two years, or his first wife, were able to conceive, or so he thinks.

The mistress has actually been dousing herself with pennyroyal tea to abort her baby every time she finds herself pregnant. Why? Because she does not want to lose her figure. Was she twirling her mustache while imbibing the poisonous tea? Methinks yes.

The hero treats the heroine as a broodmare. The so-called handfasting changes nothing to his relationship with the mistress. He even moves the mistress into the castle where his pregnant wife resides. TYPHOON OF TACKINESS!!!

It is only when the mistress tries to trick the heroine into drinking pennyroyal tea that he reluctantly dismisses her. Not because he loves the heroine but because he is outraged that harm was directed towards his precious heir. No comeuppance other than that.

The mistress leaves with her head held high and coffers full of money, clothes, and jewels that he had gifted her during their two year relationship. The heroine's vile, jealous sister, who helped the mistress poison the heroine, never gets any comeuppance either and dissolves into the mist. I think Virginia Henley needs to take lessons from Teresa Denys on how to write a satisfying comeuppance.

Just when I thought the lynx episode of the first chapter was an isolated acid dream and the story would continue conventionally, the hero is injured during battle and the heroine nurses him back to health with...her breast milk!!!! OMG Virginia, whatever you are smoking, I want some! Pleeeeaaaassssse...

Other than the craziness, which could have earned a " so gloriously bad, it's great" rating, this was a total fail. I never felt that the hero really renounced the OW. He actually got mad and upset when he learned that she had been murdered by her next lover, later on the story. I don't think he would have ever fallen "in love" with the heroine without the healthy, baby son or the weird, breastfeeding episode that seemed to have bonded him to her.