Desire [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Amanda Quick (Author), Anne Flosnik (Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2010

Upon her father's death, beautiful, headstrong Lady Clare knew that she must wed, for the protection of the Isle of Desire now fell to her. Yet when her guardian's choice of prospective husband rode through her castle gates, she felt utterly betrayed. All sinewy muscle and savage steel, Sir Gareth of Wyckmere was not the poet she'd requested but a fearsome knight whose only interest was in war. Legions of robbers had fallen beneath the Hellhound of Wyckmere's sword, and now this bold warrior was certain that he could tame one willful wife. Yet even Gareth could not deter Lady Clare from trying to mold him into her ideal...until their clash of wills ignited a passion that set them both aflame...and a treacherous plot put their lives in deadly peril.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"From the windswept, craggy coast of a remote British Isle comes the thrilling tale of a daring lady and a dangerous knight... bound by the tempests of fate--and the dawning of... Desire

Upon her father's death, beautiful, headstrong Lady Clarre knew that she must wed, for the protection of the Isle of Desire new fell to her. Yet when her guardian's choice of prospective husband rode through her castle gates, she felt utterly betrayed. All sinewy muscle and savage steel, Sir Gareth of Wyckmere was not the poet she'd requested but a fearsome knight whose only interest was in war.

Legions of robbers had fallen beneath the Hellhound of Wyckmere's sword, and now this bold warrior was certain that he could tame one willful wife. Yet even Gareth could not deter Lady Clare from trying to mold him into her ideal... until their clash of wills ignited a passion that set them both aflame... and a treacherous plot put their lives in deadly peril. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

From the windswept, craggy coast of a remote British Isle comes the thrilling tale of a daring lady and a dangerous knight... bound by the tempests of fate--and the dawning of... Desire

Upon her father's death, beautiful, headstrong Lady Clarre knew that she must wed, for the protection of the Isle of Desire new fell to her. Yet when her guardian's choice of prospective husband rode through her castle gates, she felt utterly betrayed. All sinewy muscle and savage steel, Sir Gareth of Wyckmere was not the poet she'd requested but a fearsome knight whose only interest was in war.

Legions of robbers had fallen beneath the Hellhound of Wyckmere's sword, and now this bold warrior was certain that he could tame one willful wife. Yet even Gareth could not deter Lady Clare from trying to mold him into her ideal... until their clash of wills ignited a passion that set them both aflame... and a treacherous plot put their lives in deadly peril. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged Lib Ed; Library edition (August 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423388038
• ISBN-13: 978-1423388036
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)

More About the Author

With a string of bestselling Regency and Victorian Era romantic-suspense novels under her quill, AMANDA QUICK (who also writes under the pen names JAYNE ANN KRENTZ and JAYNE CASTLE) entered the world of a highly secretive paranormal group, the ARCANE SOCIETY, with her novel SECOND SIGHT. The series moved into a contemporary setting when JAYNE ANN KRENTZ (Amanda's contemporary alter-ego) released the second book in the series, WHITE LIES.

This winter, the ARCANE SOCIETY continues with THE LOOKING GLASS TRILOGY. It begins with IN TOO DEEP by Jayne Ann Krentz this December. Amanda is working on QUICKSILVER, her Spring 2011 contribution is book 2 in the series. The trilogy will conclude when JAYNE CASTLE releases CANYONS OF NIGHT, the futuristic novel, in Summer 2011.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Romance With Lots of Laughter, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Desire (Mass Market Paperback)

If you love to laugh, you'll love this book. I have read all of Amanda Quick's books and am anxiously awaiting her next. This one is definitely a favorite of mine and quite unique.

We begin with an illegitimate, landless, although still honorable knight. While quite the expert with his sword, he, unbeknownst to others, wishes to be a scholar. He loves to learn but has never discovered how to laugh. His father and liege lord recieves a recipe for a husband from our fair heroine, the Lady Clare. In her recipe, she requests a knight who is of medium size (Gareth is extremely large), of even temperment and good sense of humor (what's humor?), and intelligent (he CAN read). She wishes to choose between 3 or 4 knights, just not Sir Nicholas. The lord sends his son to compete with only one other, Sir Nicholas.

The fun really begins when you picture this great, masculine warrior in the midst of an island of flowers (Lady Clare makes perfumes and is quite talented). He is amazed to find that Clare is surprisingly cunning (he likens her to a lawyer) as she points out how he doesn't match her recipe. But since she has only a choice between Gareth and Sir Nicholas . . .

