Title:
As Commonplace
as Rain
Author:
Diana Laurence
Publisher:
New Concepts
Publishing
ISBN:
N/A
Copyright Date:
April 2004
Format:
Electronic
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Tristan is a Uni Knight, the representative of a male religious order, sent on an ambassadorial mission to contact the Novatia, a religious order of females. For some reason, these two orders have remained separated for many years, but the leaders of both orders believe it is the ordained time for the orders to establish connections with each other. Neither order is celibate, although the members of the Novatia tend to be celibate in practice, but it is unclear why they have had no previous contact.
While on his mission, a young female Novat, Pasha, is suffering from what the Novatia calls the Yearning. As an experienced Uni Knight, Tristan is asked to meet with Pasha, and attempt to help her recover from this debilitating condition.
Although the writing is skillful, it does not seem to have much heart. I felt distanced from the two protagonists, and never could get really interested in their lives. Personally, I would rate the story as Sensual, rather than Spicy. The love relationship is gentle and caring, and, while the language used to describe the love scene is somewhat anatomical, it is not jarring. The hero was very gentle and considerate to the heroine's total physical naïveté, making it quite a sweet story. I consider this a Fantasy Romance, because the setting is open and imaginative - the story takes place in an unspecified maybe medieval / maybe future / maybe other worldly place. For a romance, this story was quite innocent, and might offend only the very conservative reader.
Reviewed by: Jean
