Apr
Secret Vows by Mary Reed McCall
Good morning, everyone! Hope you all are having a nice weekend. Today is the first day of two very special weeks here at Romantic Inks, we’re reviewing each and every romance written by the talented Mary Reed McCall, including her upcoming release - not out in stores yet - The Templar’s Seduction. Then coming up next Sunday Mary will be returning to visit with us for an entire week! Woo-hoo!
Welcome back, Mary, it’s good to have you back here. 
Review By: Isabel
Book: SECRET VOWS
Author: Mary Reed McCall
Author�s Website: http://www.maryreedmccall.com/
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: September 4, 2001
I can only wonder what was going through MRM’s, as we like to call historical romance author, Mary Reed McCall, mind when she first sold and subsequently saw her debut book Secret Vows to publication. My first impression of MRM’s captivating, “pull at your heartstrings hard!” debut is: This cannot be her first book. The writing and the storytelling skills are superb. Teresa Medeiros called Secret Vows, “A Dazzling Debut” and she’s right, the story of Catherine and Gray is spellbinding to the very last page.
~
MRM writes a unique and deeply emotional story of two people who must overcome suffering and treachery at every turn. Catherine and Gray are well matched in all ways possible, both have known abuse, both have had loved ones taken from them. Both have known failure and heart-wrenching hopelessness. Gray has now become one of my all time favorite heroes. How can we not love a man who is sensitive to his wife’s suffering? Catherine - or Elise as she’s known throughout a good portion of the book - doesn’t need to say a thing and Gray sensitive to her desires, senses needs. He knows she’s timid and lacking self-confidence so he teaches her to defend herself physically -these are parts of the story that turned out to be my favorite scenes. Gray is a man with carnal desires, but he is able to control those desires because he knows he could hurt Elise. The life she’s led has left her unsure of herself and her sensuality.
I’ve been reading romance - historical romance - for a very long time, and this is the first time I encountered a first person Point Of View opening chapter. The rest of the story is told in the third person POV we’re accustomed to.
I loved it!
Love it.
Love it!
I felt so much closer to Catherine and immediately understood the urgency and the reasons why she must to do what she does.
At the beginning of Secret Vows, 1233 England, I was beckoned into the story by the heroine Catherine of Somerset’s plea that she is “A woman without place and time.” ” A woman without hope.” From early on in her life, Catherine has known nothing but suffering, physical and psychological abuse from her father, at the tender age of sixteen she is forced to marry an equally brutal and abusive man with whom she has two beautiful twins, Ian and Isabel *G*. Life for Catherine has been dark and hopeless, but the arrival of her twin babes casts a sublime and loving light into Catherine’s existence. Almost eight years go by after the birth of her children when her husband dies of ague. At last, Catherine sees freedom and perhaps a new way of life within reach. What’s within reach, however, is quickly and cruelly snatched away when Catherine’s dead husband’s brother Eduard arrives to take over - actually more like to take away from her what means most in her world: the children. Unless Catherine agrees to Eduard’s dastardly plan to kill his enemy, Catherine’s twins, will die an speakable death. Eduard promises to watch them suffer before he kills them. Horrified and with a heavy heart Catherine agrees to his plan, she will marry the man who is Eduard’s enemy and when she gains his trust she will help Eduard to kill him. A dutiful and God fearing woman, Catherine has no choice, no way out of this nightmare, it’s either this stranger who is to become her husband - who might as well be another equally if not more abusive man - or her precious children’s lives. She must save her children. She must take on another woman’s identity, Elise, Eduard’s dead sister, to carry on the plan. She must deceive, she must kill, she must protect her children no matter what the cost to her soul.
~
Honorable and dependable, Baron Grayson De Camville, King Henry III’s Highest Champion, a warrior in every sense of the word has agreed to marry his mortal enemy’s sister Elise in a truce of sorts brokered by the King himself. Gray has come to expect many dishonorable things from his enemy, Baron Eduard de Montford, but what he didn’t expect as he pledged himself body and soul to Elise, Eduard’s sister, is to find that Elise is everything he never expected. Instead of pale, waif like creature he has married a “warrior queen” whose startling beauty and innocence captures his heart immediately. During their wedding night he discovers her body is covered in bruises, what’s more, she cowards from him as if he has an intention to beat her into submission. This does not seat well with Gray, a man who has known physical and emotional abuse from early on in his life. This enigmatic woman-Elise makes him feel a desire -an urgent and primal need to protect her against anything especially her brutal brother who has been abusing her for years.
