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A Kiss at Midnight is one of Shana Abe's early medieval romances, well before the Drakon series that made her name in paranormal romance. The setting is 11th-century Wales, the hero is a Norman lord with Welsh sympathies, and the heroine is the daughter of a Welsh family that has been trying to retain its land under the pressure of the new dispensation.
Abe's strength is the textured period writing. The household chapters, the language-mixing in the dining hall, the careful Welsh-Latin liturgical scenes, all carry weight. The romance follows the genre rules. The political backdrop is handled with more attention than the form usually requires.
Three stars. A pleasant medieval romance. Recommended to readers who like their chivalric pastiche careful rather than sweeping.
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