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By Royal Command
Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war.Katrin of Courtenay's husband is dead--and she doesn't mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn't need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other intent on marrying her off, he's ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled--she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover hanging over her, and Rafael's powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate balance between survival and happiness?101,000 words
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Laura Navarre
22 books1,143 followersAmazon category bestselling author Laura Navarre (she/her) whisks you away from your day-to-day with spicy-shifty wild & witchy why-choose romance starring hot bi heroes and the women who love them.
A long time ago in a galaxy far away, Laura wrote dark fantasy romance for Harlequin, while her sinister twin Nikki Navarre wrote sexy spy romance. Now, with eighteen sexy stories released worldwide, this Washington, DC-based nomad writes dark witch adult academy why choose romance featuring bi heroes, badass heroines, and enough heat to set your Academy uniform on fire!
Laura is a cat lover, globetrotter, wine addict, PhD candidate, and president of Ascendant Press. When she isn’t conjuring witchy worlds, she’s a diplomat with a professional background in weapons of mass destruction and an MFA in writing popular fiction. She’s a Golden Heart finalist, two-time winner of the Golden Pen, winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association romance award, 2023 New England Readers Choice award winner, 2023 winner of the Holt Medallion for Best Virginia Author, 2023 Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal RWA PRISM dark paranormal romance finalst, and other awards.
She’s also relentlessly obsessive, alarmingly efficient, and a recovering perfectionist. She’s deeply suspicious of the Oxford comma, but she’s never met an em dash she doesn’t love.
Do you love possessive alphas, dragon riders, dragon shifters, British bullies, teacher-student forbidden love, age gap angst, and dark witch adult academy why choose romance? Follow Laura for free in the Witching World, her reader community on Ream, and score monthly free reads here! https://reamstories.com/witchingworld
Stalk Laura across the witching world like the queen killer stalks Zara at the Icarus Academy! Her adventures are trackable by witches, warlocks, wolf shifters, and mere mortals alike at:
https://reamstories.com/witchingworld
http://www.LauraNavarreSciFi.com
https://www.facebook.com/LauraNavarre...
https://www.tiktok.com/@LauraNavarreA...
https://amzn.to/3FrX5t7
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura...
http://www.goodreads.com/LauraNavarre
A long time ago in a galaxy far away, Laura wrote dark fantasy romance for Harlequin, while her sinister twin Nikki Navarre wrote sexy spy romance. Now, with eighteen sexy stories released worldwide, this Washington, DC-based nomad writes dark witch adult academy why choose romance featuring bi heroes, badass heroines, and enough heat to set your Academy uniform on fire!
Laura is a cat lover, globetrotter, wine addict, PhD candidate, and president of Ascendant Press. When she isn’t conjuring witchy worlds, she’s a diplomat with a professional background in weapons of mass destruction and an MFA in writing popular fiction. She’s a Golden Heart finalist, two-time winner of the Golden Pen, winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association romance award, 2023 New England Readers Choice award winner, 2023 winner of the Holt Medallion for Best Virginia Author, 2023 Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal RWA PRISM dark paranormal romance finalst, and other awards.
She’s also relentlessly obsessive, alarmingly efficient, and a recovering perfectionist. She’s deeply suspicious of the Oxford comma, but she’s never met an em dash she doesn’t love.
Do you love possessive alphas, dragon riders, dragon shifters, British bullies, teacher-student forbidden love, age gap angst, and dark witch adult academy why choose romance? Follow Laura for free in the Witching World, her reader community on Ream, and score monthly free reads here! https://reamstories.com/witchingworld
Stalk Laura across the witching world like the queen killer stalks Zara at the Icarus Academy! Her adventures are trackable by witches, warlocks, wolf shifters, and mere mortals alike at:
https://reamstories.com/witchingworld
http://www.LauraNavarreSciFi.com
https://www.facebook.com/LauraNavarre...
https://www.tiktok.com/@LauraNavarreA...
https://amzn.to/3FrX5t7
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/laura...
http://www.goodreads.com/LauraNavarre
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
March 18, 2016
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Sometimes you stumble across a rare gem. This book was one of them.
I have read other books by this author and I didn't enjoy them much.
But this one was incredible.
This story depicts more realistically what a historical romance should be like. It wasn't always that the women were virgins and the heroes rakes, like many authors love to write over and over about. The same trope on repetition. History is grittier and darker. The court was filled with romance, betrayal, deception and lust. Of course, this book is set a few hundred years before most historical romances which feature the 18th Century or 19th Century. But a few hundred years don't make all women pure for the right rake.
I would recommend this novel to anyone who is not afraid to get their hearts broken and re-mended. I would recommend this novel to anyone who isn't going to shy away from the grittier aspects of a historical medieval novel. I would recommend this novel to anyone who isn't obsessed with the idea of having a pure and devout historical heroine.
Sometimes you stumble across a rare gem. This book was one of them.
I have read other books by this author and I didn't enjoy them much.
But this one was incredible.
This story depicts more realistically what a historical romance should be like. It wasn't always that the women were virgins and the heroes rakes, like many authors love to write over and over about. The same trope on repetition. History is grittier and darker. The court was filled with romance, betrayal, deception and lust. Of course, this book is set a few hundred years before most historical romances which feature the 18th Century or 19th Century. But a few hundred years don't make all women pure for the right rake.
I would recommend this novel to anyone who is not afraid to get their hearts broken and re-mended. I would recommend this novel to anyone who isn't going to shy away from the grittier aspects of a historical medieval novel. I would recommend this novel to anyone who isn't obsessed with the idea of having a pure and devout historical heroine.
June 26, 2012
This one, provided by netgalley, has got to be hands-down one of the most infuriating, intriguing and downright frustrating books I've read in a very long time. The first 40% of it is so gothic I felt almost compelled to pull out my grandma's white nightie and run around the house shrieking "Wo, is me!"
I'm going to write this one a bit differently than usual and start with what I didn't like so much:
- I really struggled to get over the writing for the first half-ish. It reads like something from the 80s, dreadful purple prose and that dire fake-Medieval speak that really annoys me, and just felt very clumsy, and was really very distracting. Interestingly, the writing REALLY got a whole lot better after the plot started to thicken (exception noted below). Even if I hadn't read the author's bio, I could easily tell the political stuff is what the author really gets her teeth into.
- The writing during the sexy bits was just not my thing at all. Too much use of phrases like "pulsing jewel", "searing blade of arousal" and "sheltered crevasse" were just too, too, well, too much! It felt so forced that I wasn't quite sure if the author was taking the p!$s or not. It spoilt my enjoyment and I personally found it so dire that if I had gotten this book from the library I might have thrown it straight into the DNF pile.
- The heroine is supposed to be (a) astonishingly smart (in a common sense kind of way) and (b) so attractive that all the men drone on about how she must be a "witch". Well, clearly she's smart because after all, if some bloke (built like a brick s$&thouse) forces his way into your bedroom, waving a rather lethal sword around (no, a real sword, not one of those!), and then proceeds to corner you on the bed, of course your first thought would be that he means you no harm. And, well, I got a bit sick and tired of being told she had bewitched all the male characters in the book. It was almost like the author was telling me to pity the heroine because she's so damned beautiful. Ugh.
So, why didn't I give this 1 star then?
- Well, I really liked the basic plot on this one. I loved the politics, the intrigue, the underhanded wheeling-and-dealing, and the way it clearly showed that a medieval king in the British Isles was really only one noble among many rather than the all-mighty ruler, and so had to be cruel and conniving. I have a real weakness for historical romances which manage to use politics and intrigue in a convincing way, and this one did.
- I loved, loved, loved that the heroine loves two men, and we get to see her romances with both of them, who are very different individuals. Now, I know that some readers have a real problem with characters going from one lover to the next, but it actually redeemed the heroine in my eyes. Her attraction and love for both men is credible and I loved it. I also thought both men were really great characters.
