Lady Fortune (Zebra Historical Romance) [Paperback]

Anne Stuart (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 319 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821764705
• ISBN-13: 978-0821764701
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #520,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I've been writing since the dawn of time. A child prodigy, I made my first professional sale to Jack and Jill Magazine at the age of 7, for which I received $25 (admittedly my father worked for the publisher). Since then I've written gothics, regencies, romantic suspense, historical romance, series romance -- anything with sex and violence, love and redemption. I misbehave frequently, but somehow have managed to amass lots of glittering prizes, like NYT, PW and USA Today bestseller status, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Romance Writers of America, and a decent smattering of Romantic times and RITA awards.
I live on a lake in Northern Vermont with my incredibly fabulous husband. My two children have flown the coop, but the three cats do their best to keep us from being lonely.
In my spare time I quilt and play around with wearable art, and the rest of the time I write write write. Apparently women of a certain age get a rush of creativity, and I'm currently enjoying it. Too many stories to write, not enough hours in the day.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wickedly Funny HIstorical!, December 27, 1999

By 

L. Ponder "linsfolly" (Hamilton, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lady Fortune (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

King Henry sends his court jester, Nicholas to the home of Hugh, the Earl of Fordham. Nicholas is to be a wedding present for the earl, and his bride, Isabeau. At the same time, Julianna, Isabeau's widowed daughter, is summoned to the home also. Nicholas and Julianna share a litter on their ride to the earl's home. We, as readers, get to eavesdrop on their wickedly funny conversation. And of course, we share in their romance, as well.

Nicholas has a hidden agenda. At King Henry's behest, he's to find the chalice of Saint Hugelina, the Dragon, and bring it to him. Julianna, and others, stand in his way. Julianna, has suffered a miserable marriage and wishes to join a convent. She has no wish to join with a "fool", a court jester. Nicholas, however, has different ideas. How Nicholas brings his two goals together, is what makes this book so very good.

This story is peopled with many interesting supporting characters. Hugh and Isabeau provide an unusual secondary romance. There's a priest who is truly evil, and a Brother Abbot who has his own agenda. Gilbert, a fosterling of Hugh's has a sweet face and a "killer" disposition. All, and others, play major rolls in the finding of the chalice, and in Julianna's and Nicholas' romance.

This is not a "dark" romance. There is humor, sly and clever innuendoes, Nicholas' rhymes, bawdy songs. If you're like me, you'll find yourself laughing out loud. And yet none of the humor hurts the romance, at all. The sensuality is sweet, but also erotic. And, Nicholas and Julianna felt very "real" to me. I read, and enjoyed this book in one sitting; and, I will read it again soon. This was a "keeper" for me!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Anne Stuart at her best!!, February 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Lady Fortune (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

This has definitely got to be one of my favorites by Anne Stuart. It was a funny, heart warming and yet heart wrenching romantic adventure. I loved it!! It is about a young widow named Julianna, who, after her cold husband of ten years passes away, is sent to stay with her mother whom she has not seen since her marriage. She was sent away when she was 11 to marry the older man and since then has not been able to completely forgive her mother. Well, now her mother (also a widow) is to be remarried and the King has sent Nicholas, a jester, as a temporary wedding gift. However, Nicholas is REALLY sent to steal a precious chalice from Julianna's step father-to-be and has no idea what he is about to get himself into. The characters in this book are rich and full of life. I absolutely adored Julianna and Nicholas. Even at his worse, Nicholas was a splendid character. Full of adventure and fun and romance, I highly recommend this book. After having read several of Anne Stuart's books, I believe this one comes very, very close to being her best yet. So, anyone with a liking for romances with a twist and charming characters should definitely pick this book up!! It is one you are not likely to forget for quite some time.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bawdy fun and great romance, May 17, 2004

By 

Casey V (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lady Fortune (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

The hero of this book, Nicholas Strangefellow, is a court jester for Henry III. But come on, this is an Anne Stuart book, so we soon find out that he is also a secret agent for the king, with secrets of his own and ambitions for the future. He is also quite the ladies' man, and is a favorite of the king's sister.

He is sent by Henry to Fortham Castle to steal the Chalice of St. Hugelina the Dragon, a religious relic that the king covets, under the guise of being the "entertainment" for the Earl of Fortham's upcoming wedding. Right away Nicholas meets Julianna of Moncrieff, who is the daughter of the earl's bride (they all married really young in those days). Julianna was married off as a child to an old, abusive husband, and now that he's dead, she wants nothing further to do with men. Nicholas, who prides himself on being able to charm any woman he wants, is at first picqued by her indifference to him. Soon, he becomes fascinated by her mixture of toughness and kindness, and of innocence and warinesss, and he immediately embarks on a course of seduction of the wary widow. She resists him, but is secretly falling under his spell.

At Fortham, intrigue is heavy as various characters try to trip each other to get to the relic. There's an evil abbot, a priest, a ruthless teenage assassin, the powerful earl himself, the cunning Nicholas and his servant Bogo. And Julianna and her mother get in on the action as well. All the intrigue is handled very well by Stuart, and it never gets confusing.

Julianna keeps up a tough shell, but she's helplessly drawn by Nicholas's sharp mind, by the way he sees into her soul, and of course, by his seductive charms. Nicholas thinks he's got everything under control; he thinks he's not falling desperately in love with Julianna, and besides, he's a scoundrel with a precarious future and nothing to offer a lady such as she. Being proven wrong has never been this crazy and sweet.

This book is a delightful medieval romp, with some intense and poignant moments in the romance between Nicholas and Julianna. There's a sweet secondary romance between Julianna's mother and the Earl of Fortham. Nicholas's rhymes are annoying, cheesy, and wicked, and there are some outrageous characters the likes of which only Anne Stuart can pull off with such aplomb. The language and sentence structure can be rather inelegant, and the ending seems a bit rushed, but overall, this is a very enjoyable read.