Customer Reviews

Mystique

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mystique was my first Amanda Quick book and it has certainly encouraged me to read more. I would give it 4 and a half stars, but I decided to round up.

Alice is a strongheaded strongwilled young woman bent on escaping her uncle's guardianship and helping her brother establish a future. Hugh the Relentless provides a means to that, so regardless of his reputation, Alice makes a bargain with him. Hugh wants the green crystal to make his people see that he is the true lord of his lands and Alice can find the crystal for him. In return, he has to make sure Alice gets away from her uncle and her brother can study abroad.

This all sounds very nice until Hugh decides that he needs a real betrothal for he has to find someone to oversee the household (he's very picky about food and cleaning) during the winter and to prove to his people that he is ready to settle down. Alice, thinking that it's temporary agrees. But then the unexpected happens...they fall in love.

Hugh is an amazing hero. He cherishes Alice deeply and never loses his temper with her. Even when she helps his lifelong nemesis, he doesn't embarrass her in public and declares that her word is his word and that he will always support her.

The only complaint that I have about this book is how easily and quickly the green crystal was found. However, the mystery at the end makes up for it...partially.

Overall, this book is a joy to read and you'll laugh reading about how she "controls" her husband and "brings him to heel". Amazing woman. =)

Mystique- noun- Mystical attitudes or beliefs associated with a particular person, thing, or idea. The definition of the title of this book according to Webter's Dictionary. It tickles me that Ms. Quick chose such an appropriate title for her book. Let me tell you how it fits. 1) First of all there is the green crystal which the people of Scarcliffe believe to have mystical powers over the land and also choses the rightful owner of it. There is quite a fascination with it by the characters and it is really the underlying plot of the whole book. 2) The legend of Hugh the Relentless is very mystical with Alice and is what first makes her interested in him. He is very much a legend in his own time and it is very interesting to read about him. 3) Alcie becomes a legend also at Scarcliffe and the people believe her to be a sort of angel. She is kind and good and extremly smart. When there is a mystery or intrigue, she can't resist but to invesitgate. 4) The spellbinding book that is magic in your hands. When you start reading, you can't stop to see what happens next.

I loved reading *Mystique*. The time change was a lovely addition and a nice change from the troubles of the ton that are often in historical romances. Alice truly was a wonderful heroine, and it was nice that she didn't have to worry constantly about proving that she didn't care what the ton thoght about her. She could easily do what she loved to do... study natural philosophy and study her mother's herbal book. Hugh was definately a great hero. I love the way that all of Ms. Quicks characters are linked together with some shared past, it really makes the reader have a clear picture of why they are together. The language was, as always, lovely. You are pulled into the characters lives and feel like you're living it with them. It seemed that Hugh was not just hugging Alice, he is hugging you too. When everyone looks at Alice when she first meets Hugh, your cheeks almost burn with embaressment too. The scenery was wonderfully depicted and I want to go to England now. All in all, this is a fabulous, refreshing book, and if you love Amanda Quick or are just getting started, this book is for you!

Well, Jayne Ann Krentz aka Amanda Quick has basically one formula for her stories. But what a formula. She is light, she is witty, but the Quicks are just her JAKs in period costume. But that does not stop her from giving you a winner tale. If you like JAK/Quick, you will LOVE her only medieval. If you are not her fan...your tough luck..lol...you are missing one great time!!
The one of two medievals (Desire being the other) from the talented Ms. Krentz/Quick. With her usual charm and wit, she creates lovable, endearing characters and as with all Quick/Krentz novels, the emphasis is on fun and hi-jinx and romance.

This time Lady Alice joins forces with Sir Hugh the Relentless,on a hunt for a long lost stone, which could cost them their lives. The tale is so endearing! Lady Alice will Capture your heart!!

When Lady Alice plucks up her nerve and approaches Hugh the Relentless, is its a dark and stormy night (lol). He is black haired, with amber eyes (with JAK you get amber, green or grey!). The first impression, he is every bit the fearsome warrior of his reputation, but to Lady Alice he is her knight in shining armour. She thinks she can control this man, after all she has been driving away fortune-seeking suitors for years, along with managing her interfering family.

Lady Alice has deliberately lured him to this man with the promise of a green crystal belong to him. But Lady Alice is using it as a bargaining chips (also she does not have it!!). She is hoping to find it, and her dowry to free herself and her brother from her uncle's clutches. Hugh agrees to her terms, only, he has terms of his own: that Lady Alice must agree to a temporary betrothal and spend the winter in Hugh's great stone fortress, Scarcliffe Keep.

The adventure begins, but Sir Hugh's lifelong enemy is plotting against them.

One of the few authors I keep in hardback and there is a reason for it!!

Mystique opens up with a mass of chaos in the Lady Alice's home. There is an impending visit from Hugh The Relentless laying claim to a mysterious stone that Alice purchased (and lost) and everyone is terrified that the notorious warrior will attack their home if angered. But unknown to everyone, Alice has no intention of bowing down to Hugh The Relentless. She intends to strike a bargain with him in exchange for the stone.

