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A Ren Faire Romance #1
The Jouster's Lance
A Ren Faire Romance
Dale O’Toole, aka Diederik, the Demon Duke of Denmark, takes his Renaissance festivals seriously. He has been on the jousting circuit for five years and enjoys his gypsy lifestyle, traveling to faires around the country. It’s fun and he has good friends.
Austin Renfro has worked in a pirate gift shop at the Colorado Renaissance Festival for several years but has a life outside the medieval fantasy world. When Austin spies Dale during the first joust of the season, he knows he must find a way to meet him, even if the jousters and royal cast don’t normally associate with the working class.
Their first chance meeting causes more than a little embarrassment for both men, but they don’t let that stop them. They try to let their budding love find its place while keeping it from becoming common knowledge. But when a particularly conservative knight catches them in flagrante, it’s bound to cause problems. After all, jousts are dangerous….
Dale O’Toole, aka Diederik, the Demon Duke of Denmark, takes his Renaissance festivals seriously. He has been on the jousting circuit for five years and enjoys his gypsy lifestyle, traveling to faires around the country. It’s fun and he has good friends.
Austin Renfro has worked in a pirate gift shop at the Colorado Renaissance Festival for several years but has a life outside the medieval fantasy world. When Austin spies Dale during the first joust of the season, he knows he must find a way to meet him, even if the jousters and royal cast don’t normally associate with the working class.
Their first chance meeting causes more than a little embarrassment for both men, but they don’t let that stop them. They try to let their budding love find its place while keeping it from becoming common knowledge. But when a particularly conservative knight catches them in flagrante, it’s bound to cause problems. After all, jousts are dangerous….
212 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 2, 2013
4 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
A.J. Marcus
132 books34 followersA.J. Marcus grew up in Texas. He’s always had a fascination with cowboys, comic books and the great outdoors. He started writing in high school and at times spent more time writing than he did reading, and he’s a voracious reader. Maybe it was growing up in Texas, but his love of rugged men showed up even before he realized what was going on. He likes his men manly, hard, tough and caring, men with hearts, and other parts, as big as Texas.
A.J. currently lives near Colorado Springs, Colorado with his loving partner and several horses. The men here are still men.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AJ-Marc...
A.J. currently lives near Colorado Springs, Colorado with his loving partner and several horses. The men here are still men.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AJ-Marc...
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 16, 2013
Review written for Hearts On Fire Reviews - 3.5 stars
I found this nice little romance story somewhat refreshing with its unique setting at the renaissance faires. Dale is a professional jouster who travels to Colorado to fill in for a jouster who was injured in an accident. While there, he meets Austin, who works in the pirate shop of the ren faire. Due to cutbacks, he must pick up hours helping out peddling pretzels. He first meets Dale when he trips and falls into Dale (or his horse, actually). He apologizes shortly after, and they seem to hit it off.
Not all people in the area are gay friendly, so the guys attempt to keep a low profile. Unfortunately, they are found out by one of the bigger homophobes and problems ensue. This fellow jouster causes a lot of problems for Dale when he freaks out, injuring Dale and putting him in the hospital. There isn’t anything too terribly scary or gruesomely detailed. Even though Dale must go through a short recovery period, everything just seems to work itself out where these guys are concerned.
Their relationship grows at a nice pace, and they take their time getting to know each other a bit before jumping into bed. I enjoyed the somewhat slow buildup of their relationship. They really hit it off and have some really nice dates. They don’t just rush into sex, even though that is what Dale is used to living the gypsy lifestyle of a traveling jouster. Austin is just getting out of an abusive relationship that has diminished over the years and there is a little bit of trouble there as well.
The biggest question throughout the story was what they would do when the ren faire season ends. Will Dale move on to another faire? Will Austin go with him? In the end, they decide what they have just feels right and there is no question they belong together wherever they end up. There was nothing real earthshattering or emotionally gripping, but I still really enjoyed this easy romance.
I found this nice little romance story somewhat refreshing with its unique setting at the renaissance faires. Dale is a professional jouster who travels to Colorado to fill in for a jouster who was injured in an accident. While there, he meets Austin, who works in the pirate shop of the ren faire. Due to cutbacks, he must pick up hours helping out peddling pretzels. He first meets Dale when he trips and falls into Dale (or his horse, actually). He apologizes shortly after, and they seem to hit it off.
