Fire Song (Medieval Song Quartet Book 2)

Second in Coulter's Song series, this is the story of Graelam de Moreton, the bad boy knight from the first book, WARRIOR'S SONG. On his return from the crusades, Graelam saves the life of a French nobleman; his reward is the man's estate and his daughter, Kassia de Lorris of Brittany. They were married while Kassia was ill, unconscious and expected to die, but she didn't die and so Graelam finds himself with a delicate wife he never would have sought. Kassia is gentle, shy and biddable, and unusual for Graelam, he is gentle with her--at first. Really, he was so tame I hardly recognized the man who raped a young woman in WARRIOR SONG.But all is not tame for long, and Graelam, who had been gentle with his new bride, turns harsh, particularly when he believes (incorrectly) that she has betrayed him, a belief he holds for most of the book.What I liked: Coulter does a superb job of bringing to life once again the late 13th century (though no date is given, it is clear this book follows WARRIOR'S SONG set in 1272). The description of the castles, the fortifications and the clothing and food are accurate to the period and the role of women and the language is just medieval enough to suggest the earlier time. Her plot is intriguing and held my interest.What detracted: We knew Graelam was a domineering, take-what-you-want-by-force kinda guy and so I was not expecting a beta male here, but I do think pairing him with a heroine who was more often given to tears than action made them seems mismatched. Coulter did a good job with the characters she drew but still, they weren't quite as good a pair at Chandra and Jerval in WARRIOR'S SONG (and we get to see them here in a cameo appearance). Still, even with the negatives, I liked the story and can recommend it.The Medieval Song Series:WARRIOR'S SONG (earlier version titled CHANDRA)FIRE SONGEARTH SONGSECRET SONG

I am going against a lot of readers reviews. I read this book knowing it was not written in a time where women were treated well or had any rights.I did not like his actions for a lot of the book but how could he have been written differently in this type story. He married Kassia thinking she was dying .Her father promised him he would inherit the property after his death. He thinks she has died and get engaged . Kassia had been very sick but recovered. She still is very thin and wan. She goes to his castle and that ends his engagement. He should have been glad she turned out to be a shrew. He does not treat Kassia well rapes her and when she turns him away .He continues to have sex with his servant even getting her pregnant.They have a lot of problems but after a long time he changed and she became stronger. People complain of these type books taking stars away from authors because they wrote what really went on. I rate if I like the story

I enjoy all of Mrs Coulter's books. My favorite is Rosehaven. I've read it at least three times. It is the fourth book in this series. Fire Song was extremely good but Graelam was so mean to Kassia that it made me furious and a little nauseous. If historically accurate, women were treated badly in this time period. My big mouth would have gotten me killed. Happy Reading.

Please dont HATE me!!! I know that many did not like this book and that is fine. Most of the comments of rape, that happened in first book, cheaping, mean H are pretty much true...(kind of a grey area), but I LOVED it. Finally a book where the H and h dont fall madly in love at first stight and go skippping in the tulups hand and hand to their "Happly Ever After". Finally a book true to form for the time line, (how life may have been in those days; aspecially for a women). If you like romance stories where the H is wonderful, kind, sweet, faithful (**spoiler, only one time did he cheat**), then this is NOT the book for you, but if you are SICK TO DEATH of the same OLD hum-drum romance...bababa; then you will LOVE it!!! Thank you Catherine Coulter...keep them coming :)P.S. I have read many of Catherine Coulter book and really LOVE most of them. She does seem to like to write "outside" of the "norm".

I really liked this book . It was a real romance , with troubles . But in the end it all works out . I would love some more about Kassia& Grealam .

***SPOILERS***This book was so frustrating. The hero seems nice at first, and then for no reason, he gets mad at his wife and rapes her. She trusted him, and thought he was kind, but when he found her making him a tunic in secret to surprise him, he got mad that she had used material that he owned to make the shirt without asking his permission first. Then when she runs from him in fear and trips, he curses her for her stupidity, throws her on the bed and rapes her. This was not their first time sleeping together, but he was so rough that she was sobbing and there was blood on the sheets. It all goes downhill from there. He cheats on her with servants and doesn't care when she catches him. He gets other women pregnant while he is married to her. He fails to see how good she is, while being blinded to the faults of everyone else. He never never never says he is sorry. Not once in the entire book. He treats her with suspicion and mistrust. And through all this, she decided she loves him. In the final pages, he decides he might love her too, but not enough to apologize. In fact, he is going to be gracious and forgive her for imagined wrongdoings. This was disgusting, and not romantic at all. I was looking for romance, not this puke. Save your time and money.

The life of both Kassia and Graelam, both amusing and challenging with all that surrounds them. Some good and definitely some that are very bad.

I really enjoyed this. The words used were typical verbiage of the day. The story flowed nicely. A very good read.

Horrible hero, and the heroine is such a wimp it's unbelievable. I've read thousands of historical romances, and many bad ones, but none of them have ever left a bad taste in my mouth like this one did. And the sole reason is that after demeaning, abusing, insulting, and humiliating her in the worst possible ways all through the book, only one paragraph was spared for his remorse when he finally realises what a horrible human being he is, and he did not even have to beg or grovel for forgiveness, or live with the agony of his conscience, but is forgiven straight away as if all he had done was refuse to take her for a meal, and not abuse her constantly for months!!Honestly, these characters are so horrible that I have never disliked a heroine or hero as much as I did these two. This is a fictional novel, and that means the the writer can create whatever characters she chooses, so why in the world would she choose to have the hero be an arrogant, selfish, stubborn, mean-spirited rapist?!?! I thought the sole purpose of romances was to create characters your readers would root for, but all I could think the whole way through is that I wish he had been smacked over the head, slapped, and left to wallow in his own misery, haunted by his conscience for the rest of his days....without the heroine.We all like the strong, arrogant and stubborn alpha male, but this one was a step too far and nothing but a evil, selfish rapist.And don't get me started on the HORRIBLE Blanche! After all that she did and all he misery she caused an innocent woman, she's not even reprimanded and gets away with it as if all she had done was look at someone the wrong way. What is wrong here?!I am not sure I'll be able to get through the rest of the books in the series as I'm quite sure the rest of her characters will be just as terrible as these ones, but I am still going to give it a try as she is a great author despite this travesty.

rubbish

Am thoroughly enjoying it at the moment and look forward to finishing it. I don't have anything more to say.

E' senza alcun dubbio il libro più bello che la Coulter ha scritto. La storia è un pò cruda a volte ma siamo nel Medioevo ed è impensabile pensare che fossero tutte rose e fiori. I protagonisti mi sono piaciuti molto, lui un orso che deve imparare ad aprire il cuore alla moglie e lei una piccola ragazza gracilina ma con una forza interiore senza paragoni. Consigliato ++++++

Great read!!