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Medieval Knights #4
The Temptation
Bound for the convent, Elsbeth of Sunnandune is forced to marry a wickedly handsome knight whose tender touches and passionate promises threaten to be her undoing, no matter how hard she prays for salvation. Original.
384 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2003
9 people are currently reading
147 people want to read
About the author
Claudia Dain
37 books99 followersIt was while writing a descriptive essay in seventh grade English (that was the assignment, to write a 'descriptive essay') that Claudia first fell in love. With descriptive essays. Boys being what they are in seventh grade, there was hardly much choice.
By her ninth grade year, Claudia was spending hours each week in her bedroom writing descriptive essays that heavily featured older boys (eleventh grade). She also practiced her kissing technique on a pole lamp next to her bed. It was less than satisfactory, but the writing was fun.
She attended the University of Southern California as an English major. She'd mastered kissing by this time and writing, strangely enough, was still fun. 'Strangely' because while it had become obvious to her that almost everyone enjoyed kissing, it was equally obvious that very few people enjoyed writing. This was as peculiar to her as, well, not enjoying kissing.
Clearly, something had to be done. The idea of combining kissing and writing seemed the obvious course of action. While Claudia does not claim to have invented the romance novel, she certainly has a lot of fun describing kisses and inventing men to bestow them upon. And not a one of her heroes looks remotely like a pole lamp. (And don't act like one either.)
Claudia was first published in 2000, is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author. Which just goes to prove that you can make a career out of kissing and writing about it.
By her ninth grade year, Claudia was spending hours each week in her bedroom writing descriptive essays that heavily featured older boys (eleventh grade). She also practiced her kissing technique on a pole lamp next to her bed. It was less than satisfactory, but the writing was fun.
She attended the University of Southern California as an English major. She'd mastered kissing by this time and writing, strangely enough, was still fun. 'Strangely' because while it had become obvious to her that almost everyone enjoyed kissing, it was equally obvious that very few people enjoyed writing. This was as peculiar to her as, well, not enjoying kissing.
Clearly, something had to be done. The idea of combining kissing and writing seemed the obvious course of action. While Claudia does not claim to have invented the romance novel, she certainly has a lot of fun describing kisses and inventing men to bestow them upon. And not a one of her heroes looks remotely like a pole lamp. (And don't act like one either.)
Claudia was first published in 2000, is a two-time Rita finalist, and a USA Today Bestselling author. Which just goes to prove that you can make a career out of kissing and writing about it.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
dnf-at-all
December 8, 2017And to think that I rated the books before this one in this series with 5-stars... It was so long ago, I am actually scared to go back and re-read them and be disappointed now.
This particular book was not for me, maybe my tastes run towards more fluffy stories now. This story opened up with the heroine's mother giving birth. It was a very descriptive, difficult and depressing birth too. Moving on... the heroine has one goal in life, to avoid men by joining the convent. In the first 30 pages that I did read, it was packed full of repetitious descriptions of how absolutely golden and beautiful the hero was, how NOT beautiful the heroine was and the heroine was constantly reciting religious quotations. I saw another reviewer commented that a majority of the story was waiting for the heroine to be done with her menstrual period so that the marriage could be consummated... Um ok. Maybe I will pick it up in the future and try it again, but after reading 30 pages, I did not find myself caring about the characters and wanting to pick the book back up to continue.
This particular book was not for me, maybe my tastes run towards more fluffy stories now. This story opened up with the heroine's mother giving birth. It was a very descriptive, difficult and depressing birth too. Moving on... the heroine has one goal in life, to avoid men by joining the convent. In the first 30 pages that I did read, it was packed full of repetitious descriptions of how absolutely golden and beautiful the hero was, how NOT beautiful the heroine was and the heroine was constantly reciting religious quotations. I saw another reviewer commented that a majority of the story was waiting for the heroine to be done with her menstrual period so that the marriage could be consummated... Um ok. Maybe I will pick it up in the future and try it again, but after reading 30 pages, I did not find myself caring about the characters and wanting to pick the book back up to continue.
January 3, 2015
Brave, unexpected and thought-provoking. If you're looking for a fun read, you should probably skip ahead to Claudia Dane's more recent work (the Courtesan series). The Temptation has some tragic themes in play, and takes a rather raw look at the lives of women in the Middle Ages. I was a bit shaken up, but ultimately loved the book and still consider it this author's best and most ambitious work.
