Review The Gentle Knight(The Norman Conquest #2) by Ashley York

Title: The Gentile Knight (The Norman Conquest #2)
Author: Ashley York 
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval 
Length: 246 printed pages
Publisher: Indie 
Release Date: March 21, 2015 
Source: Review Request 
Rating: 3 ½ 
Heat Rating: 3 
Reviewed by: Vashti

Brighit MacNaughton is an obedient daughter following her father's death bed decree that she take her vows and become the virginal bride of Christ. The hired men seeing her to the Priory at Tanshelf are more interested in the building resentment against the English king than her safety. But when the handsome Norman knight offers his protection against the lecherous mercenaries, he sparks her passion with his gentle touch and smoldering looks of desire, reminding her of dreams best forgotten. Can one night with him quench the intense need in her or will it cause the fire to burn out of control?

Peter of Normandy is a trusted knight of King William, sent north to subdue the unrest and rumblings of revolt at York. Giving aid to an Irish princess more noble than many knights, he is quickly overcome with the need to possess her. With a body meant for a man's pleasure and an unrelenting stubbornness to follow her father's wishes, he struggles against giving her what she wants if it can only be for one night. Will one night of passion prove to be enough or will it unleash an insatiable need that makes him never want to let her go? 

Ashley York has managed to bring forth another tale rife with danger, intrigues, false assumptions, heartache, love yearned for and love fulfilled.

The story initially had a slow start for me, and it took me a few chapters before I could really get connected with the many new and returning characters as well as the twists and turns of the plot. However, the story does pick up when Peter and Brighit meet.

While this can certainly be read as a stand-alone novel, I advise reading book one, in which we are first introduced to Peter.  Other characters are also brought into this book and knowing the history and background will certainly help the reader understand the character connections and relationships in this book.

I was quite excited to read Peter's story.  He ended up being my favorite character by the end of "the Saxon Bride" and he is still my favorite character at the end of "The Gentile Knight"

This "Gentle Knight" can certainly hold his own.  Peter is a seasoned warrior, loyal, a protector, and above all a manly man! Which we certainly love.  Yet Peter hasn't had a lot of happiness in his own life.  He's been living with rejection, hurt and guilt over situations that he had no control over and couldn't have changed the outcome if he wanted to. Yet he believes he is cursed because of the mistreatment and abuse he has suffered at the hands of his father.

Brighit is obedient to a fault and it was frustrating at times to listen to her rationale, justifying her determination to keep her father's death bed decree that she become a nun.  Although I don't know what kind of nun she would have been.  She had quite the vivid imagination for one to be so innocent (apparently she'd been watching the sheep mating back on the farm in Eire)

Brighit's early interactions with Peter had me cringing and  saying WTFudge was she thinking?  I really do hate to give away spoilers, but Brighit's hand collides with Peter's face in what we would call a slap.  Yes, she smacked the crap out of Peter's face, I won't say why, but then she attempts to do it a second time.  Really Brig? Yet she is too afraid to stand up for herself against that jerk Ivan, she's like one of the sheep being led to the slaughter, just as dumb and quiet as you please. Not very realistic that she finally gets the nerve to stand up to this Giant Warrior but she doesn't open her mouth when little bald Ivan is grabbing her ass every chance he gets.

Aside from Brighit's temporary insanity, I like the interaction and relationship of our H and H.  Peter is proud to claim what he wants and what is his!

Mort is another character that we first meet in "The Saxon Bride ". We see a lot more of his real character and nature.  He is almost a completely different person altogether than from book one of the series. While he is still somewhat of a pansy and kind of foppish, we get to know that he too is a skilled  knight who can hold his own. He even has a wife he adores and kids, who knew. I like the scenes that Mort was in.  He was quite funny and made me laugh, but we see that he is also a caring and attentive man.

Some things that I wasn't overly fond of about the book was the ending, it ended rather abruptly, and I felt like I was left hanging.  Secondly, the question is never answered or even a reference made to whether or not Brighit was molested while she slept by Ivan and the mercenaries?  The idea and suggestion were so strongly implicated that this deserved to be cleared up.

In summary, I loved Peter, and I simply do not know how Mrs. York is going to top him but I look forward to finding out in the 3rd installment "The Irish Warrior"

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The Norman Conquest

The Saxon Bride #1

Review: Only Beloved by Mary Balogh

Title: Only Beloved (The Survivors' Club #7)

Author: Mary Balogh
Genre: Historical Romance
Length: 381  Pages Paperback
Publisher: Signet
Release Date: May 3, 2016
Source: Purchase
Rating: 3 ½
Heat Rating: 3
Reviewed by: Vashti

From the legendary New York Times bestselling author of Only a Kiss and Only a Promise comes the final book in the rapturous Survivor’s Club series—as the future of one man lies within the heart of a lost but never-forgotten love...                                                        

For the first time since the death of his wife, the Duke of Stanbrook is considering remarrying and finally embracing happiness for himself. With that thought comes the treasured image of a woman he met briefly a year ago and never saw again.

