The Huntress by Susan Carroll

Completion Date: July 2007
Pages: 512
Publication Year: 2007
Received from Random House in 2007.
Book 4 in the Faire Isle Women Series

Reason for Reading: I quite liked the other three books in this series, so when I heard it was going to have more I was very interested to read this book.

In a time of intrigue and betrayal, the huntress is on a quest that could jeopardize two empires and two great queens: Catherine de Medici and Elizabeth I.

The year is 1585–and prophecy has foretold the coming of a daughter of the Earth whose powers are so extraordinary they could usurp the very rule of the Dark Queen herself, Catherine de Medici. Dispatched from Brittany to London, Catriona O’Hanlon, known as the Huntress, must find this mysterious young girl and shield her from those who will exploit her mystic abilities, which have the potential to change the course of history.

Catriona’s skill with weaponry is all she has to protect herself and her young charge from spies who snake through the courts of Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen-including the girl’s own father, whose loyalties are stretched to the breaking point. But Catriona will soon face menacing forces and sinister plots unlike any she has ever encountered.

From Susan Carroll, the celebrated storyteller of historical fiction, The Huntress is an unforgettable portrait of power and passion–and one woman’s courage to risk everything for those she loves.

The first three books in this series are about three sisters, the Cheney sisters. When I read the last book in what I thought was a trilogy, I felt that there were still things that could have been said and characters that could have been developed more. Many people thought that it was time for Martin de Loup to have his main character role, instead of being second-best to the man that the youngest Cheney sister eventually chooses. We all got our wishes.

This book has brief appearances from Ariana, the oldest Cheney sister, with an even briefer appearance from her husband, Justice. Otherwise, this is Catriona (Cat), Martin de Loup, and his young daughter, referred to by many as The Silver Rose. After the death of the woman that seduced Martin and came to be the mother of his daughter, Martin snuck off into the night with his daughter in an attempt to protect her from further evil. His hope is that she will put the life she had with her mother behind her and be a proper and respectable English lady.

This book deals with many things. The further threat of trouble from the Dark Queen, new troubles from the British monarch, her mothers supports still looking for their Silver Rose, a father caught in a risky situation, and Cat trying to keep everything together. I loved Cat, she was a very enjoyable person to read about. The book takes place in the 16th-century, so women were supposed to be very demure. Cat could be a 'respectable' woman, but at the same time she was often breaking the rules. She was deadly when she was mad, and could really hold her own in a fight. She also talks a great deal and can be rather comical!

For those that have missed Martin de Loup and wanted a book about him, you will not be disappointed! He is very stubborn in this book, which he always was, but it is very key to this storyline. He is a loving father that still has a hard time believing he has a daughter sometimes. As he looks to the future, he finds himself battling with the fact that he has not had his daughter in his life for long enough and he has to start making plans for her future marriage and respectable living.

I will say, not as much happens in this book as in The Silver Rose, so if you think of this book as the next book in the series, it is a slower book than the previous one. If you think of it as the first book in a new trilogy it is much more interesting. Either way, another very good book from Susan Carroll. It will be interesting to see 'The Silver Rose' grow up and come into her own. She gets the life that she wants during this book, even if it is not the life her father wanted for her. Oh, and one of the best things about this book that I have not mentioned is that someone is pregnant!

Overall, an enjoyable read, but I liked the previous trilogy, so far, better.