The Lion In Glory (Zebra Historical Romance) [Paperback]

Shannon Drake (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stuffed full of historical detail and bloody battles, the newest installment in Drake's 14th-century Graham family series (Knight Triumphant, etc.) pits a resourceful Englishwoman against an overbearing Scottish warrior, but the resulting romance is more likely to irritate than entertain. The novel opens with an overview of Robert the Bruce's rise to power, which was helped along by funds exacted from fearful English families living on the borderlands. Lady Christina of Hamstead Heath is one of those fearful English, and when Bruce's men, led by Sir James Graham, arrive at her manor demanding money, she finds herself without anything to offer them but herself. James reluctantly agrees to take her hostage but soon comes to regret his decision. The two argue constantly. Their prime disagreement concerns Christina's brother, who has been wrongly accused of committing treason against the crown. Christina is determined to save Steven by sacrificing herself to the English lord who is holding him prisoner, but James refuses to let her do so. Rather than discuss the matter rationally, they insult and torment each other and then have sex. To the reader's dismay, this cycle continues ad nauseam. Though the story is rich in history, the protagonists' constant head-butting makes for an exceedingly tedious read.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Zebra (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0821772872
• ISBN-13: 978-0821772874
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times and USA Today best selling author, Heather Graham was born somewhere in Europe and kidnapped by gypsies when she was a small child. She went on to join the Romanian circus as a trapeze artist and lion tamer. When the circus came to South Florida, she stayed, discovering that she preferred to be a shark and gator trainer.

Not really.

Heather is the child of Scottish and Irish immigrants who met and married in Chicago, and moved to South Florida, where she has spent her life. (She has, at least, been to the Russian circus in Moscow, where she wished she was one of the incredibly talented and coordinated trapeze artists.) She majored in theater arts at the University of South Florida. After a stint of several years in dinner theater, back-up vocals, and bartending, she stayed home after the birth of her third child and began to write. Her first book was with Dell, and since then, she has written over one hundred and fifty novels and novellas including category, suspense, historical romance, vampire fiction, time travel, occult, horror, and Christmas family fare.

She is pleased to have been published in approximately twenty-five languages, and has had over seventy-five million books in print. She has been honored with awards from Walden Books, B. Dalton, Georgia Romance Writers, Affaire de Coeur, Romantic Times, the Lifetime Achievement Award from RWA and more. Heather has also become the proud recipient of the Silver Bullet from Thriller Writers. Heather has had books selected for the Doubleday Book Club and the Literary Guild, and has been quoted, interviewed, or featured in such publications as The Nation, Redbook, Mystery Book Club, People and USA Today and appeared on many newscasts including Today, Entertainment Tonight and local television.

Heather loves travel and anything that has to do with the water, and is a certified scuba diver. She also loves ballroom dancing. Each year she hosts the Vampire Ball and Dinner theater at the RT convention raising money for the Pediatric Aids Society and in 2006 she hosted the first Writers for New Orleans Workshop to benefit the stricken Gulf region. She is also the founder of "The Slush Pile Players", presenting something that's almost like entertainment for various conferences and benefits. Married since high school graduation and the mother of five, her greatest love in life remains her family, but she also believes her career has been an incredible gift, and she is grateful every day to be doing something that she loves so very much for a living.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book 5 of a terrific series. Not as good as the rest, but worth while., April 7, 2006

By 

Alyce In Wonderland "The Looking Glass" (Over the hill or underland, or just behind a tree) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Lion In Glory (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

There are 5 books in this series. Reading them in order does make a difference. I've found them all to be "hard to put down." Here is the order of the series:

Come the Morning
Conquer the Night
Seize the Dawn
Knight Triumphant
The Lion in Glory

The hero in "The Lion in Glory", Jamie, is first introduced in "Knight Triumphant." He is the much loved cousin of "Knight" hero, Eric. I loved Jamie's character in that story, so I was excited to read his entire story in "The Lion in Glory." I have to admit, I liked him better in "Knight Triumphant." He was friendly, easy- going, smart, and fun in "Knight." In "Lion", he becomes bitter and angry. The story is still a great page- turner, and a must after reading the rest of the series, but I would have liked to see his character reflect the personality I came to love in "Knight."
Several important characters from "Knight Triumphant" are again very important in "Lion in Glory." Be sure to read "Knight" first.
You will find that after reading the first few books in this series, you will want to skim through some parts of "Lion" that repeat the history of the war and certain parts of the Graham family history. These parts are, of course, included in the story for readers whom have not read the first four books in the series.


