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Medieval Knights #3
The Willing Wife
Embarking on her fifth arranged marriage as ordered by King Henry, Nicolaa unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with her new husband, whose intelligence, compassion, and sensual demeanor takes her breath away. Original.
384 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2002
10 people are currently reading
129 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
February 23, 2017
This may have been enough to put me off the other Claudia Dain book I have in my possession.
I read a previous book in the series, The Marriage Bed, and while I gave it 2 stars, I don't remember being as offended by it as this one.
I liked the heroine, Nicolaa. She was hardened by four husbands having left her, shutting herself off emotionally from the world and taking pleasure only in making tapestries with her ladies. Because of the ways each of the husbands had treated her, she didn't particularly care for men and didn't want a husband. Yet she was willing to do her duty when the king ordered her to marry again. She was also quick to protect her ladies from imminent betrothals if they were too young, and recognized the ways a man might hurt a lady even if it seemed he was being courteous to her.
This brings me to the hero, Rowland. I thought he was going to be a gentle and patient hero, slowly winning Nicolaa's regard with his kindness over the course of the book. Boy was I wrong. Damned if Rowland wasn't a Nice Guy. He was constantly presuming to know what's best for Nicolaa and anyone else who may have been suffering. He was apologetic for squires who sought only to flatter ladies even when the flattery offended the ladies. He wanted to "heal" Nicolaa from her past hurts, because it was what she needed. Even if this so-called healing included having sex with her while she was asleep and her waking up in the middle of it, because she wouldn't have submitted to him while awake.
He did all this, all in the name of trying to win Nicolaa's regard, and yet on nearly every single page he was thinking about his dead wife, Lubias. Worrying about betraying Lubias. Remembering his wedding night with Lubias.
As if that wasn't bad enough, I had to read the tale of how Lubias died and he carried her through the streets of wherever, and he carried her still, in his heart, multiple times, told by different characters. I fucking get it! Lubias is great and their love was awesome! This was to showcase his capacity to love, but obviously I wasn't convinced.
And neither was Nicolaa (at first, because obviously this is an HEA). There were several side characters, all given ample page time, and all they could talk about was that there must be something wrong with Nicolaa that she didn't welcome Rowland into her bed. Bunch of meddlers, they were.
I skimmed a large portion of this book, and I still picked up on all this. Because it's literally all there is to it. This was all hashed and rehashed in less than 250 pages. I like Dain's setups, but this book quickly turned ridiculous. I can only hope The Fall, which is about the oblivious squire Ulrich who thinks flattery is everything, manages to impress me.
I read a previous book in the series, The Marriage Bed, and while I gave it 2 stars, I don't remember being as offended by it as this one.
I liked the heroine, Nicolaa. She was hardened by four husbands having left her, shutting herself off emotionally from the world and taking pleasure only in making tapestries with her ladies. Because of the ways each of the husbands had treated her, she didn't particularly care for men and didn't want a husband. Yet she was willing to do her duty when the king ordered her to marry again. She was also quick to protect her ladies from imminent betrothals if they were too young, and recognized the ways a man might hurt a lady even if it seemed he was being courteous to her.
This brings me to the hero, Rowland. I thought he was going to be a gentle and patient hero, slowly winning Nicolaa's regard with his kindness over the course of the book. Boy was I wrong. Damned if Rowland wasn't a Nice Guy. He was constantly presuming to know what's best for Nicolaa and anyone else who may have been suffering. He was apologetic for squires who sought only to flatter ladies even when the flattery offended the ladies. He wanted to "heal" Nicolaa from her past hurts, because it was what she needed. Even if this so-called healing included having sex with her while she was asleep and her waking up in the middle of it, because she wouldn't have submitted to him while awake.
He did all this, all in the name of trying to win Nicolaa's regard, and yet on nearly every single page he was thinking about his dead wife, Lubias. Worrying about betraying Lubias. Remembering his wedding night with Lubias.
As if that wasn't bad enough, I had to read the tale of how Lubias died and he carried her through the streets of wherever, and he carried her still, in his heart, multiple times, told by different characters. I fucking get it! Lubias is great and their love was awesome! This was to showcase his capacity to love, but obviously I wasn't convinced.
