Forget The Glory by Emma Drummond

When Rowan DeMayne shames his family's name (over a disastrous-turned- violent affair of the heart) he is disowned and can no longer join the family's renowned 11th Light Brigade. Instead, he is forced to join whichever regiment will take him, and is humiliated when this happens to be the 43rd, otherwise known as "The Gingerbread Men".

You see, the 43rd has never seen action in its decades of service, and Colonel Daubnay wants to keep it that way. The Colonel revels in the best-dressed, best manoeuvered, best chestnut cavalry etc. In short, toy soldiers. Rowan, a wild daredevil of a man is smothered. He takes on secret missions involving disguise and knowledge of native languages to infiltrate the enemy and return with their plans. The risk? Torture and death if found out.

6 months later Rowan returns, more dead than alive, his body a scarred mass, jabbering foreign tongues and refusing to tell anyone what happened...

In time the 43rd receive a call to action. The 11th light brigade (among others) is being decimated in the Crimea and reinforcements are needed. What follows is a journey across India,then across the Red Sea, over Egypt's desert, then the Black Sea to Sevastopol. They deal with Cholera, sandstorms, storms at sea while the horses in the hold run amok and finally battle...

 While Forget The Glory is a book of action, it is also a love story. There's Rowan, his cream puff wife Lydia, and then Mary who was born into the military, widowed twice at age 17 and who takes on jobs of laundress, seamstress, nurse and maid in order to stay with the only "family" she's ever known: the regiment. Mary is someone who early in the book Rowan disdains for her low class, but as the story progresses, she earns his respect and...well, you'll just have to read it and see what happens....

I absolutely LOVED this book! There is not one part that lagged. It kept my attention throughout. Rowan is a real angsty "tortured hero" type and even when he is foolhardy you can understand why, all the characters are true to their experience and background and imperfect which makes them so real.
Love it. Love it. Love it.

CONTENT:

SEX: Past dalliances are mentioned, sex is mostly between married couples and is 'fade to black'
VIOLENCE: Moderately Strong ( battle scenes, and the hero is tortured)
PROFANITY: Mild

MY RATING: Strong PG-13