~
The next morning Gray calls for a melee in honor of their nuptials and it’s during this scene that he comes to physical blows with his enemy - his wife’s brother, Eduard. Both men fight, each determined to terminate the other, Elise stops them before they reach their common goal. King Henry makes an unexpected appearance at Gray’s castle and sanctions him for disobeying his orders to keep his hands and his sword off of Eduard. Eduard in turn is rewarded with an order to accompany the King on a journey that Gray, as Henry’s Highest Champion, was supposed to take instead. Gray is temporarily defeated by his enemy, Eduard might be going away in his place with the King, but Gray has something equally as important to look forward to: spending the next month or so with his beautiful, but timid Elise. As they get to known one another, Gray suspects Elise might not be the woman he originally thought her to be. There are conflicting reports of his wife’s looks prior to her coming to marry Gray, even the King during his ealier visit doesn’t seem to remember her unusual coloring. His wife has many secrets and he vows to gain her trust to find out what they are.
Catherine for her part begins to feel comfortable with her new husband, he’s not the monster Eduard painted him to be. For the first time in her life Catherine feels safe with a man. She begins to wonder if she can trust this man with her horrible secret. She can’t bring herself to plot murder against Gray the man who not only respects her and protects her, but a man she’s beginning to love. A love and sensual desire Catherine has not known she could experience much less feel deep in her heart.
My advice is that you read this book from beginning to end. As tempting as it is to read ahead to see how Gray discovers Elise/Catherine’s treachery - believe me, the suspense had me on pins and needles - don’t!
Savor this story like a delectable piece of Godiva chocolate that you can only have once on Valentine’s Day. With Secret Vows, MRM brings us a beautiful and well written story of two people who rise above their heartbreak and find true and unbound love.
MRM, you’re sending me, or rather the DH, to Home Depot to buy supplies to build me another bookcase, for I am now making a special place for all your books.
My only regret is that I waited years to read this book, how could I miss it???
Wow - thanks, Isabel, for such a wonderful review of my first published book. You saw Gray and Catherine just as I’d hoped readers would…of course I’m delighted that you enjoyed their story!
I should warn anyone who decides to try to purchase Secret Vows, however, that it is now out of print :(. There are still some used copies available through amazon and B & N, for anyone who wants to read the story for themselves.
Because this is my debut, there are many stories behind how it came to be and how/when I finally got the call…but rather than talk about them here and now, I think I’ll save that for my first blog next week, LOL!
However, I’m still glad to discuss anything else about the story (i.e. why I chose the first person POV for the Prologue and Epilogue, the characters, the decision to include the villain, Eduard’s POV etc) that is of interest to anyone. So please, ask anything you like and I’ll do my best to answer.
Thank you again Isabel - and all of you here at R.I. for your wonderfully warm welcome and for so generously spotlighting my books this week. I feel very special!!
–MRM
April 15th, 2007 at 12:06 pmWelcome, MRM!
Iabel: What a fabulous review with the precise amount of details and analysis without giving everything away.
April 15th, 2007 at 12:30 pmGreat review, Isabel!
I will be on the lookout for a copy of this one!
April 15th, 2007 at 1:06 pmThank you, Mary, Keira and Andrea. For the readers I cannot recommend this book enough it’s a beautiful story, for the aspiring writers I recommend you read to see how a debut author - at the time - took this grand story took it from point A to B. My humble opinion.
Mary, do explain your choices of POV, I love it when authors include villain POV, it makes the villains more 3D. I was thinking that you could do an improptu behind the scenes for each review here in the comments section? I think it’s a marvelous idea that you tell us about your debut in more detail next week, as I said early in the review, “I can only wonder was going through your mind” at the time you wrote, sold and published this book.
Keira, and MRM, I must admit I get really, really nervous writing reviews. I like to condence (sp?) what the book is about and at the same time add opinions about the characters and memorable scenes. They tend to be loooong, I had pages upon pages of notes for this book - for this review - so thanks so much for your compliments.
April 15th, 2007 at 1:41 pmIsabel….WOW….what a review!! I am lucky enough to have gotten and read ALL of MRM’s books. Love them all. I am even lucky enough to have met MRM in person. She is a warm and lovely person. I just can’t say enough about her or her books. I love medievals and when I found her books, I found a treasure trove of good reading. I first discovered her when I saw she was writing a Templar series and it went from there.