And neither was Nicolaa (at first, because obviously this is an HEA). There were several side characters, all given ample page time, and all they could talk about was that there must be something wrong with Nicolaa that she didn't welcome Rowland into her bed. Bunch of meddlers, they were.
I skimmed a large portion of this book, and I still picked up on all this. Because it's literally all there is to it. This was all hashed and rehashed in less than 250 pages. I like Dain's setups, but this book quickly turned ridiculous. I can only hope The Fall, which is about the oblivious squire Ulrich who thinks flattery is everything, manages to impress me.
August 18, 2021
RTC!
~
I was very excited to read this, but I got bored halfway through. I was interested to read this because of the concept of Nicolaa being married four times before she is wed to Rowland. Neither of them want this marriage contract but agree because this is what happens in medieval England. Rowland is a romantic knight who cannot forget his first wife, but when he sees Nicolaa, he thinks that he can be a good partner to her, even if he cannot offer her romantic love. Rowland sure is presumptuous where he wants Nicolaa's admiration and wifely devotion but draws lines in the sand against him reciprocating that vulnerability to her.
To that end, most of the story is him trying to win Nicolaa over to him. It's a slow burn. The love triangle with the castle priest is pretty understated, and there is this moment that is meant to be climactic where Nicolaa feels betrayed that Rowland admits he may not have loved his first wife or that most of his mourning to her memory is an act for his honour and pride, but it doesn't really land.
I really enjoyed Claudia Dain's Tell No Lies, and was trying to find another story by her that would be just as tense and exciting. This one wasn't it.
~
I was very excited to read this, but I got bored halfway through. I was interested to read this because of the concept of Nicolaa being married four times before she is wed to Rowland. Neither of them want this marriage contract but agree because this is what happens in medieval England. Rowland is a romantic knight who cannot forget his first wife, but when he sees Nicolaa, he thinks that he can be a good partner to her, even if he cannot offer her romantic love. Rowland sure is presumptuous where he wants Nicolaa's admiration and wifely devotion but draws lines in the sand against him reciprocating that vulnerability to her.
To that end, most of the story is him trying to win Nicolaa over to him. It's a slow burn. The love triangle with the castle priest is pretty understated, and there is this moment that is meant to be climactic where Nicolaa feels betrayed that Rowland admits he may not have loved his first wife or that most of his mourning to her memory is an act for his honour and pride, but it doesn't really land.
I really enjoyed Claudia Dain's Tell No Lies, and was trying to find another story by her that would be just as tense and exciting. This one wasn't it.
July 8, 2009
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I think Claudia Dain is a great writer, but the plot of a woman who had been married four times prior was not to my taste. I ended being pleasantly surprised. I felt deeply for Nicolaa, having been wedded, bedded, and rejected four times over by men who wanted to marry up. How scarring that must be to a person's self-esteem. And the King just keeps giving her to loyal knights or subjects as is his so-called right. When he gives her to Roland, she expects things to be little different. Except Roland has decided he wants to woo his emotionally-distant wife into loving him as she should love her husband.
Initially his motives are selfish. He doesn't even plan to stay around (although he will stay married to her). I thought that was asking a lot for him to want a loving, devoted wife that he wasn't even going to commit to living with. But he gets entrapped by his own plan. He begins to fall for the strong, yet inwardly vulnerable woman who he has been wed to. When she relies on her priest and confidant (who happens to be in love with her and doesn't want her married again) to get an annulment since their marriage hadn't been consummated, Roland forcibly consummates the marriage, determined that she won't be able to find a way to end it. I didn't like that. I suppose I could understand why he did it, but it wasn't a very nice thing to do.
However, Nicolaa doesn't let it faze her. She has dealt with four other husbands of varying temperaments and has trained herself to endure and give them what they want (or lip service) until they go away. Except Roland doesn't seem to fall into the usual pattern. He refuses to be ignored and tries to be everything that he feels she needs in a husband. His efforts start to chip away at the frozen wall around her heart. She finds herself falling deeply for the serious, godly knight who spent the several years prior to their marriage celibate after the loss of his dearly-loved wife who begged him to take her on the Crusades with him. He had determined he would not love again, but he falls deeply for his reluctant wife.
As is typical for a Claudia Dain book, the characters are complex, yet the writing style is poised yet simple. You feel immersed in the medieval period, and get to experience the everyday trials and tribulations of people who lived in that time. But fundamentally, she tells a good love story about people who have suffered in their lives, yet manage to find true love where they did not expect it to be found.
Initially his motives are selfish. He doesn't even plan to stay around (although he will stay married to her). I thought that was asking a lot for him to want a loving, devoted wife that he wasn't even going to commit to living with. But he gets entrapped by his own plan. He begins to fall for the strong, yet inwardly vulnerable woman who he has been wed to. When she relies on her priest and confidant (who happens to be in love with her and doesn't want her married again) to get an annulment since their marriage hadn't been consummated, Roland forcibly consummates the marriage, determined that she won't be able to find a way to end it. I didn't like that. I suppose I could understand why he did it, but it wasn't a very nice thing to do.
However, Nicolaa doesn't let it faze her. She has dealt with four other husbands of varying temperaments and has trained herself to endure and give them what they want (or lip service) until they go away. Except Roland doesn't seem to fall into the usual pattern. He refuses to be ignored and tries to be everything that he feels she needs in a husband. His efforts start to chip away at the frozen wall around her heart. She finds herself falling deeply for the serious, godly knight who spent the several years prior to their marriage celibate after the loss of his dearly-loved wife who begged him to take her on the Crusades with him. He had determined he would not love again, but he falls deeply for his reluctant wife.
As is typical for a Claudia Dain book, the characters are complex, yet the writing style is poised yet simple. You feel immersed in the medieval period, and get to experience the everyday trials and tribulations of people who lived in that time. But fundamentally, she tells a good love story about people who have suffered in their lives, yet manage to find true love where they did not expect it to be found.
July 26, 2008
If you like romances set in the Middle Ages, have I got a book for you. This is a lovely example.
In a period of ten years, the land-rich Nicolaa has been married four times since her first marriage when she was fourteen. Every marriage was eventually annulled for one reason or another - usually because she was found to be barren.
The king of England give Rowland, a knight who loves battle Nicolaa to marry, gaining of course her five estates which is the best part. Rowland is famous for the story of his constant love for his late wife. He doesn't want a wife, but when he finds Nicolaa's sad marital history, decides to marry and be kind to her.
Nicolaa figures he'll leave soon and prefers working on her tapestries with the women, family members and wards (of a sort) she surrounds herself with.
The story is interesting, though I found myself skipping the verbal battles halfway through - You'll never love me! You'll never let me love you! Blah blah blah.
It was diverting if nothing else.
In a period of ten years, the land-rich Nicolaa has been married four times since her first marriage when she was fourteen. Every marriage was eventually annulled for one reason or another - usually because she was found to be barren.
The king of England give Rowland, a knight who loves battle Nicolaa to marry, gaining of course her five estates which is the best part. Rowland is famous for the story of his constant love for his late wife. He doesn't want a wife, but when he finds Nicolaa's sad marital history, decides to marry and be kind to her.
Nicolaa figures he'll leave soon and prefers working on her tapestries with the women, family members and wards (of a sort) she surrounds herself with.
The story is interesting, though I found myself skipping the verbal battles halfway through - You'll never love me! You'll never let me love you! Blah blah blah.
It was diverting if nothing else.
February 15, 2021
3.5. It dragged a lot but in the end it was super romantic.
October 21, 2012
I actually liked this more than I thought I would.
Let me just say, I am glad I don't live in the Middle Ages. It sucked.
There was quite a bit of people doing things in the best interests of others whether they want it or not, and they were usually right, which always annoys me. I always want them to end up being wrong.
And there was a "forced seduction", which is (almost) never a good thing, but neither hero nor heroine was particularly bothered by it since they were married. (Well, the heroine was bothered, but only because she couldn't get an annulment anymore.) And then the hero seduced the heroine while she was asleep right afterwards, because she didn't enjoy it the first time but she did once she wasn't resisting him, which was really rather skeevy. I do believe Not Quite a Husband is the only other book I've read where that happened, and it bothered me there, too.
The hero spent most of the book in love with his dead wife, and after a point I just wanted to bash him over the head for resisting even thinking of the heroine as his wife so as not to spoil his memories.
So overall, the book was pretty much meh. Not bad, but not that good, either.
Let me just say, I am glad I don't live in the Middle Ages. It sucked.
There was quite a bit of people doing things in the best interests of others whether they want it or not, and they were usually right, which always annoys me. I always want them to end up being wrong.
And there was a "forced seduction", which is (almost) never a good thing, but neither hero nor heroine was particularly bothered by it since they were married. (Well, the heroine was bothered, but only because she couldn't get an annulment anymore.) And then the hero seduced the heroine while she was asleep right afterwards, because she didn't enjoy it the first time but she did once she wasn't resisting him, which was really rather skeevy. I do believe Not Quite a Husband is the only other book I've read where that happened, and it bothered me there, too.
The hero spent most of the book in love with his dead wife, and after a point I just wanted to bash him over the head for resisting even thinking of the heroine as his wife so as not to spoil his memories.
So overall, the book was pretty much meh. Not bad, but not that good, either.
August 5, 2014
Well thank heavens Lubias is not a popular name since it felt like someone kept hammering me on the head every time the name was mentioned in the book. The numbers tell me it was only 162 and it definitely felt like 161 times too many, or maybe a 1000 times too many. Idk.
I'm giving this 3 stars solely because I liked Nicolaa so much and thought she was an enjoyable (and quite progressive) character.
As for Rowland the Dark of Aquitaine, I suggest the following names suit him better: Rowland the Obsessed with His Dead Wife of Aquitaine, Rowland Who Demands His New Wife Loves and Subjects to Him but Will Creepily Stay Stuck on His Perfect Dead Wife of Aquitaine, Rowland the Almost Chokes His New Wife to Death Because She Dared to Mention the Dead Wife's Holy Name Even Though Everybody Else Also Talks About Her and Their Perfect Love All the Effing Time...er of Aquitaine. Sorry, these kept getting longer and longer and I know the 'Dead Wife' bit is repetitive but I'm trying to save up your brain for if you choose to read this book and have to read it 162 times yourself (no thanks required).
All in all Nicolaa was great, Rowland was distinctly not and he made a potentially enjoyable book not so much.
(TW: Rape and domestic abuse)
I'm giving this 3 stars solely because I liked Nicolaa so much and thought she was an enjoyable (and quite progressive) character.
As for Rowland the Dark of Aquitaine, I suggest the following names suit him better: Rowland the Obsessed with His Dead Wife of Aquitaine, Rowland Who Demands His New Wife Loves and Subjects to Him but Will Creepily Stay Stuck on His Perfect Dead Wife of Aquitaine, Rowland the Almost Chokes His New Wife to Death Because She Dared to Mention the Dead Wife's Holy Name Even Though Everybody Else Also Talks About Her and Their Perfect Love All the Effing Time...er of Aquitaine. Sorry, these kept getting longer and longer and I know the 'Dead Wife' bit is repetitive but I'm trying to save up your brain for if you choose to read this book and have to read it 162 times yourself (no thanks required).
All in all Nicolaa was great, Rowland was distinctly not and he made a potentially enjoyable book not so much.
(TW: Rape and domestic abuse)
January 3, 2015
In an unheard-of change of pace for medieval bodice-rippers about an arranged marriage, heroine has been around the block a few times marriage wise, and is anything but a blushing maiden. Hero is a Legendary Lover who arrives expecting to woo his bride, but she's neither intimidated nor bowled-over by his manly charms. Nevertheless, Claudia Dane creates her trademark romantic and sexual tension. There's more to this marriage than heroine's disappointing history has led her to expect, and conflict arises from the bride and groom's dramatically different expectations of both the marriage bargain and the marriage bed.... This is the book where Claudia Dain seemed to find her stride as a romance writer. A pleasure.
December 19, 2024
#198 - 2024
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval, Marriage of Convenience
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval, Marriage of Convenience
December 27, 2022
Nope. NOPE. NOPE.
Claudia Dain's The Willing Wife starts off promisingly enough with an arranged marriage between two damaged people: Nicholaa has been left by four previous husbands; Rowland has left his heart in the grave of his first wife. Both clearly fear making themselves vulnerable to their new spouse, but initially at least Rowland seems willing to put in the work of wooing his bride, vowing not to take her to bed until she's ready to accept him.
Whelp, that doesn't last.
