Book Review :: One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny
ISBN: 0008535345
Published by Mills & Boon
on 19 January 2023
Goodreads

A love story worth fighting for…
When his sister’s betrothed vanishes the night before her politically arranged marriage, Raff Barden must track and return the elusive groom to restore his family’s honour.

William de Foucart — known to his friends as Penn — had no choice but to abandon his intended, and with it his own earldom, when he fled the night before his enforced marriage. But ill-equipped to survive on the run he must trust the kindness of a stranger, Raff, to help him escape.

Unaware their fates are already entwined, the men journey north. But amidst the snow-capped forests an unexpected bond deepens into a far more precious relationship, one that will test all that they hold dear. And when secrets are finally revealed, both men must decide what they will risk for the one they love…

Last updated on 13 May 2025

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What is One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny about?

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny is the story of Raff and Penn, and their love story in Oxford, 1360.

Raff Barden’s sister’s fiancé disappears just before their politically arranged wedding, and suddenly Raff is thrown into this mission to go and find the man, and return him to the kingdom so that he can marry Raff’s sister, and their alliance is forged. He has a family reputation to look after, after all.

That runaway fiancé? William de Foucart, known as Penn to those close to him. He has never really had a choice, as the prince of the land. Fleeing his forced marriage, he abandons his title and his future, unprepared for life on the run. Desperate and in the middle of Hartswood, he finds himself relying on Raff, a stranger who might be his only chance to actually make it out of the woods alive. Especially when there are rewards placed on their heads.

As the two journey north, away from the lives they’re meant to live, their relationship grows, and while it’s fraught with secrets from both sides, they’re both unwilling to let on.

“There is no honour in death. You need to learn to survive before you can learn to fight in a way which upholds your virtues. Besides, it is not cheating to understand another man’s weaknesses, or your own advantages against him.”

My thoughts on One Night in Hartswood 

This was a really sweet book. While not a lot really happens, plot-wise, and the majority of the book is just Raff and Penn walking around the woods, getting into fights (not with each other, although sometimes), and woe-is-me-ing about the place … it was still a cute medieval romance.

The characters were well written, for the most part, and their strangers-to-lovers trope was played out over the course of several weeks, which was good because I hate that insta-love business. They need time to get to know each other, and if that means traipsing through the woods for weeks on end, then so be it. I also enjoyed the other side characters, like Raff’s brother and sister, and while we didn’t get a lot of them in the story, when they were on the page, they were a good time.

“Soon Penn would need to return to the keep, creeping back into his own home like a criminal. He’d snake up the empty staircase, emerge from behind the tapestry and fall into a  bed that had never felt like his.”

There was, however, a lacking in the historical context. I was looking forward to a medieval, knights and princes, vibe throughout the story, and while it was there, for sure, because they’re walking through the woods for a lot of the story, you sort of lost the context and the setting a little bit. It could have been woods in a fantasy land, or in the 1800s or the 2020s. The setting could have been shaped a little more, I think.

I’m looking forward to following Lily, Raff’s sister, in All the Painted Stars, the next in the series.

Have you read One Night in Hartswood? What did you think?