–dorothy
April 15th, 2007 at 3:07 pmGreat idea, Isabel, on a little impromptu “behind the scenes” for each book.
I’ll get into more details about SECRET VOWS next week (and why/how I put Catherine’s POV for the Prologue and Epilogue in the first person) - but in terms of the other POV choices, I have to say it’s one of the few books I’ve written where I included the villain’s (the only other published book of mine that does this is THE SWEETEST SIN, if I recall correctly - though for a slightly different reason).
In the case of SV, I wanted to get into Eduard’s head and let the reader see where this man (if you can call him a “man”) was coming from. A little of what made him tick, so to speak. I decided to use what to me was a really repulsive scene of him using a peasant girl that had been procurred for hs pleasures. This served to illustrate, along with his thoughts during the scene, his personality far better than I could have achieved based upon the limited actions the reader gets to see him take with Catherine early in the book. It’s an example, I guess, of how I tried to show rather than tell.
By the time Eduard reaches his final scene in the book, I’d hoped that readers would have a deeper understanding (and repugnance) of him - and understand the depth of Catherine’s fear of him more fully - than if I’d never gone into his head. This was a serious plot, after all, and I wanted to make the risk to Catherine and her children really, really real. If she was going to take the drastic action she did (agreeing to falsely marry and then help to murder a man), then I needed to make sure the reader would empathize with her and not think - oh, if she’d just told someone or something, she could have solved her problem without all this fuss. There had to be real fear at what Eduard was capable of - and showing his thought processes and motives helped me to establish that more firmly I think.
How’s that?
–MRM
April 15th, 2007 at 5:33 pmHello ladies … sorry, I’m late to the party.
And waving madly—a great big, Hi There, to Mary Reed McCall!
Woo-hoo! Isabel, that was a terrific review of SECRET VOWS!
I started reading this book last night and had to force myself to stop reading at chapter 13 page 232 because my eyes were crossing, but I hated to put it down—it’s sooo good!
I agree with everything you said, Isabel
Grayson de Camville is a wonderful hero—a strong manly man who doesn’t use his strength to do physical violence against the “weaker sex” just because he can—and is entitled to by law.
Yes, I love that he’s sensitive to Catherine’s emotional needs but … I really loved that he was immediately—willing and able—to kick some A** when he’s finds out she been beaten. I love a man who wants to protect women—who makes the heroine feel she’s safe with him—that’s a HERO to me. That’s romantic.
Poor Catherine that was a terrible dilemma she was faced with; in order to save her children she had to lie and help bring harm to the man she was coming to love.
Darn it—I just have to read more and find out what happens.
Great book Mary!
April 15th, 2007 at 5:52 pmIrene! Dorothy! Hi there, ladies welcome back to RI.
Very good-right on the money- points you make, Irene. Gray’s kinder, gentler side with Catherine/Elise is in beautiful contrast with his brutal, and powerful physical strength when in the battle field. Unlike, Eduard and Catherine’s first husband Geoffrey, Gray thinks things through, he is sensitive to those around him and would rather resort to talking about a problem first before charging ahead like a mad man.
There’s a very nice scene, a few chapters into the book, where Catherine asks Gray how he saved his best friend Alban from certain execution. Honestly I thought Gray was going to say he pummeled the enemy into powder, because well, that’s what a warrior does, but it turns out he used his wits to out maneuver the enemy. I just gave you a small spoiler, but you must read it, that scene is ten thousand times better than what I just described. lol.
MRM, is excellent at revealing character through actions, as oppose to just “hear say” from the supporting charaters. There’s yet another good scene early in the book where Catherine could have had a chance to turn her back on Gray, instead she commands the castle’s staff to do her bidding in order to save Gray from his battle wounds. Catherine is a nurturer in every sense of the word. It is this nurturing trait in her that leaves no choice but to strike a pact with the devil, Eduard to save her children. It’s also the nurturer in her that enables her to see and open her heart and mind to Gray. In order to see him for what he really is, strong, handsome warrior with a heart of gold.
Something else I’d like to mention, Mary - once again - does a superb job at leading the reader through the story, giving just enough hits, but without making it predictable. She also wrote some great lines, one of my favorites:
” ‘Twas stifling for September, and undoubtely a sign from God - a taste of the hellfire [Catherine] was sure to suffer for the mortal sin she was about to commit.”
