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Ciaran Tamberlane was once an honored warrior - until the day he lost his faith in both church and crown, and was branded a traitor by his fellow countrymen. Excommunicated, he lives in self-imposed exile, responsible only for the peasants who live on his land. To escape her husband's brutality, Amaranth de Langois took refuge in a small village. When his men tracked her down, Lord Tamberlane intervened . . .
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent Historical Romance!,
By
This review is from: My Forever Love (Mass Market Paperback)
What is it about the Templar Knights that mystify us as readers of the historical romance genre? Is it that they are monks, or that they have taken a vow of celibacy? Perhaps it is that they are religious warriors that have taken up the sword for a cause. Whatever the reason for our great interest, author Marsha Canham takes us directly into the heart of this fascination with Templar Knight, Ciaran Tamberlane. Ciaran becomes disillusioned during his journey into the Holy Land, as innocent lives are slaughtered before him and everything he believes to be true about the Templar Knights is carelessly tossed aside by the heartless and merciless Knights he fights with. He can no longer watch the brutal killings and follows his own heart abandoning his sword and retreating into self-imposed exile back to England. As a reader, you can decide what you find so interesting about this sort of character. It definitely taps into our interest of the mysteryious Templar Knights as historical romance readers.
Amaranth de Langois (Amie), has been married before to an old and abusive man, and upon being sold again to the highest marriage bidder, this time to the brutal Lord Odo, she has reached her limit of abuse and has decided to fight back by attempting to kill him. Amie, fleeing her vengeful husband, finds herself on Ciaran's land. Brutally attacked and wounded she is brought back to his castle and is cared for by Marak, a healer who nurtures her back to health. As these two tormented characters come together (Ciaran and Amie), their attraction is almost tangible. Author Marsha Canham builds up this story through excellent character development, not just with the central hero and heroine, but also with the secondary characters. This adds a dimension not often seen in historical romances where usually the focal point is on the hero and heroine. If you like intelligent historical romance that are filled with passion, action, and interesting characters then MY FOREVER LOVE is the book for you. Tara Green
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
sorry, not nearly one of Canham's best,
By IRRS (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
This review is from: My Forever Love (Mass Market Paperback)
I'm sorry I can't love Marsha Canham's last novel. I barely like it. I had read the reviews when it was first released and had hoped that I would agree with the better ones. Alas and alack the mention of the slow middle, the weak heroine, weak romance, the disjointed plot and the problems with the hero's retainers mirrored mine own. Certes, methinks mine grade maybe slightly lower.
Brief plot: Amaranth is fleeing from her second abusive husband and takes refuge in a village on the land of excommuncant Templar knight Ciaran Tamberlane who saves her from the killers sent by her husband. He takes her back to his remote castle, learns her history, meets her loutish evil husband and vows to deliver her to the convent of her choice to escape. Then some derring-do is thrown in at the end about King Richard returning from his captivity after the Third Crusade. I have some major questions about things that happen in this book. I might be reading it wrong or be totally off base in my understanding but...a) if Ciaran is a Templar, wouldn't he be a monk and therefore unable to marry? Or does the fact that he was excommunicated release him from his vows? And if he's excommunicated, wouldn't that mean that no Christian could aid, abet or have anything to do with him? Especially marry him? And why would Father Michaelus at the Abbey turn to Ciaran for help in getting King Richard home? A man of God asking for help from a man cast out of the Church? b) peasants can't count? What? They have fingers, they have toes. c) how did Amie manage to blend in with the few retainers and serfs that Ciaran has at Tanier? If gossip spreads so quickly that it's known throughout the castle immediately, is everyone suddenly blind to the new turnspit boy? No mention is made of intense devotion to Ciaran as their liege lord. But if they are so devoted, why would anyone be afraid of betrayal caused by the large reward offered by Odo for word of his wife? And how does Odo's left behind servant manage to remain unremarked upon for a day? d) the two knights traveling with Ciaran and Amie to the convent are lords? Wouldn't they be Sir Boethius and Sir Geoffrey? I was disappointed that suddenly a minor villain from the prologue gets resurrected for the last battle. It seemed tacked on and unnecessary. And would he have been left a beggar by the Temple? I was much, much more interested in Marak. I knew he couldn't be the hero (after all as one reviewer mentioned, it's the guy with the castle who is always the hero) but he was much more intriguing and different a character than Ciaran. I thought he and his love Inaya were wasted here. Either forget the quickie romance of their's or flesh it out. I'm afraid that by the time I started skimming the last third of the book, I was pouncing on all the problems I had with the plot and characters. A few things I could have breezed over or ignored in return for a tighter plot and more interesting romance but in the end, there were just too many for me. A shame since this is supposed to be Canham's last book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Solid Love Story,
By
This review is from: My Forever Love (Mass Market Paperback)
The best word to describe Marsha Canham's My Forever Love would be solid. Considering how hard it is to find good medievals these days, that should be taken as a ringing endorsement. It's nothing earth-shattering and is a little on the slow side, but it's also well-written and vivid, with an interesting spin on real-life history. All in all, fans of medieval historicals will want to check this one out.
Ciaran Tamberlane was once a much-respected knight, known as the Dragon Slayer for the skilled fighting he demonstrated during the Crusades. But when he turned against the casual cruelty practiced by some of his countrymen and defended an innocent woman against one of his fellow knights, he was sent home in disgrace. He lives in exile in a modest castle cut off from much of the outside world. One day while hunting, he finds the village outside his castle under attack by mercenary knights. These men are in the process of destroying the village and killing everyone they find. Tamberlane and his men manage to drive off the attackers, but they find only one survivor: a young woman dressed as a boy. Tamberlane takes the injured woman back to the castle for treatment, not knowing that she isn't really one of the villagers. Elizabeth de Langois, called Amaranth by her father, already endured life with one abusive husband. But nothing prepared her for the man she was married off to shortly after the death of her first husband. On their wedding night, Odo de Langois raped and abused her with a viciousness that promised it was only the beginning. Amie responded by grabbing the nearest object and clubbing him over the head with it. Believing him dead, she escaped his home with the help of a kindly priest, who helped her hide in the village. But her husband wasn't dead, and he would stop at nothing to find her, even if it meant killing everyone in his path to get to her. Canham's writing is lush and descriptive, really bringing this story and her setting to life. At the same time, the pace is somewhat slow as a result. This is particularly noticeable in the action-heavy scenes, such as the opening one where Amaranth tries to flee the attack on the village. The paragraphs are very long and detailed, which certainly allows the reader to know every single aspect but also somewhat dilutes the excitement of those scenes. Still, her characters are empathetic and well-developed. Tamberlane is an interesting hero, a former knight who once lived under a vow of chastity but who is now neither monk nor man. He has much experience with battles and killing, but very little with women, which makes for an interesting contrast. Several noteworthy secondary characters are also thrown into the mix, including Tamberlane's right hand, Marak, an albino who the suspicious villagers believe practices dark magic but who Amie soon learns is much more benevolent. There's plenty of compelling drama, much of which is heightened by the truly evil villains (although the emergence of an additional villain late in the story seems somewhat unnecessary). Canham does a strong job capturing the harshness and brutality of the time period, and also uses real life history in interesting ways. The story takes place just as Richard the Lionheart is about to be ransomed from his Austrian captivity. Amie's husband has aligned himself with Prince John, and the role the main characters play in Richard's return is a neat touch. Good medievals are increasingly hard to find. Luckily, My Forever Love is one.
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