The Merchant's Daughter

An unthinkable danger. An unexpected choice. 

Annabel, once the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is trapped in indentured servitude to Lord Ranulf, a recluse who is rumored to be both terrifying and beastly. Her circumstances are made even worse by the proximity of Lord Ranulf's bailiff---a revolting man who has made unwelcome advances on Annabel in the past. Believing that life in a nunnery is the best way to escape the escalation of the bailiff's vile behavior and to preserve the faith that sustains her, Annabel is surprised to discover a sense of security and joy in her encounters with Lord Ranulf. As Annabel struggles to confront her feelings, she is involved in a situation that could place Ranulf in grave danger. Ranulf's future, and possibly his heart, may rest in her hands, and Annabel must decide whether to follow the plans she has cherished or the calling God has placed on her heart. (from Goodreads)

I really don't think that I'm the person for Dickerson's writing. This is the second book of hers that I've read, and although it was better than the first, there were still too many character flaws, plot holes, and such. 

Annabel was a Mary Sue in ever sense the word. Not a page went by when someone didn't remark how beautiful she was, she knew how to read (Latin included), her family members were so mean to her, and she had at least three men lusting after her. Maybe even more. This almost felt like a retelling of both 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Cinderella,' because in the original Beauty myth, Belle was an only child with no mother but had a very close relationship with her father. And her brothers felt like the evil stepsisters and her mother like the evil stepmother. She had everything: kindness, beauty, smarts, perfection, perseverance, etc. Everything but flaws, that is. 

I couldn't decide if this was supposed to be set in medieval England or in a fairy tale setting. It seemed to be medieval England, but there were some inaccuracies that led me to believe otherwise. Take Annabel's ability to read, and in Latin, too. It's highly, highly, 99.9% unlikely that any girl, even a rich merchant's daughter, would know how to read. And it's also highly unlikely that a lord like Ranulf would get close to a servant like he does with Annabel. 

I also found it odd that Annabel compared Gilbert to Tom. They were nothing alike, and even though Annabel didn't want to marry Gilbert, I would have liked it more if she had said something other than that he made her feel 'sickening.'

The way the book ended was just too perfect, and what Annabel does is just too easy to be believable.

The last thing about this book was that I found the slamming of the Catholic church to be ridiculous. I'm not at all religious, but this bothered me for two reasons. 1) It basically said that all Catholics were female-hating old guys who could barely read the Bible, which isn't at all true. 2) What other sect of Christianity would they practice? Henry the Eighth didn't break with the Catholic Church until the sixteenth century, and Catholicism was the main English religion up until then. 

One star for the attempt at a historical retelling, and another for Stephen, who was a funny character.