Book Review: I SERVE by Rosanne E Lortz

This read was a refreshing follow up read on the black prince.  Since I fell in love with Karen Harpers “The First Princess of Wales”, I have been on a mission for more good reads like it.  A must for me is that it has to feature the more romantic side of the black prince and Joan of Kent’s tale. I have found in my mission I tend to stick with the more romantic versions of the story and when I found a read lacking in regards to the romance aspect I usually will not finish it. This read has all of the components that a novel set this time frame must have; the back cover could not have put my requirements any better than this quote “ A Tale of Arms, of Death, of Love, and of Honor”.

John Potenhale was a lucky man in my mind; he came from a family of low birth but still made it into the rank of knighthood. His grandfather was the caretaker of an estate of a noble man and the only request his grandfather ever made of his lord was to take the young Potenhale on as his squire. Set during the Hundred Years war it was at the battle of Crecy that John earned the accolade and from that moment forward he was in the service of the black prince as a knight. From the siege of Calais to the French’s attempt to take it back John never left the princes service, he was bound by honor to serve.

John had a story to tell and not just to anybody, specifically it was meant for the French widow Jeanne de Vergy. Jeanne could not fathom why an English knight would come all this way to speak with her. In reality it was not just John’s story but also the intermingled tale of Jeanne’s husband Geoffroi de Charney who Potenhale had taken prisoner during the attempted siege of Calais.

 4/5 This was a unique read; it covered so many events of the Hundred Years War that I cannot even begin to get into the details here. It had it all from disguises, unsatisfied love, fights for honor, and most compelling of all the torments of a mans conscience. All the while the “pestilence” sweeps the land taking almost half the known population with it. My favorite aspects of this read was the prince’s capture of the Bohemian ostrich feathers and latter the shroud of Christ.  Romantic YES, and YES a interesting tale of a knight who is tormented by the gritty details of war. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for something a bit off the main stream. 

Thank you David for sending me the book I really did enjoy the read. FTC this book came from author.