Chalice of Roses [Mass Market Paperback]

Jo Beverley (Author), Mary Jo Putney (Author), Barbara Samuel (Author), Karen Harbaugh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2010

Romance and destiny intertwine in four all-new novellas inspired by grail quests-featuring two New York Times bestselling authors!

From the bestselling and award-winning authors of Dragon Lovers comes an anthology of fantasy, romance, and eternal love. In these four novellas, history and destiny spark passion, and everything depends on the fate of one mystical cup: the Holy Grail.

A young woman must find her love to summon the Grail to bring peace to England; a Regency lady must keep it safe from Napoleon's spies; a modern sorceress must keep the Grail from falling into Nazi hands, and an American must put the chalice at risk to rescue her one true love. These are four passionate and enchanting stories of desire and destiny inspired by one of our most powerful legends.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Four engaging novellas bring romance to the legend of the Holy Grail. In Beverley's The Raven and the Rose, set in 1153, cloistered novitiate Gledys must find the literal man of her dreams so they can summon the Grail and ensure peace for the country. Putney's WWII-themed The White Rose of Scotland sets a Canadian RAF pilot and a British intelligence officer to track a Nazi spy who steals the chalice. In Harbaugh's Miss Templar and the Holy Grail, Regency society's expectations lead to a comedic misunderstanding of the protagonists' roles in the quest. Samuel's atmospheric but uneven Eternal Rose finds a modern woman seeking to free her lover from the fairy queen. The authors tie the Grail to pagan roots as well as Christian myth and deftly highlight romance rather than religion, making all four stories broadly accessible. (Jan.)
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Review

"This beautifully crafted anthology by some of the genre's best is graced with flawless writing, touches of humor, and magical, creative plots." -- Library Journal

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: NAL Trade; 1 edition (January 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451229029
• ISBN-13: 978-0451229021
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,072,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Really bad, January 11, 2010

By 

Alfred E. "Ms. Cheerful" - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Chalice of Roses (Mass Market Paperback)

The authors have seemingly agreed to have all 4 of these pieces be about the grail, but either this limitation hobbled their imaginations or none of them put enough time into composition. The plotting and writing in this book are both inferior. I expected better from the normally dependable Beverley and Putney.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent romantic fantasy collection, January 8, 2010

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Chalice of Roses (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Raven and the Rose" by Jo Beverly. In the twelfth century the novice with an ancient bloodline and the monk unite to bring forth the Holy Grail to end the seemingly eternal war destroying England.

"The English Rose" by Karen Harbaugh. Although just a debutant enjoying her season, she now must prevent an evil threatening to overwhelm England from succeeding and also keep Napoleon's operatives from stealing the Holy Grail to take back to France.

"White Rose of Scotland" by Mary Jo Putney. Hitler plans to take the Holy Grail back to the Third Reich, but a Scottish intelligence agent and a Canadian Royal Air Force pilot try to thwart the Nazi operatives.

"Eternal Rose" by Barbara Samuel. In England, the American grad-student-teacher dreams of a medieval male who comes to her time to help deliver the Holy Grail to the protector guardian.

This time the romantic fantasy fearsome foursome (see Dragon Lovers and Fairy Magic) uses the Holy Grail to tell four strong tales occurring in different periods and starring terrific heroines and their destined mates who rise as couples to try to keep the religious artifact safe from evil doers.

Harriet Klausner

2.0 out of 5 stars Sci-fi masquerading as romance -- either way, boring and disappointing., October 26, 2010

By 

Geraldine F Hergott (Bannockburn, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Chalice of Roses (Mass Market Paperback)

Jo Beverly and Mary Jo Putney have written great stories in the past, but not in this collection. These four stories seem like they were slapped together with a few agreed upon themes, eg: the 7th daughter/son of a 7th daughter; virginal; guardian/protector/knight of the Holy Grail, and all insulting to the intelligence of the romance reader.