Guest Review: The Virgin Proxy by Georgia Fox

Posted December 24, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Judith’s review of The Virgin Proxy (Conquerors #2) by Georgia Fox.

When the Normans conquered England, Deorwynn lost almost everything, including her family. Only one beloved brother survives. To rescue him, she must sacrifice her virginity in the enemy’s bed. She should be well prepared. After spending fifteen years in a grim convent, punished for every sinful thought, Deorwynn can withstand any torment at the hands of a merciless, Norman warrior.

But nothing, she soon learns, could prepare her for falling in love.

Guy Devaux is delighted with the amorous virgin waiting for him on his wedding night. There’s only one problem. The saucy-mouthed wench is not his bride. Oh yes, he knows the veiled woman in his bed is an imposter, but he’ll go along with the game. For now. The punishment for her deception will come later.

Just as soon as he conquers this foolish desire, this yearning to hear her say she loves him.

The politics of Old England are complicated at best and fraught with old hurts, angers, and prejudices rooted in war, injustice, and loss. Loveless marriages abound and it is thought to be normal for a man of any class to seek passion and sexual joy outside the marriage bed. Yet marriages were solemnized and once in a while love sneaked into the bedroom. It was not, however, a common expectation. What was expected was that the bride, especially when political alliances were at stake, would be a virgin. As many young women were affianced early in their lives, any love interest they might develop was to be put aside and certainly not consummated.
Unfortunately for the heroine in this story, she is to be the bride’s “proxy” on the wedding night, all in the interest of preserving the honor of the people who used their daughter as a political or financial pawn, as well as hiding the fact that the bride was already pregnant. Deorwynn had been in the convent since she was six years old, put there as a protection by a father who either forgot her or deliberately ignored her continuing presence there in order to protect her from “the enemy” as the Normans were called especially by the Saxon aristocracy. Now Deorwynn has an opportunity to be freed from a situation that has always been difficult for a woman of independence and spirit, especially now that no potential husband has ever surfaced and the nuns are now bent on making her one of them. Lured by the promise that the prospective bride would repay her “sacrifice” by working to free her only brother who is still being held captive by William the Conqueror, Deorwynn agrees to travel as a “handmaiden” and take the bride’s place on the wedding night.

This is really a story that is in the style of the old English historicals that were really popular several decades ago and which are now making a comeback. The ancient angers that kept Saxons and Normans apart for generations are alive and well in this story. It is a tale that is full of color and pagentry, mixtures of kindness and cold-hearted brutality, loyalty and betrayal, goodness and greed. It is the story of a woman whose heart is bruised by the realities of a possible future that continues the bleakness of her empty life, whose hope for a family to replace the one she lost in war and agression looks to remain unfulfilled, and whose kindness and giving nature can only seemingly be fully expressed as she seeks to work for the freedom of her brother. Fifteen years of not so hidden brutality in a convent and at the hand of religious who should have known better have prepared Deorwynn to never expect kindness, to always believe that she will be the underdog, and to never look for any kind of love.

I found this novel to be more enjoyable than I expected and the work of an author I had not previously encountered. It was well-written and researched, yet the liveliness of the times, the no-holds-barred nature of life lived on the edge of survival, and the raw nature of human relationship jump off the pages and captures the imagination of the reader. There is sexual tension throughout and the slow burn that goes on in the characters keeps the reader on edge as well. It’s one of those stories I found very hard to put down. As I first read Ivanhoe a long time ago and loved it, I think of this book as having many of those same tensions, but written ala 2011 with its greater acceptance of erotic romance ingredients. In may ways this book is really hot.

So English historical fans and those who love erotic romance, don’t overlook this one. It’s a terrific read!

I give it a 4.5 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Evernight Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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