Scan barcode
kathydavie's review
2.0
Ninth in the De Piaget historical paranormal romance series. This is one of the few that doesn't involve time travel and is, instead, firmly rooted in a medieval England.
My Take
It started off so sweetly and slowly drove me mad with Aliénore's idiocy. The biggest one is why would she believe the stories she heard from her hated and despised stepmother? Then she's stupid enough to believe Sir Etienne despite all evidence to the contrary. It seemed pretty obvious to me what Colin would do. I mean, duh…! Her actions just made me wince my way through the story so I could get it over with.
Then there are the comments Aliénore makes about her amazing ability to disguise herself. Oh, please. Lady Isabeau was protecting her right and left and almost everyone saw through her lame-ass attempts. I mean, the woman squeaks every time she's frightened. Which only occurred about every few minutes. She never made an attempt to learn how to curse so she could fit in. Never tried to deepen her voice. Never tried to learn how to at least appear to know how to use her sword. All she seemed to do with skitter around like a mouse. What knight acts like that?? Had she no observational skills??
I did enjoy the comments Kurland had for Sibyl and her constant need for food! The final romantic entanglements are somewhat unexpected, and I'm curious as to whether their adventures will appear in future.
The Story
Betrothed to the Butcher of Berkhamshire! The stories her stepmother tells her convince Aliénore that the only way she can survive is to run away. Admittedly, running away could only be a positive move as it would get her out from under Marie. Once Marie had married her father, life went downhill rapidly.
As fate would have it, her brother had left his mail and sword in the stables, and Ailenor quickly stole it. Just retribution for all the nasty tricks he had played on her in the past. She didn't get that far though, falling into service with Sir Humbert's lady and being assigned to guard his daughter, Sibyl. The greatest strain in serving her was getting back and forth from the kitchens with enough food to keep her happy.
When Sibyl sets out to her wedding with the unknown husband-to-be, Aliénore is the knight errant sent along to serve her. Then she discovers the bridegroom's identity...and she prays he doesn't recognize her.
The Characters
Colin the Butcher of Berkhamshire is too fearsome for any woman to want to wed.
Two years ago, Aliénore of Solonge ran away from home rather than submit; at least all the others tried to come up with some excuse. Unfortunately, as "Sir Henri", she is now attendant upon Sybil who is being sent to Colin. Lord Christopher, the Dragon of Blackmour, and his lady, Gillian, have two sons. Robin is three while William is not yet one. Jason of Artane has stayed on at Blackmour.
Denis of Solonge
lost all interest in everyday life and allowed his new wife, Marie, to run his and his children's lives including betrothing Aliénore to the Butcher of Berkhamshire and filling her ears with how incredibly awful the man was to those around him. Aliénore's brothers include Pierre, Robert, François, and two others.
In running away, Aliénore is lucky enough to fall in with the Lady Isabeau of Maignelay-sur-mer, Sibyl's mother. Isabeau immediately realized who she was and she protected "Sir Henri" for two years. Why neither Humbert nor Isabeau realized what a bestial nature Sir Etienne had or why they would put him in charge of their daughter's progress to Blackmour, I'll never understand.
Reginald of Berkhamshire is Colin's jerk of a father while his sisters, Ermengarde and Agnes, certainly aren't anything to brag about.
The Cover and Title
It's a lilac background with a book enhanced with a ribboned cover of interwoven pinks and greens, tied closed by pink silk ribbons and topped by a pink velvet flower and ruched velvet leaves.
The title is how Colin and Aliénore decide they will go From This Moment On.
My Take
It started off so sweetly and slowly drove me mad with Aliénore's idiocy. The biggest one is why would she believe the stories she heard from her hated and despised stepmother? Then she's stupid enough to believe Sir Etienne despite all evidence to the contrary. It seemed pretty obvious to me what Colin would do. I mean, duh…! Her actions just made me wince my way through the story so I could get it over with.
Then there are the comments Aliénore makes about her amazing ability to disguise herself. Oh, please. Lady Isabeau was protecting her right and left and almost everyone saw through her lame-ass attempts. I mean, the woman squeaks every time she's frightened. Which only occurred about every few minutes. She never made an attempt to learn how to curse so she could fit in. Never tried to deepen her voice. Never tried to learn how to at least appear to know how to use her sword. All she seemed to do with skitter around like a mouse. What knight acts like that?? Had she no observational skills??
I did enjoy the comments Kurland had for Sibyl and her constant need for food! The final romantic entanglements are somewhat unexpected, and I'm curious as to whether their adventures will appear in future.
