|
|
BOOK
ILLUMINATIONS
From Medieval Book
Reviews
HOME
ROMANCE
FICTION SUSPENSE & THRILLERS
MYSTERY
AUTHORS REVIEWER
PROFILES
|
A Knight Most Wicked
by Joanne Rock
Passion, secrets, and divided
loyalties: a medieval romance that delights the heart on many levels
Arabella Rowan cannot understand why
she was chosen as a lady in waiting for the large retinue of women to
accompany Princess Anne of Bohemia to England. Arabella prefers open
air and freedom, not the closed-in spaces of courts and intricate
social customs. After all, her father never acknowledged her and rumors
of sorcery haunt her grandmother Zaharia's reputation. How can she
bring honor to her countrymen and family? She flees to the woods for
one last moment of freedom and to cry out her frustration, only to be
seen in this one private moment, by a handsome knight! Tristan
Carlisle, a warrior who has spent years in service to England's kings,
is none too pleased to have been assigned the duty of a courtier. When
war rages with France, accompanying a nuptial entourage of ladies
chafes and irritates this ambitious knight. Nevertheless, Tristan
realizes that the key to gaining land and power rest on keeping the
princess and her ladies safe. When he discovers that the gypsy who had
captured his heart in the forest is now masquerading around as a lady
in waiting, Tristan must uncover the secrets behind the lady impostor
if only he can resist the powerful attraction between them. Innocent,
unaccustomed to talking to men, and forewarned of their danger,
Arabella knows she must keep her secrets from the this handsome knight
and an English court that frowns on the healing arts of women, but how
long can she hide the passion that Tristan inspires within her?
Joanne Rock's A KNIGHT MOST WICKED
combines a lesser explored historical setting, a play on the medieval
classic Tristan romance tale and a fascinatingly rich hero and heroine
in a romance full of passion and intrigue. Arabella is a wildcat, a
woman who prefers freedom and acting on her own will rather than bowing
to others. A healer, medicine for her is an inner calling, one that
drives her to help even in the face of danger. Although the court
setting with its intrigue, rumors and power plays chafes at her most
inner sense of her self, the unfamiliar setting also allows the reader
a glimpse into the depths of her character, a woman whose loyalty and
honor emerges as she protects the secrets and those she loves and yet
as a woman who takes risks. Joanne Rock places Tristan, a knight set on
winning favor and protecting England's interests, in the precarious
position of protecting a woman from danger while he determines the risk
she herself poses---not only to England, but to his heart. Tristan is
not a man to easily accept betrayal of any kind!
Joanne Rock's plot challenges her characters, placing them in the midst
of a danger unknown. In A KNIGHT
MOST WICKED, Joanne Rock creates dynamic characters who grow not
only in their passion for each other but within themselves as conflicts
test their loyalties and indeed their most inner selves. A perfect
balance between rich characterization and a plot full of perilous and
sometimes delightfully subtle twists from within and without the
guarded entourage keeps the reader glued to the pages, never quite
knowing from where the next danger will arrive. As shadowy figures
following the entourage create an ominous backdrop, the greatest
dangers yet might still be to the heart as both Arabella and Tristan
come face to face with the past. To the sheer delight of medieval fans,
Joanne Rock interweaves the tragic medieval tale of Tristan and Isolde
within her story, creating a playful and romantic contrast between it
and Arabella and Tristan's story of love and divided loyalty. Joanne
Rock's Tristan story is not a tragedy, but a romance that moves the
heart. Indeed, A KNIGHT MOST WICKED captures the very essence of the
medieval period on multiple levels.
Publisher: Harlequin
Historical (March 2008)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Medieval Book Reviews
|
|
|
