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For My Lady's Kiss
A Lady's Choice
Frustrated by the outrageous demand that she choose a husband or have one chosen for her, Mackenna Hughes blindfolds herself and vows to wed the first man she touches in the circle of eager suitors that surrounds her. But as she swirls among the village merrymakers, MacKenna suddenly crashes into a towering rocklike body . . . and looks up into the dark, penetrating eyes of a total stranger!
A Lord's Challenge
Lord Thomas Montclaire has been sent by King Edward to take over the village and MacKenna's family castle. Now he lays claim to the reckless, scarlet-haired rebel who blindly made her choice, yet denies his right to either her village or herself. Her brazen courage amazes him, but her stubborn pride and fiery beauty stir a storm in his blood, and he vows he will wed her, tame her, and claim her wild, rebellious heart as she has claimed his.
Frustrated by the outrageous demand that she choose a husband or have one chosen for her, Mackenna Hughes blindfolds herself and vows to wed the first man she touches in the circle of eager suitors that surrounds her. But as she swirls among the village merrymakers, MacKenna suddenly crashes into a towering rocklike body . . . and looks up into the dark, penetrating eyes of a total stranger!
A Lord's Challenge
Lord Thomas Montclaire has been sent by King Edward to take over the village and MacKenna's family castle. Now he lays claim to the reckless, scarlet-haired rebel who blindly made her choice, yet denies his right to either her village or herself. Her brazen courage amazes him, but her stubborn pride and fiery beauty stir a storm in his blood, and he vows he will wed her, tame her, and claim her wild, rebellious heart as she has claimed his.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
5 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Linda Needham
18 books44 followersLinda Needham is an award-winning, USA Today bestselling author of ten historical romance novels, seven full-length musicals and two stage plays, with four novellas scheduled for release through 2015. She writes full time from her home office near Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 29, 2022
*4.5 stars
Mackenna Huges's village gets a new Lord of the land & she is not very happy about it. She schemes and tricks this new Lord in order to save the people of the village she loves dearly. However, this Lord has come to a breaking point with her. Thomas Montclaire is said new Lord and he decides to punish Mackenna for her wrongdoings by kidnapping her & making her his hostage. Thus starts their enemies to lovers whirlwind romance.
This historical was so entertaining!! I loved the enemies to lovers & captor/captive aspects of this book. My favorite scene by far is when Thomas forces Mackenna to sleep in his bed while gripping her braid to make sure she doesn't escape when he is asleep. There were just so many iconic things about this book! I really felt as if I could see these characters fall in love right in front of me. However, this is not a full five stars from me because of the ending. It was too rushed for my taste & I did not care for the conflict.
TW: discussion of miscarriage, familial death, hanging, kidnapping
MEMORABLE QUOTES:
"You're a possessive beast, aren't you?"
"Aye. 'Tis best you learned that early" (30)
TROPES: captor-captive, enemies to lovers, historical romances, historical standalone, meet cute, one bed
Mackenna Huges's village gets a new Lord of the land & she is not very happy about it. She schemes and tricks this new Lord in order to save the people of the village she loves dearly. However, this Lord has come to a breaking point with her. Thomas Montclaire is said new Lord and he decides to punish Mackenna for her wrongdoings by kidnapping her & making her his hostage. Thus starts their enemies to lovers whirlwind romance.
This historical was so entertaining!! I loved the enemies to lovers & captor/captive aspects of this book. My favorite scene by far is when Thomas forces Mackenna to sleep in his bed while gripping her braid to make sure she doesn't escape when he is asleep. There were just so many iconic things about this book! I really felt as if I could see these characters fall in love right in front of me. However, this is not a full five stars from me because of the ending. It was too rushed for my taste & I did not care for the conflict.
TW: discussion of miscarriage, familial death, hanging, kidnapping
MEMORABLE QUOTES:
"You're a possessive beast, aren't you?"
"Aye. 'Tis best you learned that early" (30)
TROPES: captor-captive, enemies to lovers, historical romances, historical standalone, meet cute, one bed
September 12, 2023
4.5 I had so much fun reading this! A strong willed FMC. Slow burn where the MCs don't want to admit that they want each other.
