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19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Liked it..., June 23, 2008
First time I have read this author and I was impressed with this book. I did not know what to anticipate from an author that seems to titillate us with the promise of eroticism in her books based on the covers and titles. I found a well developed and interesting storyline with intelligent, well written prose. Characters are interesting and well developed as is the dialogue. Mild sensuality/sexual scenes/eroticism is not tawdry or gratuitous. I did find the heroine a bit annoying at times, but not excessively so... her emotional attitudes toward the hero or primary male figure did fit in her experiences and females mores in the society of the time. So what am I complaining about?... I guess simply my contemporary attitudes. There are some brutal scenes of violence, but again, not excessive or gratuitous, and in keeping with the brutality of warring factions in that time period. The story revolves around a group of knights tightly bound together by mutual experiences while in captivity together. They are not weak simpering fools with ignorant blind loyalty to one another, they work together as one with a communication that is very interesting to read and experience. This book obviously lays the foundation for the stories of each knight's story in subsequent books. I found the surrounding characters in the book interesting and compelling in and of themselves. Because each knight is such an interesting character and the depth of the interwoven ties to each other a compelling story I have ordered and look forward to the next in this series. Perhaps I shouldn't let the covers and titles of her other books put me off - but for now I am sticking with this series. I certainly recommend giving this series a try.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I wanted to like it, but..., October 13, 2009
I really wanted to like this book. I recently reread all Moaning, Garwood and Cole's Highland romances and I am sorry to say that the hero of this book, Rohan, just stank. He was rude and unlikeable, much to my disappointment. Sure, he has been through a lot, but show me a highland warrior in a historical who hasn't... Most of the time, the hero would "overcome" his personal torment to fall in love or at least desire the leading lady. Not so with Rohan. Maybe the author was going for a more realistic take on what would actually happen if a brutal knight were to come across a beautiful enemy female; I now know that I don't desire any realistic takes in my historical romances. There was none of the "romance" that I have become accustomed to in Julie Garwood or Kresly Cole, and even though Moaning's heros are serious alpha males, they never out and out humiliate or demean the heroine. Rohan didn't even seem like he liked Isabel and was just fine with demeaning her infront of everyone. I wanted to like the other 8 knights, and I really tried, but their lack of even a small measure of compassion for innocent people was a big turn off. Rohan was also very vocal about "claiming" Isabel - now I know that this is a big part of any historical romance, but he was nasty, demeaning, and took every opportunity announce to the other knights or her people how he was going to "breach her thighs"...yuck. Isabel was also kind of shallow. How many times can a person say, "leave me my dignity" when it obviously was not going to happen. Come on...get a spine. Over all, I was super disappointed by the book and really perplexed by the great reviews.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing but gory, October 28, 2008
I've been looking for a new good medieval and Karin Tabke's first effort hits the mark. I got it Friday evening after a long week's work and stayed up until 2am to finish it, barely pausing to eat and breathe. This was an intense, exhausting story. The tension and the violence are quite draining to read.
The plot is good, although hardly original. Norman conqueror/Saxon maiden has been done many times before. The story takes place in the weeks between Hastings and William's coronation. Armed groups infest the country, killing and terrorizing. Only a ruthless hero can impose order and hunt down the evildoers. Rohan is ruthless. No fluffy, modern-man-disguised-in-armor here. His dealings with everyone, including the heroine are very realistic for the time. Some might find them overly so. He doesn't hesitate to demand Isabel's obedience and body, in public. (Note: no abuse or rape of the heroine occurs).
Isabel is a determined heroine with a strong sense of duty to her people. She behaves intelligently for the most part. Note to author: 2 score means 40 not 20, I'm sure you did not mean for her to be 40 yrs old! The romance is strong, though it takes an awfully long time for them to admit they love each other. The sex scenes are few - they don't get going til around page 200 and the heroine doesn't lose her virginity til page 300. However the sexual tension remains high throughout, because Rohan is determined that Isabel will honor their bargain, and Isabel is equally determined not to risk pregnancy and being left with an illegitimate child. I didn't quite understand why Rohan couldn't offer her marriage earlier to resolve this impasse.
The dialog and descriptions are good and not obviously anachronistic. The writing is good. The secondary characters are good. So why not 5 stars? I found the violence and brutality excessive. Now I'm not one to demand a sanitized, prettified version of the Middle Ages with shiny armor and nice guys. But when you find yourself reading about the hero lopping someone's arms off, being branded with hot iron, other folks getting eyes gouged out and heads on pikes, you know you're not in Kansas anymore. It all got to be too much, and much as I like this book, I'm not sure I'll read it again. I doubt I will be buying the next in the series either, unless the gore is toned down considerably. I appreciate realism but I don't want nightmares when I read a romance. So 4 stars it is.
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