Wow! I read that line outloud several times. It made me shiver and brought me even closer to Catherine. This poor woman is between a rock and a hard place, and pretty soon she believes she’ll end up in hell…
I just had a chocolate milkshake it seems I’m on a sugar high, lol
Mary, did you/ do you use the GMC charts/idea? I have to say that I could clearly define both internal Goal, Motivation & Conflict for Catherine from the get go, Gray’s came a little later. Not only that but your book follows the 3 Act structure as well. Very clear, well done.
April 15th, 2007 at 6:24 pmIsabel, you’re too funny. I can totally feel your excitement for this story!
Hi, Mary!
April 15th, 2007 at 6:53 pmMary, I remembered to order my copy of SECRET VOWS (and the CRIMSOM LADY) back when you first mentioned the book was going OOP—lucky me. But this is such a good story; I’d recommend everyone who hasn’t read it, quickly hunt down a copy for themselves.
Isabel, I loved the first line of this book too—and I would definitely add it to my lists of “Best First Lines”
“I am Catherine of Somerset. A woman without place or time. A woman, God help me, without hope.”
It grabs the reader—and since the majority of readers are women—we can’t help but feel her anguish, despair and vulnerability in the starkness of her opening statements. It pulled me right in because I immediately wanted to know why she felt this way—so the first person POV in the prologue worked for me too.
I haven’t gotten to the part with Eduard and the peasant girl yet but, aside from the fact that her beat Catherine regularly, I got a very good idea of his inherent vileness when Catherine tells Gray that Eduard always caressed her cheek before he beat her; so she could experience the contrast of sensation. This act was despicable on so many levels—while instilling constant fear in Catherine, which he like most abusers enjoy—for her it took away the simple enjoyment of a tender caress. What slime. Can you tell I hated the villain? Guess that means you did a good job with his characterization Mary.
Gray’s kinder, gentler side with Catherine/Elise is in beautiful contrast with his brutal, and powerful physical strength when in the battle field.
Isabel, I loved the line where Gray says…
“Damn Eduard, damn every man who ruled those in their care with their fists.”
For me—especially in regard to my medieval knight fantasies—there’s nothing I find sexier than a big bold, confident and physically powerful man…who knows never to use that strength against those dependent on his care, be they women, children or servants.
Off the battlefield…I prefer to imagine MY knights utilizing that physical strength in a much different way—in the bedroom.
And yes, MRM’s EXCELLENT descriptions bring very vivid images to my mind. *G*
April 15th, 2007 at 9:17 pmFirst let me say hello to Kiera, Andrea, Dorothy (can’t wait to see you in Albany!), Lacey - and a great big “Hello!” back to Irene (whose poor eyes got a work out last night…you’re something else, Irene, and I’m exceptionally flattered that you wore yourself out while reading one of my books)! I’m so happy to “see” you all here!
And dear Isabel - you amaze me with your kind and thoughtful comments about this book. I’m telling you, I’m going to have to print out everyone’s comments to re-read at times when I feel like what I write is absolute dreck, if I can write at all (and believe me it happens quite often). You’re all such a huge boost for my writer’s ego, LOL!
To answer your question about GMC Isabel…I can’t say that I’ve ever used it, though I know many authors who do. I did try to make up charts like that once, but I confused myself, LOL. I bought the Deb Dixon outlines and everything, but I’m such a right-brained (is that correct - or is it left?:) person that I write pretty much from instinct rather than from method. Don’t get me wrong - I think GMC charts and the like are fabulous if they work for you. And I do write detailed, looooong synopses for my books (well, partly because I always had to have a synopsis to sell an idea - but the “long” part of it is because I need to work out the story/character arcs for myself first, and it usually takes me 25-30 pages of synopsis to do that). I just can’t seem to block out stuff - like the scene by scene aspect of things. It just doesn’t come naturally to me to do it that way.
Early on, however, I did do a lot of reading about story formation, characterization, crafting plot and the like - and being an English major/English teacher means I’ve been really steeped in the “flow” of stories for a long time. One of my favorite books on plotting craft is Chris Vogler’s “The Writer’s Journey”. I love how its laid out - and though I often can’t apply it to my own works until I’ve written the entire synopsis, I’ve found it really useful for helping me “tweak” certain aspects of my characters and plots after that stage, to make sure I’m getting what I want out of the story. I haven’t used Vogler’s book in a few years (mostly because of my own time constraints), but I’m planning to pull it out as I go about plotting and working on my straight historical fiction idea and the quirky contemporary fiction with which I’ve been experimenting.