So, if you can get past the completely awful writing during the sexy bits, and you can stick with it, this is actually a rather different story, that I will keep and read again.
3 stars. I liked it, and just check out that absolutely gorgeous cover.
I'm going to write this one a bit differently than usual and start with what I didn't like so much:
- I really struggled to get over the writing for the first half-ish. It reads like something from the 80s, dreadful purple prose and that dire fake-Medieval speak that really annoys me, and just felt very clumsy, and was really very distracting. Interestingly, the writing REALLY got a whole lot better after the plot started to thicken (exception noted below). Even if I hadn't read the author's bio, I could easily tell the political stuff is what the author really gets her teeth into.
- The writing during the sexy bits was just not my thing at all. Too much use of phrases like "pulsing jewel", "searing blade of arousal" and "sheltered crevasse" were just too, too, well, too much! It felt so forced that I wasn't quite sure if the author was taking the p!$s or not. It spoilt my enjoyment and I personally found it so dire that if I had gotten this book from the library I might have thrown it straight into the DNF pile.
- The heroine is supposed to be (a) astonishingly smart (in a common sense kind of way) and (b) so attractive that all the men drone on about how she must be a "witch". Well, clearly she's smart because after all, if some bloke (built like a brick s$&thouse) forces his way into your bedroom, waving a rather lethal sword around (no, a real sword, not one of those!), and then proceeds to corner you on the bed, of course your first thought would be that he means you no harm. And, well, I got a bit sick and tired of being told she had bewitched all the male characters in the book. It was almost like the author was telling me to pity the heroine because she's so damned beautiful. Ugh.
So, why didn't I give this 1 star then?
- Well, I really liked the basic plot on this one. I loved the politics, the intrigue, the underhanded wheeling-and-dealing, and the way it clearly showed that a medieval king in the British Isles was really only one noble among many rather than the all-mighty ruler, and so had to be cruel and conniving. I have a real weakness for historical romances which manage to use politics and intrigue in a convincing way, and this one did.
- I loved, loved, loved that the heroine loves two men, and we get to see her romances with both of them, who are very different individuals. Now, I know that some readers have a real problem with characters going from one lover to the next, but it actually redeemed the heroine in my eyes. Her attraction and love for both men is credible and I loved it. I also thought both men were really great characters.
So, if you can get past the completely awful writing during the sexy bits, and you can stick with it, this is actually a rather different story, that I will keep and read again.
3 stars. I liked it, and just check out that absolutely gorgeous cover.
July 2, 2012
With a historical romance voice that oozes 'period' context, author Laura Navarre delivers a solid medieval romance that captivates effortlessly.
By Royal Command is a story with a foundation of political maneuvering set during a period of England's volatile medieval time. The story especially captures the tale of one young woman whose life has essentially been shaped by her uncle, the king of England, Ethelred.
Katrin of Courtney's first marriage was arranged by her uncle to secure an alliance that would protect the northern borders. Married at a very young age, Katrin was thrust into a marriage that held no love, kindness, nor passion. At eighteen, Katrin found herself widowed, on the verge of financial and land holding ruin, and once again forced into yet another arranged marriage to a man she'd never even heard of, and on the other side of England.
When the ruggedly handsome, viking-bred, sword thane comes to take her to her uncle – and ultimately to her betrothed – Katrin's path unfolds like that of a woman starved for a taste of life filled momentarily with happiness, freedom, and passion, that has always been denied. Her fear, passionless and confined life drives her to make decisions that propels her down a path unforeseen.
Her attraction to the large, fair-haired Viking, awakens the first glimpse of sexual fervor she had never before experienced. Jeopardizing both his life and her future, their heated attraction is undeniable, but not enough to capture the dream of forever. Her uncle has no issues shipping her off to her new betrothed, disregarding her feelings entirely.
Enter the mysterious and oh-so darkly handsome, Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine. How can Katrin be so instantaneously attracted to this man, while feeling though her true love had been taken from her? But, Rafael is a different man entirely. Closer to her age, holding his own mysterious past closely guarded like herself, and with a quiet, yet intense disposition that leaves Katrin feeling at peace and ... safe for once in her life, not to mention deeply attracted to this stranger.
Their relationship grows from respect into a passionate love neither was looking nor prepared for. The only problem is the castle is too small for Refael and his older and more titled brother who can't seem to keep his eyes - and hands - to himself when it comes to Katrin.
Navarre writes a solid story that brings to life what it must have been like living as a female during the medieval time period. With a writing style that is both intelligent and gripping, historically rich landscapes, artifacts and daily life add a sense of life-like depth to the story that seems to leap and captivate.
While not depicted as such, this story almost has two different parts to it. The first half allowing Katrin the once denied passion that she's able to find in her forbidden Viking lover, who also grants her her first true sense of what it must feel like to be wanted and cared for. And the second part of Katrin finding a true love. A love that blends both passion and a sense of deep devotion and respect together. Throughout the duration of the story, however, there is always a dark undercurrent of what all the players in the king's game of political chess must feel and be part of.
The attributes of the different characters create for four convincing lead characters – each with a role to play, each a pawn in political maneuvering, yet all having flaws and obstacles that need to be overcome. Maybe they're all alike after all.
I was first introduced and quickly deemed a fan of Laura Navarre's work in The Devil's Temptress ( a completely different historical romance). And after now having read By Royal Command, I think it's safe to say that Navarre has a gift for writing historical storytelling with dark and political undertones that compel a reader to keep turning the pages to find out what's next.
It is more than obvious that careful thought and research has gone into the making of By Royal Command, and I can safely say that I am officially a true fan of Laura's.
The recommendation: I wholeheartedly recommend By Royal Command to fans of historical romance placed in the medieval time period. Fans who love to identify with real world hardships of what it must have felt like to constantly be at the whim of the king, a political pawn to be used at will, and a female, nonetheless, during this time. Fans who aren't afraid to ask, 'what would I do if I was placed in Katrin's position'? And last but not least, fans who want to feel passion with a Viking, and fall in love with dark, handsome, mysterious, and protective man all while heating up the pages with their own form of passion.
I would definitely recommend By Royal Command with the intelligent and historical contextual writing style that transports the reader to the Medieval ages.
By Royal Command is a story with a foundation of political maneuvering set during a period of England's volatile medieval time. The story especially captures the tale of one young woman whose life has essentially been shaped by her uncle, the king of England, Ethelred.
Katrin of Courtney's first marriage was arranged by her uncle to secure an alliance that would protect the northern borders. Married at a very young age, Katrin was thrust into a marriage that held no love, kindness, nor passion. At eighteen, Katrin found herself widowed, on the verge of financial and land holding ruin, and once again forced into yet another arranged marriage to a man she'd never even heard of, and on the other side of England.
When the ruggedly handsome, viking-bred, sword thane comes to take her to her uncle – and ultimately to her betrothed – Katrin's path unfolds like that of a woman starved for a taste of life filled momentarily with happiness, freedom, and passion, that has always been denied. Her fear, passionless and confined life drives her to make decisions that propels her down a path unforeseen.
Her attraction to the large, fair-haired Viking, awakens the first glimpse of sexual fervor she had never before experienced. Jeopardizing both his life and her future, their heated attraction is undeniable, but not enough to capture the dream of forever. Her uncle has no issues shipping her off to her new betrothed, disregarding her feelings entirely.
Enter the mysterious and oh-so darkly handsome, Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine. How can Katrin be so instantaneously attracted to this man, while feeling though her true love had been taken from her? But, Rafael is a different man entirely. Closer to her age, holding his own mysterious past closely guarded like herself, and with a quiet, yet intense disposition that leaves Katrin feeling at peace and ... safe for once in her life, not to mention deeply attracted to this stranger.
