A Conjuring of Valor, the second book in the Thistle and Sword trilogy is a good lighthearted historical romance novel. It is well written and I had little difficulty reading it. Every page has a wonderful touch of medieval Scottish lore keeping the reader immersed in the landscapes, the characters, and the mystique of their world.

“Did Ewan tell ye the King of England has laid siege to Edinburgh castle?” Asked Cait. “He fears soon Perth will suffer the same fate if he resists.”

I loved reading the first book in the trilogy and had settled in expecting more historical intrigue seasoned with visions and accusations of witchcraft.
The problem was that did not happen. For much of the book, there were few twists and turns, visions, or issues with witchcraft.

Edyth was bana-bhuidseach geal – a white witch. A seer, more specifically. She’d seen Ewan’s death at Dunbar only months ago and had moved heaven and earth to prevent it.

Edyth is six months into her marriage to Ewan and gets along relatively well with her husband’s family and servants. Everyone seems to be accepting of the foreign English woman who has been branded a witch, all but one kitchen steward, but that situation is resolved rather simply without much fuss despite Edyth’s overthinking it and acting out hastily. I thought more might become of that situation but it did not.

A large chunk of the book then veers off in a completely different and unexpected direction. The author decides to focus on Ewan’s headstrong eighteen-year-old sister, Cait.

“He’s accepted the terms,” Ewan added, voice final.

Being the head of the household, Ewan decides it’s time to marry Cait off.
With the English pressing in, he decides that matching her with William Cawdor, one of his uncle Niael’s men who lives further north, will keep her safe.
The tale slides back into standard fare romance novel material for a while as Cait expresses her concerns at wedding a man she doesn’t know. The party travels north and meets the prospective groom. The two of them spend a little time together before the wedding. The reader is with them for their first few nights. And, because this is a clean romance fantasy book, Cait’s husband is much like Ewan is towards Edyth, gentlemanly to a fault.
William, although rugged and manly in other ways, is patient and thoughtful and doesn’t force himself on her, allowing her all the time she needs to overcome her fears of him, letting her control the relationship’s development even after they say I do.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with this sort of romance fantasy of course, but it is not anything I haven’t read before and not what I was expecting. And I know there’s an audience for this type of romance book, but I came in hoping to adventure more with Edyth, and her struggles with being declared a witch, and her visions, and her relationship with Ewan, as well as the threat the English pose.
Cait is a rather plain side character going through a forced engagement that doesn’t really force anything on her but the wedding itself.
The story does eventually go back to Edyth and the topics I was hoping the author would address.
The reader later learns that the townspeople really aren’t as accepting of Edyth’s background and healing skills as Ewan’s family are.
I will mention as a side not, I was disappointed how Edyth’s character purposefully put herself in harm’s way to move the story along, especially since she has seen firsthand several times how dangerous the English can be.
She disobeys Ewan and enters town and instigates a situation which creates a conflict between Ewan and the sheriff. 
There’s an English sheriff in town now lording over the townspeople. Ewan had expressly forbidden his wife from traveling there, especially without escort.
I think, with the evolution of Edyth’s character, there might have been another way to provoke this clash without Edyth making a conscious choice to do it.
The book finishes on a strong note. There’s a lot of good intrigue and action including a dangerous rescue attempt as well as some intense conflict with the English.

“There is risk, no matter where we live or what we believe,” answered his uncle, his clever eyes boring into Ewan. “… We must be bold and take chances we are given.”

Honestly, I was going to give the book 3 stars because of the middle section, BUT the ending rediscovered its historical path and there was enough drama to boost the rating up to 4 stars.
I intend to read the last book in the trilogy to see where this tale ends.