The laughs begin on the eve of her wedding when everyone, including a couple of nuns, her best friend, and her old nurse, question her virtue and supply her with what seems to be a gallon of chicken blood.

Through this and other hilarious episodes, Gareth learns about love and laughter. Clare learns that maybe bigger is better.

My only wish would have been to see Clare pregnant or ready to give birth before the end of the book. I love to see grown men (especially macho, grown men) get all panicky when the big moment arrives. A great read full of light-hearted romance.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking!, September 13, 2004

By 

Amanda Carrell "Erotic Romance Author" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Desire (Mass Market Paperback)

As any avid Amanda Quick reader knows, she usually sticks to the London 'ton' for her settings, but in _Desire_ she uses the middle ages as her backdrop and it is glorious! As is evident in all her works, Ms. Quick has a talent for bringing an atmosphere to life and such is definitely the case with _Desire_. The setting for this story is a remote British isle known as 'Desire' -- a land rich in flowers which thrives on the perfume trade that results from cultivating those blossoms. Ms. Quick describes the panorama so wonderfully that you will feel as if you can smell the endless fragrances of the isle.

Not only is the scenery captivating, the characters are vibrant, lively and fascinating. Gareth is strong, brave and somber. When he arrives on the isle it is reputed that he never laughs. Clare is energetic, loyal and just exactly what Gareth needs to bring laughter into his life. Again, Ms. Quick delivers characters so well suited for each other that it is inevitable that they fall in love.

As is always the case with Ms. Quick's work, _Desire_ is full of humor. This is clearly apparent in the scene following the wedding night -- it is classic and oh-so-funny! It had me very nearly rolling on the floor!

Though not as prominent as in some of her stories, the mystery comes into play near the end and drives the book on to an exciting and touching finale. I was once again amazed by Ms. Quick's ability to snare a reader from the first and keep the story so exciting that it is impossible to stop reading.

All in all, _Desire_ is a delightful gem of a story full of love, laughter and heady aromas that will leave you wanting more. Possibly the only thing that could have made this book more enjoyable would have been a glimpse into the future of our couple.

If you're interested in seeing another book by Ms. Quick set in the middle ages, try _Mystique_. It is of the same high quality and showcases Ms. Quick's flare to adapt to any setting be it the ton or medieval times.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An unusual Quick setting..., August 20, 2001

By 

bookjunkiereviews (India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Desire (Mass Market Paperback)

If I have things correct, this is one of the only two medievals that Amanda Quick has written and the more successful of the two. Again, you have to understand that historical authenticity is not what Quick is after. She creates an alternate Regency world (almost a costume romp) and here, an alternate medieval world.

The story is that of a landless knight who also is burdened by his illegitimacy. He is offered the chance to win the hand of a local heiress, whose estate consists of one small island. The heiress Clare is however slightly unusual in that she has developed the island's flower industry into production of perfumes, salves and other scented goods which are luxury items and highly profitable items.

The courtship of Clare by Gareth (the Hellhound of Wyckmere, as he is called) has its riotous moments, including the way in which Clare finally chooses her husband from among two suitors. There is also the notorious chicken blood scene (where the bride is given vials of chicken blood by her women friends and attendants to compensate for her apparently lost virginity). What follows is equally riotous - Clare scatters all the blood in a rage on the marriage bed, somewhat overdoing the illusion.

There is also a romantic young boy who wants to be a knight, and a love-struck minstrel afraid of his former master. And there is the inevitable treachery, the attack on the island, the deceptions and the ultimate triumph of true love and chivalry.

While the identity of a villain came as something of a surprise to me, I found the shift in tone from the middle of the book to the end somewhat jarring. The first two-thirds of the book were semi-farcical, a light-hearted romp. The last third was significantly darker, with the revelation of some pleasant secrets but also a few more unpleasant secrets. Also, the introduction of the themes of black magic and spells were somewhat jarring, given the emphasis on reason and rationality in the beginning and middle. [Reason and rationality were actually interpreted differently in the Middle Ages; most people would have believed in magic, black magic, spells and sorcery].

For these reasons, I give Desire a 3.5 instead of a higher grade. The book is a comfort read , but it is not an instant re-read for me. Nor did I spend my time puzzling over motives, the dynamics between the hero and the heroine (as I did for Hunter's THE PROTECTOR which also features an heiress forced to marry a landless knight). Those darker deeper threads which keep me awake a bit is what I look for in four and five star reads. Not that I don't appreciate a nice comfortable read such as SCANDAL, or any of Quick's earlier books.