Customer Reviews

Hidden Honor

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is one of THE BEST historical romances I have read in quite some time. I loved it! The instep cover of the book, featuring the dashingly handsome "Dark Prince" and Elizabeth seductively posed against the trunk of a tree amidst a forest backdrop is only the prelude to one HOT tale.

Elizabeth has been raised in a household of men headed by her father who thinks that women are "useless and stupid". Eager to escape her dreary existence in her father's household and resigned to the fact that no man would want her due to her freakish height, coltish limbs, and "witch's hair" - she resigns herself to a life among the sisters of St. Anne's convent. Unfortunately, her escort of holy friars have also been charged with escorting the bastard son of the king to the convent to do penance for the murder of a nobleman's daughter. Elizabeth finds herself disturbingly attracted to the notorious prince and finds his mannerisms to be at odds with his dangerous reputation. Elizabeth's quick wit and sharp tongue kept me greatly amused throughout the story.

Now on to our hero. The "Dark Prince" can best be summed up in three words: DEE-LISH-US!!! *three snaps and a neck twist I simply adored this man. I haven't read about a hero of his caliber in quite some time. He had it all - this man was pure sensuality rolled up in one darkly handsome package. *fanning self frantically

The secondary characters, namely Dame Joanna and Brother Adrian, make for a great story as well.

If you're looking for laughs, witty dialogue, snappy comebacks, steamy love scenes, lots of action and heartfelt romance - this book has it all!!!

Anne Stuart - I salute you!

It's delightful to finally have another Anne Stuart Historical. Few writers are at home in both medieval sagas or dark, deadly erotic suspense as this writer is. But it has been a few years since we were treated to a Historical Romance from Stuart. Hope it won't be so long until another one comes along! Hidden Honor is simply wonderful.

Elizabeth of Bredon has grown up in a house full of men. Her father is an arrogant lout, given to using his ham size fists. Her mother died in childbirth, and since Elizabeth has been little more than a glorified servant to the fifty or so males in
her fathers castle. Never time for the things she wishes to learn, she spends her time hiding her intelligence from her less than fatherly father. So she views entering the convent of St. Anne as a suitable choice for her life. No more violent, brutish men, no more endless work for little appreciation. She tells herself she is blest being overly tall and with bright red hair, for no man has ever offered for her. Thus, she will not die in birthing endless children as her mother did.

However, her peaceful future is suddenly thrown in turmoil. She is to travel to St. Anne's in the company of knights escorting Prince William to do penance. The illegitimate son of King John, the Princeling is a worthless debauched excuse of
a man - inheriting all the King's bad traits. He killed a daughter of a Baron, and has been forced to do penance to atone.

Only, when Elizabeth meets Prince William, she's totally puzzled. He is nothing like she expected. For one, he is tall, but not as tall as most of the Plantagenets. He is dark, where they are known for their golden beauty. William is a strong man, a lean, calloused-hands warrior, yet there is a gentleness in him that disarms her. All rather at odds with the soft man who spends his time in drink and debauching maidens. She also notices the Prince is going prematurely bald. Or is he? Elizabeth knows she should hate the Prince, but finds she cannot resist his seriousness, the troubled look in the dark eyes, eyes that seem to look into her soul. He is so kind to her, on their journey, again, contrary to the tales of William being utterly cruel. Very sharp, Elizabeth becomes convinced this man may not be all he says he is.

Elizabeth discovers there is more than one man in the party wearing masks as their two-day journey takes a treacherous turn. Their group is attacked by men wearing Prince William's colors! Many of the monks traveling with Elizabeth and "William" are slaughtered. "William" and Elizabeth escape, but they must race against time to foil a murderous plot of revenge. Toss in a vow that keeps "William" and Elizabeth apart, one really wicked super-mean villain, you have Stuart at her best. With vivid, heart stealing characters, this is another keeper on your Stuart shelf! It's a richly textured medieval romance, with Stuart realistically portraying the realities of women's treatment in this period.

Stuart once again amazes me with her genius, her insight, her imagination. Don't ever stop, lass!

I thoroughly enjoyed this unusual romance of a woman who seeks the convent because no one wants her and the fallen knight nee' monk who sees that she's special enough to forsake all to be with her.

I would have given this book five stars except for the repetitiveness of the idea that the heroine is "SOOO" unattractive. That got to be a little annoying after about the 10th time it's mentioned.

Very sensual, and overall well written.
4 stars!

The story plot itself is well reviewed and I must admit the plot was unique and fresh. In that sense I would rate this a 5. But in other ways, I found the book lacking.Over and over we heard how ugly Elizabeth was and how beautiful Joanna was. Enough already. We understood that point by chapter 2. It put undue emphasis on physical beauty and in doing so made the reader wonder why a hunk like 'brother peter' would possibly fall in love with her. He never stated the reasons either, just that he did love her.(and this was the last page, I think.) On the other hand Joanna and 'brother Adrian'as a pair wasn't very realistic.
Joanna was a leman, a courtesan......and never was there any discussion as to why Adrian fell in love with her or how he overcame his feelings about her past,if indeed it bothered him at all that she'd slept around......a lot.....On those 2 premises I would rate this area a 2..As for wicked Prince William, well that was a tad confusing. The entire story is based on the fact that he "debauched" and abused women. But near the end of the book we learn that his "manhood" was destroyed in a fire 7 yrs before so exactly what he is doing to women is questionable. There's also references made to his attentions to men, but that is never really clear. If his manhood was destroyed, what exactly is he doing to them? This whole scenario was a big 0 for me. Last and best was the writing. The book had witty, delightful dialogue and overall was well written. I'm glad I read it but I wouldn't knock myself out trying to find it again. Averages out to a 3 in my journal. It's your call.

