ONCE A SOLDIER is book one in the new Rogues
Redeemed series by Mary Jo Putney. This series will
showcase a group of English spies who were all captured by
the French and are awaiting death at sunrise in Portugal.
They talk about what they would do with their lives if they
were reprieved, and after a hard-won escape, the men agree
to keep in touch by means of a secret contact in a London
bookstore. Book one follows Major Lord Will Masterson on his
final mission to San Gabriel, a small country bordering
Spain and Portugal, to assess San Gabriel's stability after
the rampages of Napoleon's forces.
Will meets his match in Athena Markham at San Gabriel's
court. Athena is an illegitimate and unacknowledged
English nobleman's daughter. She's eye-rolling described
over and over as Amazonian, being tall and fiercely
independent. I do love how smart and unflappable she is,
actually. Athena has been in San Gabriel for the last five
years, most recently supporting the young and untried
princess while her father the king and her brother have
disappeared while fighting Napoleon. Amazingly, Athena
knows how to manage a country and how to guide
Princess Sophia to become a worthy sovereign. She becomes
a savior of sorts for the princess and the small country,
which seems unlikely for the time.
Athena and Will are immediately drawn to each other, but
Athena's past prevents her from allowing Will to seriously
pursue her initially. The two work closely together to
help San Gabriel recover from the tumultuous war, and make
preparations for a coming attack by ragtag remaining French
forces. There is a lot of text devoted to the nitty gritty
of fixing vineyards and bridges, which slows
the story for me. I do like the natural appearance of the
slow-growing respect and trust between Athena and Will as
the story builds, but it does contribute to the feeling of
slowness.
Sometimes the story seems a bit simplistic. The solutions to
a number of difficulties over the course of the book feel
too pat and easy. This understated love story is not one
of Putney's best works. Having been a long term fan of
Mary Jo Putney for many years, I will certainly pick up the
next in the series however, as she has earned auto-read
status for me. ONCE A SOLDIER is a slow romance set
against the lovingly portrayed backdrop of war-torn Europe
at the end of Napoleon's devastating campaign.
As heir to a title and great
wealth, Will Masterson should have stayed home and tended
his responsibilities. Instead he went to war. Now, after
perilous years fighting the French, he intends his current
mission to be his last. But all his plans are forgotten when
he arrives in the small mountain stronghold of San Gabriel
and meets her.
Knowing herself to be too tall,
strong, and unconventional to appeal to a man, Athena
Markham has always gloried in her independence. But for the
first time in her life, she finds a man who might be her
match.
Two of a kind, too brave for their own good,
Athena and Will vow to do whatever it takes to vanquish San
Gabriel's enemies. For neither will back down from death,
and only together can they find happiness and a love deeper
than any they'd dared imagine. . .
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