Not all people in the area are gay friendly, so the guys attempt to keep a low profile. Unfortunately, they are found out by one of the bigger homophobes and problems ensue. This fellow jouster causes a lot of problems for Dale when he freaks out, injuring Dale and putting him in the hospital. There isn’t anything too terribly scary or gruesomely detailed. Even though Dale must go through a short recovery period, everything just seems to work itself out where these guys are concerned.
Their relationship grows at a nice pace, and they take their time getting to know each other a bit before jumping into bed. I enjoyed the somewhat slow buildup of their relationship. They really hit it off and have some really nice dates. They don’t just rush into sex, even though that is what Dale is used to living the gypsy lifestyle of a traveling jouster. Austin is just getting out of an abusive relationship that has diminished over the years and there is a little bit of trouble there as well.
The biggest question throughout the story was what they would do when the ren faire season ends. Will Dale move on to another faire? Will Austin go with him? In the end, they decide what they have just feels right and there is no question they belong together wherever they end up. There was nothing real earthshattering or emotionally gripping, but I still really enjoyed this easy romance.
May 2, 2013
3.5 Stars
I am rather nerdy. Over the years I’ve read lots and lots of science fiction, I’ve seen every Star Trek and most every episode of Dr. Who, and I’ve engaged in role playing games and heard things like, “Come on, you guys can kill 9 ogres.” We couldn’t. I’ve also been involved in some historical recreations in my time. I draw the line at L.A.R.P. I’m so not going there! So, when I saw The Jouster’s Lance, by AJ Marcus, I knew I would want to read it. It’s the story of Dale O’Toole, a jouster who portrays the character of Diederik, the Demon Duke of Denmark. He goes to a Renaissance Faire in Colorado to replace their injured dark knight. Dale takes his horses and travels from Texas to his new summer job and gets cut off on the road by a long haired guy in a black jeep. Dale adores his horses and hates anything that annoys them. It really upsets Dale a couple days later when someone trips and hits one of his horses with a pole!
Austin Renfro embarrasses himself when he trips and hits the gorgeous new dark knight’s horse with a pole! Eventually he apologizes to the very drunk Dale and gets kissed by him right before he falls asleep...
Read Faye's full review at Live Your Life, Buy The Book
I am rather nerdy. Over the years I’ve read lots and lots of science fiction, I’ve seen every Star Trek and most every episode of Dr. Who, and I’ve engaged in role playing games and heard things like, “Come on, you guys can kill 9 ogres.” We couldn’t. I’ve also been involved in some historical recreations in my time. I draw the line at L.A.R.P. I’m so not going there! So, when I saw The Jouster’s Lance, by AJ Marcus, I knew I would want to read it. It’s the story of Dale O’Toole, a jouster who portrays the character of Diederik, the Demon Duke of Denmark. He goes to a Renaissance Faire in Colorado to replace their injured dark knight. Dale takes his horses and travels from Texas to his new summer job and gets cut off on the road by a long haired guy in a black jeep. Dale adores his horses and hates anything that annoys them. It really upsets Dale a couple days later when someone trips and hits one of his horses with a pole!
Austin Renfro embarrasses himself when he trips and hits the gorgeous new dark knight’s horse with a pole! Eventually he apologizes to the very drunk Dale and gets kissed by him right before he falls asleep...
Read Faye's full review at Live Your Life, Buy The Book
August 17, 2013
Dale is a jouster, traveling the gypsy lifestyle from one festival to another. He heads off to Colorado to replace an injured black knight. At the faire he meets Austin—in an unfortunate happenstance. Austin, who works for the faire as a pirate by selling pretzels and pirate paraphernalia, is mortified at his accident, and tries his best to earn Dale’s forgiveness. What he gets, however, is Dale’s respect, interest, and attraction. Starting a relationship would be easier if it weren’t for the certainty that summer will end and for the trouble another knight, a homophobic crazy person, causes. Finally, a great fire at the faire will prove once and for all what kind of men Dale and Austin are.
The pace of the story is somewhere between swift and slow. The chapters are short, but the reader is given time to know these men. Dale is starting to feel lonely and longs for companionship, but he has no experience with long-term relationships. Austin has a habit of choosing the wrong men, and shies away from the idea of making another mistake. Yet, there’s more than the magnetic pull between these two men. They are kindred spirits, and they obviously belong together.
The plot is balanced between the guys, their relationship, and their friends, vs. the happenings at the faire, like the former black knight getting injured, and the violence of a lone religious fanatic hell bent on revenge. Dale and Austin are hot together, and their best friends—Jasmine and Lady Catherine—are absolutely wonderful side characters, women full of spirit, strength, and smarts. That was great. Austin’s ex-boyfriend, Rick, is a vicious addict who Austin has to face, while Dale must confront a fellow knight who has lost himself in his role and sees homosexuality as an abomination that needs to be destroyed. That’s kind of sad since I hoped Dale had made a friend.