This is the kind of book that gets you addicted to historical romance. It's rich, sensual and beautifully written. Anne Stuart is an author who never disappoints.

Elizabeth of Bredon is headed to a convent, away from her abusive father and his household of men; she joins the traveling party of a degenerate prince on his way to the shrine to make amends for his deplorable behavior. Except that the prince isn't quite as detestable as Elizabeth feared, and he doesn't find her as unattractive as she has always believed herself to be.

This historical romance is well done and enjoyable, light reading that keeps you turning the pages until the end. For the most part the characters are believable but the ending leaves way too much hanging---Will Peter get his lands back? How did he find forgiveness within himself? How does he get permission to leave his order? In the 13th century, one didn't just leave a monastic order without peril to one's immortal soul.

Of course this is a romance, so I'm willing to overlook the persistent details that should have been answered. I found the book overall to be a good read, well-written and with likeable, strong characters. That is, unless you look too closely to try to figure out those irritating details....Still, it's a good romance and should satisfy most of us who aren't looking too hard for historical accuracy.

I liked, but didn't love, this book. The characters were rather a bit predictable although the storyline was different. I won't go into the storyline since others have described it so well. Elizabeth has been told so long that she has witch's hair and is ugly and she believes it. I found her a bit outspoken for having been beaten down (both figuratively and literally!) by the brood of men that are her family. I think she was delighted to join a convent and get away from them. I wish Peter had spoken more to her about why he found her fascinating and why she had lured him away from his vows as no one else had. But he didn't. The tormented-knight-turned-monk-turned-lover character has been done before. I actually enjoyed the love story of Adrian and Joanna even better than the main romance! I know it was glossed over a bit and may have been rather unrealistic but if you read between the lines, she had not been with that many men and found the whole thing rather distasteful. But Joanna was not demeaned enough to lose her confidence in life. The pilgrimage to St. Anne's was eye-opening for both women.

I enjoyed the book enough to give it a 4 and to recommend it, but there were inconsistencies. Another reviewer mentions the whole Prince William thing. He was basically impotent, having been disfigured in a fire. He must have just been into the whole pain and debasing thing and hearing about it was just ... yuck! I guess you had to hate him enough to be glad he got his due in the end. Not a keeper, but I enjoyed reading this book.

I have reviewed so many terrible romance books lately, I thought I would go reread one of the classics and try to figure out what makes it so good. This one is sort of a random pick from my keeper shelf. It's not really that old, only about 6 years or so, but it is so much better than the new releases I've been picking up lately, I think it deserves some recognition.

Here is what I like about it. First, the use of language is excellent. So many of the newer books are written as if the audience is 12 years old, or perhaps the author has the writing skills of a 12-year-old. Anne Stuart isn't afraid to use big words and complex sentences. She does it well.

Second, the characters have layers. People are not what they appear to be. They disguise themselves on a superficial level, and then show their true character in unusual ways. It isn't only the hero, dressed as a prince, and then a monk, who is in disguise. The heroine also dons a disguise that is more subtle. The inner Elizabeth is nothing like the persona she shows to the world. Peter sees through her disguise more easily than she sees through his, but in the end, she sees through even his disguise within a disguise, and gets to the real man.

Third, the historical setting is interesting, and the use of actual historical figures in a believable setting is well done.

Fourth, there is more than one story being told. Elizabeth and Peter are not the only characters falling in love. There is another couple who are equally compelling, who are also in disguise and rising above life's circumstances.

The plot is simple and complex at the same time. The time period is very short - only about 3 or 4 days, but a lot happens during that time. Secrets are revealed, there is some reflection and self-discovery, plenty of twists and problems, and of course, a happy ending.

I wish more of the newer romance books were written as well as this one. Sometimes you have to sift through a lot of gravel to find a nugget like this.

This is the first Anne Stuart novel I've read and I was impressed. I agree with another reviewer that this is one of the best books I've read in quite awhile. I loved the two couples (Peter and Elizabeth/Adrian and Joanna), the plot and the historical details. I'll definitely read Ms. Stuart's novels in the future.

I enjoyed the story well enough, but the ending left too many unanswered questions. Like 'did the church allow them to marry?' and 'how did he get his house and land back?'. Even though we were reminded over and over how unattractive Elizabeth was, she became beautiful in Peter's eyes.

One note: This was my first Anne Stuart book that I purchased because someone compared her to Linda Howard. I'm sorry, even though the book was good, it was not in Linda Howard's league.