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Her One Desire
by Kimberly Killion
Can a
spy love the daughter of the Lord High Executioner?
Kimberly
Killion's debut medieval romance combines political and sensual passion
in a riveting read from start to finish. With an English heroine, the
daughter of the Lord High Executioner and a Scottish spy for a hero, Her One Desire brings to life all
the intrigues and danger of late fifteenth century England.
With the Lord High Executioner as her father, Lady Lizbeth Ives knows
people look at her with disgust as they keep their distance. Planning
to escape the clutches of Lord Hollister, the king's chief warder,
Lizzie intends to expose this man's treason and rid herself once and
for all of this man's evil. As she takes her leave, she comes across an
all too familiar scene of her father at work --- a man with a whip
raised, meting out punishment on two men accused of crimes. Knowing
Broderick Maxwell is a prisoner in the Tower, Lizzie Ives knows she
must do something. In helping him to escape, she also escapes herself
from her dark tortured past and an arranged marriage which will kill
her soul. But, in doing so, she has just put herself at risk. Will this
Scottish spy protect her? Who is a danger to whom? She works to protect
the crown from a treasonous plot. He seeks a means of getting France to
side with Scotland as a means of protecting the borderlands. How
can these two enemies at such cross purposes, ever come to love one
another --- yet love is exactly what they do, a love that awakens each
to their fullest, a love that breaks the darkness in their hearts and
souls.
Having seen suffering first hand, Lizzie Ives is a woman determined to
alleviate the suffering of others. Not only does she render assistance
to prisoners, but her determination to actively stop from being a
victim herself to Lord Hollister adds a richness to her character.
Broderick Maxwell, heir to the Warden of the West Marches, feels a
responsibility to his family and the people of the Scottish border
lands. As determined as Lizzie is to expose the treason against King
Edward IV to the Duke of Gloucester and seek refuge, as a spy, Broc
knows more about the political alliances beneath the surface. Torn
between protecting her and his need for the information she possesses,
Broc is a man true to his vow. Handsome and strong, Broc is also a man
troubled in spirit. Lizzie is English, not at all the type of wife for
a Scottish laird. As the two work together despite their different
political loyalties, somehow can these two wounded spirits find joy
deeper and more rewarding through love than all the forces, internal
and external, that would separate them?
Her One Desire
combines rich characterization, a sexy romance, and a suspenseful plot
into a riveting read from start to finish. Although darker than many of
the medieval romances I have been reading, Her One Desire hits just the
right chord for me. Choosing the Lord High Executioner as a character,
Kimberly Killion allows the reader to see a darker side of the period,
but a darker side that renders the romance between Lizzie and Broc all
the more moving. Kimberly Killion does a magnificent job in her
creation of a mean, horrible villain, one who is simply wicked on
multiple levels. Don't pick this one up expecting a light read but
rather a romance with a wide range of emotion from humor, to sensuous
tension, to something more soulful. In Her One Desire, Kimberly Killion
creates a portrait of transforming love, one that reaches into the very
darkness and brings a very special happy ending to the hero and the
heroine --- two people whose troubles and triumphs make them feel
destined for one another on the deepest levels. Amid the tension-filled
political dangers, Kimberly Killion creates moments of delightful,
humorous twists that lighten the heart. The language here is full of
colloquialisms, giving a nice texture to the book. On a medieval level,
this book has a certain tone that encapsulates the medieval world.
Without resorting to the sometimes coarse levels of such genres as the
earlier medieval fabliaux and later fabliaux-influenced
English/Scottish tales recently being printed right before the start of
this book, the colorful slang in Her
One Desire gives a certain realistic feel for the everyday
language used among people. What a bold and wonderful move to choose
the Lord High Executioner as a character to give a certain window into
the Medieval world not often seen! Dramatic, dangerous and full of
passion, Her One Desire makes
the reader feel the tensions of love amidst this precarious time in
English history, a time rife with intrigue, while also giving the
reader a glimpse at the tensions between England and the Scottish
border lands. Kimberly Killion's debut medieval romance is fresh in
vision and a very welcome addition to the genre.
Note:
In romance, Scottish romance is a genre to itself. Much of the
political intrigue here takes place in England, although the Scottish
borderland spy as a hero gives a nice look into an auxiliary intrigue
behind the scenes at the time of Edward IV and Richard III. While there
might be a lot of debate between what is a Scottish romance,
linguistically, the English spoken in Scotland is usually studied
together with the English spoken in England as late Middle English.
Although there are quite a lot of differences, in literary circles,
influence was not so rigidly defined, as Chaucer later influenced a
school of poetry called the "Scottish Chaucerians", hence my reference
to fabliaux influenced English tales being printed in this time period.
The colorful slang is often spoken by the Scottish characters in this
romance. I am clarifying my usage just because lovers of Scottish
romance might take offense. Although England and Scotland have unique
histories, (and unique subclasses of romance based on the two), the
literature of the time and the literary/linguistic influence between
England and Scotland was not so clearly delineated as to remain within
the borders.
Publisher: Zebra (July 1, 2008)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Medieval Book Reviews
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