14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jo Beverley proves she can write mediaeval!, March 1, 2001
This review is from: Lord of Midnight (Topaz Historical Romance) (Paperback)
For some reason, I am less keen on mediaeval romances than on those set in the Regency or Georgian period. However, with books like this one, and Mary Jo Putney's Uncommon Vows, I might read mediaevel more often!
Renald de Lisle, the new King's Champion, fights in a tourney on the king's behalf, and kills his man. As a reward, he is given the dead man's estate, Summerbourne, but the king asks him to marry one of the unmarried women on the estate. By process of elimination, he chooses Claire Summerbourne, the dead man's daughter, as his wife.
Claire - still in mourning for her father - is deeply distrustful of de Lisle: she is wary of him because he is a warrior by profession, and she resents his acquisition of her father's property. She doesn't want to marry him, but has little choice. However, by the day of their betrothal the two have come to understand each other, and by the following day - their wedding day - they are ready to admit that they love each other.
However - as the editorial review above makes clear - it's at this point that Claire discovers Renald is the man who killed her father, and she realises that she cannot commit to him.
The remainder of the book deals with Renald and Claire coming to terms with the harsh knowledge which lies between them, made all the more difficult by Renald's feeling that he did nothing wrong; he was acting lawfully and in accordance with the king's instructions. How Claire comes to understand and forgive, and to reconcile her love for Renald with her love for her father, is told very well and very convingly by Beverley.
The historical detail is also very interesting, as well as being accurate; I certainly learned a lot from this book.
My only complaint is that - typically - there was no indication on the book's cover, or even inside before the start of the book, that this was a sequel to another mediaeval romance by Beverley, Dark Champion. While reading Lord of Midnight, I kept coming across references to Imogen and Fitzroger, and when eventually these characters were encountered, it did seem as if readers were supposed to be familiar with them. Beverley's postscript then revealed that Lord of Midnight is a sequel to Dark Champion. I wouldn't say that it's essential to read Dark Champion first, but I did feel that it might have been useful to have read it. I do wish publishers would be honest when one book is a sequel to another!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, March 7, 2002
This review is from: Lord of Midnight (Topaz Historical Romance) (Paperback)
Can you live with the man who killed your father? Jo Beverley believes that you can, that love can conquer anything - even that. That is probably the main reason I gave this book 4 stars only.. everything else about it is excellent, but I found the central theme too difficult to swallow.
The characters are very well written.. Renald is hard, tough, unyielding.. but oddly vulnerable in his attraction to Claire.. she is defeated, heartbroken and vulnerable, but beautifully strong in her pride and dignity..
Very well written.. the twists and turns will surprise you and delight you.. funny at time, heart wrenching at others.. what else can you ask for from a historical romance?
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Started with promise; dropped the ball big time, October 2, 2006
Jo Beverley was doing quite well with this historical piece until she wrote herself into a corner. Although it was quite a dramatic set-up--the hero tricking the heroine into marriage, when she doesn't know he's the man who killed her father--you can tell that the author had a problem making a convincing argument for why we and the heroine should forgive him and fall in love. Quite frankly, it didn't succeed. She sets up Renald as a liar and a sycophant of a King with dubious character, who has killed the girl's father, a man who was no warrior. He comes across as rather creepy, following her around to make certain nobody tips her off until he's got her safely wedded and bedded. At first, the heroine is resolute in her hatred of this conqueror who invades her house, even before she knows the truth. You can actually feel a heavy hand from the author, first having Claire unaccountably fall in love with him, and then unaccountably forgive him after she learns the terrible truth. It's forced, it's infuriating, and ultimately, I had to stop before finishing the book because it all became an extremely transparent "sell job" where the author was singing the hero's praises in an effort to redeem him in our eyes and justify his role as the heroine's worthy husband. I wasn't convinced.
To make matters worse, heroine Claire was an unappealing airhead who couldn't seem to make up her mind about anything. She hates the conqueror and cuts off her hair to make sure she's ugly, then worries about how she's going to look. She loves adorable baby animals, but doesn't hesitate to eat them when they are served up at her wedding feast. She wants to run away or defy the invader in her household, despite the fact that her family might be evicted into poverty or killed by an enraged Renald. She hates him, loves him, hates him, loves him, hates him...and all at the rather obvious direction of the Author. It's like watching someone trying to make two mismatched puzzle pieces fit, and just about as interesting.
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