Ladysmith by Rhavensfyre

Rohanna MacLeod (Ro) has grown up listening to her grandmother’s stories of the past. What is myth and legend? What is true, what is made up? Tales of the old country and the Fae are held dear to her heart. Ro has suffered great losses throughout her young life, but clings to the past as a way to cope.

Ro is blessed with the MacLeod gift with horses. She has tunnel vision where her rightful inheritance to the family farm is concerned. There is nothing she won’t deny herself in order to keep the farm from the clutches of her evil, abusive stepmother, even love.

When Ro is on her way to a horse show, her horse casts a shoe. Unless she can find a farrier quickly, her prized gelding could be lame. By chance Ro finds the Ladysmith, a blacksmith and farrier. Alexandria Strider, (Alex) is a mysterious, beautiful woman. The two women are smitten with one another. Alex finds herself drawn into Ro’s world, holding the key to Ro’s past and her future, if she has the courage to stand strong.

Ro is confused about her past and her future. She’s spent her life running from her nightmares. She can run no longer, one of her nightmares has become her lover and reality, this maybe her only chance to be saved.

I’ve never been a great fan of fantasy, but this book has changed my mind. I’ve enjoyed other Rhavensfyre books, so gave this one a try. I’m so pleased I did. I loved the story and tore through the book to get to the end to find out what happened. My second read will be at a slower pace.

The story is set in the present day. The plot is exciting, tight, intriguing and fast paced. I was hooked in from the first page. The characters are multidimensional and the story is layered. The scenic descriptions are beautiful and vivid and enabled me to lose myself completely in with the characters in the beautiful countryside.

This is written along the lines of a modern day fairy tale. We have the wicked stepmother, evil beings, mythical and magical events, poor downtrodden Ro and the dashing heroine, Alex. Put altogether in a melting pot, add in the emotions and fantasy and the story simply oozes enchantment.

As well as the magic and legends from the past, there is a tender, sweet romance between two obvious soul mates that is red hot and beautiful. So, something for romance lovers too.

I believe Ro and Alex have a lot more they can entertain us with, so a sequel would be fantastic.