What a fun ride this book turned out to be! I don't know how I came in possession of it but I have had the book on my physical book shelf since we lived in California and never felt in the mood for a medieval. So it gathered dust until I was making a list of books for the Ripped Bodice Bingo and saw that this book would be good filler for a square (the "Pre-Renaissance" box). On a whim I started the book and was immediately engrossed in the story involving a second son inheriting a mid-size keep that was left in almost ruins, a runaway heiress, a wannabe sorceress who is the heroine's mother, dubious "natural" deaths of relatives, the stupidest villains in all of England, several kidnappings, and just King Edward enjoying the real life drama of his citizens while thinking of the value of the coins can help him squash the Welsh and Scottish uprisings.
A lot is packed into this story line, but the developing romance between Garron of Kersey and Merry (the heiress in the title) was actually real and I rooted for them to get their HEA, whatever that looked like. He didn't really notice her until she mentioned her preference for making lists to help with big projects (like restoring a mid-size keep to its' former glory), then he was like "hey! you seem like a decent person to have help me" - no pants feeling at first, theirs was a meeting of the minds and intentions. Merry to her credit had major administration skills, as she was running things over at Valcourt until the death of her father, plus she didn't mind doing menial labor, like making soap or milking Eric(a) the goat, while also advising Garron on the political situation outside the walls of Wareham.
A highly entertaining read.
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