Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Mariel, granddaughter of the infamous Robin Hood, is a new Captain in the Merry Men. She’s desperate to live up to her family legacy, which puts a lot of pressure on her.
Clem, a cheery backwoods healer, is taken prisoner by Mariel, and the MM, as retribution for Clem’s guardian offering healing services to the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Forced proximity abounds as Mariel and Clem travel along together doing Merry Men things. Everything seems to mostly be going to plan, when Mariel’s father, Jack Hartley, Commander of the Merry Men, is captured in an ambush.
Now Mariel and the remaining MM, including sweetly-innocent Clem, must try to get him back.
With the woods at war, not everyone believes in the Merry Men as they used too. Soon enough, even Mariel is questioning what they stand for.
Will they be able to get Jack back? And will the Merry Men continue on their current path, or switch things up for a new generation of bandits?
This is a cute story that showed off Croucher’s signature witty writing style. I wouldn’t say I connected to this one at the same level that I did with Gwen & Art last year, but it’s still a solid Historical YA Rom-Com.
As with Gwen & Art, I did listen to the audiobook and definitely recommend that format. The accent of the narrator lends itself well to these stories, and truly helps to bring the action to life.
I appreciate how quickly Croucher can create characters I love. Both Clem and Mariel were so fun to get to know, though for different reasons. It definitely has a Grumpy-Sunshine element to it that evolved beautifully over the course of the story.
I particularly liked the journey for Mariel. As a member of an infamous family, she’s had a lot of assumptions made about her and preconceptions made about who she is as a person.
She’s had a real struggle trying to overcome those things and figure out what exactly her path is going to be.
I also enjoyed her learning more truths behind her famous family. Going in, I had forgotten this was connected to the legend of Robin Hood. I loved that inspiration.
I also really enjoyed, and was impressed by, how even though this is a magical and witty tale, Croucher again managed to seamlessly weave in some heavier topics. There’s a lot here for Readers to enjoy.
For me though, as mentioned above, I never ended up connecting with this as deeply as Gwen & Art, and I’m not sure how memorable it will be for me long term.
With this being said, it’s still a great YA book with a lot of important topics explored and representation. I’ll keep coming back for all Croucher’s future releases.
Thank you to the publisher, Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review. I love this kind of funny Historical romps, and hope Croucher continues writing them!