The writing is of solid quality, emotionally evocative and easy to follow. We get a good feel for both men, their inner workings and their relationships with other people. Dale’s love for his horses, Champion and Pyre, especially come through loud and clear. Austin’s hopefulness about people is another facet I came to adore. He didn’t even give up on Rick, not until the guy went off the deep end. And the heroic, ethical acts and their big sacrifices of both men during a huge disaster made me admire them as people. They pay a heavy price for being good people, and it loved that. And when that happened I knew I got a good book on my hands. Highly recommend!
The pace of the story is somewhere between swift and slow. The chapters are short, but the reader is given time to know these men. Dale is starting to feel lonely and longs for companionship, but he has no experience with long-term relationships. Austin has a habit of choosing the wrong men, and shies away from the idea of making another mistake. Yet, there’s more than the magnetic pull between these two men. They are kindred spirits, and they obviously belong together.
The plot is balanced between the guys, their relationship, and their friends, vs. the happenings at the faire, like the former black knight getting injured, and the violence of a lone religious fanatic hell bent on revenge. Dale and Austin are hot together, and their best friends—Jasmine and Lady Catherine—are absolutely wonderful side characters, women full of spirit, strength, and smarts. That was great. Austin’s ex-boyfriend, Rick, is a vicious addict who Austin has to face, while Dale must confront a fellow knight who has lost himself in his role and sees homosexuality as an abomination that needs to be destroyed. That’s kind of sad since I hoped Dale had made a friend.
The writing is of solid quality, emotionally evocative and easy to follow. We get a good feel for both men, their inner workings and their relationships with other people. Dale’s love for his horses, Champion and Pyre, especially come through loud and clear. Austin’s hopefulness about people is another facet I came to adore. He didn’t even give up on Rick, not until the guy went off the deep end. And the heroic, ethical acts and their big sacrifices of both men during a huge disaster made me admire them as people. They pay a heavy price for being good people, and it loved that. And when that happened I knew I got a good book on my hands. Highly recommend!
December 13, 2021
While I enjoyed the novelty of the Ren Fair setting, the melodrama was a bit much. Neither main character had an once of inner conflict so the author had to throw in several crazies to spice up the plot. It was a bit much.
May 11, 2013
C+
This was my first renaissance festival romance. It had me intrigued enough to google and see if there was a local one in my area, to be honest. A little gypsy, a little carnie, a lot of fun. I enjoyed the world the author described. We were able to know what it’s like to be traveling jouster.
But I had a hard time with a couple of things in the storyline that made it difficult for me to connect with our couple. First there was Austin’s relationship with his ex, if you can call being broken up all of 24 hours an actual ex. I cannot commit to emotionally investing, as a reader, in someone who goes from one person to another without a backward glance or any grieving. If it was just a trick for some sexy time then fine, but it read like there was supposed to be an emotional connection from the very beginning between Austin and Dale. It annoyed me and made me grumpy seeing Austin jump straight into bed with Dale. Even with an ass of an ex.
The second thing that bugged me was the very obvious villain. Things escalated extremely quickly and the level of psycho was impressive, but pretty unbelievable even for a fun fiction read. I’m not saying that extreme religious fanatics don’t make good bad guys, but it felt forced and overdone.
Dale was great. The author spent the time giving us background and a solid history to his story. I was captivated by him and his life before I was even introduced to Austin. I liked everything from his love and care of his animals to the portrayal of his jousting matches.
I thought this story had a unique idea, with the renaissance festivals and peeks into the life of a traveling entertainer. There was a good supporting cast that I enjoyed getting to know. But it lacked the awesome the blurb and setting had me hoping for. There were too many stereotypes and cliches for me to get lost in the story.
Reviewed by Beans
This was my first renaissance festival romance. It had me intrigued enough to google and see if there was a local one in my area, to be honest. A little gypsy, a little carnie, a lot of fun. I enjoyed the world the author described. We were able to know what it’s like to be traveling jouster.
But I had a hard time with a couple of things in the storyline that made it difficult for me to connect with our couple. First there was Austin’s relationship with his ex, if you can call being broken up all of 24 hours an actual ex. I cannot commit to emotionally investing, as a reader, in someone who goes from one person to another without a backward glance or any grieving. If it was just a trick for some sexy time then fine, but it read like there was supposed to be an emotional connection from the very beginning between Austin and Dale. It annoyed me and made me grumpy seeing Austin jump straight into bed with Dale. Even with an ass of an ex.
