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An Honorable Rogue
by Carol Townend
Innocent,
playful, sensuous!
Benedict
Silvester is a musician, a lute player who sings the songs of love and
great battles. He travels this way and that and wherever he goes, there
is always a woman to please. Women adore Benedict with his beautiful
voice and his eye for the finer entertainment and poetry in life. What
no one knows is that under the minstrel’s disguise, Ben is a spy, on a
special mission for the Duke of Brittany. Rozenn (Rose) Kerber has
known Ben all her life. Friends that know one another deeply, Rose
wants something else for herself. Full of ambition, Rose won't stand
for an itinerant life and has her hopes set on a stable well-positioned
marriage -- to a knight! When Ben offers to accompany her on a journey
to England to meet Sir Richard, a knight who has offered her a pledge,
she accepts. With Ben, she will be safe. But things are not quite what
they appear...
Readers can count on Carol Townend for historical accuracy. Here, she
stole my medieval heart with her mention of the Chanson de Roland and
other oral medieval literature. Carol Townend’s look at the medieval
figure of the knight through the eyes of a minstrel and a deceived lady
is a nice play on the medieval classics. Her references are not only
researched but they just flow from her pen (or keyboard) smoothly as
part of the plot. The beauty of Carol Townend’s description of a first
true love second chance romance (Rose is a widow) captures the
innocence of love. Playful and sensuous, the undressing scene reawakens
the senses to every touch and look. As best childhood friends
discovering each other anew in their hearts and body, Ben and Rose know
each other deeply in ways only friends and lovers can. Divine!
Carol Townend brings a unique, refreshing voice to medieval historical
romance revealing the tender and innocent side of the medieval heart.
As Carol Townend turns her eye to the French side of her Wessex Wedding
romance series, we see her great skill in orchestrating the finest
details. Set in the aftermath of the Norman invasion, the Wessex
Wedding series brings this time period alive in the hearts of her
characters. In An Honorable Rogue, readers now see the world from
Brittany with its politics in flux as rivals compete and alliances
change at the blink of an eye. A journey on horseback to England allows
the reader to see the medieval landscape as well as the landscape of
the heart. Together with the first book of the series The Novice Bride,
An Honorable Rogue gives the reader an intriguing look at this
turbulent historical period from two sides. Carol Townend’s medieval
romances just get better and better!
Carol Townend awakens in this reader my first true all-encompassing
reading love ---- medieval! On my bookshelves, the Wessex Weddings
books have a special place of honor.
Publisher: Harlequin Historical
Series: Wessex Weddings
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Medieval Book Reviews
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