Hugh is used to fear and respect from people, and Alice shocks him when she publicly chastises him for his rudeness and offers to help him find the missing stone in exchange for money for her brother's schooling and her entry into a convent. He is also surprised to find himself very attracted to her. But he doesn't fight it, and does everything he can to make sure she becomes his wife.

I really enjoyed Mystique. I like a hero who respects his wife's intelligence and courage. I also like a heroine who is strong and stubborn without being childish and dumb. This is a great story about two stubborn people who are perfect for each other. They are both characters you can relate to, and their story is a delight. If you feel as I do, you should also read Rendevous and Ravished by this author. Both are just as good.

I loved this book. I thought Hugh was a great hero. Those stupid misunderstandings that plague romance novels were absent from this story. The characters respected one another as they discovered their love. I really enjoyed this story.

This is one of her best novels to date. It is the story of a young woman whose inheritance and lands have been stolen by her uncle, who bargains with a Knight to help him find a green crystal, property they both claim, if he will help her and her brother get out from under their uncle's control. Set in medieval times, this is a glorious love story. Watching the formidable knight soften as his affection for his wife grows, is touching. The atmosphere is so authentic, you think you are inside a medieval castle, or attending a tournament of Knights. HIGHLY recommended. This wil be a cherished book.

As usual, I can't help but fall in love with Amanda Quick's unique characters. I personally like the fact that her heroes and heroines are not the ultimate embodiment of classic perfection. I love the fact that the women are intelligent and the men are smart enough to appreciate it. Alice is smart, competent, and loyal and Hugh is masculine, intelligent, and amazingly sensitive to the emotional needs of others without becoming a wimp. Highly recommended!

This was my second Amanda Quick book, and it was also a fantastic story! I loved that the heroine was so spunky and not afraid to do what she knew was right, and even when he disagreed with her, the hero still supported her actions. Wish all men were like that! This was just an all around GREAT book! I laughed so hard at the end! (But I won't spoil the surprise!)

Legendary knight Hugh the Relentless has recently been rewarded a keep and the surrounding lands. To gain his peoples trust, he must recover the mysterious green crystal and bring it back home. Lady Alice, a collector of stones, used to have the green crystal before it was stolen from her. Sir Hugh comes to collect. Lady Alice strikes a bargain to help him find the green stone in exchange for payment for funding her brothers studies and placing her in a respectable convent. When Hugh lays eyes on Lady Alice and her sharp wit, he has other ideas - a fake betrothment to pacify his people. Little does Alice know that Hugh has no intention of giving her up.

Hugh is one of the best hero's I've read about in a long time. He puts up with all the stubborness Alice can muster and never demeans her. He defends her, even when she comes to the rescue of his enemies wife and son. Alice is so hard-headed and insists on doing things her own way and Hugh is extremely forgiving. I love how the love story develops.

If you liked this one get Quick's Ravished too.

Hugh the relentless is not only a fearsome and formidable knight he is also very intelligent and uses his wits to aid him not just his physical strength.I liked that about him.When he meets the heroine Alice who is also quite intelligent he uses an unusual strategy to convince her to become engaged to him,they are both seeking the green stone,he offers her the use of his castle for her to continue her study of natural philosophy in exchange for her help in finding the green stone which was quite important to him in winning the loyalty of the people of his home.Alice had wanted to enter a convent after her younger brother became settled in a profession.Hugh offers her a bethrothal to him instead then sets about convincing her to marry him in a businesslike fashion.He convinced her that as his wife she would have unlimitted resources to continue her studies of Natural Philosophy.I was so relieved that he did not try to use passion-good old fashioned sex as a means of convincing her to marry him or trying to get her with child as so many of these so called heroes have done in other novels.When Hugh brings Alice to his home she is confronted by a fanatical monk who tries to intimidate her but in true Alice fashion she sets him on his ear winning their battle of wills quite easily until Hugh rescues the monk from her agile tongue.This confrontation with the monk and one later was a great source of laughter for me.The reason I like this book so much is that there was trust throughout the novel between the hero and heroine.He admired her integrity and she admired his honor and his strength.There was no bickering in this novel.The only little tiff was when they had made love and Alice still refused to marry him and this was quite humorous as Alice tells him he is overwrought and tries to quote church law to him about bethrothed couples engaging in premarital sex.I also enjoyed Hugh's attempt to be romantic as he commissions his messenger to write "pretty verses" that he uses to woo Alice.The villain in this novel wasn't trying to kidnap Alice to rape her he just wanted the green stone which was a relief to me,the evil villain becoming over come by the beautiful heroine routine does get tired after a while.Great book-spunky,likeable heroine and caring gentle hero.I have found that liking the hero and heroine of a romance novel greatly enhances my enjoyment of it.