Customer Reviews

Once He Loves

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This third post-Norman invasion medieval from Sara Bennett follows "The Lily and the Sword" and "The Rose and the Shield". Briar Kenton has vowed revenge against Lord Radulf, known as the "King's Sword". She blames Radulf for her stepmother's death and her father's downfall (he was declared a traitor) and subsequent death. She also blames him for the life she and her sisters have been forced to live since - outcasts forced to serve and sing to survive. Lord Radulf is widely known to be desperately in love and completely devoted to his wife, the Lady Lily, so Briar decides to seduce Radulf, thus ruining his relationship with his Lily - see how he feels when his whole world crashes in around him!

And so, she lures him to her bed and, to her shock, it is not at all they way she imagined. He's sweet, gentle and the experience is the most wonderful and passionate of her life. This was not supposed to happen! And things go from bad to worse when she discovers that this is not Radulf in her bed, but one of his men, disgraced knight Ivo de Vessey! Good Lord, what has she done?!

Ivo de Vessey is also shaken by the passion they shared and eventhough she thought he was someone else, it can't erase her response - to him. And on the most primal level, he decides that this woman is now his. But Briar is so emotionally unglued at the moment, leaving her to her own thoughts is probably for the best. And anyway he is called away by his lord to help put down a skirmish in the north. But he vows to return to her.

Though Ivo is certain that they can make a future together, Briar is not so easily convinced. What will the future hold for a disgraced knight and the daughter of a traitor? And before we can have a happy ending, Ivo must face his malevolent brother Miles and put his past to rest. While Briar has to face some unhappy truths about what really happened to her stepmother. And in the background, we see the sweet, surprising romance that blossoms between Briar's innocent younger sister Mary and Ivo's worldly fellow mercenary Sweyn. These two are adorable together!

An enjoyable and recommended read.

Raw sensuality combined with a story rich in historical detail gives this book high marks from HistoricalRomanceWriters.com!
Set in 1072 York, England ONCE HE LOVES takes you on a journey of passion, vengeance, and love. Briar aims to destroy Radulf, the knight who destroyed her life years ago. His attendance at the nobleman's great hall where she is to perform gives her the opportunity she has been waiting for. Using her gift of song to entrance him she sends out a very bold message, that she wants him and will have him. Her hope is for Radulf to betray his wife, Lilly, knowing this will destroy his life completely.

After a night of passion, Briar soon finds she has seduced the wrong man! Ivo de Vessey, one of Radulf's knights, is the man who falls under her spell and he is not going to let go easily. Ivo is a former knight, his hand disfigured, but he exudes danger and an attraction Briar finds undeniable. Briar instead decides to wield Ivo to her biding and exact revenge that way, though she finds she is at the mercy of the seductive pull Ivo has on her.

There are ties to Ms. Bennett's previous books, THE LILY AND THE SWORD and THE ROSE AND THE SHIELF though this book stands alone as a wonderful and fast-paced tale.

This book is more sensual than Ms. Bennett's previous books, and it is a daring move that puts Ms. Bennett's in the same category as Virginia Henley, another master who weaves romance, sensuality and history together to make the ultimate historical romance experience. Sara Bennett continues to be one of our favorites here at Romance Designs and with this book, we feel she is only getting better and better over time.

ONCE HE LOVES is a book not to be missed!

Really Two & a Half Stars:

Being a fan of Sara Bennett's books, (Lily & the Sword", "Beloved Highlander" and "The Rose & the Warrior",) I looked forward to reading "Once He Loves". From the beginning of the book I found myself confused as to the character of Ivo -was he an oaf? - was he an interesting man? It was difficult to determine. Once he displayed his sexual talents, he came more to life, but thoroughout the story I found difficulty in feeling who he was- something was missing from the whole book, and it was depth and clarity of characters and story. As for the herione, Briar, she was so prickly and confused most of the time, it weakened her character, and you simply lost interest in her. (have you noticed how fragmented and confused female heriones are written?) If she called Ivo a "disgraced Knight" one more time, I would cringe. Sara Bennett usually writes strong, clear characters and stories which are great to relate to. However, in this book I don't think Ivo was given his due, and Briar became more and more fragmented as the story progressed. (SPOILER here) As for Jocelyn, how could she continue to hide her secret in the face of Briar's revenge? It just didn't make sense and overall didn't flow well. Sometimes you get the feeling the authors are so pressured to release a book a year by their publishers, they just spin them out.