Their relationship grows from respect into a passionate love neither was looking nor prepared for. The only problem is the castle is too small for Refael and his older and more titled brother who can't seem to keep his eyes - and hands - to himself when it comes to Katrin.
Navarre writes a solid story that brings to life what it must have been like living as a female during the medieval time period. With a writing style that is both intelligent and gripping, historically rich landscapes, artifacts and daily life add a sense of life-like depth to the story that seems to leap and captivate.
While not depicted as such, this story almost has two different parts to it. The first half allowing Katrin the once denied passion that she's able to find in her forbidden Viking lover, who also grants her her first true sense of what it must feel like to be wanted and cared for. And the second part of Katrin finding a true love. A love that blends both passion and a sense of deep devotion and respect together. Throughout the duration of the story, however, there is always a dark undercurrent of what all the players in the king's game of political chess must feel and be part of.
The attributes of the different characters create for four convincing lead characters – each with a role to play, each a pawn in political maneuvering, yet all having flaws and obstacles that need to be overcome. Maybe they're all alike after all.
I was first introduced and quickly deemed a fan of Laura Navarre's work in The Devil's Temptress ( a completely different historical romance). And after now having read By Royal Command, I think it's safe to say that Navarre has a gift for writing historical storytelling with dark and political undertones that compel a reader to keep turning the pages to find out what's next.
It is more than obvious that careful thought and research has gone into the making of By Royal Command, and I can safely say that I am officially a true fan of Laura's.
The recommendation: I wholeheartedly recommend By Royal Command to fans of historical romance placed in the medieval time period. Fans who love to identify with real world hardships of what it must have felt like to constantly be at the whim of the king, a political pawn to be used at will, and a female, nonetheless, during this time. Fans who aren't afraid to ask, 'what would I do if I was placed in Katrin's position'? And last but not least, fans who want to feel passion with a Viking, and fall in love with dark, handsome, mysterious, and protective man all while heating up the pages with their own form of passion.
I would definitely recommend By Royal Command with the intelligent and historical contextual writing style that transports the reader to the Medieval ages.
July 2, 2012
This historical romance is set in England during the reign of King Ethelred, and tells the story of a beautiful widow, Katrin of Courtney, who when summoned to the English court to be used as a political pawn in marriage, finds herself falling in lust with Eomond, the man sent to escort her to her uncle, the king. But Eomond is beneath her in rank, and despite their passionate encounter, he is no match for this beautiful young woman. Fulfilling her obligations to her king, Katrin is sent in marriage to Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine. What then follows is a lively, and interesting account of Katrin’s passionate relationships with the men in her life, and the dilemma she must face in allowing her heart to rule her head.
Set against the backdrop of Anglo-Saxon England, when knights were bold, and ladies were content to do as they were bidden, the passionate romance between Katrin and her two very different suitors makes for interesting reading. Laura Navarre has captured the very essence of the period and has with her skilful touch of words created a heroine who is as flawed, as she is beautiful.In many ways the historical background is only a small fragment, to what is essentially a story about a love triangle, and the difficult choices which needed to be made, in order for Katrin to find peace, happiness and fulfilment
If you enjoy passionate historical romances by Blair Bancroft, Miriam Minger, Elaine Coffman, Anne O’ Brien, then I am sure you would enjoy this well written historical romp.
I enjoyed it.
My thanks to NetGalley and Carina press for an advance digital copy to read and review.
My blog review:
http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/2...
Set against the backdrop of Anglo-Saxon England, when knights were bold, and ladies were content to do as they were bidden, the passionate romance between Katrin and her two very different suitors makes for interesting reading. Laura Navarre has captured the very essence of the period and has with her skilful touch of words created a heroine who is as flawed, as she is beautiful.In many ways the historical background is only a small fragment, to what is essentially a story about a love triangle, and the difficult choices which needed to be made, in order for Katrin to find peace, happiness and fulfilment
If you enjoy passionate historical romances by Blair Bancroft, Miriam Minger, Elaine Coffman, Anne O’ Brien, then I am sure you would enjoy this well written historical romp.
I enjoyed it.
My thanks to NetGalley and Carina press for an advance digital copy to read and review.
My blog review:
http://jaffareadstoo.blogspot.co.uk/2...
September 1, 2012
Well Told Medieval Tale with Unique Perspective and Interesting Love Triangle
This historic romance from Navarre is both well written and unique. For one thing, it’s entirely in the heroine’s perspective so the heroine is in every scene and it’s only her head we’re in (which means the men did more talking!). Despite the tag line on the book’s cover, I did not think this a story of two brothers and one woman. Well, yes, there were two brothers, but one was the villain so he didn’t count as a rival. The heroine didn’t want him. No, this was the story of the heroine’s two loves, one a Viking-bred hero and one a dark, warrior priest from France. Hence, the rub. It’s not every historical romance that finds the heroine giving her body and her heart to a worthy and noble hero and shortly thereafter marrying another to whom she is instantly attracted. (She “scarcely thinks” of the man she loved but days before.) The heroine called herself fickle; I guess so.
Set in England in 1005, it tells the story of Katrin of Courtenay, whose uncle, Ethelred the King, has summoned her to London to marry again now that her husband is dead. If you’ve encountered Ethelred in other romance novels (and I have), this is a very different man. By the author’s own “note,” she paints him as an evil lecher. Meanwhile, Katrin’s husband had been cruel and controlling, and she doesn't want another one. She believes she can hold her northern keep on the Scottish border well enough alone (though the opening scene would suggest that isn’t the case). To transport her to London, the king has dispatched his Viking-bred warrior, Eomond, to return her to court. On the journey, she and Eomond find they can’t resist the passion between them and Katrin falls in love with her protector. Though Katrin and Eomond love each other, when they arrive at the king’s court, her uncle tells her she’ll wed Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine. Rafael was training to be a bishop when his younger brother died and he had to take his place. Neither he nor Katrin want the marriage, at least not until they meet.
Navarre’s strength is clearly in storytelling and she captures well the medieval voice. It’s a powerful tale that will hold your interest. And her work reflects serious research for which I give her full marks. But I had trouble with the heroine. I loved her strength and intelligence. But her lies and shifting affections left me cold. (“Merciful God, she’d lied to him already. Now she must weave layer upon layer of deception, vary her pattern like the warp and woof of her loom until he couldn’t see which thread to pull to unravel her falsehoods.”) It was hard to believe her feelings for Rafael, though a worthy hero, were real given the short time between her relationship with him and her last tryst with Eomond. Meanwhile, Eomond is still in the picture. I’d like to see more from this author without that aspect and perhaps with more perspectives than just the heroine’s, but still it was a good read and I can recommend it.
This historic romance from Navarre is both well written and unique. For one thing, it’s entirely in the heroine’s perspective so the heroine is in every scene and it’s only her head we’re in (which means the men did more talking!). Despite the tag line on the book’s cover, I did not think this a story of two brothers and one woman. Well, yes, there were two brothers, but one was the villain so he didn’t count as a rival. The heroine didn’t want him. No, this was the story of the heroine’s two loves, one a Viking-bred hero and one a dark, warrior priest from France. Hence, the rub. It’s not every historical romance that finds the heroine giving her body and her heart to a worthy and noble hero and shortly thereafter marrying another to whom she is instantly attracted. (She “scarcely thinks” of the man she loved but days before.) The heroine called herself fickle; I guess so.
