Customer Reviews

Silken Threads

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I was so thrilled when I started this book because it is set in 12th century London. I was in London at the time I started it and could look on my map where Milk Street was, I could imagine what it looked like, I had just toured the Tower of London. And to think this book was thrown into my suitcase as an afterthough.

Graeham Fox is sent to London to retreive his overlord's daughter from her abusive husband. While in London, before retreiving the daughter, he is attacked and left for dead. He is found and brought to the house of the widow Joanna Chapman.

Graeham knows he must still rescue Ada from her abusive husband, and the room that Joanna puts him in is perfect for spying on everything going on around him. Graeham makes arrangements with Joanna to stay in the room for the next two months while he recouperates and he can watch the goings on of all his neighbors. Joanna reluctantly agrees, but doesn't let Graeham know she is a widow because she is fearful for her safety.

Little by little the two fall in love, Graeham eventually finds out about Joanna's maritial state and the two become lovers. But what about the daughter of his overlord's hand in marriage if he can rescue her twin from her evil husband?

This is a wonderful Medieval romance and I highly recommend it. Along with the twists and turns and many things you won't expect, it has a wonderful romance that you won't soon forget.

If you've never tried any of this authors stuff, you might think this was a great read. Actually, compared with what most romance writers are writing these days it is not a bad book. However, if you compare this work with her other books like, WILD WIND and HEAVEN'S FIRE, you'll see a huge difference.

May contain SPOILERS:

To the point, this is a story about a mercenary solider who's being sent to London to rescue the illegitimate daughter of his leiged Lord. In return, his liege lord will reward him with his twin daughter's hand in marriage, along with some rich estate/land. On his mission, he's ambushed... and is rescued by the heroine's brother, after meeting the heroine, he spends most of his time laying in bed, lieing to the heroine to accomplish his goals so he may marry the rich daughter for his gain.

This is where it starts to drag. The whole book is told mainly within 2 months and within those months, the hero is immobile since his leg is broken. He's stuck in the heroine's tiny stockroom, while the heroine lives and works in her tiny house. This sounds quite quaint in the beginning but just imagine, the whole book (mostly) takes place in this tiny house, with nothing really happening between them....or to other people. It was tedious.

Then we have the heroine who's a young widow trapped in a dowdy, ugly dress, who always covered up, I didn't find her easy to connect with. She's been conned into marrying a user, a abuser and still after the death of her husband remained a gullible fool.

Through out the whole book, she allows the hero to lie to her over and over, even when she catches him lieing. You won't even see a kissing scene in this book til way past page 250... this book was lacking in everything except fine writing. She is a talented author, her wording is excellent, her plots usually seem seamless... however, in this book, everything was too slow, the heroine/hero really did not have the chemistry. In addition, these two spends most of the book apart, BUT stuck in that small house. The love scenes were boring and uninspiring(unlike her other books, this author can write some lusty scenes, let me tell you).

Would I recommend this book to my friends? No. Would I consider this a huge waste of time? Yes. Would I try her other books? Heck, yea!...

I very nearly didn't buy this book, since I'd never heard of it or its author before. I was shopping on the net, purchasing a whole bunch of other books, when I saw it and thought, 'oh well, that looks mildly interesting,' and decided to toss it into my shopping cart along with the rest.

AND I AM SO GLAD THAT I DID! This book is just lovely. Well written, well plotted, entertaining, heart warming and realistic...what more could I have wanted? Nothing, really, because this had it all.

Technically, this book is a romance, and a really sweet, endearing one at that. Fans of historical romance books will undoubtedly lap it up like a cat would a tasty bowl of cream. But this book should also appeal to a crossover audience of readers who wouldn't normally touch anything in the romance genre too, because it's also a really good, entertaining historical novel with a decent plotline. The love scenes are tastefully done, there's no uncomfortable melodrama, and the characters are genuinely intelligent and likeable--and I don't just mean the main characters, Graeham and Joanna, who are both pretty cool, but also the minor characters, such as the street urchin Adam, who hides an intriguing secret; Thomas, the former harper now turned leper, who was my favourite character; Joanna's charming brother, Hugh, who really should have his own book written about him (I must check and see if there is a book about him, actually); and even Joanna's pet cats, who have real personalities of their own. Oh, and even though this is a historical book, there's even a surprise appearance by someone very famous from our contemporary society...you won't know about it until you've finished the entire book and read the author's note, but when you do that, it will have you wanting to read the book all over again just to find this person (just in case you didn't already want to read it again anyway, which you probably will!)

One of the best things about this book, though, is the front cover. It's a very classy cover for a romance book--one that won't embarrass you if you want to read it on the bus (no stereotypical steroid-induced man-boobs on this one, thankfully!). Whilst at first it just looks like a pleasant, ordinary cover, after you've finished reading the book, and you've read the author's note, the cover's significance will become very clear, and take on new meaning. It's not often that you'll find a book's cover becoming a clever plot twist in the storyline (in fact I can't remember it ever happening before) but that's exactly what happens here.

Intrigued? Of course you are! Then do yourself a favour and read this book. You won't regret it.

I live in England and bought this book on recommendation from American friends. I love fiction set in the Middle Ages but it's very rare to find one that satisfies my demand for accuracy as well as giving an absorbing, excellent story with believable characters. Patricia Ryan succeeds on all counts. I really felt as if I was back in Medieval London, but the detail never intrudes. The love scenes are wonderful and realistic too. The reason I have not given this novel five stars is because of numerous little nit-picks rather than any major flaw. Despite the author's care, some of the detail is inaccurate. The period is 1165, but it feels much later - say the 14th century. Certainly the houses are far too elaborate for early medieval London. The language is frequently American. People say 'fall' instead of 'autumn' for example and there are several modern sounding phrases. The attempt at Medieval language does not quite come off. The 'twisy 'twasery got on my nerves at the end. I was also astonished by the way the hero was able to make a rational polite speech to his rescuer immediately after having his ribs cracked and his leg smashed by a hammer. That didn't ring true at all. I could go on, but that would just be being mean, and taken as a whole I did enjoy the novel which is a superior example of its kind. I have already ordered the sequel.

Patricia Ryan writes some of the best medieval historical romance novels in the business. SILKEN THREADS is a clever, well-plotted, sexy tale inspired by the Hitchcock film "Read Window." Graeham Fox is in London to fetch home the daughter of his master who suspects she is being abused by her husband, Rolf le Fever. But before Graeham can spirit her away, he is brutally attacked. Rescued by a stranger, he is taken to the home of the man's sister, Joanna Chapman, a merchant's wife. Close to being destitute, Joanna agrees to let Graeham rent her storeroom while his broken leg heals. The storeroom just happens to have a perfect view of le Fever's home, allowing Graeham to observe all manner of comings and goings, as well as his beautiful landlady whom he can't help but fall in love with. Hitchcock's movie is fun, but Patricia Ryan's SILKEN THREADS is fun and sexy.

When I discovered that an author's whose works I liked had written a series of books set in medieval times that were a bit of an homage to Hitchcock films, I immediately thought 'how friggin' cool is that?'

So I picked this one up and dug right in. This book is an homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window. In that movie, Jimmy Stewart plays Jeff, a photographer who is laid up in his apartment in a wheelchair with a broken leg. While there he has a front row seat to all the goings all with all his neighbors (they leave their shades open and they talk loudly). One neighbor in particular acts very suspiciously and Jeff believes he murdered his wife.

In this book, the plot is basically the same. Graeham Fox, having been sent to London by his overlord to rescue the overlord's daughter from her abusive husband, is set upon and has his leg broken. He finagles himself a room in a widow's home to keep an eye on the daughter and her husband. In the meantime he also sees other things going on in the neighborhood.

I must say the idea was a lot more exciting than the execution. This is not to say this was not a well written and interesting book to read. And the romance between Graeham and Joanna (the widow) was really well done. The problem is there is only so much you can do with a guy stuck in a room looking out a window at people. The beginning, set up and denouement were excellent. But the middle dragged.

This is where the film can do what a book can't. The main plot of both the film and the book rely on a man watching people. A film, by it's very nature, is a visual medium. It is tailor made for a plot like this. And a film like Rear Window is all about the visual.

Unless the writer of the book in question can also write incredibly visually then the a book like this is going to suffer. Ryan is a good writer and can convey surrounding and texture very well. The thing is, that didn't happen here. While, as I mentioned, the romance was nice so much of what was going on with them was internal. But when it came to the parts when Graeham was stuck in his room and the book relied on his front row seat to the goings on in the neighborhood, then, yeah, the book suffered from it. I didn't quite get the narrative punch of seeing the serialized drama of the various neighbors that a single camera shot could convey.

While I did enjoy the book, I can't say this is a real knock out the park for me.

Hey- I get the "ROMANCE" title but most readers are used to some sizzle in their romance novels! This book is strictly by-the-book reading. If you enjoy JANE AUSTEN books this is right up your alley. I read it & enjoyed the storyline sans the physicality of it's characters. The price,alone, should satisfy readers.

This is one of the better historical romances on the market today. While there is still plenty of passion, there is also a credible historical backdrop woven into the plot. Joanna, the heroine, is just a little too independent to believe, but otherwise the story itself is well-told and the little twists make this more than a run-of-the-mill romance. The hero is also a man with faults, but not so darkly brooding as to be a stereotype. The sexual encounters were tastefully written yet still steamy! Recommended for all lovers of historical romance.

This was my first romance by Patricia Ryan so I can't speak to her other works. I bought it because I like medieval romances and the reviews were excellent. Though Ryan writes very well, I found this story disappointing. Had the story held my interest more, I might have given it 5 stars.

It is set in London in 1165 and tells of a noble born young woman, Joanna Chapman, with an abusive father, who at 15 marries the wrong man, a silk merchant who only wants her for the status she brings. Her father quickly disowns her and her husband begins to have affairs, flaunting them in front of her. Early in their marriage, she kicks him out of her bed. While her husband is away on one of his many silk buying trips, he is killed by a jealous husband. Now 6 years later, she is living in the house her brother, a gallant mercenary knight, bought for her and barely surviving on what she can make selling her embroidery. So, when her brother, who is home for the summer, brings her a knight he found badly beaten in an alley, she is willing to take him in as a boarder for two months while he recovers. The wounded knight, Graeham Fox, is on an assignment for Lord Gui to rescue Ada, one of his twin illegitimate daughters, who is wed to an abusive and unfaithful husband--and living across the alley from Joanna. If he is successful, Graeham will win Ada's twin sister as his wife and an estate in Oxfordshire, which as an errant knight, he longs for.

The story reminded me of the James Stewart, Grace Kelly movie "Rear Window" as it takes place primarily in one house, largely in one room whose rear window looks an alley and covers the two months Graeham is recovering from a badly broken leg. I found the setting rather boring. Joanna, who is supposed to be pretty, seems initially a vague figure who wears dowdy clothes and is lost in her bitterness over how men treat women. (As an example, she keeps her husband's mementos of his female conquests just to remind her not to trust men.) Her brother urges her to remarry for her security and she is tempted to do so. Graeham lusts after Joanna but wants the prize of Lord Gui's lands and daughter. There are some worthy sub characters and subplots, but the romance proceeds at a snail's pace until the first kiss which finally takes at page 257. Then the story actually becomes more interesting.

I'd like to see more by this author as I think she's capable of a great romance, but this one just didn't do it for me.

I'd never heard of this author before but the book was recommended by another historical fiction author I really enjoy so I gave it a shot. I'm so glad I did. This is a brilliant medieval love story based off of Hitchcock's Rear Window.


Our hero, Graeham, is sent on a mission by his overlord but is waylaid after being beaten nearly to death by robbers. A good Samaritan, Hugh, comes along and brings him to the heroine's house who happens to be his sister. Joanna's storeroom acts as his sick room while he recovers from a seriously wounded leg. This store room provides him a view of the house across the street that is involved in his original mission. It also gives him a view of Joanna!

One of the best things about this novel is that the hero is not portrayed as some @$$ who can do and say the most awful things, treat the heroine like dirt, and yet the reader is expected to forgive and forget all his flaws because he so tortured by some past tragedy or injustice. Graeham has his issues, has a tragic past, but he is still basically a nice guy and treats Joanna with respect. The angst and suspense comes from both Graham and Joanna fighting the powerful feelings they feel.

As Graeham is laid up, most of the novel occurs outside his sickroom window. The secondary characters in this story are so complex and compelling that you just can't wait for them to wander past Graeham's window again. From Hugh, the prostitute, the leper, to the street urchin (who is not what he seems), they are so brilliantly written that you will fall in love with each one of them.

The build to the romance is slow, smoldering, and sensual. The relationship between the hero and heroine is superbly written. This is one classy story...no bodice ripping here...and it is all the more sexy because of that. I loved this book and highly recommend it to those who like romance, but like it done really well.