March 2, 2025
This might just be the BEST enemies to lovers I’ve ever read. Something about an enemies to lovers that was published in 1997 makes it so…. Timeless and exceptionally good. For My Lady’s Kiss follows MacKenna Hughes, a miller’s daughter in Fellhaven. Due to promises to her eldest brother, MacKenna must pick a husband, except all the townsmen aren’t up to snuff and she can’t choose. So she blindfolds herself and says the first man she touches shall be her husband.
Cue Thomas Montclaire, warrior, burly, vassal to King Edward I, he is in Fellhaven as the new lord. Sent by King Edward to rebuild after the prior lord razed and starved the village. Thomas is first to touch MacKenna. But due to MacKenna thinking he only spoke Normandy French, rather than her Scottish English, it wasn’t mentioned at the time what all her touching him meant.
MacKenna immediately hates Lord Thomas. She hates king Edward and all of the lords he sends out to colonize Scotland. But especially hates them due to the last lord who ruined her village and hanged her father. Because of this, she is a spitfire of anger and resentment to Lord Thomas. Instead of brushing it off, Thomas decides to keep her as his “captive” and keeps her near him at all times.
That’s a rough gist, but truly, my words cannot even begin to compare to how good this book is. The build up of romance was just unparalleled and phenomenally done.
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Captor/captive
✨ HEAVYYY enemies to lovers
✨ one bed
✨ touch her and die
✨ MMC would truly burn the world down for his woman
✨ “MY WIFE”
✨ Top tier banter
THIS GETS TEN SWOONS ON THE SWOON SCALE
❤️🔥 Quotes I loved ❤️🔥
✨ “You’re a possessive beast, aren’t you?” - “Aye. ‘TIS best you learned that early.”
✨”My well-intended kneading would swiftly become an unquenchable needing, then all would be lost.”
✨ “She was his dream come to stand before him, a glistening, unafraid pandora. He’d been starved for the sight of her.”
✨ “Of all the things in the world I wish I could chance, MacKenna, you are not one of them, whether in sack or silk.”
✨ “Nay, MacKenna, one cannot choose to have a longing, never one such as ours.”
✨ “My God, you’re beautiful, MacKenna. Oh, moonlight, you are shamed.”
Cue Thomas Montclaire, warrior, burly, vassal to King Edward I, he is in Fellhaven as the new lord. Sent by King Edward to rebuild after the prior lord razed and starved the village. Thomas is first to touch MacKenna. But due to MacKenna thinking he only spoke Normandy French, rather than her Scottish English, it wasn’t mentioned at the time what all her touching him meant.
MacKenna immediately hates Lord Thomas. She hates king Edward and all of the lords he sends out to colonize Scotland. But especially hates them due to the last lord who ruined her village and hanged her father. Because of this, she is a spitfire of anger and resentment to Lord Thomas. Instead of brushing it off, Thomas decides to keep her as his “captive” and keeps her near him at all times.
That’s a rough gist, but truly, my words cannot even begin to compare to how good this book is. The build up of romance was just unparalleled and phenomenally done.
✨ Forced proximity
✨ Captor/captive
✨ HEAVYYY enemies to lovers
✨ one bed
✨ touch her and die
✨ MMC would truly burn the world down for his woman
✨ “MY WIFE”
✨ Top tier banter
THIS GETS TEN SWOONS ON THE SWOON SCALE
❤️🔥 Quotes I loved ❤️🔥
✨ “You’re a possessive beast, aren’t you?” - “Aye. ‘TIS best you learned that early.”
✨”My well-intended kneading would swiftly become an unquenchable needing, then all would be lost.”
✨ “She was his dream come to stand before him, a glistening, unafraid pandora. He’d been starved for the sight of her.”
✨ “Of all the things in the world I wish I could chance, MacKenna, you are not one of them, whether in sack or silk.”
✨ “Nay, MacKenna, one cannot choose to have a longing, never one such as ours.”
✨ “My God, you’re beautiful, MacKenna. Oh, moonlight, you are shamed.”
October 6, 2021
I loved the first half of the book-5 stars. I didn't love the second half -3 stars. Therefore I ended up giving 4 stars.
In the first half of the book, MacKenna's (our heroine) rebellion was courageous. In the second half, it was just stupid.