Set in England in 1005, it tells the story of Katrin of Courtenay, whose uncle, Ethelred the King, has summoned her to London to marry again now that her husband is dead. If you’ve encountered Ethelred in other romance novels (and I have), this is a very different man. By the author’s own “note,” she paints him as an evil lecher. Meanwhile, Katrin’s husband had been cruel and controlling, and she doesn't want another one. She believes she can hold her northern keep on the Scottish border well enough alone (though the opening scene would suggest that isn’t the case). To transport her to London, the king has dispatched his Viking-bred warrior, Eomond, to return her to court. On the journey, she and Eomond find they can’t resist the passion between them and Katrin falls in love with her protector. Though Katrin and Eomond love each other, when they arrive at the king’s court, her uncle tells her she’ll wed Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine. Rafael was training to be a bishop when his younger brother died and he had to take his place. Neither he nor Katrin want the marriage, at least not until they meet.
Navarre’s strength is clearly in storytelling and she captures well the medieval voice. It’s a powerful tale that will hold your interest. And her work reflects serious research for which I give her full marks. But I had trouble with the heroine. I loved her strength and intelligence. But her lies and shifting affections left me cold. (“Merciful God, she’d lied to him already. Now she must weave layer upon layer of deception, vary her pattern like the warp and woof of her loom until he couldn’t see which thread to pull to unravel her falsehoods.”) It was hard to believe her feelings for Rafael, though a worthy hero, were real given the short time between her relationship with him and her last tryst with Eomond. Meanwhile, Eomond is still in the picture. I’d like to see more from this author without that aspect and perhaps with more perspectives than just the heroine’s, but still it was a good read and I can recommend it.
November 13, 2020
If you love Medievals, definitely check out By Royal Command. Set in Anglo-Saxon England, a very colorful and under-utilized time period, this novel caught my interest from the dark and moody beginning and held it to the very end. It wasn't perfect, but it was quite good.
As the novel opens, we immediately get a glimpse into heroine Katrin’s plight. Young and widowed, she is lady of what appears to be a desolate, sparsely populated holding in the north. Cut off from much of the world around her, she must find a way for the household to survive, as well as keep a watchful eye for the ever present threat of Viking invaders. It’s a grim existence, but at least her holdings lie far away from court so that she does not have to encounter her uncle, King Ethelred, known to history as Ethelred the Unready.
This changes when the Viking Eomond and his men come to the keep, bearing orders from the king. As the king’s niece, Katrin is a valuable pawn, so he has called her to court. She knows immediately that he plans to make yet another politically advantageous marriage for her. Her first marriage brought no happiness and she does not trust Ethelred, so Katrin doesn’t exactly jump at the prospect of a journey to court. Nevertheless, after some sparring, Eomond prevails and Katrin finds her way to court. On the journey, Katrin and Eomond also find themselves growing more and more attracted to one another. For a woman married off in her early teens to a man whom she never loved, this is a new experience. However, Eomond is a landless knight who has sworn fealty to the king while Katrin is a niece destined for a political alliance. Not surprisingly, this causes tension.
The tension does not abate at court, even after Ethelred announces that he intends for Katrin to marry Rafael le Senay, Baron of Belmaine and younger brother of the Earl of Argent, a region whose resources and support Ethelred covets. Given that Rafael had been intended for the church, Katrin and everyone else around her expects a monkish man little interested in marriage, but when Katrin finally meets Rafael, she finds a man both handsome and intelligent, who is most definitely interested in consummating a marriage with her.
The rest of my review is posted at All About Romance: https://allaboutromance.com/book-revi...
As the novel opens, we immediately get a glimpse into heroine Katrin’s plight. Young and widowed, she is lady of what appears to be a desolate, sparsely populated holding in the north. Cut off from much of the world around her, she must find a way for the household to survive, as well as keep a watchful eye for the ever present threat of Viking invaders. It’s a grim existence, but at least her holdings lie far away from court so that she does not have to encounter her uncle, King Ethelred, known to history as Ethelred the Unready.
This changes when the Viking Eomond and his men come to the keep, bearing orders from the king. As the king’s niece, Katrin is a valuable pawn, so he has called her to court. She knows immediately that he plans to make yet another politically advantageous marriage for her. Her first marriage brought no happiness and she does not trust Ethelred, so Katrin doesn’t exactly jump at the prospect of a journey to court. Nevertheless, after some sparring, Eomond prevails and Katrin finds her way to court. On the journey, Katrin and Eomond also find themselves growing more and more attracted to one another. For a woman married off in her early teens to a man whom she never loved, this is a new experience. However, Eomond is a landless knight who has sworn fealty to the king while Katrin is a niece destined for a political alliance. Not surprisingly, this causes tension.
The tension does not abate at court, even after Ethelred announces that he intends for Katrin to marry Rafael le Senay, Baron of Belmaine and younger brother of the Earl of Argent, a region whose resources and support Ethelred covets. Given that Rafael had been intended for the church, Katrin and everyone else around her expects a monkish man little interested in marriage, but when Katrin finally meets Rafael, she finds a man both handsome and intelligent, who is most definitely interested in consummating a marriage with her.
The rest of my review is posted at All About Romance: https://allaboutromance.com/book-revi...
February 20, 2015
This had a terrific opening. There is nothing like being dropped directly into an 11th-century standoff between an eighteen-year-old girl and a pack of starving wolves to get your attention quickly. And when her savior isn't the conventional Knight in Shining Armor™ but a figure almost as terrifying as the wolves, all the better. For the reader, that is.
I am sorely tempted to edit the book's description. "Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war." Um, huh? That makes very little sense, especially for the first half of the book (and not much more in the second). "Katrin of Courtenay … doesn't need a husband to hold her northern keep." Well, yes, she does – that's one of the whole points of the book, the fact that Courtenay fell when her husband died and has ever since been a massive hole in the dam holding back the raiding of the Danes. She certainly could not hold it on her own, and one of her biggest struggles throughout is that to see the fortress manned again.
"But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he's ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court." That is a pretty good summing up, I will say: the man who saves Katrin from the wolves is that warrior, who is an honorable (depending on how you define that) man loyal to his king whose task is to pick Katrin up (physically if necessary) and deliver her to her new destiny. He can't understand her (to put it mildly) reluctance to comply, and decides she must be exaggerating when she tells him of her fear of being forced to marry another monster because the king's unrequited love for her mother manifests in revenge on Katrin and her father. It does sound a little far-fetched, doesn't it? But it's actually made fairly reasonable by the presentation of a very unreasonable king.
There was a good bit that I liked about this book. The writing was intelligent, and knowledgeable about the period – I learned, for example, that a vewterer looked after a lord's hunting dogs (greyhounds, to be exact, and there's a lovely movement named for them), and a sparviter after the hawks (specifically sparrow-hawks). The characters felt like their manner of thinking was of the proper time period – Katrin, for example, does not want to evade a second arranged marriage because she wants emancipation, but because she has the gut instinct that it will be used as a punishment for being the daughter of her mother. The mores and restrictions and priorities of the period are, to the best of my knowledge, well adhered to.
Also, the sex scenes did not follow the usual pattern of "panting and flailing and roosters and kitty cats" (my goodness, I do love that and will use it forever). They seemed to try to adhere to the time period as well in their language; in fact, there were lines in the scenes of passion that I actually liked. If nothing else, "the curving shell of secrets" beats all heck out of almost every other epithet I've seen.
It just doesn't do to think too much about those passionate scenes, because the whole thing begins to fray with the first one. A scene which includes a man spanking a woman is usually the end of the line for me … although, in this case - not that any woman ever deserves to be struck, ever, at all – Katrin definitely did have some kind of reprimand coming for a plan she hatched without ever taking all the consequences into account.
I liked that Katrin's original plan on the trip was to seduce the big lunk of a warrior, Eomund, as much as necessary to either sway him to her point of view or to lull him into complacency so she can take off on her own. The only problem with that, from a reader's point of view, is that the plans were fuzzy-headed and – like the afore-mentioned plan which culminated in her physical punishment – never really thought through. Then, of course, the two of them fall in love, and that puts a crimp in whatever the plans were; I liked that Eomund wasn't going to swerve from his duty, however personally painful it suddenly was. That was all well done. I liked Eomund altogether; the men as a group were rather well done, except that the two Bad Guys were almost unrelievedly and inexplicably Bad.