February 26, 2008
Original story. A little bit icky sometimes but it's well-written. Great alpha!
December 25, 2024
#204 - 2024
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval
August 13, 2012
Who said romance novels were not conducive to reflection? If that might be true of some, The Temptation is here to prove the generalization wrong. A medieval romance by Claudia Dain set in the early years of King Henry II's reign, it strives with uneven success to bring together modern romance codes and historical accuracy, raising many worthwhile questions in the process.
To begin with, Ms. Dain has rightly understood the necessity of treating God and Christian faith to prominent places in a European medieval story. Such a premise could only meet my approval and spark my curiosity; not just because I like all matters religious, but above all because that's perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the Middle Ages. The pregnancy and political importance of early Christianity in the European and Mediterranean areas make medieval history that much more interesting and complex, while the secular and cultural contexts in which Christianity grew lend its rituals and beliefs that much more strength and credibility. By the time I was done with my medieval history classes at university, I had virtually become a Christian!
The Temptation's heroine, Elsbeth, wishes to avoid marriage at all costs for different reasons, none of which are directly related to religion. Still, for a woman of that time, religion is the only alternative to becoming a wife and a mother, and Elsbeth accepts it readily enough. All throughout the book, I was thus disturbed and even a little annoyed by the muddled state of her faith. Part of her is genuinely religious, but another part, which is maybe too crudely emphasized upon, is merely calculating. She seems to be living in constant dishonesty with herself, trying so hard to believe something which is so evidently not right. I wish Elsbeth had been more determined and frank in her faith; or, on the contrary, less sanctimonious, and less deluded.
The insecurity of her belief in God shows in full in the conclusion:
Big theological question. At first sight, Elsbeth is wrong, and Hugh is right (this also appears to be the author's opinion). And yet I am not completely satisfied with the wait-and-see, or rather "pray-and-see" policy: Elsbeth is basically condemned to helplessness until some guy shows up and rights her wrongs. But what about all those women for whom no "knight in shining armor" ever turns up? Will God's justice be performed on their children's children?
I think the answer lies in the way we see humans' relationship with God. Unfortunately, The Temptation's religious moral seems to keep close to an all-powerful vision of God. A tile cannot fall from a roof without the intervention of God's will...
I beg to differ. I suppose I'm not a good medieval Christian, nor even a good Catholic by saying so, but: God is far, far away from the world of women and men. What we do here and now is our responsibility. We can make it better or make it worse, we can change things, we can sin or earn the Kingdom of Heaven. If there's one concept I love in Christian faith, it is that of free will. God never fails us, but He also never intervenes.
Then there's the hero, Hugh of Jerusalem. You bet this one likes talking about God and faith, too. I initially found it both daring and intriguing that an author should choose for her hero someone who fought in the Crusades. Yet this time again, I was slightly disappointed, maybe because I couldn't help comparing it with Polish author Zofia Kossak's wonderful historical novels Krzyzowcy (the Crusaders). No more than Elsbeth's, I couldn't exactly pinpoint where Hugh's faith lay: at times an integral part of his identity and raison d'être, it is yet recurrently pictured as no more than a means to an end, namely the path to win Elsbeth's trust and love. Would an out-and-out Christian man not have been sexy enough as a romance hero? Or would a more hypocritical, more cynical hero hurt too many Christian readers' feelings?
To sum it up, The Temptation is an unusual and well-written book; nevertheless, it didn't meet all my expectations nor sat well with some of my convictions. Maybe the author promised too much. Maybe she made the mistake of aiming too high. She cannot really be faulted for not managing what most romance writers don't even attempt... On the other hand, she could probably be blamed for the book's overall slow pace and tendency to repetition. The whole story indeed stretches across only a few days! I would have liked a wider angle.
To begin with, Ms. Dain has rightly understood the necessity of treating God and Christian faith to prominent places in a European medieval story. Such a premise could only meet my approval and spark my curiosity; not just because I like all matters religious, but above all because that's perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the Middle Ages. The pregnancy and political importance of early Christianity in the European and Mediterranean areas make medieval history that much more interesting and complex, while the secular and cultural contexts in which Christianity grew lend its rituals and beliefs that much more strength and credibility. By the time I was done with my medieval history classes at university, I had virtually become a Christian!
