ABOUT THE BOOK
Greece, 1379
She is known by many names, none of them her own. In truth, she is an unnamed slave, nothing more than a weapon in the hands of her owner in his attempts to provoke political mayhem. When she encounters a handsome young man while on an assignment, she thinks little of him—until he attempts to take what she has stolen. But in her line of work, failure is not an option.
Gillen is intrigued by the mysterious woman who thwarts his mission. But when his path crosses hers again, his intrigue turns to gratitude as the thief he comes to call Eudocia saves his life. The two form a bond of friendship and join forces to wrest control from a group of ruthless rulers. But as their camaraderie blossoms into something more, Gillen and Eudocia must fight for love even as they wage war for a better future.
REVIEW
A.L. Sowards' Of Sword and Shadow presents readers with a powerful tale of love and revolution in Medieval Greece. A young with no name shares her story with readers through her compelling first-person narration. As the story opens she's in the middle of stealing some important documents from an influential man. That's when she first meets Gil, a young Basque looking for the documents she just stole. Using her wits and training, she escapes him and returns to her owner, Thomas. Using various names and disguises, our narrator has been working as a thief for her master for most of her life. But after meeting Gil and his associates her life starts to change. Gil treats her with kindness and caring even before she saves his life.
Getting involved with Gil and the others proves to be a rather dangerous undertaking for "Eudocia" and her master, one with grave and unexpected consequences. As Eudocia and Gil grow closer, the danger becomes ever greater until each of them are required to make difficult and life-altering choices. Will their feelings survive the plot to overthrow the cities rulers or is there relationship doomed from the start?
The characters pulled me right into the story from the first moment they met the chemistry between them is clear. While Gil and Eudocia are the main characters, the secondary characters provide a great deal of interesting development as well. Even Eudocia's master isn't as clear cut of a villain as one might assume. The historical detail and plot provide a fascinating background for Gil and Eudocia's story including the attempt to overthrow the Catalan rulers. Not having read much about this time period I was intrigued by all the happenings and details included by the author. I also appreciated the author's note at the end where she explains where she fictionalized things, sometimes for the story's sake and sometimes because of historical holes. Ultimately though it was the characters that I fell in love with, which admittedly made reading a couple of parts challenging. Sowards isn't afraid to put her characters through the wringer. Her action sequences kept me turning the pages as fast as I could get them read. A thoroughly-compelling, intriguing tale with incredible characters, great historical detail, and amazing plotting. Highly recommended for those who enjoy historical romance.
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