Aside from that spanking (it hurts to even type that), the beginning section is rather good, but it all falls apart a little more when Katrin reaches court. At that point she begins behaving in various erratic ways that didn't seem to fit the period or what we'd been shown of her character. This is the second, interim section of the book, and – for me – the least successful; the king's erratic and irrational behavior makes Katrin look like a very model of reason. Nobody acquits him or herself very well here. While it's fairly acceptable that a monarch, with absolute power, might also be squirrelly, it just seems like too easy a tack to take.
The final third of the book follows Katrin to her new marriage, and things pick up again, in an entirely new direction. Rafael, Katrin's new assigned husband, is mysterious and mercurial, and much better looking than she expected. He is also rather more worldly than she has been led to believe from his history as a candidate for the bishopric. (I wonder about this a little, since generally, I thought, one had to be a priest before they could ever be a bishop, and there is no indication Rafael was ever ordained (or defrocked); however, it seems like he was going straight from (slightly) cloistered layman to bishop, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 ducats.) He is not the monkish timid fellow she thought she was being yoked to - far from it, as their first meeting (which was quite a bit of fun) shows. The rest of the story involves the tangled threads of half-brothers and inheritances and redirected lives. It's somewhat far-fetched except in the realm of romance, but very readable.
The three parts of the book made me think of three beads on a string, touching but not really connected. The events of the first third do certainly carry over into the other two, and the second into the third, but apart from the ongoing relationship with Eomund in the middle the effects are muted as circumstances – and emotions – change for Katrin. The short version being: they could have been three almost independent stories.
Some of the good (the quality of the writing, the sparks of life from some of the characters, the fun of the final third) counterbalanced most of the not-so-good (the clichés that were succumbed to, the occasional incoherency of the heroine)(and the spanking), and it was all wrapped up in a (mostly) satisfying ending. Though one character who shall remain nameless was shooed offstage and dismissed a bit coolly, by both the former love interest and the story; that was perhaps life-like, but not slightly disappointing storytelling. It was better than expected – though I do wish it had better lived up to that opening.
I am sorely tempted to edit the book's description. "Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war." Um, huh? That makes very little sense, especially for the first half of the book (and not much more in the second). "Katrin of Courtenay … doesn't need a husband to hold her northern keep." Well, yes, she does – that's one of the whole points of the book, the fact that Courtenay fell when her husband died and has ever since been a massive hole in the dam holding back the raiding of the Danes. She certainly could not hold it on her own, and one of her biggest struggles throughout is that to see the fortress manned again.
"But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he's ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court." That is a pretty good summing up, I will say: the man who saves Katrin from the wolves is that warrior, who is an honorable (depending on how you define that) man loyal to his king whose task is to pick Katrin up (physically if necessary) and deliver her to her new destiny. He can't understand her (to put it mildly) reluctance to comply, and decides she must be exaggerating when she tells him of her fear of being forced to marry another monster because the king's unrequited love for her mother manifests in revenge on Katrin and her father. It does sound a little far-fetched, doesn't it? But it's actually made fairly reasonable by the presentation of a very unreasonable king.
There was a good bit that I liked about this book. The writing was intelligent, and knowledgeable about the period – I learned, for example, that a vewterer looked after a lord's hunting dogs (greyhounds, to be exact, and there's a lovely movement named for them), and a sparviter after the hawks (specifically sparrow-hawks). The characters felt like their manner of thinking was of the proper time period – Katrin, for example, does not want to evade a second arranged marriage because she wants emancipation, but because she has the gut instinct that it will be used as a punishment for being the daughter of her mother. The mores and restrictions and priorities of the period are, to the best of my knowledge, well adhered to.
Also, the sex scenes did not follow the usual pattern of "panting and flailing and roosters and kitty cats" (my goodness, I do love that and will use it forever). They seemed to try to adhere to the time period as well in their language; in fact, there were lines in the scenes of passion that I actually liked. If nothing else, "the curving shell of secrets" beats all heck out of almost every other epithet I've seen.
It just doesn't do to think too much about those passionate scenes, because the whole thing begins to fray with the first one. A scene which includes a man spanking a woman is usually the end of the line for me … although, in this case - not that any woman ever deserves to be struck, ever, at all – Katrin definitely did have some kind of reprimand coming for a plan she hatched without ever taking all the consequences into account.
I liked that Katrin's original plan on the trip was to seduce the big lunk of a warrior, Eomund, as much as necessary to either sway him to her point of view or to lull him into complacency so she can take off on her own. The only problem with that, from a reader's point of view, is that the plans were fuzzy-headed and – like the afore-mentioned plan which culminated in her physical punishment – never really thought through. Then, of course, the two of them fall in love, and that puts a crimp in whatever the plans were; I liked that Eomund wasn't going to swerve from his duty, however personally painful it suddenly was. That was all well done. I liked Eomund altogether; the men as a group were rather well done, except that the two Bad Guys were almost unrelievedly and inexplicably Bad.
Aside from that spanking (it hurts to even type that), the beginning section is rather good, but it all falls apart a little more when Katrin reaches court. At that point she begins behaving in various erratic ways that didn't seem to fit the period or what we'd been shown of her character. This is the second, interim section of the book, and – for me – the least successful; the king's erratic and irrational behavior makes Katrin look like a very model of reason. Nobody acquits him or herself very well here. While it's fairly acceptable that a monarch, with absolute power, might also be squirrelly, it just seems like too easy a tack to take.
The final third of the book follows Katrin to her new marriage, and things pick up again, in an entirely new direction. Rafael, Katrin's new assigned husband, is mysterious and mercurial, and much better looking than she expected. He is also rather more worldly than she has been led to believe from his history as a candidate for the bishopric. (I wonder about this a little, since generally, I thought, one had to be a priest before they could ever be a bishop, and there is no indication Rafael was ever ordained (or defrocked); however, it seems like he was going straight from (slightly) cloistered layman to bishop, do not pass Go, do not collect 200 ducats.) He is not the monkish timid fellow she thought she was being yoked to - far from it, as their first meeting (which was quite a bit of fun) shows. The rest of the story involves the tangled threads of half-brothers and inheritances and redirected lives. It's somewhat far-fetched except in the realm of romance, but very readable.
The three parts of the book made me think of three beads on a string, touching but not really connected. The events of the first third do certainly carry over into the other two, and the second into the third, but apart from the ongoing relationship with Eomund in the middle the effects are muted as circumstances – and emotions – change for Katrin. The short version being: they could have been three almost independent stories.
Some of the good (the quality of the writing, the sparks of life from some of the characters, the fun of the final third) counterbalanced most of the not-so-good (the clichés that were succumbed to, the occasional incoherency of the heroine)(and the spanking), and it was all wrapped up in a (mostly) satisfying ending. Though one character who shall remain nameless was shooed offstage and dismissed a bit coolly, by both the former love interest and the story; that was perhaps life-like, but not slightly disappointing storytelling. It was better than expected – though I do wish it had better lived up to that opening.
October 11, 2012
I really miss my medieval dresses !!! Superb job on your romance novels Laura :) xoxo
November 29, 2012
Grade: D
The author has a thesaurus, and she knows how to use it.
Status Updates: Read With Me Vicariously
You can tell by the dates that I avoided writing this review.
09/12 - 40%:
"...the curving shell of secrets nestled between her thighs" o.0
09/13 - 42%:
This book is much more Bodice Ripper than I anticipated....
09/13 - 58%:
The metaphors. EVERYTHING is a water, fire, weather or war metaphor. And the interjections. By Odin's smelly underpants, the INTERJECTIONS! Lots of references to Odin and Thor, but no Loki yet. Heroine prefers to invoke St. Cuthbert and St. Wilfrid.
09/14 - 65%:
The book that will never end. I made it this far, but this is taking WAY too long to finish.
09/15 - 78%:
Still not done... *whimper*
09/17 – 100%:
Finally finished, and I still haven't quite distilled why this didn't work for me.
When I finally started the distillation process, I had to put the crankypants on.
The writing style....
I can’t really call it the author’s “voice,” because I never really heard one. Instead, I felt bombarded with every literary device we learned in junior high language arts class. Action verbs. Adjectives. Metaphors. Interjections. Euphemisms. Rinse. Repeat.
The hundreds (literally) of other examples can be grouped into thematic categories, including:
Fire, Heat & Light:
...He was ice and yet her burned her.
...For an instant, she burned in the dark flames that kindled in his glaze.
...Once she’d kindled like dry wood beneath his ravening flame.
View more...
Earth, Wind & Water:
...She cried out, heedless of anything except the waves of pleasure surging over her. They left her beached against him, gasping, as the tide ebbed.
...They’d be lucky to weather this tempest without foundering on the shoals of disaster.
...In his wake, a sea of whispers foamed.
View more...
Military Manuevers:
...She waged a desperate rearguard action against the impulse to burrow into his arms and hide her face against his chest.
View more...
Reverse Anthropomorphism:
...Without warning a serpent of acid and flame uncoiled in her belly. It struck at her womb with savage fangs, making her cry out.
...The savage teeth of anguish tore at her heart.
...The subject of her tortured thoughts had followed her scent to ground.
View more...
Religious Interjections:
...Shaking his head, he said roughly, “Odin’s pain, we’re lost in this,” and dragged her into his arms.
...“By Odin’s lost eye, Katrin.” He panted. “I can’t – it must be now.”
View more...
Weird & Wonderful:
...A fey voice was singing in her blood, a siren’s song luring her to ruin. Like Odysseus, she saw her doom but strained toward it all the same.
...She scrambled for purchase along the slippery slope of truth.
...In the moment of blinding fire before darkness fell like a hammerblow, the night disgorged a dark shadow.
View more...
Hair on Fire:
...Firelight blazed in his gold-bright hair
...Riveted, she stared up at him, the fire burning in his golden hair
...The shreds fell away, leaving her clad in naught but a tangle of firelit hair
View more... LOTS more. It’s a bona fide Hair Fetish. I'm not kidding.
And, of course, lots more Simile Sex:
...He swallowed her desperate noises like wine as he flooded her with his essence. Then the waves closed over her head and she was drowning, spinning downward like a cork, like the plummet of her soul as she fell from grace. Katrin surfaced slowly from the dark sea of passion.
...All the way along her crevasse he stroked her to find that pulsing heart, the eye of the storm sweeping through her.
...His fingers slid between her moist folds to find the beating heart of her pleasure.
...The molten heat of hellfire pooled at her center.
View more...
I can’t even count the number of times I was kicked out of my reading trance. In a 274-page book, I had a total of 108 Kindle notes and highlights. Only a handful of those were dialogue excerpts – and that’s not a good thing for a character-driven reader like me.
Speaking of characters...
The romances....
Yes, plural. Three – count ‘em, THREE (3) – “heroes” (and I use that word loosely) are at least one too many.
Love Interest #1: Eomond, the Large & Tawny Half-Viking Escort
He lasts about halfway through the book until the inevitable Big Misunderstanding that compels her to complete her journey to…
Love Interest #2: Rafael, the Enigmatic Betrothed
Unfortunately, he stays enigmatic even after Katrin arrives at his castle, because he’s suddenly sent off to…somewhere…, leaving her with…
Love Interest #3: Borovic, the Sinister Future Brother-In-Law
He’s the ultimate alpha male who decides he wants Katrin for himself – can Katrin resist his seductions???
Meh. By that time, I really didn’t care who she wound up with, because Katrin seemed like nothing more than a shallow prop. She wasn’t kick-ass, she wasn’t a doormat. She was just there, reacting to everything that happened around her, which made it very difficult to connect with her as the main character.
The pacing....
The storyline and storytelling also suffered from the “way too much” syndrome of the whole book. Between the three love interests and the Evil Uncle King and all the random “insert action sequence here” filler moments, the lack of cohesion and focus killed it for me by about halfway through.
I’m still wondering why I didn’t DNF this. It wasn’t horribly written and it wasn’t actively pissing me off, so I guess “distracted and bored” wasn’t enough of a reason to stop reading.
NOTE: I read a digital advance review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
The author has a thesaurus, and she knows how to use it.
Grappling with savage urgency in a riot of tumbled cushions, she plunged headlong into rapture in the arms of her wrathful angel.
Status Updates: Read With Me Vicariously
You can tell by the dates that I avoided writing this review.
09/12 - 40%:
"...the curving shell of secrets nestled between her thighs" o.0
09/13 - 42%:
This book is much more Bodice Ripper than I anticipated....
09/13 - 58%:
The metaphors. EVERYTHING is a water, fire, weather or war metaphor. And the interjections. By Odin's smelly underpants, the INTERJECTIONS! Lots of references to Odin and Thor, but no Loki yet. Heroine prefers to invoke St. Cuthbert and St. Wilfrid.
09/14 - 65%:
The book that will never end. I made it this far, but this is taking WAY too long to finish.
09/15 - 78%:
Still not done... *whimper*
09/17 – 100%:
Finally finished, and I still haven't quite distilled why this didn't work for me.
When I finally started the distillation process, I had to put the crankypants on.
The writing style....
I can’t really call it the author’s “voice,” because I never really heard one. Instead, I felt bombarded with every literary device we learned in junior high language arts class. Action verbs. Adjectives. Metaphors. Interjections. Euphemisms. Rinse. Repeat.
As he fitted himself against her, an epiphany burst within....
She opened herself to the storm of sensation, reached for him with both arms as he surged inside to fill her. Their joining brought him toppling down on her, in the blazing splendor of the archbishop’s bed. He gripped her in the same desperate clutch, eld her moored against his rapid thrusts. Her tight channel stretched to accept him, ripples of pleasure pulsing through her. Blindly, she struggled toward the conflagration.
Without warning, it ignited her. She dug her nails into his sinewed back and clung with all her strength. The cataclysm flung her high, outside herself, as he went rigid in her arms.
The hundreds (literally) of other examples can be grouped into thematic categories, including:
Fire, Heat & Light:
...He was ice and yet her burned her.
...For an instant, she burned in the dark flames that kindled in his glaze.
...Once she’d kindled like dry wood beneath his ravening flame.
View more...
Earth, Wind & Water:
...She cried out, heedless of anything except the waves of pleasure surging over her. They left her beached against him, gasping, as the tide ebbed.
...They’d be lucky to weather this tempest without foundering on the shoals of disaster.
...In his wake, a sea of whispers foamed.
View more...
Military Manuevers:
...She waged a desperate rearguard action against the impulse to burrow into his arms and hide her face against his chest.
View more...
Reverse Anthropomorphism:
...Without warning a serpent of acid and flame uncoiled in her belly. It struck at her womb with savage fangs, making her cry out.
...The savage teeth of anguish tore at her heart.
...The subject of her tortured thoughts had followed her scent to ground.
View more...
Religious Interjections:
...Shaking his head, he said roughly, “Odin’s pain, we’re lost in this,” and dragged her into his arms.
...“By Odin’s lost eye, Katrin.” He panted. “I can’t – it must be now.”
View more...
Weird & Wonderful:
...A fey voice was singing in her blood, a siren’s song luring her to ruin. Like Odysseus, she saw her doom but strained toward it all the same.
...She scrambled for purchase along the slippery slope of truth.
...In the moment of blinding fire before darkness fell like a hammerblow, the night disgorged a dark shadow.
View more...
