Title: Minstrel’s Solstice
Series: Celebrate! 2014 Advent Calendar
Author: Nicole Dennis
Genre: Holiday/European High Fantasy
Length: Short (29 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-63216-745-3
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (December 1st, 2014)
Heat Level: Low
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Cat
Blurb: A wasting plague swept over the Four Quadrants, changing how folks view the traveling guilds. Most travelers now make permanent contracts and settle in villages instead of continuing on the road. Needing to alter his lifestyle, Kerryll MacGhylle rides deep into the Northern Quadrant in search of a place to belong.
The Northern Duke, Cullan Gryffyn D’Antuono, accepts the contract of the frozen minstrel arriving during a powerful ice blizzard. He nurses Kerryll through the ravages of the sickness. Though they live at opposite ends of society, they have more in common than they realize.
A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2014 Advent Calendar package “Celebrate!”
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5841
Review: Kerryll is a traveling minstrel hoping to find a contract for the winter solstice and hoping he can find a permanent home as well. He has been kicked out of many towns since the townspeople don’t trust travelers after a big virus outbreak. Freezing and scared he finally makes it to The D’Antuono castle barely alive. Duke Gryff accepts his contract for the Winter Solstice.
I absolutely loved this story. It was beautiful and heartfelt. I could have read more of this for hours. I loved the duke and his people as well. I loved Kerryll too. The setting is described beautifully, I felt as if I went back in time to the castles with Kerryll and Gryff.
I had one small thing issue and that was a few words I never could figure the meaning, however it wasn’t enough to take away form the story.
If you like, Knights, Dukes, traveling minstrels and a sweet romance this is definitely for you.