The Story
Betrothed to the Butcher of Berkhamshire! The stories her stepmother tells her convince Aliénore that the only way she can survive is to run away. Admittedly, running away could only be a positive move as it would get her out from under Marie. Once Marie had married her father, life went downhill rapidly.
As fate would have it, her brother had left his mail and sword in the stables, and Ailenor quickly stole it. Just retribution for all the nasty tricks he had played on her in the past. She didn't get that far though, falling into service with Sir Humbert's lady and being assigned to guard his daughter, Sibyl. The greatest strain in serving her was getting back and forth from the kitchens with enough food to keep her happy.
When Sibyl sets out to her wedding with the unknown husband-to-be, Aliénore is the knight errant sent along to serve her. Then she discovers the bridegroom's identity...and she prays he doesn't recognize her.
The Characters
Colin the Butcher of Berkhamshire is too fearsome for any woman to want to wed.
Two years ago, Aliénore of Solonge ran away from home rather than submit; at least all the others tried to come up with some excuse. Unfortunately, as "Sir Henri", she is now attendant upon Sybil who is being sent to Colin. Lord Christopher, the Dragon of Blackmour, and his lady, Gillian, have two sons. Robin is three while William is not yet one. Jason of Artane has stayed on at Blackmour.
Denis of Solonge
lost all interest in everyday life and allowed his new wife, Marie, to run his and his children's lives including betrothing Aliénore to the Butcher of Berkhamshire and filling her ears with how incredibly awful the man was to those around him. Aliénore's brothers include Pierre, Robert, François, and two others.
In running away, Aliénore is lucky enough to fall in with the Lady Isabeau of Maignelay-sur-mer, Sibyl's mother. Isabeau immediately realized who she was and she protected "Sir Henri" for two years. Why neither Humbert nor Isabeau realized what a bestial nature Sir Etienne had or why they would put him in charge of their daughter's progress to Blackmour, I'll never understand.
Reginald of Berkhamshire is Colin's jerk of a father while his sisters, Ermengarde and Agnes, certainly aren't anything to brag about.
The Cover and Title
It's a lilac background with a book enhanced with a ribboned cover of interwoven pinks and greens, tied closed by pink silk ribbons and topped by a pink velvet flower and ruched velvet leaves.
The title is how Colin and Aliénore decide they will go From This Moment On.
jaelle_99's review
2.0
DNF at chapter 19
Heroine is cowardly and VERY stupid while hero is the opposite of attractive. No romance yet but I got so exasperated by the characters that I had to stop even though the premise of the book was intriguing.
Heroine is cowardly and VERY stupid while hero is the opposite of attractive. No romance yet but I got so exasperated by the characters that I had to stop even though the premise of the book was intriguing.
gwendafyn_reader's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
sucitta's review
2.0
This is the first of Lynn Kurland's books that I've given such a low rating, and I'm quite sad to give this story 2 stars when I was so looking forward to reading more about Colin. I think his story would've been much better condensed to a short story, if I'm being perfectly honest. I would rather have had a longer story about Miles, actually; his short story was WONDERFUL and way too short.
It took me awhile to get through this book, not because I don't like Colin or Alienore (I like both characters a lot), but I found that the story got immensely wordy at times and found myself fast losing interest. This book took me 2 weeks to read compared to how quickly I read the others. I was beginning to not even care about finishing it, but I powered through just because it's Colin.
It took me awhile to get through this book, not because I don't like Colin or Alienore (I like both characters a lot), but I found that the story got immensely wordy at times and found myself fast losing interest. This book took me 2 weeks to read compared to how quickly I read the others. I was beginning to not even care about finishing it, but I powered through just because it's Colin.
lady_aquarian's review
5.0
This book is hilarious! Colin is a wonderful hero, both endearing and manly. The secondary characters are great as well, and the villains are just troublesome enough without overpowering the story. It's a book that deserves another read for sure!
sarahconnor89757's review
3.0
I'm no fan of Kurland because most times she presents a premise and I’m bored from the get-go, but this is one book I actually liked. The heroine got her faced rubbed in her own vomit, beat constantly, and the hero blew his nose into his sleeve. Aside from those wins, it’s a gender bender and the hero was unintelligent, socially defunct, self-delusional, apathetic, and ugly. It made me laugh a few times.
The biggest problem with the book is that it is 100 pages too long. Those pages lagged so much you could have torn them from the book and I wouldn't have ever noticed.
The biggest problem with the book is that it is 100 pages too long. Those pages lagged so much you could have torn them from the book and I wouldn't have ever noticed.
More...