Customer Reviews

My Hero (Knights of de Ware)

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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A marriage of convenience to the eighteen year-old Cynthia le Wyte brings life back into the elderly John Wendeville. The feeble lord knows he is dying, but he wants a companion in his final years. Cynthia is so much more than he asked for. She is a vibrant lover who brings him unexpected pleasure and fills his days with joy and happiness. Her healing herbs and potions extend his life and give them two beautiful years together. Lord John adores his young wife and before taking his last breath he makes her swear to keep a promise that will affect her future - a future a greedy Wendeville abbot hopes to change.

The gaunt abbot is absolutely livid when he learns Lord John bequeathed the small Charing Castle to him. He'd courted the old man almost like a lover and expected to be his heir before the harlot arrived and changed everything. He will have his revenge and it will begin by selecting the new chaplain for her castle. Ah yes, he knows just the right cleric - one who won't interfere with his plans - the pitiful Garth de Ware.

Garth trained as a knight along with his brothers and is able to handle a sword and defend in battle, but when he fails to hold a castle for his brother Holden he decides to return to the church. Garth is temporarily sidetracked and instead of the church, he worships Mariana, a woman devoted to sexual pleasures. Mariana manages to shred the inexperienced youth of all of his masculinity and the humiliated young man vows never to shame himself with a woman ever again. He hides beneath a heavy wool robe and enters a poor monastery to insure that he doesn't. Poor misguided Garth - he may have lost his spirit, but not his hot-blooded male body. He has lustful dreams nightly resulting in torturous penance daily. The prior believes Garth is wasting away in the monastery, and is almost relieved when the Wendeville Abbot asks that Garth replace him as chaplain at Wendeville - a request that makes Garth freak out!

The instant Garth is introduced to the castle, Cynthia senses she's met him before, and soon recognizes him as the fifteen year old she vowed to marry when she was a young lady all of eleven. Her memories flood back to the day in his mother's enchanted garden when the handsome young knight enchanted her. Garth's memories of that day are suppressed, but future circumstances will bring them back. Meanwhile, the young man is about to learn he isn't meant to become a monk.

Glynnis Campbell delivers a masterpiece set in the medieval era. MY HERO has quite an unusual plot, featuring a would-be monk as the hero, but WOW! What a hero Garth de Ware turns out to be! Both Garth and Cynthia are adults, but still innocents, a fact that causes them to misunderstand each other's reactions. The evil Abbot moves the plot along and before it's over the entire de Ware clan from the previous stories in this trilogy (MY CHAMPION, MY WARRIOR) will make an appearance. Ohhh, when I read this scene I was reminded of movies I saw years ago. I felt like stomping, clapping, and standing up to whistle and cheer YES! What a grand finale to a glorious medieval tale. And to make a fabulous story even better, Glynnis Campbell adds an epilogue that adds the finishing crown to a masterpiece of writing. MY HERO - I loved it! Loved it!

Carol Carter, As posted on Romance Reviews Today

In 1329 eleven years old Cynthia le Wyte accompanies her father as he visits the de Ware brood on estate business. After two days of torture from the older de Ware siblings, Cynthia finds solace in a garden. She is unaware that her haven serves as the getaway of the youngest de Ware, Garth. When the girl reaches for a flower, Garth comes out of nowhere to stop her, but is too late as honeybees sting Cynthia. Gently, he uses his knife to remove the stingers from her. Cynthia vows that she will marry her hero.

Almost a decade later, Cynthia is elated that her hero is coming to her family's castle. Her joy turns into shock when Garth arrives as the new lay chaplain. However, the temptation of Cynthia is difficult to avoid so he behaves nastily, but she refuses to accept that the kind soul who once saved her could have changed so much. As he watches her nurture her people, Garth falls in love with his heroine, but an unknown individual has different plans for them that could end tragically without a miracle intervening.

The third de Ware tale (see MY WARRIOR and MY CHAMPION) is an exciting historical romance that shines a powerful light on the fourteenth century by focusing on several major issues including community health and alleged witchcraft. The enticing lead couple hooks the audience from the moment a little Cynthia looks into Garth's eyes with trust. Though Garth seems typical of the novels of this period with his mirthless soul, Cynthia lightens the tone and eventually him. Glynnis Campbell provides an exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner

Garth de Ware comes from a family of warriors, but he thinks himself less than a man and turns to the Church. Lady Cynthia le Wyte has loved Garth since childhood and considers him her hero. It takes a special kind of woman to show this man the way to worldly love, but Cynthia is up to the challenge. The last quarter of this book is the most exciting I've ever read--I stayed up 'til 3:00 am to finish it, unable to sleep until Garth and Cynthia had found their happy ending. If you think you won't like a romance with an ex-monk for a hero--think again. Glynnis Campbell's book will make you wish there were more writers willing to tell a fresh and different type of story!

I got hooked on Glynnis Campbell with "My Champion" and am thrilled that she has continued the family saga trilogy with Garth's story. Garth de Ware is the youngest member of the De Ware clan and the one who has chosen the cloth (his elder brothers were the knights of Campbell's first two titles). But he meets with temptation when his path reunites him with Lady Cynthia le Wyte, a healer and head of the castle where he is postioned. It's a delightful book, one that's hard to put down. Like Campbell's other two adventurous titles, readers will be drawn in by the well-established, well-rounded characters, the interesting Medieval details and the engaging story. I highly recommend this book and look forward to more from this delightful author.

