Knight's Fork (Love Spell Futuristic Romance) [Mass Market Paperback]

Rowena Cherry (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

I never laughed so hard in my life at the antics of Tarrant-Arragon and Djarrhett in this book, Knight's Fork. Poor 'Rhett is in a terrible position thanks to Tarrant-Arragon, and it is made even worse by his father's attempts to benefit and manipulate the matter to his own ends. Add to that, misunderstandings and meddlesome women, and Rowena Cherry gives us yet another fantastic read! -- Rose Brungard, Romance At Heart

From the Inside Flap

"I'm at your service in this, Ma'am. I've never refused a fight."

I've never lost one, either!

To his surprise, instead of making a pass at him, she sauntered over to join him at the service niche. She took up an Imperial armorers' sponge in her fingers, and began cleaning and disinfecting the blade of an epee, which showed that she knew what she was doing.

Her curled hand stroked firmly up and down the long shaft, leaving a gleaming trail of moisture where the sponge in her palm had pressed. The erotic suggestion was almost certainly deliberate.

Two could play at that.

Two probably would. They both had a lot to learn, and most of it was about sex, one way or another.

"Are you ready to demonstrate your prowess at sword-play, Your Majesty?"

"Let's make this interesting," she whispered. "I challenge you to a proper duel. To the drawing of first blood. If you lose, you will impregnate me."

He untangled his weapon and stepped back. It was such an unusual reversal of the way these things usually played out that it took a moment to come up with a suitable rebuff.

"If I lose, I impregnate you?" he rasped a follow up question when their actions brought them close enough to whisper again.

"And if you win, you don't have to." She was breathing heavily, and her words were audible.

She was shameless! She turned morality upside down. She was in sore need of a very stiff lesson.

"It seems to me," he said slowly, striving for the right balance of arrogance and legal pedantry, "that I don't 'have to' anyway."

Her heart rate increased. Hearing the faster beat excited him. As they circled and feinted, he found himself eyeing her with indecent interest.

The superb, layered cut of her outfit allowed for a surprising range of movement. When she twirled, the panels of her coat-dress top flew wide, revealing a glossy, lipstick red lining. Her reflection in the long wall of mirrors showed her long, slender, racehorse legs.

Nice legs. Shame about the ... morals.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 340 pages
• Publisher: Love Spell (September 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0505527405
• ISBN-13: 978-0505527400
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,077,944 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rowena Cherry's "Mission Statement"

My goal as a Romance author is to give good value. I expect to provide my readers with six to eight hours of amusement, a couple of really good laughs, a romantic frisson or two from the sensual scenes, a thoroughly satisfying HEA, and something to think -or talk-- about when the book is finished.


I'm unreliably psychic. I've exceptionally good hearing, an eye for detail, and a near-photographic memory. And, I've lurked and observed from some of the world's most glamorous and privileged vantage points.

I've played chess in an exhibition match against a Grand Master in the stately home of a Lord, and duplicate bridge for money (disastrously) in Marbella, dined aboard a sheikh's yacht in the Puerto Jose Banus, and received the gold level of the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award inside Buckingham Palace, been driven in pace cars at the Indy 500, picked the brains of rocket scientists and rock stars???.and much more.

My life so far has been fantastic inspiration for romance novel scenes and alien-world building.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strange but well written chess futuristic romance, September 30, 2008

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knight's Fork (Love Spell Futuristic Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

Volnoth Queen Consort Electra loves her mate Viz-lgerd, but knows they are checked when it comes to siring a child. She chooses Rhett as the sperm pawn for her offspring. However, she is unaware of two key facts about the pawn she has chosen. First he is the son of Volnoth's greatest enemy Ala'Asrer-Djalet, who is better known as the Saurian Dragon of the Djinn family; second he adheres to his vow of chastity.

Electra and Rhett are surprised by finding themselves attracted to one another. However, her brother Prince Tarrant-Arragon assumes they are having an affair. He insures they are trapped together on their way to earth. As they fall in love, his amoral father and her outraged family insist something must be done to the assumed lovers.

The latest chess futuristic romance (see FORCED MATE and INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL) is once again a strange but well written and fascinating tale. The story line is character driven as Electra tries to checkmate her reluctant knight. Fans will enjoy the latest sci fi romance from the creative Rowena Cherry as she has aliens falling into a taboo love which makes make for an intriguing albeit weird but entertaining saga.

