Customer Reviews

Scars Upon Her Heart: A Novel of the Napoleonic Wars

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you like Sharp on TV, you will love this-great characters, rousing action, and a lot of fasciating facts and thrilling espionage.

This book starts at a gallop, and barely lets up, as our hero and heroine meet amid the Peninsular War in Spain.

Vevina Joyce was an aristocrat with the world at her feet until her neighbor Samuel falsely accuses her father of treason, and forces her and her brother Wilfred (Will) to go on the run. They had to Wellington's army, where many a former convict has made his way in the world.

But they are out of the frying pan and into the fire soon enough, for Samuel has put a bounty on both their heads, and there are far too many willing to collect.

Vevina is attacked and saved. She wakes in a darkened tent and is grateful to her rescuer, and they begin to grow closer, until at last she sees his face: Samuel??

Not Samuel, but his twin brother Stewart, who served with Wellington in India and is now in Spain fighting Bonaparte. We follow their rocky road to true love as they must learn to trust each other, and through being comrades in arms, grow to beloved of the heart.

Vevina is a great heroine, by no means perfect, but a woman who knows what she wants--true love, and nothing less. And freedom for her brother Will. Stewart is a superb hero, if confused, a jaded man a fair bit older than Vevina who desires her desperately but does not want to take advantage of her poor state and have her do something she might regret.

The heated passion they share is depicted in some wonderful love scenes, and her journey of selfdiscovery and the truth about what really happened in Ireland, and the identities of the nest of traitors, makes for some great reading.

A marvelous cast of secondary characters, including Will, also sets this up to be a terrific series. This is first-rate romance, with heaps of chemistry between Vevina and Stewart, and tons of action and suspense.

Lady Vevina Joyce has gone from the toast of Dublin and Cork society to camp follower in only six months. To protect Viv, she and brother actually claim to be husband and wife as they aid the fight against the French as Napoleon Bonaparte seeks to control all of Europe.

Major Stewart Fitzgerald rescues Viv from fellow soldier Sergeant Hawkes, who seems determined to not only harm Viv, but also her brother. Stewart feels as if he's known Viv before, little suspecting that she was the woman who once changed the course of his life. Taking both Viv and her brother under his wing, Stewart finds Viv to be an enigmatic and alluring woman whom he can't resist. Her beguiling mix of sensuality and innocence stir his passion.

When their father went bankrupt, Viv and her brother lost everything. But it was Stewart's brother that causes their horrible change in fortune, making Viv's rescuer's motives suspect. Hawke's interest in Viv and her brother clearly demonstrate an enmity that links to Stewart's brother himself.

Deception and treachery lead Viv from war-torn Spain to the magnificent Alps, vividly created with talented author Sorcha MacMurrough's deft pen. While Viv's a little too perfect at times (I want to be able to accomplish as much as she can in a single day), the cleverly woven plot and magnificent sweep of history create a memorable tale of love and danger. SCARS UPON HER HEART is fascinating reading. Recommended.

While I love the story and the characters, I found this book to be challenging to read. It isn't just typos, although they are numerous and quite obvious, there are many instances where the entire meaning of a sentence is in question. I often felt as though I was reading something typed by someone with English as a second, if not third, language. It is a shame to lose the beauty of the writing because proofreading was obviously omitted. If there are any openings for this type of work, as I read rapidly and well, please let me know.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I do like the story with the falsely-accused of treason Vivena and the stalwart and honorable Stewart. The characters are interesting, but this is definitely a plot-driven novel rather than an emotion driven one. I really like this since in so many romances it seems like it takes forever for something to happen. I've just discoverer the author and really like her stories, although I find the dialogue and inner monologues of the characters to be awkward, the story-line is not. Viveina is a different sort of heroine. She's ridiculously good with all weapons and military tactics. I'm not exagerating when comparing her to Xena Warrior Princess. She kills dozens of soldiers and saves her lover without a scratch on her. The author is also definitely not afraid to let lots of secondary characters die while leaving the main characters alive. At first it was a little mary-sue-ish since Viveina was good at everything, but as the story went on, I kinds liked having an absurd super-heroine as the main character. If you put it together, this 18/19 year old is an expert at everything from healing to weapons to sewing and cooking and convincing others to go along with her plans. It sort of makes me want to go back and read a romance with a clutzy heroine who's bad at everything to balance out the uber-everything Vivena. One thing I like about this author is that the misunderstandings that are such an annoying part of romance loves for me are in the story, but didn't seem to truly keep the main characters apart.

One thing I thought was weird was that Stewart goes into battle and Viveina waits for him with no idea where he is and eventually finds him with another woman and his only explanation is that she did the same thing to him earlier in the book (disappearing for 3 months for a greater cause) but that seems an odd explanation. Maybe the author couldn't think of a good reason for him not to get word to his wife who just gave birth to 2 children when he was called away to the battle. That was irritating for me. Why have this be a part of the story if she wasn't going to explain it. Also, while I do like Viveina, she is definitely an unusual heroine for a romance novel, for one thing, she doesn't really seem to care about her kids. Don't get me wrong, they are taken care of, but she goes into battle to save her husband while pregnant and her thoughts are that they can always have more children. She also keeps the children with her instead of sending them to safety in England even knowing how dangerous it is. The author even has a scene where all the women and children camp followers are killed thus showing how dangerous it is. This bothered me. Yes, she had a greater mission, but she should have sent the children to safety as soon as they were big enough to travel while she stayed in Portugal and looked for her husband. I have read the second book in the series too and her characterization is consistent except that in this case she sacrifices her unborn child for a family friend and the child dies rather than her simply putting it in danger like before.

I'm not complaining about this. It is great of the author to let her romance heroine not be particularly maternal. Not all women love their children to the point of self-sacrifice like most romance heroines do and its refreshing to read about a heroine who doesn't seem to pay any attention to the children at all. You know, the more I think about it, the more it does bother me that she killed her child to save another, yeah this is so NOT getting re-read.

The books makes for an exhausting read. So much happens in it. Viveina and the setting are the most unique things about this story. Not many romance take place on the continent during the Napoleonic War or feature a excessively competent warrior heroine.