Lady of Sherwood by Molly Bilinski
This came with my May 2017 Lit-Cube, where the theme was Robin Hood. Apparently, this is the first book in a series, and one I will likely look into continuing.
Rhiannon, aka Robin, is the only child of the Lord and Lady of Locksley. Her father always wanted a son, so he taught her how to shoot a bow, and kept her from being a lady. Her mother tried to teach her how to be a lady, but she was not very good at that. Her father died when she was young, and when she is in her later teens, her mother tries to marry her off to Guy of Gisborne. The marriage is a done deal, but Robin wants nothing to do with it. Her mother says if she doesn't marry, she will sell her best friend, Jemma, a slave, to the highest bidder. Robin can't bear for that to happen, so she agrees, but there is something she must do first.
That something is to have one night with the man she loves, a carpenter, who is "beneath her station." Unfortunately, the dastardly Gisborne has her love killed. Robin and Jemma run off to formulate a plan to kill Gisborne, but he, instead, burns down her home, with her mother and most of the servants in it. Robin wounds Gisborne, and thinks he is dead, so she and her friends flee to Nottingham.
In Nottingham, they befriend a Tinker, and try to make a life for themselves. After a mishap in a tavern, Robin and the girls have to flee to Sherwood Forest, where they rob from the rich to help the poor.
In sum, this is the typical Robin Hood story, but most of the characters are girls. If nothing else, it shows just how strong girl power can be when we are working together, rather than tearing each other down. I will be interested to see where the other books in this series go.
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