The second thing that bugged me was the very obvious villain. Things escalated extremely quickly and the level of psycho was impressive, but pretty unbelievable even for a fun fiction read. I’m not saying that extreme religious fanatics don’t make good bad guys, but it felt forced and overdone.
Dale was great. The author spent the time giving us background and a solid history to his story. I was captivated by him and his life before I was even introduced to Austin. I liked everything from his love and care of his animals to the portrayal of his jousting matches.
I thought this story had a unique idea, with the renaissance festivals and peeks into the life of a traveling entertainer. There was a good supporting cast that I enjoyed getting to know. But it lacked the awesome the blurb and setting had me hoping for. There were too many stereotypes and cliches for me to get lost in the story.
Reviewed by Beans
May 11, 2013
As this is apparently the first in a series, some of the dreadful loose ends can be forgiven, but some of the action in the story makes me wonder if the author has even seen a horse up-close in person. You cannot ride a horse into a fire. You cannot lift an unconscious man who weighs the same as you over your head onto said horse IN A FIRE, even if you were completely healthy and there was no fire and the horse was perfectly familiar to you and perfectly trained. This is not even considering the other health issues present. Good grief!
I was onboard with this cute story for the first chapters ... until the love interest showed up. Bam! Gone was any attempt at reality. The dialogue is horrible mush and the chapters became shorter the further into the book you get. Do we really need a 3 paragraph chapter where they have sex in the shower? Both men, by the way, have enormous "packages" and you'd get rich if someone paid you a quarter every time you read a cliche. I seriously wanted to chuck this story about halfway through, but something kept me hanging in there. Still, gaping plot holes, unresolved conflicts, and "we're living together so we're married" has me giving this a thumbs-down. Two of them...
I was onboard with this cute story for the first chapters ... until the love interest showed up. Bam! Gone was any attempt at reality. The dialogue is horrible mush and the chapters became shorter the further into the book you get. Do we really need a 3 paragraph chapter where they have sex in the shower? Both men, by the way, have enormous "packages" and you'd get rich if someone paid you a quarter every time you read a cliche. I seriously wanted to chuck this story about halfway through, but something kept me hanging in there. Still, gaping plot holes, unresolved conflicts, and "we're living together so we're married" has me giving this a thumbs-down. Two of them...
June 6, 2013
The Jouster's Lance by A.J. Marcus touches the behind the scenes life style of two Ren Fair cast members, and how different regions can react to the two men being in a relationship.
The circumstances that bring Dale to Colorado to substitute at the Larkspur fair seem random enough. Jousters often end up having an accident put them out of comission, and Dale is happy to step in, even if it means he has to alter his natorious title: The Demon Duke of Denmark.
At the same time, Austin, who works in the Pirate Shop, finds himself at the tail end of a bad relationship. But before he can even get introduced to the handsome new jouster, he makes a bad impression due to his clumbsiness.
Through good friends, both new and old, the two finally meet and a spark ignites. But trials lay ahead for the budding couple, from common to extremely odd, but will they be able to overcome them in order to be together? Or will tragedy strike and take away their chance? Read to find out.
I give this book a four out of five stars for its beautifully flawed characters and realistic peek into the lives of the infamous Ren Fair folk. And, admittedly, the steamy sections were well written too.
The circumstances that bring Dale to Colorado to substitute at the Larkspur fair seem random enough. Jousters often end up having an accident put them out of comission, and Dale is happy to step in, even if it means he has to alter his natorious title: The Demon Duke of Denmark.
At the same time, Austin, who works in the Pirate Shop, finds himself at the tail end of a bad relationship. But before he can even get introduced to the handsome new jouster, he makes a bad impression due to his clumbsiness.
Through good friends, both new and old, the two finally meet and a spark ignites. But trials lay ahead for the budding couple, from common to extremely odd, but will they be able to overcome them in order to be together? Or will tragedy strike and take away their chance? Read to find out.
I give this book a four out of five stars for its beautifully flawed characters and realistic peek into the lives of the infamous Ren Fair folk. And, admittedly, the steamy sections were well written too.
March 19, 2014
mushy - MCs are too perfect, all supporting characters too perfect, bad guy stereotypical evil
struggled to read last 30 pages - over the top on all parts; then the whole fire and horses thing was so unreal I started laughing at the story.
struggled to read last 30 pages - over the top on all parts; then the whole fire and horses thing was so unreal I started laughing at the story.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews