I've heard from several Christian women that this was an "awesome book and so well written". I guess it is well written if you like romance novels. It was very repetitive-I can't count the times "he tipped her chin" or "his blood raced with fury". There was also a lot of "ick" factor when she described pagan sexual customs-which she did often enough to make me wonder. I was getting the feeling that this may not be the best thing for me to read. The central character was OK, but the rest were very flat and cliche. If you like to feel that you have really learned about another place and time and your time was well spent reading a book and you like to engage your brain, I suggest finding another book.