A Dark Champion [Hardcover]

Kinley MacGregor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2004

A Historical Romance... The beautiful Rowena detests war and all who fight it - and would never allow a knight like Stryder of Blackmoor into her heart. But even the renowened Lady of Love needs a champion...

Product Details

• Hardcover: 276 pages
• Publisher: Avon (2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739442694
• ISBN-13: 978-0739442692
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #942,058 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 1/2 Stars - Nice romance, if you don't mind medieval-lite, May 19, 2004

By 

baltimore0502 "Hon!" (BALTIMORE, MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Dark Champion (Brotherhood of the Sword, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

These days I find myself not enjoying Ms MacGregor's books like I used to. I found her last book, TAMING THE SCOTSMAN lacking in plot and characterization and though I liked this one a bit better, I still felt it lacked something. As always comes up in reviews for most all of her books, her dialog is always too contemporary and, frankly if it weren't for references to jousting, castles, Saracens and Outremer, one would have no feel for the time period in which this story is set. I also concur that there were a few too many subplots and secondary characters to try and keep track of. I know that the author has done this to introduce characters that will populate future books, but it's a bit distracting and takes away from the basic story of Stryder and Rowena.

Lady Rowena admires gentle, peace-loving troubadours who sing about love and abhors war-mongering knights. Lord Stryder is one of those hated knights who happens to disdain anything to do with music. Unfortunately for them, King Henry and Queen Eleanor want them to marry and have hatched a (kind of goofy) plot to bring these two together. They start as adversaries but eventually they begin to see that neither is what the other believed. The developing friendship and recognition that each was wrong about the other was enjoyable to watch and felt natural and believable. Stryder is sexy and sweet and honorable and, in typical Kinley style, Rowena is spunky, forthright and beautiful. The pair is likeable and their romance is sweet and enjoyable to watch, but all the background stuff does tend to get in the way.

Some other issues: journeys from the Middle East to England seem to take no time at all but we all know that given the time period, this would not be true. And Rowena seemed to have way too much freedom for a woman of her day and would likely not be consorting with troubadours, much less plan to open a school for them (huh?!), in any medieval reality. And I find it very unlikely that she would be able to read and speak Arabic! But I did like that Stryder could not read as it exposed one of his vulnerabilities and afforded some sweet moments between the two. On the other hand, the way that all of the women (except Rowena, of course) react to super-hunk Stryder like love starved teens, chasing him around a la The Beatles in A HARD DAY'S NIGHT was a tad ridiculous!

I know that Ms MacGregor has very loyal fans who will disagree with me when I say that this is just an OK read - enjoyable (if one can overlook the anachronistic aspects) but not a story I will remember for weeks to come. This author has and can do better. If you're a stickler for historical accuracy and context, this author is not for you. If you are looking for a nice romance with medieval wallpaper this may suit. My recommendation for a really great medieval is Kathleen E Woodiwiss' THE WOLF AND THE DOVE a story that will truly transport you to post-Hastings England with a heroine you can admire and a hero you'll grow to love - just as the heroine does!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok; Good at times; too much information, March 31, 2005

By 

E. Lynch "romance book fanatic" (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: A Dark Champion (Brotherhood of the Sword, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved Draven in Master of Desire and Simon in the anthology Where's My Hero and expected great things of Stryder's story. Although this is considered the 1st book of the Brotherhood of the Sword series, the other two are related since characters from this book appear in the others I mentioned. There is much to like about this book. The entire story takes place over one month in one place. I like that Kinley concentrates on her characters and conversations rather than locale. I liked Stryder and Rowena for their honorable intentions and compassion for others. One of the best scenes was when Rowena visits Stryder in the dungeon and comforts him. I also loved when they "wrote" on each other - a sensual scene about ¾ of the way through the book. The people were incredible, but I found the storyline a little bit lacking.

There was so much background to convey about the Brotherhood of the Sword and what their ongoing purpose was, the storyline suffered. I don't know if it could have been woven into the storyline better and I hope the rest of the series doesn't present all these facts over and over. The main characters seem to fall for each other so quickly even as they constantly pronounce they will never fall in love or marry. That became tedious. The whole troubadour, music, song contest just didn't pan out right (for me) even though the contest is a major event at the end of the story. The intrigue was ok, but since I read for the romance, I wasn't all that interested in those parts.

Overall, I was not as impressed as I was with earlier books but on the other hand - I can tell this is a series that I will be reading to the bitter end. The Brotherhood characters with their rather jaded look at life after imprisonment will be worth reading about.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to MacGregor's usual standard, November 1, 2004

By 

Mrs Dee "Dee" (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Dark Champion (Brotherhood of the Sword, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

Perhaps Kinley MacGregor / Sherrilyn Kenyon needs to concentrate on just *one* of her series, instead of churning these books out like there's no tomorrow. I say that because I purchased this book based on how much I enjoyed her earlier works - the first books in the Dark-Hunter and MacAllister series. I was so impressed then that this author wrote such wonderful fantasy AND historical romances. Those books were so packed with energy, humour and sensuality. This book was decided lacklustre. I much preferred Born In Sin.