TBR Challenge: Hidden Honor, Anne Stuart

One of my all time favorite keepers is an old book by Anne Stuart, Lord of Danger. Click title above to go to challenge webpage. Click here to go to author's webpage. So when this month's TBR Challenge rolled around & I looked up the theme I was thrilled. After all, Anne Stuart's heroes are often unique and push the boundaries of what an acceptable hero is. And I just happen to have four of Ms. Stuart's historicals in my TBR. Lucky me! So I chose this one. For those who wonder about cover accuracy: the cover accurately portrays Elizabeth's hair and dress! It's a nice touch, I think.

So, Hidden Honor is a 2004 Mira release set in early thirteenth century England (near as I can tell). For romance readers familiar with the terms, this is a combination road & in disguise romance. Young Elizabeth (17) is being sent to a convent by her widower father as she's too skinny, too ugly and too stupid to get a husband (dad's words, not mine). It just so happens that the bastard son of King John, one William Fitzroy, is traveling to the Shrine of St. Anne to confess and do penance for (accidentally) murdering a well born young woman. Fearful of an ambush on his life, an elaborate role switch takes place among William's retinue. William is disguised as a monk named Br. Matthew, a monk named Br. Peter takes William's place & yet another young nobleman named Adrian is also along pretending to be a monk, albeit using his own name.

You can see where this is going right? Peter, pretending to be William, falls in lust with Elizabeth. Elizabeth is kept in the dark as to who is whom, and her father sends her on her merry way with this group since she is to join the convent at the Shrine. Understandably squicked out by the attention the murderous William pays to her, Elizabeth is confused by her intuition, which tells her that William (in truth, Peter) means her no harm. Along the way they pick up a cookie cutter 'wise whore with a heart of gold' named Joanne so that she can impart some words of wisdom to young Elizabeth along the way.

Really, this could've been an excellent read. I mean, Ms. Stuart's rep is for truly out there heroes. Peter's past history with William is only slowly revealed & late into the book- but plays a crucial role in what unfolds. I think Peter could've been, should've been, edgier. He is portrayed as remorseful, penitent, guilty over what passed between himself and William, but he never seems to question his judgement. And what transpired between them should've raised quite a few questions regarding his own judgement and morality and responsibility. Aside from wishing Peter was edgier & sharper, I really enjoyed the secondary romance between Joanne and Adrian. Elizabeth annoyed me, to be truthful. I had to constantly remind myself that she's only seventeen & what can you expect from a teenager after all?! I would've been happier if Elizabeth was older, more experienced, to match Peter's issues better. I mean, really, a seventeen year old?

So, yeah, kinda disappointed here. Not quite up to par, IMO. Good but not quite there. :( Aw well, we can't always be at the top of out game, can we?

Drive By Reviews

Lord of the Keep~ Ann Lawrence

An historical romance set in England in 1192, released by Lovespell in 1999. Retains a flavor of 'old school' romance. Young heroine becomes pregnant via a garrison soldier. Her uncle brings her to the lord's court but she refuses to name her suitor & agrees to pay the fine. Time passes. Emma & her babe are again brought to Gilles' attention, this time because they are being pursued through the woods by a pack of dogs. He finds her a position at his keep, but this is complicated by the presence of her former lover- who tries to take advantage of her. Story dragged & I skimmed most of it.

Deryni Tales~ Katherine Kurtz

This is an anthology edited by Katherine Kurtz and published by Ace in 2002. There are eight short stories plus an introduction and a story by Ms. Kurtz. All are set in her world, the Eleven Kingdoms, which is loosely based on medieval Wales. The stories take place all along the timeline of the Deryni books previously published by Ms. Kurtz. Most of these are excellent. I'm already a fan of this author & she has ably edited these fanfics. Recommmended for existing fans only, newcomers will surely be lost.

Immortal Warrior, Lisa Hendrix

Historical paranormals, the best of both worlds! Vikings and swords and historical depth! This romance reader enjoyed Immortal Warrior very very much. I did have quibbles, nothing too serious, though.

The plot is your basic hastily arranged medieval political marriage with the added spice of the witch's curse. The overlord summons Ivo and tells him: go take this holding for me and marry the former lord's family member. Ivo and Alaida marry the day after he arrives. Ivo happens to be a Viking warrior from two centuries earlier who was cursed into a half life by a witch: half of his day he spends as an eagle, the other half as a man. In Ivo's native culture, free women couldn't be forced into a marriage, so Alaida's lack of input into her marital status is odd to him, no matter how long he's lived away from home. Alaida, however, sees the writing on the wall, and determines to make the best of the situation.

