Skip to content
Account Login Winnipeg Toll-Free: 1-800-561-1833 SK Toll-Free: 1-877-506-7456 Contact & Locations

Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith

Sunday, Oct 10, 2010 at 11:37am

Kim Murray longs for the type of romantic adventures that are found in her favourite novels; however, swashbuckling is hard to come by as a grad student in modern-day L.A. When her beloved grandmother falls ill, she begs Kim to go east to see if "they" are safe, just before falling into a strange silence. Desperate to help her grandmother and suspecting that "they" might be her unknown family, Kim travels to Vienna armed with only two clues. At the ballet she meets a rather attractive stranger and agrees to out for dinner with him - only to find herself waking up on a train bound for the little-known country of Dobrenica. This catapults Kim into an adventure the likes of which she's only read in books - an adventure with family secrets, romance, and yes, even a hint of magic.

The first word I would use to describe Coronets and Steel is "fun". This is a "good swashbuckling tale"(yes with italics), with ancient castles, royalty, masques and hidden treasures. What more could you ask for? The sense of history and Eastern-European culture that Sherwood Smith manages to convey warms this history student to the very tips of her toes. The author even makes up an entire folklore for Dobrenica! Sometimes Kim's adventures seemed a little bit out-there, but but my willing suspension of disbelief was never stretched to the breaking point. I was just having too much fun.

Categories: Reviews

More articles from books, teens

See: