Customer Reviews

For My Lady's Heart

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've read thousands of romances, including all of Ms. Kinsale's excellent catalogue -- but this one tops them all, in my view. There has never been a better female protagonist than the Princess Melanthe -- complex, driven, fighting for survival while caught between dark and powerful forces bent on devouring her. Twisting and turning, she uses her brains and her beauty to keep them all at bay. Ruck, in his strength and simple-minded devotion to her, was less interesting to me, but even here, Kinsale doesn't make him a cardboard cut-out of a hero. Ruck has his own demons, and a nobility of spirit which makes it ultimately believable that a woman like Melanthe would recognize in him a man to whom she could entrust her heart and even her life. He is a wonderful counterpart to Melanthe's deceptions and strategems. But as others have noted, by far the most compelling and fascinating character is Allegreto. Dark, shiveringly dangerous, glitteringly beautiful -- he and Melanthe are unequalled in romance fiction -- characters whose dark sides rule them, but who still retain hearts and spirits which draw us to them. I talk about romance novels often, with friends -- this is the only one I get so emotional about that I can't even discuss it! I love this book.

I have been reading historical romance for 20 years and this is the best book I've ever read. Melanthe, as a heroine, is not always likable, but she's understandable, and just when I didn't think the author, Ms. Kinsale, could ever redeem her again for me, she did! And wonderfully.

Contrary to what most publishers want to see, very early character development and quick and easy relational issues, Ms. Kinsale built a story for me that rooted deeply in my soul. Ruck grew into a wise and silently strong man, when it comes to dealing with his lady love. When dealing with other males, he's a to die for hunk of muscle and steel (armour). I nearly died laughing when he explained to his lady love where he'd learned his carnal "secrets."

Melanthe is not so complicated as some might think. She's strong-willed but knows a gravity issue when she sees one. She has taken extraordinary measures throughout her life to "save" innocents. Obviously much of this is missed by other reviewers, but Melanthe is not selfish, nor is she a bleeding heart. She's a powerful woman of strength, control and command. She's a goddess who's wins the heart of a very worthy man.

The castles are beautiful, as are the abbeys, forests, even the desert and sand, rain storms and even the plague all have their rightful place here.

I can't give away the end. I just can't. It's too good. Melanthe does retain her sarcastic wit though and Ruck -- well, Ruck.... well.... Aaahhh!

If you like knights in armour, satin and velvet; Princesses in ermine lined robes and lots of emeralds, you'll love this book. If you don't, read it anyway, I promise you'll love them when you're done.

I haven't read many of Kinsale's books, but was very pleasantly surprised with this one. So much historical romance is formula fiction, light on character, plot, and history. Kinsale doesn't just throw in a castle, a suit of armor, a few misunderstandings and some sex and call it a book. These characters and their relationships are complex and fascinating. I really could not put this one down until I was finished--bags under my eyes at work the next day.

Laura Kinsale amazes me. I read novels for the characters. I want to meet characters who are complex and not easily understood on the surface. I want the entire book to be an unravelling of the personalities involved -- I want to know the hero as well as I know my own husband, and I want to know the heroine as well as I know myself. And I want to love them both.

This book does not disappoint.

Kinsale shows an incredible sense of compassion for people by the way she portrays human frailty. I don't think many writers could create a character like Ruck -- puppy-like in his loyalty to a woman who didn't even know he existed. Or Melanthe, beautiful, cold and cruel.

How could a doormat like Ruck be a hero we could fall in love with? How could an unfeeling, selfish heroine like Melanthe be someone we could identify with?

Only Laura Kinsale could weave a story around these two characters that allows us to understand them so fully. She reminds me of the basic goodness of people, and she reminds me that sometimes there is a lot more to people than meets the eye.

Melanthe is a wonderfully unique and fascinating character, a woman of great wealth, lands, and connection, who, in spite of and as a result of her wealth and position, is a pawn in the games of men. Melanthe learns at a young age that the wisest course of action is complete suppression of her true feelings and a stragegic mix of dominance and submission towards the men who hold her fate in their unscrupulous hands. Straying from this course in her past has led to tragedy and death.

Widowed from her aged husband from an arranged marriage, Melanthe becomes an object of obsession for the greedy, scheming and powerful Gian Navona, who has determined to take Melanthe as his bride. Navona is a vague, looming, mysterious presence throughout the book. The dark, intriguing Allegreto is Navona's son, whose duty it is to bring Melanthe and her fortune to his father.

Ruck is a mysterious knight without a name who has sworn his liege to the Lady Melanthe and exhibits an unwavering, sacrificial, (and secretly passionate) devotion towards her. Ruck's fierce loyalty and obsession are the result of a complex manifestation of a memory of a small but significant act of benevolence Melanthe enacted towards him during a tragic episode in his life. Over the years, Ruck has been forced to endure an intensely lonely, isolated existence resulting from a cruel and evil farce that detroyed his chance for happiness. His gratitude to Melanthe, his memory of her beauty, and his powerful loneliness have intensified his feelings for her. Thirteen years after their first encounter, chance brings Ruck into the service of his beloved benefactress.

Ruck is a brave, strong, and noble knight who exhibits a certain innocence and suppressed sexuality somewhat similar to Samuel's in "The Shadow and The Star," though for different reasons. Melanthe, cool and regal, rumored to be a sorceress, a witch, and a murdress, among other things, is, in reality, an intriguing combination of strength and wit and frightened vulnerability.

Circumstance forces Melanthe to place all of her trust in her Green Knight, who vows to protect her with his life, and she finds herself in the dangerously vulnerable and unwanted position of falling in love with this enigmatic man.

Kinsale's obviously extensive research into the history and dialect of medieval Europe, coupled with her knack for rich, satisfying storytelling, is a joy to read. The romance between Melanthe and Ruck is a beautiful, tortured thing - aching and uplifting, sensual and sweet, dark and light. Every character is fascinating and refreshing. A wonderful book I am sure I will read many more times.

Sir Ruck, at the age of just seventeen, has lost his life as he once knew it... until a beautiful, but cold princess comes to his rescue on a whim. From that day forward, she is his sworn Lady - The Princess Melanthe.

After not seeing her for many years, by some weird twist of fate, Ruck finds himself in the position to return her favor. Melanthe is in danger and Ruck is determined to guard her with his life.

For My ladys Heart was such an emotional read. It started slowly, but once it got going, it was a hard book to set down.
Ruck and Melanthe were an interesting match. Ruck was so obliging and honorable and beautiful...Melanthe was so spirited and arrogant and sometimes childish. I loved Melanthe even when I hated her. The love between Ruck and Melanthe was bittersweet and I swear the whole book is worth reading just to see them exchange their vows of marriage.

Laura Kinsale continues to amaze me. For My Ladys Heart must truly have been a challenge to write. I cant get over how vividly Kinsale was able to capture the life and the speech of the times.

My only real complaint with this story was the final conflict and the choices that Melanthe made that led to it. I understand why she did what she did, but it still frustrated me to no end...All I can say is that with Melanthe as his wife, Ruck will have quite a handful...he must really love a challenge :o)

Couldn't have said it better than 'msmjb.' In the many years that I've spent reading these historical romance novels I've yet to read a heroine equal to Melanthe. Beautiful, cold, wicked, and unforgetable. And Ruck, his loyalty and devotion is unrivaled. Once in a long while you come upon these timeless characters whose stories hit deep in your gut and in your heart...

I read romances compulsively, but there are very few I would reread. This is one of the rare ones that I would. Melanthe and Ruck, despite the fantasy of their situations, are both believable characters. Melanthe especially manages to be both a strong female character and to be believable within her time period, and unlike so many heroines in this genere, isn't some implausibly virtuous, virginal miss, but a real woman. The love that develops between Ruck and Melanthe truly transcends the barriers of class and circumstance. Whether or not the middle english is entirely authentic, it does add to the dark, poetic atmosphere of the novel. Romance doesn't get much better than this.

This one runs neck and neck with THE SHADOW AND THE STAR for my favorite book by Kinsale. Melanthe is possibly the strongest female character I've come across in a romance and Ruck is one of the most original. Add together a lot of medieval intrigue and the unforgettable Allegreto, and you have an amazing package.

For the writer of the review below, Allegreto's book, ENCHANTER, is on the way.

This is a wonderful read. The hero Ruck is fabulous. Not your run of the mill rake. He has strong principles and he lives by them. Nor do you find your everyday herione. She is a widow, she's devious, a liar, a tease. Yes she has all of those usually villianous qualities but she is trying to stay alive in a twisting maze of treachery. I loved being a part of watching them find each other. I heartily reccomend this one. :)