Anyone can put words on a page, but it's those talented authors who move you and make them come alive. (Mary Stewart "The Crystal Cave"; "The Princess & the Barbarian" by Betina Krahn; Dark Queen Trilogy" by Susan Carroll (book 1 "The Dark Queen" - book 2 "The Courtesan", book 3 "The Silver Rose"; "Once a Warrior" by Karny Monk; "The Pize" by Julie Garwood, and "A Kingdom of Dreams" by Judith McNaught (although I bought 4 books by J. McNaught this was the only book I enjoyed though.

Vengeance & hatred begin this novel, but love and honor triumph at its end.

I picked this book up not realizing it was the last in a trilogy; one certainly does not have to read the others to thoroughly enjoy this one. Excllent job there.

Ivo is a super hero: strong, compelling, honorable, fair, understanding, a knight in every sense. He is the very best thing about this book. Briar is a strong and determined heroine, but there's so much pain & hatred in her that she is often cruel. Although her cutting remarks toward Ivo are a defensive mechanism--and he understands that, marvelous man--it is sometimes difficult to like her because of them. Yes, thay're that cruel, because she knows they hurt him. Although she eventually is healed adn becomes a nicer person, there are moments the reader will think she doesn't deserve him. She is headstrong & never thinks ahead of the moment. Briar's visit to the villain is a case in point; you'd think she's distrustful enough to be wary. A weak plot point, in my opinion.

The mystery surrounding Briar's step-mother's death is well-handled for the most part, except that there's no final explanation of the motive. The secondary romance is sweet & warm, very nice. The villain is evil, completely without redeeming qualities, and a consumate actor. His demise is almost too easy.

But Ivo in particular raises this book to a high level. The novel moves along at a brisk pace, and the chemistry between the couple is all it should be.

Setting North of York 1072 --- Sara Bennett wraps up her medieval trilogy quite nicely with this last entry in the mini series with another stellar love story. If you have read the pre-quels - LILY AND THE SWORD (Radulf and Lily) and THE ROSE AND THE SHIELD (Rose and Gunnar), you will see where this last entry ties up a mystery from the very first book. Although, and I do stress this, you do not have to read the previous two novels in order to thoroughly enjoy this one as it does stand on it's own merit.

Briar Kenton, once a `Lady' of the manor of a rich and powerful Earl, has had to eat humble pie since her father, having been branded a traitor for rebelling against King William, had ended his own life leaving Briar and her two sisters, basically penniless and without a home. Forced to survive on their own, Briar, who was reputed to have the voice of an angel and her sister Mary earned a meager living by entertaining at the noble homes in York, previously homes where they would have once been honored guests. Briar, survived the last two years feeding off of her hatred for the man she held responsible for their state of affairs, the hated Lord Radulf. She had heard the stories of Radulf's devotion to his wife Lily and thought to lure him to her bed, thus destroying the happiness he and his wife had.

Ivo de Vessey, a disgraced knight was now a mercenary in the employ of Radulf. Briar, mistakenly thinking he was Radulf lures him to her bed, fighting her attraction to the man she knew she should hate, and hating the wonderful and magical feelings his lovemaking did to her body. When she discovers that Radulf never came to the party and she had slept with the wrong man, she was horrified. Ivo, recognized Briar from his youth when he was a squire for her father. He remembered her as the young child who idolized and had constantly followed him around and felt more than just lust for the beautiful but very prickly young woman. He wanted desperately to protect her from herself, yet never felt, now that he was disgraced, that he was worthy of her. His fallen knighthood and her being the daughter of a traitor did not bode well for either to have a happy conclusion, but cupid's arrow didn't take their backgrounds into account and their love blossomed.

While I found the story well written I found that two things kept me from giving it a higher rating. One of course was Briar's very irritating behavior and insults to Ivo who I truly admired for his honesty and honor. The other was the plan that Briar originally thought would destroy Radulf - it was never fully explained as to how it would destroy his marriage and didn't make too much sense to me. I thought this to be a very weak link in the story, otherwise, I found it to be action packed, with great sensual love scenes, and I particularly liked the very sweet secondary romance between Sweyn and Mary. Bottom line - the reader will not be disappointed as this was a wonderful trilogy and one I can highly recommend.

This story is third in a trilogy that has been very entertaining. In this story Briar seduces the wrong man and instead finds the one man that will love and protect her, and finally prove to her that not all men are weak.

Briar is the daughter of a pronounced traitor and she and her two sisters have been turned away from their family estate and made into outcasts. Briar gently nurtures the flame of her hatred of Lord Radulf (Lily and the Sword) whom she feels is responsible for her fathers death and their current situation and sets out to take from him the one thing that she knows he cherishes the most the love of Lily. Only her plans go awry she seduces Ivo instead thinking that he is her enemy. She is shocked by the things he makes her feel and she is unsure how to act once she realizes her mistake.

Ivo de Vessey is a mercenary who fights for Radulf. He has come north to York with his lord to settle trouble that is brewing on Lady Lily's land. He recognizes Briar from the first as the young girl that used to follow him around when he fostered at her estate as a young boy. Briar makes him feel things that he is best off forgetting but try as he might he can't walk away from the prickly lady and the mysteries that cloud her past. Together they set out to unravel Briar's past and perhaps heal Ivo's past as well.

This was a good book and I would have given it 4 *'s except at times Briar was just like her name, to prickly and unlikeable at times and sometime out right cruel. I often found myself wondering why Ivo put up with it. I like a strong lady but at times she went overboard in her actions. In my opinion the story was saved by Ivo a true Knight in every way and the mystery that surrounded the the young Briar and her sisters. If you have read the previous two titles in this series you won't want to miss this one. If you are new to the series this book still stands on it's own. Either way Ms. Bennett has written another fine romance.

it was ok the the heroine charater begin to get on my nerves halfway into the story and this book is part of a series and I want to read all of them but overall I enjoyed this book so I am hoping I will like the next one I read.

In 1072 at a Yorke party, singer Briar Kenton feels this night she will have the opportunity to destroy Lord Radulf, whom she has hated for two years. She believes Radulf murdered her stepmother leading to her father, considered a traitor by the king, committing suicide. Briar plans to use her body to seduce her enemy, make him hers, and destroy his happiness with his wife.

Briar flirts with the man she believes is Radulf, but is actually the disgraced former knight Ivo de Vessey. Ivo and Briar make love and his tenderness and how much she feels for him shocks her. When she learns that Radulf did not come to the party because he misses his wife Lily, she angrily tells her bed partner to leave. To her shame she knows she cannot go after Radulf after meeting the kind Ivo, who feels a strong need to protect Briar. They begin to fall in love, but a defrocked knight and a daughter of a traitor have no prospects together especially when she loathes his employer.

Though Briar's behavior can become irritating to the reader and her plan on how to gain revenge seems weak, ONCE HE LOVES is an exciting conclusion to a marvelous medieval trilogy. The tree tales interconnects through the cast, but each novel can stand-alone. The story line, like its predecessors (see THE LILY AND THE SWORD and THE ROSE AND THE SHIELD) is action-packed and colorful so that the era comes to full bloom. Sara Bennett finishes her miniseries with a wonderful conclusion that readers will appreciate.

Harriet Klausner