Opinion: As with the last novel, this one left me with somewhat mixed feelings, overall, I would say I enjoyed it a little better than the last one, but it had many of the same shortcomings as its predecessor. The first half of the novel seemed to me the weakest, it seemed repetitive and just rather dry, slow and tedious, aside from realising Netta had been kidnapped, then that Tahn had gone missing, and search parties looking for them, or worried persons at the Trilett manor trying to deal with/ work everything out, nothing much really happened- except Tahn getting beaten up for the umpteenth time. Predictably of course, evil old Lionell Trent of the fake ‘British’ accent was behind everything, with a final nefarious plan to do Tahn in once and for all- with the help of the bandits from the last book.

Parts of the second half I found more enjoyable, partly because they seemed more historically plausible (with the characters using the correct term of ‘Barony’ as opposed to the erroneous ‘Baronship’ they used in the last novel to my great annoyance) or simply more well written and original then other parts of the book. Some of the characters start to come into their own a little more, like Benn Trilett who is not such a wet blanket. The conclusion to Than and Netta’s story is satisfying, if a little predictable, and one could be forgiven for thinking that a little too much adversity then was plausible was thrown at them before they got their happy ending.

Christianity/Morality: There is hardly any objectionable content in this novel, apart from some violence against Tahn and Netta which does arguably become a little tiresome by its overuse. ‘The Scarlet Trefoil is a good Christian novel which builds upon many of the same themes of the two prequels, such as the efficacy of prayer, and the faithfulness of God. The only thing which I found a little strange was the appearance of angels at Tahn’s side, who are initially there to protect him frim the baddies, but which he still sees when he returns to the Trilett manor. I know that ministering angels are mentioned in scripture, and I do believe in their existence, but the manner with which Tahn almost causally converses with the angel just seemed to me a little bit –for lack of a better word- weird.

History: As with the other novels, a lot of the characters were very ‘Americanised’ in terms their speech, and some so much so that they could have stepped right out of a Western. Even some of the names sounded rather cowboy-like to me with at least one ‘Jud’ making an appearance. I personally find that content such as this makes it difficult to take the characters seriously as Medieval Europeans, and it seems as though the story is populated mainly by sword wielding cowboys or 21st century Americans.

Another thing which bothered me was the characters' attitude towards, and the overall depiction of nobles. With the exception of the Triletts they are almost entirely depicted as too arrogant, conceited,snobby or otherwise worried about their own interests to accept Tahn.Or at worst many seem to have been often portrayed as being so obsessed with the trivial, such as ‘stupid’ customs, social mores and traditions that the slightest offence to their dignity could lead to aggression or violence. The non-aristocratic characters constant harping on about this just gets annoying after a while, and even the Triletts’ dismissal or dislike of their aristocratic peers can prove irksome.

I don’t know if the above is a reflection of some common American attitude towards or prejudice against the aristocracy, but the idea that literally every person of noble both, apart from the Triletts who are practically perfect in every way does seem to be rather an unfair generalisation.

For the reasons highlighted above, and those mentioned in the previous reviews of novels in this series, I personally feel that the ‘Medieval’ setting was generally rather weak in many places. In my opinion it makes more knights and ladies, characters using swords and bows, or wearing cloaks to make a convincing medieval story and I still think that another period setting might have worked better for this trilogy.
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Tahn Dorn is finding God's grace toward him a new comfort after living his whole life as one of darkness. Having finally put his past behind him he is looking forward to a peaceful future with his bride to be. However the past returns to haunt him, putting all he loves at risk. Lady Netta's carriage is attacked on the eve of her wedding, by a group of rogue bandits hired by Tahn's enemy Baron Lionell Trent. Than is lured into a trap so that he cannot claim his birth right. Will he lose his dream or will he be able to free his true love?
The final in the trilogy about than is another one worth reading. Although it still leaves some things up in the air. I feel like their could have been an epilogue that briefly spelt out certain things that were alluded to or briefly mentioned as happening in the future. But it was a good book to read. ( )