The Gilded Knight (Zebra Regency Romance) [Paperback]

Donna Lea Simpson (Author)

Book Description

Series: Zebra Regency Romance | Publication Date: February 1, 2005

In the midst of England's coldest winter in years, widowed Nell Simmons is relieved that her period of mourning is nearly over, but she cannot help worrying about her delicate young daughter, Delphine - especially when the heir to Meadow House is due to arrive and demand their removal from the estate. But when the new viscount sends his brother Charles in his stead, Nell is amazed to realize that the famously selfish bachelor is melting her long-frozen heart...As a younger brother, Charles's life has never held much purpose beyond pleasure - and keeping his creditors at bay. The dubious honour of meeting with his cousin's widow is simply an excuse to escape London for a few days, until a fierce storm traps him at the country house with Nell and her ailing child. Suddenly Charles is eager to make himself useful - and make Nell believe that he can be the hero who will make her every dream of love come true...

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Kensington (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821776207
• ISBN-13: 978-0821776209
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,943,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A sweet, sad story, February 27, 2005

By 

E. Kay "eclectic6" (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Gilded Knight (Zebra Regency Romance) (Paperback)

Widowed Nell Simmons hasn't had an easy life. She recently lost her husband (though she did not love him), and her daughter is often sick. To make matters worse, the new owner of her estate is about to remove her from the premises.

George Blake inherited Meadow House, but he sends his younger brother to do the dirty work. Charles, the younger brother, hates the idea of asking the widow to leave. Last time he met Nell, he fears he did not make such a good impression on her. When Charles meets Delphine, Nell's sickly daughter, the task of removing them from the house becomes nearly impossible.

Charles feels drawn to Nell and Delphine in ways he never imagined. And Charles is nothing like the man Nell remembers. He is warm and thoughtful, and her staff falls in love with him. Can she find love as well?

I really enjoyed "The Gilded Knight." I think it's Donna Simpson's best novel since her debut. "Lord St. Claire's Angel" is my favorite book by Donna Simpson, and this one comes close. The story is very sweet, almost sad sometimes, but definitely touching. You learn to love the characters, and I think the ending is one of the best I've come across in a long time.

If I had one problem with the book, it would be that it hung around in one place for too long. The setting didn't change, the activities hardly changed. But the characters and their problems are so absorbing, you hardly notice.

If you're looking for a sweet, fulfilling love story, look no furthur.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Real feeling, April 10, 2005

By 

Woodbuckley (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gilded Knight (Zebra Regency Romance) (Paperback)

Nell Simmons is now a widow, with a very sickly daughter, Delphine, and no longer has a right to live on her dead husband's estate. The new Viscount, having waited long enough in his opinion, wants her gone and the house available for his residence. To that end he sends his wastrel brother Sir Charles to remove her and Delphine with all possible speed. In fact he forces Charles to do this, as Charles is badly in debt due to his ruinous lifestyle of gambling and drinking. Charles has also been the butt of much cruelty through his club foot and been thwarted in his ambition to be in the army.
Thus our stage is set.
This is a well written, interesting and moving romance. Interesting, in that it upends our usual ideas about this type of situation. For usually the widow with a child being forced from her home has all our sympathy and the man evicting her is cast as a villain for so doing. However, during the course of the tale, we discover such not to be the case. The new viscount has waited for her to leave, she is not destitute, she has a perfectly good home to which to remove, she has a good income. Nell is being unreasonable, but I don't think, desptite this unreasonableness, that her thoughts and actions are unbelievable, maybe foolish ... She seems to have been under great mental stress and is only just beginning to emerge from beneath her husband's heavy handed treatment. She has been clinging to familiarity and cannot see out of her well worn groove.
Similarly, Charles is also jolted from his pattern. As he leaves London, we can see his dissatisfaction with his ruinous, pointless life and once at Meadow House he is able to do more than moan. He is already rejecting that and wants to change. He is seen as looking back upon his childhood pain and understanding it, he is putting that bitterness behind him.
Both he and Nell are wounded characters who are struggling to burst from the past and their steps forward are made more surely by their developing relationship. For they are undeniably attracted to each other almost from the first.
Only Nell's reaction to discovering Charles' reasons for acting for his brother is overdone.
A beautifully realized romance.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Simpson's best, sadly, June 6, 2011

By 

Anna D. Allen (Ada, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gilded Knight (Zebra Regency Romance) (Paperback)

Maybe this book is a victim of over expectations on my part. I love Donna Simpson's work and she is one of my favorite romance authors. Lord St. Claire's Angel (Zebra Regency Romance) is one of my favorite books ever. So maybe my less than enthusiastic reaction to The Gilded Knight is more my fault than Simpson's. I found it slow, and I didn't care as much about the characters. For me, it was not a compelling read, and it was easy to put down.

But... even Shakespeare had his off plays. I would still consider reading The Gilded Knight again (perhaps in a few years) to see if my first read opinion stayed the same. Hopefully, The Gilded Knight will improve as I age.:-)