Many historical romance readers complain that some books simply take modern-day characters and have them act out a story in fancy dress, making the time period irrelevant. Nothing could be farther from the truth with Claudia Dain, an author with a reputation for creating characters who are creatures of their time and place in history. Her latest novel, The Fall, is no exception.

Juliane of Stanora, the Lady of Frost, is a young woman whose name has become legend due to the supposed inability of any man to remain aroused in her presence. She is wealthy and reputed far and wide to be a great beauty, so many men have come to test themselves against her legend.

The latest of these is Ulrich of Caen, known as Ulrich of the Sweet Mouth for his alleged ways with women. Since Ulrich is a landless knight with no place to call his own, he decides that he will bring about the fall of the Lady of Frost and, perhaps, in so doing secure his own place in the world. Though Juliane initiates her battle of legends with Ulrich from the moment he arrives at Stanora, it becomes apparent to her that this man may well be different than all the others who lost the battles of wit and will with her.

The contest between Ulrich and Juliane is fierce, but also intelligent. Instead of mindless tantrums and tricks, readers are treated to clever banter and great chemistry, with the dialogue at times reminding me of the verbal jousting of Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. It all makes for an enjoyable read, and I spent much of the book eagerly anticipating the moment when Ulrich and Juliane would realize that they would be much happier with one another than continuing to live with only their legends for company.

I genuinely enjoyed both Ulrich and Juliane, both of whom are appealing characters placed within a vivid setting. Dain does an excellent job of showing readers a slice of life in Medieval England. Even better, she goes to great effort to create real and interesting secondary characters, a welcome break from the undeveloped caricatures seen all too often.

However, my enjoyment of this book was somewhat marred by plot developments toward the end. While Dain does a good job of showing why things happen as they do instead of letting events simply come out of nowhere to traumatize her characters, it is still somewhat jarring. So much happens in the last few chapters that it was a shock to my system – not to mention Juliane and Ulrich. While the almost fairytale quality of the first two-thirds of this book is a delight, the ending’s reminder of the gritty realities underlying this peaceful world is definitely not for the squeamish and, honestly, even the non-squeamish will not find it terribly romantic.

Claudia Dain is a true wordsmith, and I loved her portrait of Medieval England. Her characters and the thinking and artistry that obviously went into creating their world enchanted me. And even though the violence and traumatic occurrences near the end of the book went a little too far for me, I still largely enjoyed the story. This was my first Claudia Dain novel, but it certainly will not be my last.