Bed of Spices by Barbara Samuel is a 1993 publication.

I found this book in the KU program and snapped it up immediately. Oh, how I miss these stories! I’m so happy to see these books digitized so I can still enjoy them!

With the ever-present danger of the encroaching plague threatening in the background- Rica and Solomon’s fateful meeting will lead them down a path of immense heartbreak and danger as Rica has been betrothed to another man, and Solomon is Jewish. Despite the odds against them, they continue to see each other every chance they get knowing their love is forbidden and their days together are numbered…

If you have not read any Medieval historical novels, I do highly recommend them- romance or no. This book is a romance- but it is also about antisemitism during the Black Death and forbidden love- with intrigues and manipulations as well as epic heart seizing dramas that had me glued to the pages. These stories capture my undivided attention, my heart- and nothing written today seems to immerse me this deeply into the story. They just don’t write ‘em like this anymore. Sigh…

This is a fantastic story- so good that I might have a little bit of a book hangover- something I have not experienced in years and years. I love being swept away into the past- a past where there are still lessons to be learned and where love conquered all…

5 stars ( )

I thought this was a truly lovely romantic story. So often historical romances, nowadays, are what I like to call “regency-by-rote.” No matter the author, it’s the same stale characters and plots, recycled over and over again with only the slightest variations to tell them apart. The feisty, book-loving spinster set against the alpha-male rake. You know exactly everything that is going to happen, from the first page to the last. A Bed of Spices is not one of those romances, however; it features a refreshingly different story coupled with interesting characters that have believable romantic chemistry. That’s pretty rare in romance novels – it shouldn’t be, but it is.

When I started reading A Bed of Spices, it was on the recommendation of a friend who suggested it as “something different.” Rica is the pretty, blonde daughter of the local lord, while Solomon is a young doctor-in-training. The plague hit the city where he was studying at university, and he was forced to come back to his hometown of Straussburg. He and Rica meet by accident, as he was receiving medicinal training with her father’s mistress, a healing woman of some repute who was also well-known within the city’s Jewish community. The set-up was written believably, and offered the protagonists a chance to fall in love without having to resort to back-breaking plot contrivances. I also admired how realistically the relationship was portrayed. During the 14th century, a Jewish man or woman who had sexual relations with a Catholic was committing an offense punishable by death. So, any possible happy ending between Rica and Solomon was going to come at a very high price, which – oh my god – it did. The secondary characters, also, were very well drawn, no “stock” characters here. Everyone in the story, from the leads on down, had distinct, well-developed personalities.

A last, little note: I loved Rica and Solomon together. Their personalities were full, complete, multi-faceted; they complemented each other well, and I could see why they were so drawn to each other, despite the obstacles their love faced. I enjoyed reading about their relationship and was rooting for them to make it, in the end. Something else unique about this story is that Solomon is a very gentle, kind beta hero; he is a nice, decent man, who is perfectly at ease with showing Rica his deep feelings for her. Loved that bit, as well.

All in all, a very tense and suspenseful read. The writing was pretty good, excellent for a romance novel, but where this book really shines is in its characterizations of normal, everyday people caught up in the political and social turbulence around them. ( )

If you are looking for a romance novel that knows how to pack in the emotional wallop, look no further. I've never had a romance that made me feel so much before. And I'm not just talking about the heat of passion, either, though there is tons of that. But the heart-wrenching pain of sorrow, fear from mounting religious fanaticism, the sweet love of family, and the agony of betrayal. Everything in this book is stark, vivid, and goes right to your soul. Every page is saturated with emotion. A very good quality for a romance novel.

The book also draws in some pretty bleak events from history to set its romance against and to draw into the story. The Black Death plague is ravaging Europe and does not leave our pair untouched. The pogroms against Jews that resulted from this plague and the rise of religious fanaticism held me in breathless anticipation on whether this romance novel would actually end like a romance and not a tragedy. The obstacles this pair had to face, from family disapproval to forced arranged marriages to perceived death, all added to a stronger than usual love in my book.

This romance is a step above the norm as it draws on more than just the romance to draw in its readers emotions. It's not afraid to explore some darker stuff and see how those events effect our couple and their lives. I loved that bravery on the part of the author; goes to show her confidence as a writer in being willing to write more than just romantic fluff. This is definitely a book for the re-read pile. ( )

**3.5**

Heads up to anyone reading the kindle version: the book ends at the 80% mark (at least mine did). Which I learned after picking the book up today at the 79% mark and then got to the end 4 pages later. Which was kind of annoying.

Anyway, on to the book itself.

Rica and Solomon do experience love at first sight, which I'm not a fan of, but considering, I think the author handled it well. By the end she did have me believing that Rica and Solomon were soul mates. However, in the beginning, I think I cared more about what happened with Etta than I did with Rica. That is until Etta seemed to get a little loopy and I no longer had a grasp on Rudolph's character. He went from seeming normal, to a religious nut-job, to mentally unbalanced. He was kind of all over the place. But then I became more invested in Rica and Solomon again and was rooting for them.

While the writing is good, there were a few places I found the story-telling a little vague. Some people might like this, but I prefer the detail. For example, I think it would have helped if the author had expanded on the relationship between Christians and Jews a little more in the beginning. We are told Rica and Solomon's relationship is forbidden, but never why. It wasn't until a little later that there is a reference to them being beheaded for their relationship that the reader really understands just how verboten it was. Perhaps the author is assuming readers are more familiar with medieval Jewish history, but I am not one of those readers, and it would have helped me to have a little more background.

Another example, was the fire. If someone hadn't read the prologue they might had had trouble following what happened. The reader knows that Jews are being arrested in other cities and some were burned. Then Rica sees smoke coming from Strassburg and that is all we get about the this huge, tragic fire that killed two thousand Jews! Such an event had so much potential for drama and story-telling and it was largely glossed over. It seemed a shame.

Still, this was a well done book overall and I largely enjoyed it. ( )

Well. This is rare. I can't find any flaws with this book. None. I can criticize anything, but this book? Not happening.

It's just the perfect story of actual forbidden love. This isn't about crossed signals, stern parents or mismatched values. Oh no, this is about a highborn German woman and a Jewish physician. In the 14th century. During the Black Death. In the midst of anti-Jewish pogroms. I mean, there's "forbidden love" and then there's "shit just got real."

What I loved most about the book is how evenly matched Rica and Solomon are. They're two people who are surprised to find everything they've always wanted in each other. Neither had thought they wanted a great passionate love or an easy companionship in marriage, but they immediately feel as though they've known each other forever, and suddenly have no idea how they'd live without it. There was a sense of wonderment and enchantment in their conversation that was just infectious. I fell in love, ached and finally rejoiced right along with them.

Everyone should read this book. Plonk down the $2 and read it today. Your life will be richer for doing it. ( )