The Samurai That I Loved

By: Evangeline Nott

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

A daughter of a Duke in pursuit of her heart's desire…

Eliza Whitlock has always been a starry-eyed dreamer intent on finding her one true love. Setting her sights on a vicar named Ernest Fletchum, she believes their fate is destiny woven into the stars. When the man up and departs to edo-period Japan to become a missionary, Eliza decides to defy the odds and follow her heart straight across the world, right into the isolated country. However, fate is not always as it seems, especially when it comes galloping upon her tracks adorned in armor and one very terrifying kabuto helmet.

A Samurai warrior dutifully following his destined path…

Greatly respected and feared, Kimura, Shojiro is a warrior from Nagasaki with little dreams concerning his own future. His days are laid out before him in duty and honor with hardly any personal emotion involved. Having resolved himself to his stoic existence, his entire world is thrown off its axis by the arrival of a flaming-haired, sharp-tongued hellion from overseas in search of her “one true love”, Ernest Fletchum.

Love is the farthest implosion either expects to feel.

Apprehending the foreign girl who is trespassing illegally into his country, Shojiro is left flustered, frustrated, enraged, enamored, and positively spellbound by her heart and spirit. Throughout an arduous journey into the Echigo Provence, the Samurai warrior and English girl begin to find their language and cultural barriers begin to blur into dangerous territory neither is prepared for. Despite the impossibility of a Samurai falling in love with his prisoner, both Shojiro and Eliza find themselves falling headfirst into the forbidden, risking everything they’ve ever known.

Forbidden love

This story transported me to the past and immersed me in what life once felt like in Japan. I was immediately hooked. Elisa and Shagiro’s relationship is everything I love in an enemies-to -lovers story. There were so many moments that had me on the edge of the seat. I loved every minute of and I am shocked to see there are no other reviews because this story deserves a lot more recognition. I would love to see BBC adapt this into a series.