What I appreciated the most, however, was that the heroine was very much a woman of her times: understood the political issues surrounding their situation, had a realistic idea of her role and duties and responsibilities, had few illusions as to the likelihood that her marriage would be easy or pleassant for her yet was willing to admit when her preconceived notions about Ivo were wrong. I've really come to hate the word fiesty, but I will say that Alaida is a strong woman who will give as good as she gets even if she expects a bad outcome from her choices. She's a fundamentally fair person.

As for Ivo: he's lonely, he wants a place of his own, he wants to settle down no matter that the odds are stacked against him because of the curse. He wants to try and make the situation work so he enlists aid of the other men who were in on the raid with him to help manage the castle and it's inhabitants. That the title and land come with a prechosen wife? Well, Ivo will take her too. Why not? In for a penny in for a pound, after all. Meaning, he's going to give this his best try, but he's pretty sure the curse will complicate things so badly he'll fail. So, hey, a wife to keep warm at night until the other shoe drops? Why not?

A cursed immortal Viking trying to make his way in a human world with a new wife and a new demesne with the huge handicap that he's only human twelve hours a day? I was intrigued. I have quibbles about the huge chunk of time Ivo's gone every day and how that was treated. My husband works odd shifts, and it complicates life. A lot. I was willing to suspend disbelief, though. I hope Ms. Hendrix works on this more in the next books. The whole complication between Ivo and Alaida about whether or not their children might be cursed too was..contrived to a certin degree, I guess. It was one too many problems for them. For me the issue of Ivo's missing time and the plot twist would've been enough for the purposes of stirring the pot between Ivo and Alaida. The pregnancy problem was one thing too many.

I really really liked this book and I'm looking forward to the nest installment.

Where's My Hero; Anthology, Kleypas, Quinn, MacGregor

Where’s My Hero is an anthology of short stories by three of historical romances’ best selling authors: Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn and Kinley MacGregor. It was published by Avon in 2003. The hook is that each hero has been a secondary character in another of the author’s books. I picked it up off of a shelf at a sale by the Friends of the local library. It was cheaper than dirt, but gave me several peaceful and contented hours.

The first novella is the Regency set Against the Odds by Lisa Kleypas. Lydia Craven, daughter of the hero of an earlier Kleypas novel, is betrothed to one Robert Lord Wray, but Dr. Jake Linley, first seen in Someone to Watch Over Me, has always had a tendre for her. Lydia though, wants nothing more than to be a mathematician and a scientist, and a marriage of convenience to Lord Wray suits her just fine. Until Lydia and Jake get locked in Lydia’s father’s wine cellar for several hours during one of the interminable parties leading up to the wedding.

The second novella is Midsummer’s Knight by Kinley MacGregor, set in medieval Europe. Simon of Ravenswood, a secondary character from Master of Desire, has pined after a lady so far, far above his station that Simon impersonated a higher ranking friend and wrote her letters in his friend's name without the knowledge or consent of either party. This is the story of how Simon miraculously wins his lady’s hand in marriage and salvages his friendship.

The third story is also a Regency set pre wedding house party titled A Tale of Two Sisters, written by Julia Quinn. Edward Blydon, Viscount Burwick, is scheduled to marry one Lydia Thornton in three days. Ned was fine with that until he met Lydia’s younger sister Charlotte. *Aside- I know a very nice lady named Charlotte, who has the nicest smile, and while I read this I pictured her as the heroine.* As for Charlotte, she quickly realizes that her sister’s impressions of Ned are most likely wrong and her sister is playing some sort of last minute game. Who will pay the price of Lydia’s scheming, though? And who will win the matrimonial sweepstakes?

Like all anthologies, some are weak and some are strong. I liked the Quinn story most as it showcases her strong sense of humor. The Kleypas story offered a glimpse of the Cravens further along in their marriage, but the MacGregor story didn’t grab me much at all, despite my having enjoyed Master of Desire. Where’s My Hero is an excellent way to spend several hours smiling and laughing.

Image found on Harper Collins

Heart of the Hunter & Heart of the Flame; Tina St. John

Both of these are written by Tina St. John, an author I remembered enjoying from the pre blog era (which feels further in the past than it really is). I found these in the UBS and then they languished in my TBR until I finally rescued them in August. I believe there are actually three in this group, although I’m undecided about whether or not I want to look for the remainder. These were published by Ballantine in 2004 and 2005. These are light paranormal medieval romances, a rarity within the paranormal subgenre. No images for these as I couldn't find any that weren't blurry.




Heart of the Hunter

The first in the group, this one is set in early 1275 England and France. Lady Ariana’s brother has disappeared and she’s received a ransom note demanding she bring her brother’s papers to France. She shows up on London’s docks with a single guard, very little money, no plan and no resources. Her guard is murdered, her money stolen and she hasn’t even set sail. Ariana drove me bananas within the first chapter, but I continued to read because Braedon le Chasseur fascinated me. Needless to say, Braedon rescues Ariana over and over and over. I was intrigued though, by Braedon’s history, by his past, by his scar.
Average but flawed.