Dora Debbins relinquished all hope to marry when a family scandal left her in charge of her younger sister. Earning a modest living as a music teacher, she’s left with only an unfulfilled dream. Then one afternoon, an unexpected visitor makes it come true.

For both George and Dora that brief first encounter was as fleeting as it was unforgettable. Now is the time for a second chance. And while even true love comes with a risk, who are two dreamers to argue with destiny?

Only Beloved, the seventh and final book in Mary Balogh’s Survivors series about a group of people – six men and one woman – who have all suffered injuries and trauma, both physical and mental, directly and indirectly as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.

In true classic Mary Balogh form, she brings to conclusion another wonderful, complex, emotional and even sometimes sad series ending.  Yet she manages to wrap everything up quite elegantly and leaves no question unanswered and no mystery left unsolved.  Each and every Survivor has their HEA and the wounds have begun to heal.  I started this book knowing I would be asking myself the question, "What do I do now that the series is over"?

I have been in anticipating  George's story since he was first introduced in  book one of the series "The Proposal". I was glad Mrs. Balogh saved his HEA as the conclusion to this series.

Having read the entire series I must say I  really thought that George and Imogen, from book six  "Only a Kiss" would end up together, but I also didn't want them to because that would have been the story of two of the Survivors and no 7th book. I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye!

At 48 years of age, George Crabbe, The Duke of Stanbrook, has seen all of his fellow Survivors happily married and continuing their lives with their growing families.  He finally feels that maybe he too can find some comfort in his middle age years.  Not looking for any youthful passions, he wants someone that he can spend his days with, to fill the loneliness that he has experienced. He has been a widower for 12 years and, as we come to find out in the book, a "pretty" wife does not equal a happy life, in regards to his first wife and marriage.

Dora Debbins, we first meet in "Only Enchanting" is a music teacher and older sister to Agnes, who is married to George's fellow Survivor Flavian Arnott, Viscount  Ponsonby. Dora has convinced herself that she is content with the life she has built for herself, independence, a little cottage, her modest savings, and is at peace with the fact that she will never have her happily ever after marriage or children of her own.  It is no wonder that Dora is left a bit speechless and stunned when the Duke of Stanbrook, George, therefore shows up at her door one afternoon, bungling a proposal by asking out of the blue "If she would do him the great honor of marrying him".

Only Beloved is not a  rushed love story, and at times moves a bit slow, but it is a heartfelt romance that develops between two people who realize they have both been lonely and agree to marry on the basis of mutual friendship, respect, and intimacy. They both soon discover however, that romance, passion, and  genuine love is no respecter of age.

George has been carrying very deep wounds, hurts, and deception for the past 20 or so years, that he has never shared with anyone and has no intention of sharing with Dora.   As a result of his life experiences he has the uncanny ability to care for, listen, love and soothe others as no one has ever done for him.   Dora brings to George a peace and tranquility that he didn't even realize his soul craved, and even begins to heal the old wounds.  Even though he has several properties and houses, George has finally has found his home with Dora.

As George soon discovers though, secrets harbored  always have a way of coming to light.  As we near the end of the book the mystery of those secrets is finally revealed, which I have to say I had already figured out, having read so many other of Mary Balogh's books, she does not shy away from taboo subjects.

As is always nice to read in an epilogue, we see a recap of all the Survivors introduced in previous books and it was very sweet to see how all the Survivors were now budding and thriving with their spouses and children, despite their previous wounds and emotional scars.  Perhaps a sneak peek of my favorite scene from the Epilogue sums it up best, as George states to the survivors as they walk the portrait gallery of his home:

“Something has occurred to me,” he said. “We have not had any of our late-night sessions this year, the seven of us. Other years we have scarcely missed a night, though we did miss several last year, I seem to recall.”

Those informal meetings, from which the spouses had always absented themselves though they had never been asked to, had characterized their reunions. It was during the late evenings, George had explained to Dora, that they discussed their progress—physical, mental, and emotional—their setbacks, their triumphs, all that was deep inside themselves and needed to be shared. It was really quite startling to realize that they had not met privately even once yet this year. She had not even noticed until now.

“Has anyone missed our meetings?” George asked.

“Perhaps,” Hugo said, “we do not need them any longer.”

“I believe you are right, Hugo,” Imogen said. “Perhaps all we need now when we are together is to celebrate friendship and love.”

“And life,” Ralph added.

“And memories.” George’s arm tightened about Dora’s waist. “We must never forget any of the people and events and emotions that have made us who we are today. Not that it is likely we ever will.”

I have to say, with the exception of The Huxtable Quintet, this was probably my favorite series by Mary Balogh thus far.   The characters, to some extent, in each story have more depth and more real problems (PTSD, blindness) that someone in the 21st century can relate to.  As opposed to someone who may be forced to marry in order to keep their estate or heaven forbid, they have to marry because they have compromised a women by dancing two sets with her back to back (exaggeration of course)

This could have been a stand alone book, but I would advise against it because the readers will be left questioning some of the character development as well as not having a true sense of relationship as the other survivors are brought into this story.