The Lion in Glory:

The English king is dead! Edward I has terrorized Scotland for nearly two decades. Over the past few years, Scotland has united under their chosen king, Robert Bruce. Bruce makes every effort to create a lasting unity and freedom for his country. There are still a few major Scottish castles sitting in the hands of the English. Bruce's most loyal knights make heroic raids to reclaim Scottish land in the name of their king.

One of Bruce's great knights is Jamie Graham. Like his cousins, he fights for the freedom of his beloved country. With his friends and his closest cousin Eric, he raids English holdings on the border lands between England and Scotland. In his kings name, Jamie collects money from the English land holders as an exchange for peace... Pay Bruce, and the Scottish will not destroy your land. However, Edward II, who is now ruling England, condemns anyone who pays the Scots off. In Edward's point of view, those who pay are traitors. England is on the brink of a civil war. Edward is too weak to protect his people, but punishes them for buying peace with Bruce.

Christina knows that the Scottish are coming to collect their "peace money." She doesn't have the funds, and is desperate to stop the Scots from raiding her home and taking everything they have for payment. She decides the only thing she can do is drug the Scots, then turn them over to the English king. Jamie is not fooled by her offer of food and wine. He trades glasses with Christina, then waits as she passes out. When Christina awakens, she is terrified that the English king will believe that she gave the Scots her families valuables as a trade for peace. Her brother, Steven, is already being held prisoner for paying the year before. Christina begs Jamie to take her hostage. It is the only way Edward will believe that she didn't hand the valuables over by choice.

The last thing Jamie wants is hostages. However, when the beautiful Christina offers to give him anything.. yes anything... in exchange for taking her, he can't resist.

Christina has one purpose in life: free her brother. She will give anything and anyone, even her own life, to save him. Jamie now finds himself stuck with the challenge of saving her from her own foolish sacrifices. He realizes the best way to save Christina, is to free her brother.


Again, the story is very good. It kept me interested from the beginning to the end. However, I liked the other 4 of the series more. Christina is a bit too foolish for me. She even challenges a knight to a sword battle while she is pregnant. Then she can't understand why Jamie is so angry about it.
I do miss Jamie's kind spirit from the last book, but having Christina to contend with I can't blame him for being hard at times.

Shannon Drake has written a 6th Graham novel, "When We Touch", but it is not truly connected with this Scottish series. It takes place years later, in the Victorian era, in London. It is the story of a female Graham descendant. I believe I will wait a while before reading it. I'm still basking in the glow of Scottish Graham men.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not her best work, January 22, 2003

By 

Mz Susan ""Tell me a story"" (Tampa Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lion In Glory (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

Generally speaking, Shannon Drake is one of my favorite authors. One where - if I see her name on a book, it is an automatic purchase. Her historical research for the background is excellent, and her characters and storylines, normally engaging. Mostly, her books are a Good Read.
This one just didn't seem to measure up to her previous efforts. It is a follow-up book to Knight Triumphant, telling the story of the Jamie Graham a cousin mentioned in that story.
I found myself skip-reading large sections where she got way too wordy and involved in details that did nothing to advance the story. It seemed like she was trying to stretch out the story to make the book longer (500 pages or bust!)
Parts of the dialog between the main characters, I had to re-read trying to figure out what they were really trying to say because the dialog got lost in between the wandering character musings.
Where, normally, we would have been made sympathetic to the heroine/hero - or at least made to understand their point of view; the heroine, Christina, was too self-absorbed and the hero, Jamie, did nothing but be irrationally angry for the length of the book. Even the bedroom scenes fell short of interesting.
Don't let this review keep you from enjoying her other books. Knight of Fire and Blue Heaven Black Knight (just to name a couple) are both good books - and her vampire series is outstanding. I highly recommend them. But this one needs editing - and shortening.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WONDERFUL, GREAT ENTERTAINMENT!!!, January 12, 2003

By 

editor210 (Riverside CA (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lion In Glory (Zebra Historical Romance) (Paperback)

I loved this book! I think maybe I must of have read a different book then the first reviewer but this book is great! I love Shannon Drake and have read all the previous books in this series about the Grahams. To be honest, this story is not a disappointment. In all fairness to the first reviewer, she did state this was her first Shannon Drake book; therefore, she has not read the previous ones. Go back to the begining "Come The Morning" and read the rest in order, "Conquer The Night, Seize The Dawn, and Knight Triumphant." I highly recommended this book as either part of the series or even as a stand alone.