Hair on Fire:
...Firelight blazed in his gold-bright hair
...Riveted, she stared up at him, the fire burning in his golden hair
...The shreds fell away, leaving her clad in naught but a tangle of firelit hair
View more... LOTS more. It’s a bona fide Hair Fetish. I'm not kidding.
And, of course, lots more Simile Sex:
...He swallowed her desperate noises like wine as he flooded her with his essence. Then the waves closed over her head and she was drowning, spinning downward like a cork, like the plummet of her soul as she fell from grace. Katrin surfaced slowly from the dark sea of passion.
...All the way along her crevasse he stroked her to find that pulsing heart, the eye of the storm sweeping through her.
...His fingers slid between her moist folds to find the beating heart of her pleasure.
...The molten heat of hellfire pooled at her center.
View more...
I can’t even count the number of times I was kicked out of my reading trance. In a 274-page book, I had a total of 108 Kindle notes and highlights. Only a handful of those were dialogue excerpts – and that’s not a good thing for a character-driven reader like me.
Speaking of characters...
The romances....
Yes, plural. Three – count ‘em, THREE (3) – “heroes” (and I use that word loosely) are at least one too many.
Love Interest #1: Eomond, the Large & Tawny Half-Viking Escort
He lasts about halfway through the book until the inevitable Big Misunderstanding that compels her to complete her journey to…
Love Interest #2: Rafael, the Enigmatic Betrothed
Unfortunately, he stays enigmatic even after Katrin arrives at his castle, because he’s suddenly sent off to…somewhere…, leaving her with…
Love Interest #3: Borovic, the Sinister Future Brother-In-Law
He’s the ultimate alpha male who decides he wants Katrin for himself – can Katrin resist his seductions???
Meh. By that time, I really didn’t care who she wound up with, because Katrin seemed like nothing more than a shallow prop. She wasn’t kick-ass, she wasn’t a doormat. She was just there, reacting to everything that happened around her, which made it very difficult to connect with her as the main character.
The pacing....
The storyline and storytelling also suffered from the “way too much” syndrome of the whole book. Between the three love interests and the Evil Uncle King and all the random “insert action sequence here” filler moments, the lack of cohesion and focus killed it for me by about halfway through.
I’m still wondering why I didn’t DNF this. It wasn’t horribly written and it wasn’t actively pissing me off, so I guess “distracted and bored” wasn’t enough of a reason to stop reading.
NOTE: I read a digital advance review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
November 29, 2020
I was surprised by the realistic way this story was told. I expected the more modern romance with historical trappings and this isn’t it.
I like the idea of a more realistic romance but I so hate the idea of a woman in love with two men at once. I haven’t gotten to that part yet since I stopped when the story weaves away from the usual way romances are written these days. I would have to be in the right mindspace to finish it. With a bit of distance and a more objective eye I think I could enjoy it but because I didn’t expect it I’m put off for the moment.
The heroine is not weak but she is hobbled by her circumstances and that is uncomfortable to read, although realistic. The first hero I very much dislike. He is high handed with her and is somehow honourable in all the wrong ways. Actually, I’m not even sure if you can call it honourable. It seems he casts it aside in situation that make her life harder but dons it in situations where it would be better for her if he broke it. It’s infuriating. I hope she doesn’t choose him, although I haven’t got to the part when she meets the second man, yet.
I’m curious enough to someday finish this book but like I said, I’d have to be in the right mood for some realism with my romance.
I like the idea of a more realistic romance but I so hate the idea of a woman in love with two men at once. I haven’t gotten to that part yet since I stopped when the story weaves away from the usual way romances are written these days. I would have to be in the right mindspace to finish it. With a bit of distance and a more objective eye I think I could enjoy it but because I didn’t expect it I’m put off for the moment.
The heroine is not weak but she is hobbled by her circumstances and that is uncomfortable to read, although realistic. The first hero I very much dislike. He is high handed with her and is somehow honourable in all the wrong ways. Actually, I’m not even sure if you can call it honourable. It seems he casts it aside in situation that make her life harder but dons it in situations where it would be better for her if he broke it. It’s infuriating. I hope she doesn’t choose him, although I haven’t got to the part when she meets the second man, yet.
I’m curious enough to someday finish this book but like I said, I’d have to be in the right mood for some realism with my romance.
July 29, 2025
I love historical romances and this one fit the bill perfectly. Lots of twists and turns, jealousy and lots of love with an hea. Loved it.
June 12, 2012
This review also appears on my blog at http://www.thegoldenruleof666.blogspo...
By Royal Command was a book that I wanted to like, but had so many flaws that I couldn't even manage that. I don't like giving negative reviews, so I'll try keep this short to avoid ranting.
First of all, Katrin, for all her bravado of being strong and independent, was just as meek as any other royal medieval woman. She pretends that she's all tough, but in the end, she submits every time. It wouldn't have bothered me that she was weak, that was what a woman was expected to be at that time, but it bothered me that she kept pretending otherwise.
Then, the "romance." Let me explain how the romance goes. She is taken to her uncle's court by the captain of the army and falls in love with the warrior. They have a short, tumultuous love affair. She gets to court, then she's sent off to marry another man. She eventually falls in love with the man,while the man's brother tries to get with her. Sound a little messed up? Yeah, it's actually worse than it sounds.
Eommond (I think that's how it's spelled) is the captain. I have no idea what possessed her to fall in love with him. He was nothing but mean to her. And the first time they hooked up, he just barged into her room and claimed that she shouldn't have tempted him, then falls onto her like an animal in heat. Despite Katrin pleading with him to not take her to court, he takes her anyway. Then, when she gets engaged, he gets all angry. AS IF HE HAD A RIGHT TO BE! He's the one who took her to court! How can he get angry when the exact thing she told him would happen, and what she wanted to avoid when he refused to run away with her, happened? That romance was just utterly unbelievable. Literally, I couldn't believe for a second that Katrin actually liked this asshole. Excuse my language. Once she gets married, Eommond makes a brief cameo appearance, then is promptly forgotten expect for a few mentions of him. So at least I didn't have to put up with that insanity for long.
Then the two brothers. Raphael is the brother she gets married to. He's the only character in this book that I actually liked. He's really the reason I didn't hate this book entirely. He was sweet, and understanding as Katrin got over that other jerk. He's someone that I can actually understand Katrin falling in love with. I adored him, and was so happy that Katrin finally made sense when she fell in love with him. Really, it saved the entire book for me.
But then Raphael's brother. He was a total creep. When he sees Katrin, he decides he wants her, EVEN THOUGH SHE'S HIS BROTHER'S FIANCE. Even after they get married, he still tries to get with her. And when seducing doesn't work, because one of Katrin's few good attributes is that she's faithful, he tries to rape her. He was so nasty. It didn't help that he was married. To a girl so young that he had to wait two years of marriage with her before she got her first period so that they could start working on an heir. I know that was commonplace in that time period, but it still didn't stop me from being grossed out. And it obviously didn't help his case one bit.
The last complaint I have is Katrin's uncle. He was so nasty. He hinted several times that he wanted to get with Katrin. It literally made me nauseous. I was so glad when his appearance in the story was over.
If I can say one thing that I liked besides Raphael, it would be the flawless setting. The details and descriptions were perfect for the time period. It really felt like I was back in Europe's Dark Ages. That plus Raphael are the sole reasons this book wasn't a total train wreck.
I think I ended up ranting a little, didn't I? I don't like to give negative review, but I honestly couldn't like this book. If you feel that you can overlook the things that bothered me, by all means, read By Royal Command. The fact that I didn't like it won't stop me from recommending it to people who think they might feel differently about the book. But otherwise, if you feel like the parts that bothered me will bother you as well, I would stay away from this book. Seriously, it will save you a lot of frustration.
Sadly, 2/5
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy!
