So I am not usually into historical fiction but this book was recommended to me and I simply couldn't put it down - and given how thick it is, that is totally saying something. I like the good guys to win in the end and the thing about this book is that these characters are complex, flawed people who struggle not just with cruel, constant adversity but also the people they have become to survive. I was totally swept away with the magical writing and found myself in a totally different place and time, nearly dropping the book in the bath over an anxious, nail biting battle! Totally recommend this book. I want to read the next one in the series just to hear how my fav characters are now going.

"The pace rarely slackens in this extended adventure. Whenever the action slows down, there are colorful, well-rounded characters to keep our attention glued with their personal desires. Gyrdan is an impressive hero with many secrets; Irinya is movingly vulnerable, yet responsible and intelligent. Colorful people gather around them. The gorgeous Fastred attracts women like a magnet; he finds a mate who will take readers’ breaths away. Fastred’s servants, the caretaking Rose and adolescent Corin, have satisfying stories. Radwulf’s lords (it would be too much to call some of them “nobles”) have serious decisions to make: each of the leaders we know best must decide according to his own distinct reasons.

INGELD’S DAUGHTER is laced with humor. It may be satire, or clever wording, or something incongruous that ambushes us. An example is the viewpoint of the prisoners after the Battle of Eagle Crag, which kept tickling me until I finally cracked up. Laughter leavens these serious adventures and keeps us from succumbing to adrenaline excess."

--By Joy Calderwood, www.reviewers-choice.com
Read the full review here

Ingeld’s Daughter is a brilliant book. Irinya is a thoughtful, courageous leader. She survived a terrible ordeal, which has left her scarred but with a scrupulous integrity, a passion for justice, and the drive to liberate her people at all costs. She expertly negotiates the politics of war, and inspires the hard-earned loyalty of her people. It isn’t easy for a woman with a terrible history like hers to allow herself to love and be loved, but Gyrdan is a worthy partner for her and she slowly allows him into her heart. But as a new leader who is attempting to uphold the rule of law, will her scrupulous integrity require her to order Gyrdan’s condemnation and death? I loved the historical fiction, I loved the politics and the war, I loved the humor, I loved Irinya for being a strong, intelligent, tortured heroine, but the most wonderful part of this book for me was the love story. The terrible trap for Irinya is that it is her strength and intelligence that causes the conflict that may pull the two lovers apart. And Gyrdan was totally hot.

You'll love this book.