Instead, when he learns Nicholaa is considering having the marriage annulled on the grounds it hasn't been consummated, Rowland takes the truly terrible advice of his best friends and opts to force himself on his new bride. Then follows it up with a second assault when he has sex with her while she sleeps.
Clearly, the willing in the title was meant ironically.
There are other flaws in this novel - Nicholaa is unsympathetic and spends a ridiculous amount of pages hiding with her embroidery, and the author harps too hard on the love Rowland bore for his first wife - but overall I'd have gone with a "Meh, that's fine" if not for the rapey-ness.
Absolutely worth throwing at the wall, but not much else.
Claudia Dain's The Willing Wife starts off promisingly enough with an arranged marriage between two damaged people: Nicholaa has been left by four previous husbands; Rowland has left his heart in the grave of his first wife. Both clearly fear making themselves vulnerable to their new spouse, but initially at least Rowland seems willing to put in the work of wooing his bride, vowing not to take her to bed until she's ready to accept him.
Whelp, that doesn't last.
Instead, when he learns Nicholaa is considering having the marriage annulled on the grounds it hasn't been consummated, Rowland takes the truly terrible advice of his best friends and opts to force himself on his new bride. Then follows it up with a second assault when he has sex with her while she sleeps.
Clearly, the willing in the title was meant ironically.
There are other flaws in this novel - Nicholaa is unsympathetic and spends a ridiculous amount of pages hiding with her embroidery, and the author harps too hard on the love Rowland bore for his first wife - but overall I'd have gone with a "Meh, that's fine" if not for the rapey-ness.
Absolutely worth throwing at the wall, but not much else.
April 17, 2012
A very serious look at the marriage mart which was the Medieval era, when warriors were rewarded for their service to their monarch with wives and properties that needed to be secured by marriage and could be counted on as being loyal to that particular ruler. Rowland is a man who has carried the love, loyalty, and image of his long-dead wife with him, having promised himself that he would forever be hers for the rest of his life. Now the king has commanded him to marry, and while he will be a faithful and caring husband, he has no love to give. The woman in question has had four husbands already--all of whom chose to "upgrade" their status by securing a royally sanctioned divorce in order to marry an even richer woman and thereby increase their own status in society. It is a book that is filled with the angst and pain of a love lost and with the disappointment that fills this woman's soul as she knows that four men to whom she gave her allegiance and her body have rejected her for someone else. She may have to give her vows to this man because of the king's command, but she most certainly will never give him her heart. Who know? He will probably move on as well. It is a very compelling look at that society and at this one relationship in particular. Several background characters are present from previous novels and enrich the reader's enjoyment, especially if the previous two novels have been read first. They are all stand alone, but reading the other novels just makes the reading experience richer.
September 12, 2013
Humm... Not quite what I expected. I admit to hoping for a lighter read but instead I found my self in tears several times. The Author was detailed and descriptive in all the right places and kept your attention all the while. But over all I have to give this book a 3.5 . I felt that there were plots that could have been developed further and they would have added some nice twists to the story, and aside from that The POV while mainly done in the 2 main characters POV did switch fairly often to other characters. And the ending was predictable :( . Over all it was a fairly straight forward Point A to Point B book.
And now that I'm done tearing it down I should say that for all I disliked about this book I still enjoyed it. and much of my review is due to my migraine that I need to go and take a pill for now because of all the crying that I went through while reading this.
And now that I'm done tearing it down I should say that for all I disliked about this book I still enjoyed it. and much of my review is due to my migraine that I need to go and take a pill for now because of all the crying that I went through while reading this.
June 8, 2016
2 stars. Normally i really like claudia dain. this dud wont stop me from reading her in the future but it was a disappointing read. There are many things I didn't like about this book. The characters were frustrating and flat. Lots of fighting and stubbornness. The redeeming moments of romance and happiness were few and far between. The story was slow with no arc and the conclusion felt super rushed. I almost didn't finish it but I wanted to confirm that it would end in the cliche way I predicted.
October 11, 2010
Okay medieval from Ms Dain
October 17, 2014
enjoyable book
January 22, 2016
Very unlikeable heroine
Too much internal monologue that was extremely repetitive
Too much internal monologue that was extremely repetitive
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews