Customer Reviews

Seduced by Grace (The Three Graces)

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In 1497 King Henry VII of England arranges for Lady Marguerite Milton, the youngest of the Three Graces of Graydon sisters (see By Grace Possessed and By His majesty's Grace), to marry Lord Halliwell. As her fiancé's man Sir John and his paltry guard escort her, the Golden Knight abducts her.

Ten years ago, Marguerite's beloved David left her vowing to return one day to marry her. He is her abductee who in spite of his love and attraction remains steadfast to his pledge of abstinence to her chagrin and frustration. However, they soon learn they are expendable pawns in the monarchs plot to expose York conspirators.

The final Graces medieval romance is an engaging historical that combines love, honor and intrigue into an exhilarating thriller. The lead couple is a delightful second chance if they survive the machinations of the king and his rivals. Jennifer Blake is three for three as she provides another charming fascinating late fifteenth century tale.

Harriet Klausner

This was a good book to end the "Curse of the Three Graces" series. At least the author didn't focus high and low on this ridiculous curse as she mentioned it so ad nausea in the first book (By His Majesty's Grace). The hero was so noble and I loved how truly convicted he was to his word. Integrity and honor were his major strengths. His heroine truly matched him in every way. She has been madly in love with her hero since they were young adults and how their romance and passion unfolded was truly exciting to read along the way; it felt really pure, undying and unending.

Now, for the unrealistic portions to the story; it's inconceivable to think that the author would have us believe that our gallant and honorable knight dismissed returning to his beloved country by strict and command orders issued by King Henry VII. The tale goes a bit into the farfetched at the initiation of the story's plot when our gallant and noble night returns home simply because it comes to his attention that the woman he pledged his chaste love to, has been ordered to marry an elderly noble in order for him to respond to the king's summons? -uh, not quite realistic in my book. Furthermore, when our knight returns to kidnap our noble lady and king's ward en route to her marriage ceremony the king himself doesn't even bother to reprimand said knight and simply graciously welcomes him and dismisses his ward's betrothal by paying off with a hefty sum to the intended noble? - uh? What gives? Truly Henry VII would not take kindly to an unanswered summons and simply brush off our knight's unwillingness to answer to said summons with such minor consequences. Indeed our king seems to have been weaving his own political strategy for addressing the issue of rising contenders to the throne with his actions, but the weight and importance of such strategy didn't seem to hold its strength throughout the book; especially when we learn the true identity of this valiant "Golden Knight." Finally, the way the king deals with the identity of our "Golden Knight" is also farfetched. I do appreciate the twist the author handed us here with the Golden Knight's true identity (especially since it coincided with the origination, birth and whereabouts of the character in the first book), but the King's way of dealing with the information came out across as unrealistically wimpy in my opinion because he went all out iron fisted and tough when he imprisoned King Edward's son's in the Tower in order to ensure no future claims on the throne can be made.

Surely, if our author held to reality, then this book would have been a bit more romantically depressing, but at least it would have been a bit more realistic. I guess the King felt he really was in a great debt to the "Golden Knight" after all, or he simply grew some kind of a heart? Yeah right! This is a King that pushed and fought his way to the crown with no holds barred people. Authors, please give your reader audience a bit more credit as we do enjoy happy endings, but don't bring it along so farfetched and so pulled out of the sky.

I did enjoy how our hero did turn out to be a "somebody" after all, and no matter what, he loved his woman far beyond and above everything!

Seduced by Grace is the last book in Blake's Graces of Graydon series, and it's a fitting end to the three graces.

The last grace, Lady Marguerite Milton, is on her way to an appointed fiancé, when the dashing Golden Knight appears on the road and demands the wedding caravan surrender Lady Marguerite to him. Marguerite is shocked and elated to have someone rescue her from a marriage that's doomed to fail, as any man who marries a grace without loving them will die. Yet the rescuer is not David, the young knight who pledged himself to her years ago--the one who holds her heart.

David is the Golden Knight, and has sworn himself to love and worship Marguerite chastely from afar. Saving her from a doomed wedding isn't enough, and King Henry demands that David serve some purpose for the crown to keep Marguerite out of the marriage bed. Helping the king by pretending to be a traitor seeking the throne is the last thing he wants to do, but the reward is worth it. Yet, can David resist this grace long enough to accomplish his task and not break his vow? Does he even want to?

I really enjoyed this book and loved the Tudor era tale. What really made the story enjoyable was the conflict overall. The romantic conflict and the regular conflict that takes place had me on pins and needles. Blake does an excellent job of keep you jumping and just wondering what's going to happen when you turn the next page.

David's is amazing, and the epitome of the bound by honor man. He does his best to stay away from the tempting presence of Marguerite, but it doesn't take long for his desire and love to creep past his defenses. I found myself frustrated that David wanted to remain nothing more than a protector to Marguerite and there were times when I released that frustration by calling him an idiot. Ultimately Marguerite and David's goals align, but in ways that still cause conflict. They both want to be together on different terms, that don't mutually benefit the other.

With plenty of action, humor, romance and rousing sensuality, this series will keep you turning pages. This book doesn't let you down and gives a completely different experience then the previous two books. The best part is the threat of the graces is nixed a little as David is already in love with the fair Marguerite. For those who enjoy the Tudor era and a book that you can't predict then Seduced by Grace is a sure win!

Page Skippers - You know who you are; jumping forward to the steamy scenes and then the end. Ok, I admit it....I skipped ahead, but was glad I went back to read it thoroughly.

For the first time, I understand the desire to return to another age. Days after reading "Seduced By Grace", my head and heart were with David and Marguerite. In my first rush through the book, I was skeptical of the theme of chaste love by the Golden Knight. Returning, I discovered the unfolding of a beautiful and believable love story. No one can know the true character of the knights, but I'd like to think Jennifer Blake has captured it faithfully. A secondary love affair between the sidekicks, Astrid and Oliver adds a delightful and humorous note. The other two books in the series, "By His Majesty's Grace" and "By Grace Possessed" had powerful heroes to yearn after, but I think David will linger in my memory for a long time. As always, Enjoy!