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Sandy M’s review of Eagle’s Honor: Banished by Sandra Schwab
Historical Romance published by Sandra Schwab 5 Jun 15

With this latest book from Sandra Schwab, I find myself in that situation I’ve mentioned in a number of other reviews of whether or not I’m being fair when I compare a current read to an author’s older work that I thoroughly enjoyed. In this case, Ms. Schwab’s early books kept going through my head as I read this one, and while I like this story, it does fall a bit short in my remembrance of those from years ago.

I’m not a huge fan of Roman-era books, but because this is Sandra Schwab and it’s been a while since I’ve read her, I wanted to catch up with her works.  Marcus is a centurion in Rome for the wedding of his brother. He runs into an old school chum, Titus, who invites Marcus to his home for a bit of food and entertainment. There he can’t take his eyes or mind from the slave girl who dances for them and then is instructed to show Marcus a further good time. When invited back to Titus’ home, Marcus can’t refuse each opportunity to see Nubia again.

Nubia has always been a slave, has never known kindness or gentleness. Until Marcus. He talks to her, sees her as a woman, not a sex slave. She can’t allow herself to develop feelings for the man, however. That will only bring her heartache and trouble. But the more time she spends with him, the more she lets herself fantasize what it would be like to be part of his life. But then suddenly he is gone, after all the promises he made to her. Then she’s sold and she’s forced to begin a new life in servitude somewhere else.

It’s Titus who upends both these characters’ lives. He’s the typical greedy, look-out-for-number-one Roman who will do anything and everything to make himself richer and more important. Thus he sells out his friend when he realizes Marcus has feelings for Nubia. Marcus is banished to a new regiment on the outskirts of no-man’s land. But his honor won’t let him shirk his duties. In a way, he’s in his own servitude just as Nubia is in hers, both starting over in unfamiliar places, hoping against hope for what they should never have wanted in the first place.

Ms. Schwab does a terrific job in orienting the reader to the feel of the times. She’s also true to her characters, never allowing Marcus or Nubia to wallow in despair at what life has once again thrown at them. I like that Marcus pays no attention to class differences when faced with having a happy life full of love or the loneliness of military life for the rest of his days. He’s so far been content with that ideal, but Nubia makes him look at it much differently. She even begins to think life might be different because of Marcus, but then she never succumbs to the dark when fate steps in again to show her she shouldn’t hope for more than what’s due her.

Though Ms. Schwab’s earlier books work better for me, Eagle’s Honor is still a good story with a gentle and happy romance that will make you feel good at the end.

sandym-iconGrade: B

Summary:

A proud warrior.
A brave woman.
A forbidden love that is tested by the intrigues of ancient Rome and the hostilities at the northernmost edge of the empire.

Centurion Marcus Florius Corvus has a splendid career in the legions ahead of him. Yet a visit to Rome and a chance encounter with an old friend change his whole life: He falls in love with one of his friend’s pleasure slaves and becomes entrapped in an evil scheme designed to destroy him. And yet—he cannot help risking everything for Lia, the woman he has given his heart to, even if it means he will be banished to one of the most dangerous places in the Roman Empire: the northern frontier of Britannia.

No excerpt available.