Glynnis Campbell does a great job of making each brother in her trilogy very appealing, while very different from each other. In turn, each brother is attracted to a quite different kind of woman. You can see how clearly a given brother would appreciate but not love deeply his two sister in laws. The woman he finds is the woman who is perfect for his temperment.

In Garth's case, both he and the woman he meets - the widow Cynthia - have had some but little sexual experience. I really like this in a romance novel. Probably 99% of the time you have the over-sexed guy who sleeps with every female he comes across, and the frigid ice-queen woman who has never been touched or kissed. It's nice to have a book where the woman is comfortable with touching a man and being in bed with him - and the man is in the same situation.

Also, where Duncan looked at his woman and thought "beautiful angel! I must follow her!" and Holden looked at his wildcat and thought "Fierce passion! I must have her!", Garth and Cynthia are both much more soulful. Cynthia isn't the buxom perfect-hair perfect-body model. She's a wholesome, healthy, down to earth woman who doesn't mind working on wounds, dealing with sick children, and doing what has to be done. Garth is quite unlike his two brothers. The siblings are both out proving themselves, making themselves known and seen. Garth has hidden himself away, focussing on his meditations and studies.

Interestingly, the issue here is really quite separate from the main characters or anything they have "done". It has to do with Cynthia's dead husband. He, naturally, left her his wealth - and a jealous bishop felt it was supposed to go to him. That bishop is now masterminding a scheme to get rid of her. Part of his plan is to put a quiet, non-intrusive priest into her household.

Unfortunately, he chooses Garth - and Garth and Cynthia are immediately drawn to each other. They had met briefly as children, and now they are both fully grown up. In the intermediate time, both had slept with other people. Cynthia had been married to a much older man, who she cared for but never was passionate with. Garth had been dallying with a over-sexed woman who wanted 12 orgasms a day. The lusty lady was dismissive of him when he couldn't keep up, and he retreated into a monastery, feeling he was less than a man.

Much of the storyline is about Garth and Cynthia fighting their attraction as improper, and how the bishop slowly, steadily draws his net around Cynthia. It's only at the very end that everything starts to come together, the other family members come in, and the rousing finale is extremely satisfying. You really get to see how each character's personality shines and how the couples fit together properly.

I liked this couple very much. I like how they are not obsessed about physical beauty, but care about the innate traits within a person. I like how they are comfortable with the human body. The story is about their personalities connecting, not just about virgin lust. As much as I love Holden and Cambria, in many ways I found this tale the most satisfying.

Probably my only complaint here is that Holden grew up with wildly oversexed brothers who talked endlessly about their conquests. He was a soldier for several years. The chance of him having only one, single lover - and not knowing that her desire for 12 orgasms a day was unusual - is slim to none. So the whole basis of his self-isolation is very suspect and reduces, in my mind, his level of wisdom and intelligence. I wish it had been something a little more believable that had sent him into that isolation.

Still, if we're going to complain about unbelievable beginning plot twists to set up a story, then pretty much any novel is going to get poked at. Once you get past that issue, the story is very enjoyable and, as I mentioned, the ending is extremely satisfying.

Well done! Just make sure you read the other two books first, so that you get the full background and history. It all makes sense, then, why the characters are the way they are.

This was an enjoyable book with good characters and a interesting story. I liked reading all the books in this series, with this one being the best of the three. Will be looking for more on this author.

Campbell has an incredible talent for capturing timeless issues and ideas in a compelling and entertaining way. Assuming this book took a year or so to get from the writer to the bookshelves, she was writing about many issues and problems inside religion before they were daily headlines. And she does so by successfully weaving a powerful love story around the age-old issue of science vs. faith, unflinchingly describing the dark side and human abuses within the Church, and exploring the idea that maybe sometimes God's will is for us to get in there and fix the problem with our own two hands, as the heroine struggles with the painful choice of following the rules or saving lives. Through her joi de vive heroine and troubled hero, Campbell exposes how behind the teachings and often wonderful works of organized religions, there always have been and always will be passionate people trying to find their way in a complicated world.

This was the third book of a trilogy so I had to read it. Unfortunately it was not as easily available as books 1 and 2. Truth be told it wasn't as well written either. Books 1 and 2 of the series were fun, entertaining and hard to put down. This book took days to muddle through. The book was written as if the author just wanted to complete the series and put as much time into tying the characters together as my 12 year old does with his school work!

I just finished reading the trilogy for the second time in a year and let me just say that I ABSOLUTELY love the trilogy as a whole. Glynnis Campbell does an amazing job making you sink into the story and feel as if you are standing by each character's side and watching them live. I truly got so into the story that I forgot that I was reading instead of living! I truly wish Glynnis would come out with the story of Roland, Skye, Angus, Arthur and any other children of the De Wares! You can't help but fall in love with the family and wish their success. I promise if you read the trilogy, you won't be disappointed and a note to Glynnis Campbell PLEASE WRITE MORE ABOUT THE DE WARES!!

I think this was the best of the three. I truly enjoyed the fact that they met as children and Lady Cynthia said she would marry Garth when she grew up. Was so right the way Garth came to be at Wendeville castle as their pastor. The Abbot and all of his scheming to get rid of Cynthia & Garth so he could have the castle and all of its money kept you turning pages. Really enjoyed this book and would recommend the trilogy to anyone.