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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Anne Stuart is a master at dark romance, June 7, 2001
This review is from: Lord Of Danger (Paperback)
Lord of Danger by Anne Stuart has a permanent place on my bookshelf. I have all of her books but this one should NOT be passed by! Alys is half sister to Richard the Fair. She has been schooled in the convent so she doesn't know anything about castle life and the treachery that lies therein. She is summoned along with her beautiful sister, Claire, to Summersedge Keep to marry a man who is feared throughout the land. A man some say is no man at all but a demon wizard called Grendal. Simon of Navarre has long ago lost his ability to believe in human goodness. He is jaded by war losing his soul in the streets of Constantinople. He willingly embraces the dark arts, becoming a master magician feared by all including Richard the Fair. There is nothing that can be denied him. . . He is given the choice to choose between Richard's two sisters. Will he choose Claire who possesses a radiant beauty or Alys who is plain, peaceful and . . clever? Simon does not want a clever wife who will see past the frightening surface he has carefully cultivated to the man hidden beneath. No . . . He much prefers a beautiful, flighty wife but that changes when he meets the two women. Claire is clearly terrified of him, unable to meet his gaze but Alys even though frightened, looks straight at him. In that moment, her fate is sealed for he chooses her. Simon finds himself falling under Alys' innocent, intoxicating spell. She is witty, gentle, compassionate and unafraid to be tied to a man who is feared throughout the land. Even though she fears his touch would forever damn her, she cannot resist Simon's seductive magic. She falls in love with him and he is captured by the purity of her love. The two lovers become the unwitting pawns in an evil scheme that Richard the Fair has been secretly plotting. Will their love be powerful enough to overcome the odds that are stacked against them or will the unstoppable force of love set them both free? And what becomes of Claire? This story has it all. Intrigue, romance, sensual love scenes, and above all that element of danger that makes Anne Stuart a master at dark romance. Not to be missed.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very intriguing hero, October 17, 2003
This review is from: Lord Of Danger (Paperback)
I'm glad that even though I intensely disliked the previous Anne Stuarts I'd read (Blue Sage and Moonrise), I nevertheless decided to give her another chance and read Lord of Danger. Such a difference from those other two books! The little things that I'd liked about them, what made me think "this could have been good" were excellent here, and what had bothered me had been toned down. I really liked that the focus of the book was mostly on the love story. The political intrigue set up the situation and provided the final conflict, but it didn't take over the story with tiresome manouvering. The characters: just wonderful. Simon was a very dark, tortured hero. He was like James (from Moonrise) in that, only he had a sense of humor, a great deal of charm, a sense of honour and a troublesome conscience... in short, he was nothing like James ;-) All jokes aside, he was a fascinating character, a guy who's cultivated his own legend to get power, who delights in scaring people and who likes to think that he has lost his soul and has no conscience, only to have it pop up and bother him at inconvenient times. James wouldn't have had a problem in giving Richard the poison he asked for in order to murder the 12-year-old king. Simon did. He tried to convince himself, listed all the reasons why he should do it anyway, but his conscience still bothered him. And that made all the difference in my liking him. I loved the way he was completely fascinated by Alys, and how that fascination baffled him. As for Alys, I liked her too. She was a bit too much of a wide-eyed innocent at first, so ready to martyr herself and sacrifice, but I just loved the way she accepted the fact that it wasn't going to be such an awful thing to be married to Simon, that the guy didn't so much scare her as excite her. I thought it was very courageous of her to see this, most romance heroines would simply cling to their idea that they were sacrificing to the bitter end. The secondary storyline I liked. It was interesting, but much more romance-ey than the primary one. I liked that it contrasted nicely with it, giving the book some much needed air among the intensity. Other good things were the colourful, almost jewel-like (I know this isn't a valid adjective, but it was the word that came to mind. You probably know what I mean) atmosphere and a villain who was interesting and actually human. Evil, yes, but not a caricature.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very different medieval, September 19, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Lord Of Danger (Paperback)
"A pox on your poor sister," says Simon, "I've already chosen you.", and Alys faints at his feet. Already, on pg. 32, I was entranced by the words of Anne Stuart. Simon was in my house, and I was lost in his and Alys's story. He's the dark, tortured hero, but with touches of humor and humanity. She's meek and timid,or so she says. But Alys never hesitates to throw herself in harm's way to protect her sister; and eventually Simon. This is a medieval that has it all. Action, humor, sweet sensuality, and two romances. And the best thing about Anne's secondary romance, is that it never takes anything away from the main story; the romance and adventure of Alys and Simon of Navarre.
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