The Temptation's heroine, Elsbeth, wishes to avoid marriage at all costs for different reasons, none of which are directly related to religion. Still, for a woman of that time, religion is the only alternative to becoming a wife and a mother, and Elsbeth accepts it readily enough. All throughout the book, I was thus disturbed and even a little annoyed by the muddled state of her faith. Part of her is genuinely religious, but another part, which is maybe too crudely emphasized upon, is merely calculating. She seems to be living in constant dishonesty with herself, trying so hard to believe something which is so evidently not right. I wish Elsbeth had been more determined and frank in her faith; or, on the contrary, less sanctimonious, and less deluded.
The insecurity of her belief in God shows in full in the conclusion:
"The sparrow falls," she said softly, her eyes filled with tears. "Is that not so? I am that sparrow," she said, her anger rising. "I fell and fell and God let me fall. God did not save me. Where was God when I needed saving?"
"Elsbeth, into this temptation I will not let you fall," Hugh said, his voice deep and strong. "[...] God did mark it and God did send a rescuer from His right hand; He sent hugh from His own city of Jerusalem. God did not fail you."
Big theological question. At first sight, Elsbeth is wrong, and Hugh is right (this also appears to be the author's opinion). And yet I am not completely satisfied with the wait-and-see, or rather "pray-and-see" policy: Elsbeth is basically condemned to helplessness until some guy shows up and rights her wrongs. But what about all those women for whom no "knight in shining armor" ever turns up? Will God's justice be performed on their children's children?
I think the answer lies in the way we see humans' relationship with God. Unfortunately, The Temptation's religious moral seems to keep close to an all-powerful vision of God. A tile cannot fall from a roof without the intervention of God's will...
[...] "perhaps it is that I trust. I trust in God, Elsbeth, as must you. I trust that He has gifted me with a bride who will suit. I trust that our lives will mesh, becoming one, as the Lord God intended. As Adam was given Eve, so I am given you."
I beg to differ. I suppose I'm not a good medieval Christian, nor even a good Catholic by saying so, but: God is far, far away from the world of women and men. What we do here and now is our responsibility. We can make it better or make it worse, we can change things, we can sin or earn the Kingdom of Heaven. If there's one concept I love in Christian faith, it is that of free will. God never fails us, but He also never intervenes.
Then there's the hero, Hugh of Jerusalem. You bet this one likes talking about God and faith, too. I initially found it both daring and intriguing that an author should choose for her hero someone who fought in the Crusades. Yet this time again, I was slightly disappointed, maybe because I couldn't help comparing it with Polish author Zofia Kossak's wonderful historical novels Krzyzowcy (the Crusaders). No more than Elsbeth's, I couldn't exactly pinpoint where Hugh's faith lay: at times an integral part of his identity and raison d'être, it is yet recurrently pictured as no more than a means to an end, namely the path to win Elsbeth's trust and love. Would an out-and-out Christian man not have been sexy enough as a romance hero? Or would a more hypocritical, more cynical hero hurt too many Christian readers' feelings?
To sum it up, The Temptation is an unusual and well-written book; nevertheless, it didn't meet all my expectations nor sat well with some of my convictions. Maybe the author promised too much. Maybe she made the mistake of aiming too high. She cannot really be faulted for not managing what most romance writers don't even attempt... On the other hand, she could probably be blamed for the book's overall slow pace and tendency to repetition. The whole story indeed stretches across only a few days! I would have liked a wider angle.
March 26, 2010
Someone recommended this book on a list of "Best something" or "My favorite somethings" on Amazon a couple of years ago and I found it somewhere, bought it and put it in twith he myriad of unread books in my wardrobe. Well, on my current quest to work through those TBR's more or less alphabetically, I finally got around to it. The action was so slow that I almost didn't finish it. Instead, I sped through the last two-thirds of it, trying to find some high spots, then read the last 50 pages. Actually, about the last 20 pages were pretty good. Otherwise, a disappointment.
January 22, 2014
get on with it already! this book just dragged. the conversations were really stilted. the overal main story wasnt bad but it was buried behind the conversations and the fact that the whole story was waiting for her to finish her period so they could consummate the marriage.
September 10, 2016
Not as good a story as her previous books.
January 25, 2024
I felt like this ended abruptly. All that fucking build up and the pay off was crap. I still reread it every once in a while. It was sooo good.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews