Customer Reviews

A Knight's Vow

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3 star:		(3)
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The story of Isabel, the lady warrior, and James Markham, Earl of Bolton, was so riveting that I couldn't put it down until I found out how these two people would solve their problems and fall in love. I didn't want this story to end. The sexual tension sizzled in this very sensual book. The author is incredibly skilled and talented as a story-teller. I just loved it and you will, too.

Gayle Callen's "A Knight's Vow" is truly a fabulous read that you will not want to put down or end. Ms. Callen takes the classic battle of the sexes to new heights of humor, excitement and tenderness. This book is brilliantly written with characters so memorable they quite jump off the page and grab your heart. It's a must read for fans of famous boy vs. girl pairings like Hepburn & Tracy or Bruce Willis & Cybil Shepard in Moonlighting. Ms. Callen draws the reader into James and Isabel's world easily. The sparkling dialogue that was full of double entendre's and all out fun kept me entranced. The journey that James and Isabel take from being physically attracted enemies to deeply in love soul mates is very satisfying and will no doubt be considered a classic! What is most captivating is how Ms. Callen lets the reader truly "get into" her characters' heads. Behind the humorous humiliations, the serious competitions between boy and girl, are real emotions of heartache, failure and inadequacy. Isabel and James' triumph over their very human failings; they come to respect and cherish each other for who they truly are, not who they appear to be. This is a must read for any romance fan, not just medievals. I absolutely recommend it as a top-notch novel!

This is the second book in the series. The 1st book"The Darkest Knight" was much more tender and loving. I enjoyed the fact that in this book the bad brother from the first book has a chance to become the hero and mends the rift in his family. This is James's story. We first meet him as he is being attacted by the heroine in the story, Isabel, or Angel as he calls her. She is trying to finish the revenge her family has started against his family. She steals from him and leaves him bloody and bested by a woman only to show up again at his castle in his bedroom. She flees after a struggle with a very naked James. She is soon caught though and he has her thrown in his dungeon. He soon finds himself commanded by his King to marry her. He is stunned but more so she. She dresses like a man, has no idea how to act like a lady or even a civilized human being. He tries to get her to change but she is as stubborn as he. They fight the attraction they have for each other and only after a long struggle do they finally admit they care for one another. I will enjoy reading a book about James's sister hopefully in the near future.

She was the Black Angel, a woman who sought revenge against James Markaha, Earl of Bolton. But soon Lady Isabel, aka The Black Angel, finds herself married to the man she hates. Is their married life to be reduced to the endless pursuit of revenge, or could there be something more to it . . . could it be love? 1486, a time of knights, a ladies . . . and love. Gayle Callen wove a beautiful tapestry of all three.

Isabel Atherstone is the Black Angel, a woman whose life has been shaped by traumatic events in which she had no part - a horrible tournament injury inflicted upon her father by the father of the book's hero, James Markham. Because of what happened to her father, Isabel is raised with one goal, one driving motivation that forces her to drown out all of her natural needs and desires in order to attain it: gaining revenge on the hero's family. And to achieve this end, she is raised as a man. Raised to fight like a man, dress like a man, think like a man. Raised to be a warrior in the truest sense of the word... But she is a warrior with a woman's wounded heart. With this, her second book, Ms. Callen has risen to new levels by giving us a multi-faceted heroine who breaks the bounds. Isabel is hard as nails on the outside, yet vulnerable on the inside, unsure of herself and her ability to be a woman that any man - but particularly the handsome James Markham - could desire for his own. With superb writing style and excellently drawn, unique and exciting characters, Ms. Callen has written another winner in A Knight's Vow. Well worth every penny and then some!

Anyone who is threatened by seeing a strong, capable, feisty heroine should probably stick to reading Snow White. For the rest of us--strong women who aren't afraid of our own innate feminine power, this book is a gem that will be treasured down through the ages. Not only is it stunningly well written, brilliantly plotted, and thrilling all the way through, it is also a bonafide work of feminist literature. This book is a prime example of why and how romance fiction can be empowering to women everywhere. The genre has changed. It's by women, for women, about women. Strong, smart, independent women who tolerate no nonsense and demand not only love, but respect and honor from their men. Brava Ms. Callen! Well done!

I really loved the twist of having the heroine dress as a man and be nearly as good with a sword as her enemy/husband James. And their verbal sparring was terrific--kept me laughing and turning the pages. I also found it very touching that for all their bravado, the hero and heroine each had a vulnerable side which they had to confront in order to finally surmount their differences. Definitely one for my "keeper" shelf!

Author Gayle Callen, who writes with enthusiasm, did not shrink from her depiction of Isabel "Black Angel" Atherstone. James Markham was also easy to visualize. Unfortunately, only Isabel had ambition in the one-note plot of A KNIGHT'S VOW. The Black Angel's attempts to achieve her goal of revenge though, were enacted through a series of scenes that led nowhere and became repetitious. Poor Isabel's low self-esteem made her a pitiable rather than a sympathetic character.

Neither hero nor heroine fulfilled any need in the other, evolved, or worked together toward a common purpose. They did make numerous attempts to have sex, but were always interrupted. This tiresome devise of many romance novels rarely builds tension (let them DO IT already) so when a couple finally comes together it had better be good. Sorry to disappoint, but this consummation was not climactic. In fact, the story, itself, had no climax.

Use your apparent talent, Ms. Callen. Give your characters something to do and a story to do it in.

The Black Angel (Isabel Atherstone)is out to seek revenge on James, the Earl of Bolton. She blames him for his father gravely wounding her father in a tournament. She has few if any female traits: dresses as a man, swaggers like a man, sword fights like a man. James has the patience of a saint. If I read one more chapter where Isabel humiliates James I think I would have put the book down. If you read the story you will also see that the front cover gives a totally inaccurate picture of the hero. Are the cover artists or publishers afraid to show a less then perfect hero?