Heart of the Flame

Set three months after Heart of the Hunter, Kenrick wants to avenge his friends’, the Greycliffs, death and find a fabled chalice that is a vessel of power. He comes across a gravely wounded young woman named Haven, problem number one was her name, and takes her to his demesne to heal. Once she’s not on death’s doorstep, we’re told Haven has, conveniently, memory problems. Haven can’t remember exactly who and what she is. Kenrick figures he’ll just keep her prisoner until she ‘fesses up, and then doesn’t see why this might be an issue, but he’s sure she’s the key both to the murder and to finding the chalice.
This book was a vast improvement over the first one, for me, because Haven is that rare female character, a villaness with a cause. We watch both Haven and Kenrick change perspective and come together. Their world isn’t as black and white at the end as it was at the beginning.

January Reads

I've not had time to review all of these, but I've enjoyed the majority:

1. The Snow White Bride by Claire Delacroix- Medieval, abused widow; couldn't figure out the Snow White connection

2. A Splendid Indescretion by Elizabeth Mansfield- Traditional Regency

3. Love Me Forever by Donna Fletcher- Abused widow, clan conflicts; scarred hero

4. When I Fall in Love by Lynn Kurland- Time Travel present to medieval

5. Love Came Just in Time by Lynn Kurland- Collection of four short stories, all by Kurland; enjoyed two could've passed on two.

Edited to correct:I reviewed 5 other titles this month, for a total of 10 books read.

2 Reads

The Clerk's Tale

Written by Margaret Frazer and published by Berkeley in 2002, this is part of an ongoing mystery series featuring a nun, Sister Frevisse, as the sleuth. This particular book is pretty much in the center of the series, but is a standalone. TCT is set in the town of Goring in the year 1446. The king's crowner (official who investigates deaths) has been found murdered in a garden in a convent. His son Christopher steps into his shoes & is forced to investigate his own father's death. Sister Frevisse is pulled into this by virtue of being at St. Mary's with her Domina (Mother Superior) to visit the Domina's elderly cousin Sister Ysobel, dying of tuberculosis. Sometimes justice delayed isn't in fact justice denied. Features greed, lust and legitimacy issues. Plus- just how long can one hold on to grudges from their youth? Apparently quite a long time. Excellent. Longer than Ellis Peters, but shorter than Michael Jecks. Deceptively light in tone. Very well researched.

To the Castle

Written by Joan Wolf and published by Mira in 2005. Set in the early 12th century in England. Ms. Wolf has brought the feud between King Stephan and Empress Maud (or Matilda, I don't remember) from earlier times for plot purposes. Ordinarily it might not have bothered me so much except that I am an avid fan of Ellis Peters, whose Brother Cadfael books are all set in the 9th century & prominently discuss this feud. So that was the first problem. Eleanor de Bonvile (2nd problem- I continually thought of her as vile instead of ville which is the more common spelling of this name), anyway, has been removed from the convent after 9 years & is er..persuaded to marry Roger de Roche for dynastic purposes. Only 6 months away from her final vows, Nell feels angry, betrayed and abandoned by her parents. Roger, OTOH, is merely happy that she is attractive enough to bed & 'get children on' as his grandpa puts it. They are both of an age, she 18 & he 22- so that worked. This was well done, and normally I love medievals, but somehow TTC simply didn't grab me. Nell & Roger are a cute couple facing arduous political and personal circumstances. Their characterization was well & realistically drawn.

Once A Knight; C. Dodd

Written by Christina Dodd and published by Harper Torch in 1996, this is a medieval set in Henry III's England. Click link in title above to read an excerpt from Ms. Dodd's website. It is a little unusual in that the heroine, Lady Alisoun, is a wealthy widow and the hero, Sir David, is a poor minor baron. A rare circumstance in Romanceland.

The set up- Lady Alisoun needs a real knight to defend her people from a threat she refuses to specify or explain. Sir David desperately needs money to support the people on his minor holding because two years of drought have rendered the people (& him) in terrible need. There are problems. Lady Alisoun has an older male steward who resents Sir David. David was defeated in a tourney by a prominent knight & has issues Alisoun isn't initally aware of.

Alisoun spends much of this novel emotionaly unaware and isolated- as well as smug and condescending. David has his fair share of loutish moments I must admit, but what endeared me the most was his overriding concern for his people and his daughter. Mostly, Alisoun and David are well rounded adults whose relationship develops amid stressful happenings.

ETA~ I had some problems warming up to this at first, but in the end I was very involved and glad I'd stuck it out.