Otherwise, I’m a “plot from your gut” kind of gal. I spend lots and lots of time thinking and stewing and ruminating up front, then (usually) I write the synopsis, and then I start writing the book. Occasionally my plot will veer away from something I’d had in the synopsis, and I definitely go with it if it works better, but I like my synopsis to serve as a kind of “road map” for me as I go. I think if I wasn’t always so crunched for time I might just “fly into the mist” and write without an outline…I’ve actually been doing that a little now, that I’m not under contract. It’s a very different feeling. Not sure how productive it is yet, but I’ve decided to just slow down and try to enjoy the journey more again, like I used to in my pre-published days.
–MRM
April 15th, 2007 at 9:34 pmDid I just admit to having medieval knight fantasies???
(Where’s that little blushing smiley when you need him.)
April 15th, 2007 at 9:41 pmIrene,
We must have crossed posted. I just read your wonderful comments about Gray and Catherine as well, and have to say “thank you!” Your medieval knight fantasies sound an awful lot like mine…and they’re one of the big reasons I’ve always loved to write medievals. I think men are sexy in Regency and Victorian (and a lot of other) settings as well. But it’s that contrast of sheer, raw power and then gentle tenderness to the heroine that grabs me in a well-written medieval warrior. It’s also one of the reasons I have a tough time swallowing the real “I’m a He-Man” alpha type warrior, that so many people seem to associate with medievals. Sigh.
I’m so glad you “get it” in the same way I do. It’s nice to know that I’ve got kindred spirits here!! :))
-MRM
April 15th, 2007 at 9:43 pmMary, I guess we do keep missing each other—like ships in the night. Before I type I forget to refresh the page so I keep missing posts that were made around the same time. Also, the time on the posts is completely wrong too. I decided to check back one more time before going to bed—cuz Isabel on the west coast has a 3 hour time difference.
Mary wrote: I’m going to have to print out everyone’s comments to re-read at times when I feel like what I write is absolute dreck, if I can write at all (and believe me it happens quite often).
I just have to say that, although I’ve only read 4 of your 7 books, I feel I can safely reassure you on this one silly (read nonsensical and ludicrous) worry you’ve expressed…
I don’t like to criticize anyone’s artistic endeavors but I’ve read dreck; and Mary—YOU DO NOT WRITE DRECK!!!
Next time you feel that way, email me—I’ll send you a virtual “snap out of it” *smack*… à la Cher in Moonstruck.
Hey, what are friends/fans for??? *G*
“But it’s that contrast of sheer, raw power and then gentle tenderness to the heroine that grabs me in a well-written medieval warrior.”
Yes, yes, yes! That’s exactly what I meant.
Living in the harsh medievals times was such a life and death struggle everyday, that women (and children, serfs or servants) needed a strong protector but, in a romance novel at least, I want to feel that the home really was their castle—that the heroine and her children always felt safe with the hero, never threatened by his strength, NEVER abused by him. I feel the threats should come from the outside world. The home should be a safe haven in any era—and yes, Irene does wear rose colored glasses.
“It’s also one of the reasons I have a tough time swallowing the real “I’m a He-Man” alpha type warrior, that so many people seem to associate with medievals. Sigh.”
The Alpha male “He-Man” in romance works for me as long as he doesn’t physically harm the heroine. He can be an arrogant jerk or even a chauvinistic bullying jacka** and he can bluster and bluff all he wants—as long as by the end of the story, his love for the heroine figuratively (and sometimes literally) brings him to his knees. Stephanie Laurens and Christina Dodd have always done a wonderful job with Alpha Heroes (in the Regency and Victorian era; and CD in some medievals) and their guys may intimidate or try to dominate the heroine, but in the end—we know it’s the heroine who rules the roost and the hero’s heart.
Now, it’s time for me to read a little more of SECRET VOWS before bed…so I can get back to my medieval knight fantasies—oh what sweet dreams I’ll have! Thanks Mary.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:05 amDid I just admit to having medieval knight fantasies???
April 16th, 2007 at 8:15 amYes you did, Irene. *insert grinning devil emoticon here*
Isabel, you did a wonderful job on this review! Love it! I’m going to try and hunt me down a copy hehe.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:47 pm