Customer Reviews

Lion's Bride

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Overall, I enjoyed the book. In the beginning, the hero is totally crass and I did have to wonder where his redeeming graces were. The heroine was well drawn and feisty.

But the people who REALLY intrigued me were the side characters of Selene and Kadar. I literally have dog-eared their pages and reread them. I would sit through this book if only to get to sequel with them.

Setting was great, there was lots of action (and mulberry trees). Good knights. Bad knights. Knights that you think are bad but maybe are not so bad. Evil assasins. Silk.

But Jo, if you ever read this...give us Kadar and Selene. Their ending left me unsatisfied. I wanted to follow them and then you stopped!!

The story was set in a place where and when women were viewed with a little more respect than a commodity. That setting gave a lot of allowance for the extent of crude treatment of women, for exmaple: female slaves were treated almost like whores if they were comely, Ware had women to service his sexual needs at his beck and call, existence of harem and total submission to the men etc. One should bear in mind that such was oppressive setting thus not to expect it to be too romantic.

My main complaint about the book was the rivalry and alliance between the various tribes and factions, which I had problem following. Also, the talk of the legends and God were confusing.

Ware was a hard man who tried to be heartless. Thea was determined and single-minded about what she wanted. But the most enjoyable exchanges were those between Kadar and Selene. I noticed that Iris Johansen's books always have a secondary character with amusing sense of humour, whom we often liked as much if not more than the lead characters. And Kadar was, as usual, delightful.

A minor disappointment in the book was that I wished Ware and Vaden could be together as brothers again after they left behind their baggage, but it didn't happen.

Overall, it was not a flawless and impressive story as compared to other IJ's books, but enjoyable still. Wish there were more steamy scenes though.

This was not a romance novel--it was a dismal account of child labor and exploitation, revenge, betrayal, bitterness, and war. The plot was a jumbled choppy mess and at most times boring, almost all of the characters were one-dimensional and produced no interest or emotion. The story tried to pick up at the very end, but it was a wasted effort. The only thing that kept this tale from being a total bomb was Kadar, however one good character can't save a sinking book.

Speaking of no romance, this is from the hero and heroine's first (of only a few) encounter of 'love making'--- "His lips were curled back from his teeth as if he were in pain as he positioned himself...'Stop looking at me,' he said roughly. 'I can't let you go now. It's not my fault you're a virgin. You're the one who came to me: It will be over in a minute.'"

I purchased this one after I enjoyed reading the first chapter "teaser" presented at the end of another novel. The location, time-setting, and possible story line really captured my imagination. Little did I know that was practically the only good part of this whole book.

Once you read this book, you can never put it down. The characters and storyline are written very well. The romance in the story is powerful. This book is definately worth reading.

There was no connection between the two main characters. Nothing endearing that made you want to like, let alone love the two main characters. I usually can not put down a book till it is completely read. One minute they were hot and heavy and the next thing you read that they don't connect for two years. Get real!

I really loved this story as it was so different. It led me to looking for more information about the Knights Templar. Read a Virginia Henley book also "Desired" that told more about them. Like others I would love to read a sequel about Kadar and Selene....Please!!

Thea, a slave devises a plan to free herself and her sister Selena. She steals some silk worms and sets off to start her new life with the intent of returning to rescue her sister. When her caravan is set upon and all are killed but Thea she wonders if she has made a horrid mistake. Her fears are stilled when she is rescued by handsome knight, Lord Ware. He takes her back to his castle but the danger is not past, he is a former Knight Templar and he holds many secrets, secrets that people will kill for. Despite this danger a romance blooms between the two and Thea manages to talk Ware into saving her sister Selena. But there is no respite from Ware's enemies and despite the intrigue, the two fall in love and now it's quite possible that Thea could be in even more danger because there are some that won't hesitate to use her as a weapon in order to make Ware pay. Can these two find their happy ending?

This is a re-issue of the 1996 publication and may read a little dated to those that have not read this title in the past. I really wanted to like this book and I did...to a certain degree. The location and time period is intriguing and Selene and Kadar are almost more interesting then the leads. With that said this is a classic formula book and although there is passion, I wouldn't jump straight to erotic passion. Keep this in mind if you are wont to be drawn to the steamier and sexier books on the shelves today...you're not going to find that here. All in all Ms. Johansen has penned a fair romance and this re-issue is a way to introduce her new title "The Treasure" which will release later this year.

'Lion's Bride' has been reissued in 2008 to prepare for the release of its new sequel, 'The Treasure', towards the end of 2008. The original 'Lion's Bride' was released in 1996 and though not feeling particularly dated, this reviewer still found it a rather uneven book.

The setting is very enjoyable - events take place during the Crusades in places such as Constantinople, Acre and even Scotland. The heroine, Thea, is a slave with an amazing skill for embroidery; when she escapes her slavery and ends up in a caravan which is attacked, she is rescued rather unwillingly by Lord Ware, former Knight Templar and rather gloomy man. In order to protect Thea, Lord Ware takes her to his castle where they spar verbally and she eventually persuades Ware to rescue her slave sister Selene from Constantinople; Ware sends his friend Kadar to rescue Selene - Kadar is a fascinating character and the focus of the forthcoming book.

As usual propinquity creates love and Thea finds herself attracted to Ware. However, events in Ware's past mean that people who are close to him are in serious danger and for Thea's own safety he has her moved to a different location. Unfortunately Thea doesn't take kindly to finding herself in another kind of enslavement. How can Thea and Ware ever be safe together? How can they escape the combined threat from Knights Templar, Saladin and an individual assassin who has been stalking Ware for years? Can they be happy?

This book was very uneven. Parts were excellent (I found the last quarter of the book much more enjoyable than most of the rest), some parts I actually found quite boring and I never felt that the characterisation of Ware and Thea was particularly convincing although that of Kadar and Selene was much better. I was continually irritated by the author's constant use of 'couple' and 'coupling' for sex - I rather wished her editor had given her a thesaurus to read so that she could have varied the terminology a bit more. I really liked the setting and the historical period which were unusual - the violence and the awful situation for women made the story seem very exotic. However overall there were too many disappointments to make this book one that I could recommend although from events in the story it seems that the follow up might well be more enjoyable.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

I really enjoyed this book! I love that the main character was an extremely flawed man. Who become a better man for loving her. It was so discriptive and it was a quick read. I could barely put it down. It has some interesting concepts of religion, and ones faith. Its one I could read over and oner.

This was a great love story. Set during the Crusades, the story was fast-paced, the characters were well-developed, and the plot was engaging. I could relate to the main characters: Ware with his compulsive desire to protect everyone around him and Thea with her often stubborn insistence on freedom. Kadar, Ware's half Frankish-half Armenian best friend, was an intriguing character. The secondary friendship/romance between Thea's little sister, Selene, and Kadar was poignant--they were both such isolated, self-reliant people, who found in each other a reason to be less so. Ware's secret, when it was revealed, was surprising and thought-provoking. Considering the story's setting during the Third Crusade and the condition of women in the 12th century, I believe that the Knight Templars' secret was potentially catastrophic, and the danger to Ware and everyone close to him, real. In a perfect world, their secret needn't have been so. But then, the "best of all possible worlds" doesn't exist.