Review: The Loyal Heart by Merry Farmer

 

 

 

 

 

I received a complimentary download  of this book in exchange for a review

 

This book had a lot of promising features upon first look : romance , banditry and an adventurous female heroine. It started strongly as we meet Aubrey a young woman trying to deal with her brother Geoffrey's shattered emotions since he returned from the Crusades.
Her village is ruled by the odious Lord Buxton and his right hand man Crispin who Aubrey has mixed feelings about.
When there neighbor Ethan returns to find his home taken over by Crispin Aubrey finds her childhood crush for Ethan reborn and has a strong desire to help.him.
As the story progressed however I found it to be a bit too much of a retelling of Robin Hood. Ethan also goes a bit astray and comes off more the villain than the slighted Lord. It was hard to figure out who to really root for in the book. Aubrey also transforms midway through the novel as the burden of her feelings fo Crispin seem to steal her active personality away .
There were some nice action scenes with Aubrey in the end and some romance , but the Robin Hood connection really stole any sense of suspense from the ending. Just an Ok read for me