Harriet Klausner

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rowena Cherry is Brilliant, September 20, 2008

By 

Brenda Thatcher "www.mystiquebooks.com" (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knight's Fork (Love Spell Futuristic Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

Rowena Cherry is a brilliant writer. Blending humor and romance is much harder then most people believe and she does it effortlessly. Her third Djinn novel is an excellent example. KNIGHT'S FORK had me laughing from the first chapter all the way to the end.

Rhett is a hot and smart leading man that had me thinking of old Carry Grant movies and some of the great one-liners he delivered on the silver screen. Electra is an intelligent, beautiful woman who captures the reader's heart from page one. These two are thrust together through a series of hysterical misadventures that lead to a sizzling romance.

This novel has it all and I would recommend it to everyone. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that this is the third book in the series and makes reference to characters and events in the previous books. Readers might want to read this series in order and not as stand-alone books.

~ Sarah Gentili

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars you'll want to own the entire series!, September 18, 2008

By 

Brenna Lyons "Men are animals, and women woul... (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knight's Fork (Love Spell Futuristic Romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a fan of Rowena Cherry. No doubt about it. She's a stellar writer, and her worlds are incredibly intricate. Not to mention the fact that her Djinn Princes are mouth-wateringly hot and scrumptious. To boot, she has a great dry wit, that classic English humor found in Monty Python and other greats.

I was lucky enough to be gifted an advance copy of KNIGHT'S FORK, book three in Rowena's Tigron/Djinn Princes. What a gift! It hasn't been long since I've read the first two novels in this series (FORCED MATE and INSUFFICIENT MATING MATERIAL), though I read the novella more than a year ago (MATING NET). Still, I don't think this world would diminish, even if it had been years for all of them.

Like all the books in this series, the title is based on a chess move or situation. A "Knight's Fork" arises when an opponent's knight is faced with two of your pieces, and you must choose to save one, knowing that the danger still looms for the other. In short, it's the proverbial "rock and a hard place" situation.

For Prince Djarrhett, The Saurian Djinn, trouble comes from all sides.

He's taken a vow of chastity, in a large part due to his "unfortunate childhood accident of fate." Read that as a bout of human mumps leaving him a very virile and potent Djinn but incapable of experiencing the rut-rage. That is both a blessing and a curse to him, since it means he isn't dangerous, when a fertile Djinn woman is around, but it also means he can't experience the imprinting, which will make him crave the first female Djinn who is rut-rageous he scents.

He's pursued by the Queen Consort of the Volnoth, Electra-Djerroldina (Prince Tarrant-Arragon's older sister). Her pursuit isn't completely carnal, though. Electra was mated to the youngest Volnoth prince to seal an alliance between Tigron and Volnoth, a mating that was never expected to bring forth children. Who knew his father and older brothers would be killed off, leaving Viz-Igerd with the impossible task of impregnating the wife he loves? Electra has no wish to commit body-treason (adultery) with Rhett. All she wants is his semen to accomplish a pregnancy she might pass off as her beloved husband's...and perhaps prepare her reticent body to carry a child that Viz-Igerd would sire later.

He's on an impossible quest, namely proving his unstable half-brother Devoron has rut-raged on a full Djinn female on Earth, Demetra, who is believed dead.

He's temporary guardian and male role model to a spoiled and deceptively-innocuous half-Djinn prince (Thor-quentin, the younger of Tarrant-Arragon's nephews from his younger sister Martia-Djulia).

Oh, and let us not forget the devious Saurian Dragon (aka Rhett's father), who will do anything up to sacrificing his son to break the alliance between Tigron and Volnoth...and the "Wicked Tarrant-Arragon," who believes his older sister guilty of body-treason and sees only one way to save her life...

Okay...you MIGHT believe that I've told you the whole book. You'd be dead wrong. This is just where the book jumps off into an amazing array of plots within plots and reversals of fortune. Even when you think you know what's coming next, you never really do with Rowena's books, which is one of the reasons I adore her writing.

The characters are delightful, as always. Rhett is, by far, the most morally-centered and least foul-tempered of the Djinn princes, not a great surprise, since he can't rut-rage. Electra is a woman who is caught between two men that she deeply cares about, neither one of which she wishes to hurt. Even her pining husband, Vis-Igerd, is a delight to the senses. He's confused and angry, but all he really wants is what is best for Electra and his people, even if it doesn't feel right for him.

The world continues to grow and entrance. Rowena leaves the reader with just enough questions to make you want to preorder the next book in the series...NOW. There are still secrets that need uncovered, and discerning readers will be salivating for them.

I can't wait to find out who gets a story next. Will it be Devoron? It seems set up to facilitate that.

At any rate, this entire series wins a place on my keeper shelf. Kudos and two thumbs up to Rowena Cherry for a winning series!