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ebook, 350 pages
Published January 15th 2013
by Avid Press
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I will confess that I'd been itiching for a medieval romance. Then I remembered I had this novel and decided to plunge into it. I was so glad I did! This was a great story, featuring some interesting characters in history and a wonderful couple.
My Rating: ❀❀❀❀ & 1/2
The Blurb:
Passion and deception amid the turbulent court of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II.
An honorable man: Malcolm de Monde, Lord of Warwick needs a wife. He reluctantly journeys to the royal court where his plan is simple: find a dutiful woman, gain the king’s approval for his choice and return to Warwick with his chosen lady wedded, bedded, and carrying his heir—all before winter.
An independent woman: Judith of Kentworth, Royal Falconer and lady-in-waiting, is a woman from Malcolm’s past. Although she is a confidante of the queen, Judith’s beauty and vivacity attract the unwanted attentions of the king—and the woman who commands winged predators becomes prey herself.
A simple plan that goes awry when Malcolm encounters Judith, once betrothed to his friend—and a woman who is nothing like the meek wife he seeks…but who may be exactly the type of woman he needs.
An impossible choice: Malcolm offers Judith a chance to escape her predicament…But can she risk entangling her own personal white knight in a dangerous web of royal intrigue?
♥My Thoughts♥
I have been impressed with Colleen Gleason's Medeival Herb Garden series thus far. The story are well told, the characters are vivid and well developed and the romance is palpable. Exactly as it should be in historical romance, in my opinion.
I liked the plot in this novel a lot. Judith starts out as a fiesty, trusted lady of Queen Eleanor of England, and ends up hated by the queen, who she had once considered a friend. I honestly did not think that the novel would develop the storyline that it did between the king and Judith, and it once again reminded me of how powerless women were in the past. Despite the fact that Judith is trapped in service to the king and queen, she remains strong and proud throughout her ordeal, and I really admired that about her. The hero, Warwick beings the novel as a most practical man, coming to court only to seek the king's permission to wed,
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| Want to start the series? Book 1 |
What's not to like in a hero like that? I was especially le sighing when Warwick proposed to Judith. It was not, perhaps, the most romantic of proposals, or scene, but it showed Warwick to be true of heart. I honestly wonder if he would made an offer of marriage to Judith if it hadn't been for the fact that the king had made himself most unwelcome to her, and placed Judith in such miserable circumstances because of his selfish demands. The slow burn romance up to then, the insecurities each had about the other, made for some very interesting developments later in the story, and slow burn to the HEA. Which I was fine with because I was enjoying the story that much.
The misunderstandings abound once this couple are married, as I've hinted, and it takes a while for Judith and Warwick to come to understand how they really feel about one another, (despite a lusty attraction they share for each other) but in end this couple has a wonderful happily ever after. The only reason I didn't give this read a full five stars was that I felt the ending was rather quickly wrapped up. It kinda jarred me. But I thoroughly enjoyed this read and would recommend it to any fan of historical romance.
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