MacKenna runs her village. She is a genius. She speaks and reads 3 languages, does complex math in her head, is a leader and is cunning. She knows everything about everything and all the villagers depend on her. Her brothers, who she rules, want her married and for some reason she concedes but she will pick her husband out of a circle of suitors while blindfolded. Unbeknownst to her, Montclaire enters the circle, thinking he's witnessing a village girl dancing. When she stops in front of him and starts touching him, thinking she's picked her new husband but not recognizing who in the village he could possibly be, the sparks begin to fly.
Montclaire was sent to her town to put it into shape for the new owner but he lets the villagers think he is their permanent new lord.
MacKenna translates for the Norman lord, but not accurately, thinking he doesn't speak English. Her translations are quite funny. But Montclaire generally outwits her.
Montclaire is a true hero although his angst is sometimes over the top. He's wonderful and MacKenna takes quite some time to realize he's nothing like the previous lord. His men are just as kind as he is.
Things start to go badly when the past lord, Gilvane, who destroyed the village, its castle, caused multiple deaths and hanged MacKenna's father, shows up first at the King's residence, then at the village. Unfortunately, the story takes a turn for the worse as well. MacKenna seems to loose her intelligence and takes ridiculous risks.
King Edward is horrid. And why didn't he kick over the barrel at the end?
In the first half of the book, MacKenna's (our heroine) rebellion was courageous. In the second half, it was just stupid.
MacKenna runs her village. She is a genius. She speaks and reads 3 languages, does complex math in her head, is a leader and is cunning. She knows everything about everything and all the villagers depend on her. Her brothers, who she rules, want her married and for some reason she concedes but she will pick her husband out of a circle of suitors while blindfolded. Unbeknownst to her, Montclaire enters the circle, thinking he's witnessing a village girl dancing. When she stops in front of him and starts touching him, thinking she's picked her new husband but not recognizing who in the village he could possibly be, the sparks begin to fly.
Montclaire was sent to her town to put it into shape for the new owner but he lets the villagers think he is their permanent new lord.
MacKenna translates for the Norman lord, but not accurately, thinking he doesn't speak English. Her translations are quite funny. But Montclaire generally outwits her.
Montclaire is a true hero although his angst is sometimes over the top. He's wonderful and MacKenna takes quite some time to realize he's nothing like the previous lord. His men are just as kind as he is.
Things start to go badly when the past lord, Gilvane, who destroyed the village, its castle, caused multiple deaths and hanged MacKenna's father, shows up first at the King's residence, then at the village. Unfortunately, the story takes a turn for the worse as well. MacKenna seems to loose her intelligence and takes ridiculous risks.
King Edward is horrid. And why didn't he kick over the barrel at the end?
September 12, 2023
I was really enjoying this book and was leaning towards four stars, but about 75-80% of the way through the book Mackenna just got so annoying the way she kept trying to run away or escape and she wouldn't just trust Thomas after everything he had already done. She just kept making everything unnecessarily worse. And then the ending kind of just happened. It wasn't a bad book, but it was really unsatisfying given how enjoyable the first half was.
March 14, 2024
She was smart and gutsy. Loved that! Also medieval which they no longer write about.
3 1/2 stars
3 1/2 stars
May 2, 2016
So I can't help but go back and forth on this one...I usually settle on a 4 because of how much I like Thomas Montclaire, the Hero in this book. He is all that is honorable and strong. He is alpha but he is never beyond overbearing, he never humiliates the heroine however much she deserves it and he really is a nice guy. But when he arrives in Mackenna's village, they're not so convinced at first. And so she does everything she can to undermine him, having had a really bad experience with the first lord. And this girl, Mackenna, is most of the time TSTL and with her stupidity and ignorance hurts the Hero on a number of occasions. She knows his history with having lost a child, and she allows someone else to believe that she is bleeding and has lost a child in order to escape him. Does he get angry at her escape? No, he worries incessantly over her because she is alone in all of this. What a sweet guy. Granted, he made a promise that he wasn't able to fully keep and that's the reasons she left, but her ignorance of how her actions would affect him just kill me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2011
It was "okay"....Ordinary.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews