Customer Reviews

To Tempt a Knight (Brotherhood of the Scottish Templars)

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this first book in the Stones of Destiny series Russell transports us back to the time of the Templar Knights. Her vivid characterization and rich imagination bring to life Sir William Keith, a Templar and the woman he has vowed to keep safe, Lady Siobhan. Together they share many trials and tribulations including the biggest trial of all, falling in love as they search for the relic hidden by the Templar's and safely guarded by Siobhan's father before he is abducted.

I enjoyed the suspenseful story line and found this to be a page turner. The reader will not be disappointed. I look forward to the next book in the series!

In 1331 Templar Sir William Keith escaped the Papal-French monarch betrayal that killed most of his compatriots. He manages to return to Scotland seeking the home of Sir John Fraser; in spite of the danger he vows loyalty to no one except the Lord.

William plans to find a treasured holy artifact the Spear of Destiny to keep safe. Instead of reaching fellow templar Sir John, who was guarding the relic, he finds the man's concerned daughter Lady Siobhan with the Spear missing and her dad abducted. William widens his pledge to keep Siobhan safe as even family members of a Templar are fair game by La Roche and his murderous band. Together, Siobhan and William also search for the holy Spear and her father while falling in love. However, his oath to God includes a celibacy promise as for instance her father understands having pledged Templar celibacy just before learning he sired an offspring.

This is a profound historical romance that looks deeply at the templar lifestyle just after the betrayal wiped out much of the order. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the lead couple hooks up and never slows as William feels like he has three (his natural hardened sword) and often four (his metallic sword) legs throughout much of the plot. Fans of Templar survival romantic suspense will enjoy TO TEMPT A KNIGHT as the hero's biggest problem is his attraction for the woman he has vowed to keep safe.

Harriet Klausner

I loved To Tempt A Knight! Ms. Russell delivers a well crafted romantic adventure. Siobhan and William are a hero and heroine to die for. I thoroughly enjoyed this first book in the Brotherhood of the Scottish Templar series and look forward to reading the second book, Seducing The Knight.

This is a great read! It has action, a good plot and great characters. I loved this book and it is not usually the genre I read.

To Tempt a Knight was an amazing experience! The mystery surrounding the Templar legend sets the stage for Gerri Russell's beautiful adventure. From the first sentence, I felt like I hit the ground running and didn't stop until the end. This book has it all - sword fights, passion, torture, betrayal, heart ache, battles, grief, love, anger, scars, healing...and that's just the beginning! I'm excited that this is the first book in the series and can't wait for more to come.

.....and that's because I did not find it here. Siobhan Fraser (an Irish name for a Scottish lass, how odd) discovers that her father has been kidnapped by the evil Pierre de la Roche who covets the hidden treasure of the Knights Templar, including the Spear of Destiny - whoever controls the spear can rule the world (raising your eyebrows in disbelief yet?). Coming to her rescue is Templar Knight Sir William Keith as the two find the hidden map to the treasure and the adventure begins. *Yawn*

I really didn't have high expectations going into this, but I certainly didn't expect to find such a jumbled mess of cartoon cut-out characters, including an evil baddie in the mold of Snidely Whiplash - I kept waiting for him to twirl his mustache (sorry, I couldn't resist). Never fear, it gets worse. Our plucky heroine is able to travel anywhere and everywhere ALONE with our hero with nary an eyebrow raised by anyone, she gets a quick lesson in swordplay and she's able to swing the broadsword like a man, leap tall buildings with a single bound.....

Actually that's really our hero who just like Superman can outfight any evil baddie who crosses his path, including fighting his way through forty (yes 40) armed men with nary a scratch. Aah, but to top it all off is some of the most insipid dialog I've come across in a while,

"We are one."

"I never imagined it could feel so good"

"I've never felt like this before"

Just the kind of talk I look for to liven up a sex scene. Not. In the end, it's just a big fluffy piece of preposterous nonsense - but never fear - there's more coming soon as this appears to be the first in a series. I don't know about anyone else, but I'll pass. Get it from the library if you must, I'm glad I did.

I truly enjoyed the romance between the hero and heroine. It was sweet and deep. Unfortunately, the rest of the story suffered from huge timing lapses and ridiculously unbelievable action scenes. Example: The hero gave the heroine one 5- minute sword play lesson. She couldn't even lift the sword without his help. He must have worked a miracle on her because for the rest of the book she was engaging in sword battles and holding her own against experienced knights... even fighting two at a time! Another very bad scene involved the heroine hanging from the ceiling of a torture chamber. Below her, a bed of spikes awaited that would impale her if the rope around her wrists broke. When it did, she must have hovered in mid air for a while... at least for as long as it took for the hero to fight off a foe, run over to grab a whip off the floor, and snap it towards her... at which point it wrapped around her waist and stopped her fall. Not only did the timing not make sense, but her spine would have snapped. Nope...She went right back to fighting. It was almost comical. Several of these situations ruined the book for me.

Timing is also not this author's strength... The h/h only knew each other a few days, had sex after about a day, then two days later the heroine realized she should have had her cycle a couple days before... whoops! She must be pregnant. Huh? She was due for her cycle the day she got pregnant? Well, why not? Considering that sword wounds healed in a matter of two days as well. Inattention to detail can really hurt a story. It was bad in this book. The author can write romance, but she couldn't seem to write a story that was either credible or intelligent.

Honestly, I don't understand how some romance novels get published. This novel seems to have mined all of the worst, most-overused cliches in the world of romance novels. By chapter 3, I could tell that "To Tempt a Knight" was complete dreck. I could go into details about the plot to make my point, but they are too ludicrous to recount. Suffice to say that the time I spent reading this novel (15 or so minutes) was approximately 14 minutes too long...