Shields Down, The House of Baric Part One by Jillian Bald

"Long before the time of the Frasers, Poldarks or Crawleys, lived the Barics—Mauro and Resi. Theirs was not an obvious love story, nor set in a place given a lot of attention in history. Croatia was a playground for the decadent Venetians in the lavish baroque era, and Mauro had just reluctantly inherited his father’s noble title of Baron Baric. Mauro’s impending marriage was arranged as a child by his father to settle a debt. Neither he nor his bride cared if the day ever came when Resi would be sent to Baric Castle in the Venetian Empire. When the summons finally arrived in Thessaloniki, it was met with dread. The saga begins as Resi leaves her Ottoman home to an unknown land to marry a stranger: Mauro. Her story—and those of the Barics, their friends, servants, and soldiers—is told in three parts, spanning a continent across empires, bringing together a group of unlikely friends and lovers in the eventful summer of 1649."

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A tentative love story set in the mid 1600's in Croatia. This story brings about a whole new world for those of us who have heard little in our lives of the history behind the country of Croatia. We get to follow the newly weds in this "slice-of-life" like saga, that follows Baron Mauro Baric, and his young bride, Teresa (Resi), as they navigate their (semi) newly found world of aristocracy. From grand balls to everyday life, Shields Down is a beautiful way to introduce a new up and coming indie author.


The first installment is well written, full of vivid description, and transports you to 17th century Croatia with its wordplay. While still being fiction, Jillian makes sure to add a history lesson at the beginning, so you can better understand what is at stake for our main couple, and put yourself into their shoes as far as the backdrop for the story.


In this first novel, you not only get to meet the Baron and Resi, but a whole castle worth of characters that help set up what is sure to be some big plots points in the next two books. While not so much an emotional ride, this series definitely intrigues and is not short on pages! With 612,146  words between the 3 books, you have plenty to read, and with the last book releasing just this past week(!!!) you have no reason not to jump in and read up on the Barics!

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Jillian Bald is an Indie author, new to the scene with her first book (TRILOGY!!!). You can read all about her, and even get a hold of her, through her website jillianbald.com . 
She is already working on her next novel and has some more ideas for 2 other books! So if she has become your favorite up and coming author, then you are in luck, and wont have to wait long to read more by Jillian Bald.

Happy Reading! <3