I will miss all of the Survivors very much, but I look forward to the new series.  An eight-part series, based on  the Westcott family

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Review: The Saxon Bride (The Norman Conquest #1) by: Ashley York

Title: The Saxon Bride (The Norman Conquest #1)

Author: Ashley York
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval
Length: 222 pages
Publisher: Indie
Release Date: August 8, 2014
Source: Review Request
Rating: 3 ½
Heat Rating: 3
Reviewed by: Vashti

In war torn England the battle lines between Saxon and Norman are clearly drawn. Rowena Godwinson, the sole remaining member of the defeated royal family, stands proudly against the Normans that would trample them underfoot. Her nobility and grace, however, make her an ideal pawn in King William's play for power with the Saxon people. When he decrees she marry a powerful Norman knight, her subjugation appears to be complete. Can she hold firm to her Saxon heritage and refuse to give in to his tempting advances?

John of Normandy is rewarded for his service and loyalty with land, titles, and a Saxon beauty for a bride. John balks at the marriage, driven by the secret guilt of knowing Rowena's father died by his sword. As their people look to them for guidance and peace, can John and Rowena find a love that unites all of England?

As a lover of medieval history this book quickly caught my attention.

The year is 1071 Essex England just five years after the Norman defeat of the Saxon King at the Battle of Hastings.  Two  unlikely people are brought together against their own will to unite the Norman and Saxon people.  Rowena Godwinson, daughter of the late Earl of Essex, and John of Normandy, a powerful and trusted Knight to the Norman King William are ordered to marry.  The King has given John a time frame in which to bring the Saxon's under subjugation.

John had no desire for power and never wanted to marry because of his questionable heritage.  Rowena certainly never dreamed of marrying a Norman Knight responsible for the downfall of her family.  Somehow these two will have to to have to come together and build a life beyond deception, distrust, prejudices, and misplaced assumptions.

One thing that I dislike about the Medieval era, is how young the brid's actually were, but Mrs. York brings the story together after Rowena has matured and weaves her magic and brings medieval history into romance fiction book.

Rowena knows her duty, and is determined to do her duty to God, country and husband.  Her loyal friend Arthur is always waiting in the wings to capture her should she fall. I had a love-hate relationship with Arthur in the beginning and I genuinely felt sorry for the loss to him and his family. That had to be particularly hard to come to terms with and not seek revenge, especially given the time period.  However, Arthur's actions towards the end are unforgivable (you'll have to read the book to find out what those actions are).   

Rowena's handmaiden Joan was another early on love/hate relationship for me. She seemed to care about Rowena and have her best interest at heart in the beginning, but  as the story progressed, she almost seemed like a modern-day woman, in that she spoke very freely with Rowena, her mistress and Lady of the Manor.  Joan caused Rowena undue distress and confusion in her marriage.  She was constantly meddling, and making Rowena feel belittled by her man and I was glad to see her finally put in her place! Even more so than Arthur I think.  I also was never sure about her age as the only real description given is of her blond hair.

John is handsome (the face of an angel to be exact), kind and loyal to the King.  The Big fault I found with Him was that I could not understand his reasoning for not consummating his marriage.  I get that he wanted Rowena to be willing, well several times she was more than willing, and he walked away?? I just couldn't wrap my head around that one.  I found myself asking did he prefer a "Rowen" instead of "Rowena"?  Just sayin...   Not to worry, he wants Rowena, which is made comically evident in the Siren bathing scene (again, you have to read the book, I wont give away any spoilers)  But...., and theirs always a but, I don't know any man, well maybe a eunuch, that walks away from a naked, willing, and beautiful women (maybe I did give away something here).   Heck,  for that matter I don't know any man that would walk away from a naked, willing women, even if she had the face of a dog and smelled like an ass.  Aside from this flaw, which he does rectify satisfactorily, John is a decent man.

Sir John's right-hand man and fellow Knight Peter was someone I didn't like at first, but he genuinely grew on me and ended up being one of my favorite characters.  He is a warrior, loyal and lover of the ladies.  I can't wait to read his HEA.

There are a few other shady characters thrown in the story.  This was a time of power and political upheaval after all,  so sometimes underhanded alliances and fealty was a matter of survival.  I didn't see the purpose of  Mort of Bedgrove's character to the story.  I know what he was, but in my opinion, he really added nothing to the story.   I would have also liked an epilogue.  I was left wondering about John's lineage as it is hinted that The King knows more than he has revealed to John concerning his lineage and that possibly he may be of noble blood.  Maybe that will be cleared up in future books.  I also would like to have learned if  John and Rowena got another "blessing".  Read the book to see what the blessing was!

Overall I highly recommend this to lovers of medieval romance. It was engaging, sometimes very sad and at times quite humorous ie: 

1. John needing a bath so his B.O. isn't offensive
2. John thinking that "common sense seemed a foreign concept to both father and daughter, 
3. Morts offer of fulfilling any service John may need,

as well as a few other comical scenes, which may not have been intended that way but the delivery was just down right funny to me. Mrs. York has done a wonderful job of marrying history, intrigue, and romance weaving it all together into a beautiful story. I EAGERLY, look forward to the next book in the series!!! 

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