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Helyn’s creative path has been anything but linear—screenwriting, poetry, and visual arts have been her passions. But the thread that has run through every journey is her fascination with unseen realms, and the quiet pulse of magic beneath ordinary things.
A near-death experience once flung her past the veil, deepening her curiosity about what lies beyond form and thought.
When she’s not writing, you can find Helyn exploring mountain trails with her husband, or at home sipping matcha tea with Bodhi, her quiet feline companion, curled in her lap, as he keeps watch over otherworldly things.
Reviewed by Saifunnissa Hassam for Readers' Favorite
Helyn Dunn’s Valor is the riveting and well-crafted story of Ena, a young Druid, and her quest to find purpose and meaning in her life. This is Book 2 of The Evensong Enchantments Trilogy, and many details of Book 1, Sacrifice, are interwoven. The story begins in Brittany, France, in 1097. Ena is the daughter of the Druid Lucian. She is also the adoptive daughter of Paul, Duke of Dubois, who gives her the Christian name of Catherine. Ena and Crown Prince Philip have a passionate and forbidden love affair. Pregnant, a broken-hearted Ena leaves Brittany and the love and protection of her adoptive father, uncertain of herself and her destination. As Ena travels through the Forest of Broceliande, her Druid father, Lucian, appears to her in a vision. He tells her of her inherited Druid gifts, visions of the future. Ena continues her journey with a brotherhood of three knights, on their own quest to find the Ghost Roads in the Holy Land. Under their kind protection, she travels to the court of Countess Ermengarde and meets her son, Viscount Bernard Ato. The story twists and turns as Ena sails on a perilous journey to Jerusalem aboard Bernard Ato’s ship.
I particularly enjoyed reading Valor for its great character development and interwoven subplots. The characters and story gained great depth because of the complexity of spiritual and mystical journeys integral to Ena’s inner transformative journey. I particularly liked Ena’s character development because of the twofold inner journeys she goes through, as a maturing woman, and facing powerful spiritual forces beyond her gifts as a Druid seeress. I liked how Ena remains at the heart of the story, even as she journeys beyond France, to lands unfamiliar to her, Rome, and across the Adriatic and to the Holy Land. I liked how each part of her physical journey presents her with difficult and even life-threatening challenges. I could follow her growing resilience, the building of her inner courage, her valor. I was profoundly moved when she experienced changes deep within her heart, her mind, and her soul. The story became very enjoyable and intriguing when Ena and Bernardo's romance sprang vividly to life through the well-crafted dialogues and richly imagined settings, adding greatly to the themes of courage, love, and sacrifice. Finally, I loved the rich and meaningful quotes at the start of every chapter, and the cover design was out of this world. Helyn Dunn’s historical romance is a very enjoyable story of a poignant and yet uplifting transformative quest. I highly recommend this novel to readers who enjoy historical romance and fiction set in medieval times.