By Royal Command was a book that I wanted to like, but had so many flaws that I couldn't even manage that. I don't like giving negative reviews, so I'll try keep this short to avoid ranting.
First of all, Katrin, for all her bravado of being strong and independent, was just as meek as any other royal medieval woman. She pretends that she's all tough, but in the end, she submits every time. It wouldn't have bothered me that she was weak, that was what a woman was expected to be at that time, but it bothered me that she kept pretending otherwise.
Then, the "romance." Let me explain how the romance goes. She is taken to her uncle's court by the captain of the army and falls in love with the warrior. They have a short, tumultuous love affair. She gets to court, then she's sent off to marry another man. She eventually falls in love with the man,while the man's brother tries to get with her. Sound a little messed up? Yeah, it's actually worse than it sounds.
Eommond (I think that's how it's spelled) is the captain. I have no idea what possessed her to fall in love with him. He was nothing but mean to her. And the first time they hooked up, he just barged into her room and claimed that she shouldn't have tempted him, then falls onto her like an animal in heat. Despite Katrin pleading with him to not take her to court, he takes her anyway. Then, when she gets engaged, he gets all angry. AS IF HE HAD A RIGHT TO BE! He's the one who took her to court! How can he get angry when the exact thing she told him would happen, and what she wanted to avoid when he refused to run away with her, happened? That romance was just utterly unbelievable. Literally, I couldn't believe for a second that Katrin actually liked this asshole. Excuse my language. Once she gets married, Eommond makes a brief cameo appearance, then is promptly forgotten expect for a few mentions of him. So at least I didn't have to put up with that insanity for long.
Then the two brothers. Raphael is the brother she gets married to. He's the only character in this book that I actually liked. He's really the reason I didn't hate this book entirely. He was sweet, and understanding as Katrin got over that other jerk. He's someone that I can actually understand Katrin falling in love with. I adored him, and was so happy that Katrin finally made sense when she fell in love with him. Really, it saved the entire book for me.
But then Raphael's brother. He was a total creep. When he sees Katrin, he decides he wants her, EVEN THOUGH SHE'S HIS BROTHER'S FIANCE. Even after they get married, he still tries to get with her. And when seducing doesn't work, because one of Katrin's few good attributes is that she's faithful, he tries to rape her. He was so nasty. It didn't help that he was married. To a girl so young that he had to wait two years of marriage with her before she got her first period so that they could start working on an heir. I know that was commonplace in that time period, but it still didn't stop me from being grossed out. And it obviously didn't help his case one bit.
The last complaint I have is Katrin's uncle. He was so nasty. He hinted several times that he wanted to get with Katrin. It literally made me nauseous. I was so glad when his appearance in the story was over.
If I can say one thing that I liked besides Raphael, it would be the flawless setting. The details and descriptions were perfect for the time period. It really felt like I was back in Europe's Dark Ages. That plus Raphael are the sole reasons this book wasn't a total train wreck.
I think I ended up ranting a little, didn't I? I don't like to give negative review, but I honestly couldn't like this book. If you feel that you can overlook the things that bothered me, by all means, read By Royal Command. The fact that I didn't like it won't stop me from recommending it to people who think they might feel differently about the book. But otherwise, if you feel like the parts that bothered me will bother you as well, I would stay away from this book. Seriously, it will save you a lot of frustration.
Sadly, 2/5
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy!
August 20, 2012
Reviewed for Confessions From Romaholics
To see review at Confessions
Told in two parts, By Royal Command tells the story of Kartin of Courtenay, niece of the King of England. Since she was a young girl, Kartin has been a pawn for her uncle, King Ethelred. It has led to an early marriage to a cruel and controlling husband so that her uncle could strengthen his ties at the border of Scotland. Her husband died two years ago and Kartin has been fending for herself and using her skills to keep her northern keep with her servants, happy to be exiled and happy to not be a pawn in her uncle’s political games.
But things change with the arrival of Eomond a sword—theyn who has come to take her to Ethelred who needs her to make yet another political marriage to strengthen his defenses against England’s enemies. Here is where I started to lose interest in the plot: I knew the answer already—she will not go. She’s more wise and determined because she knows no purpose for high alliance since her father was only a half brother to the king and a bastard. Therefore we know the next thing to happen: Eomond, the Viking bred warrior, will use brute strength based on previous conversations between the pair and his wish to obey the order from the king.
At a stalemate, she decides she will go to her uncle, but her fiery spirit won’t let him get away easily. Like any other hot blooded male, he wants her but he can’t have her because of the difference in their classes so he does the closest thing to sex. He smacks her on her bottom and hopes for the best … but it doesn’t deter her and soon the couple break classes and start an affair.
Even then Karin doesn’t stop her in her bid to get away; when they arrive in town near the home of Ethelred and meet a friend of his, Thorkell, who is also in service, Karin makes the biggest mistake of her life and asks for help in escaping. Eomond finds out just before she is about to leave and decides to take her fully, partly to punish her but largely because he wants her.
The next few chapters capture the arrival at the keep of Ethelred where she finds out that her uncle is still as perverted as ever, lusting after her because she looks likes her mother. Therefore, she does the only thing she can think of—flaunts Eomond around, which results in him sent away . And to top it all off, she discovers she is carrying his child which she uses to try and get out of marrying another man but her uncle has a solution … Here once again, I knew what was going to happen, I could already figure out who she was going to get married to because of the family presence in the keep.
At the end of part one, we see Karin lose the baby she is carrying and discover she is marrying the younger son of dowager Lady of Argent, who she had previously asked whether or not her son was married. Part two sees us travelling to the older brother Borovic’s castle to meet her betrothed Rafael le Senay who has inherited his title from his second brother. Rafael was to become a bishop and was studying under the Pope until his brother died at the Viking hand’s. Karin is expecting to have a bookish husband who her uncle thinks she can control but is surprised to find that he is not what she expected. In fact, Rafael has been pretending to be one of his knights, the Black Fox, who gained a reputation as a daring opponent.
Rafael heard the rumours and he has resigned himself to marry Karin if she will agree but he doesn’t expect his brother to take an interest. Wait for it—because she reminds him of his first wife. NOOOOO! Please anything else! I can’t stand to have another character like this; we already have the king. So the second half turna into the first half and Karin soon is slowly falling in love with her husband and dealing with problems from her dowager Lady of Argent and her brother-in-law.
I really wanted to like this book and give it an excellent rating (5 couples) but things deterred me from the onset. It still is an interesting take on a younger woman’s life in the year 1005 AD, but even so, I give it 3 couples.
To see review at Confessions
Told in two parts, By Royal Command tells the story of Kartin of Courtenay, niece of the King of England. Since she was a young girl, Kartin has been a pawn for her uncle, King Ethelred. It has led to an early marriage to a cruel and controlling husband so that her uncle could strengthen his ties at the border of Scotland. Her husband died two years ago and Kartin has been fending for herself and using her skills to keep her northern keep with her servants, happy to be exiled and happy to not be a pawn in her uncle’s political games.
But things change with the arrival of Eomond a sword—theyn who has come to take her to Ethelred who needs her to make yet another political marriage to strengthen his defenses against England’s enemies. Here is where I started to lose interest in the plot: I knew the answer already—she will not go. She’s more wise and determined because she knows no purpose for high alliance since her father was only a half brother to the king and a bastard. Therefore we know the next thing to happen: Eomond, the Viking bred warrior, will use brute strength based on previous conversations between the pair and his wish to obey the order from the king.
At a stalemate, she decides she will go to her uncle, but her fiery spirit won’t let him get away easily. Like any other hot blooded male, he wants her but he can’t have her because of the difference in their classes so he does the closest thing to sex. He smacks her on her bottom and hopes for the best … but it doesn’t deter her and soon the couple break classes and start an affair.
Even then Karin doesn’t stop her in her bid to get away; when they arrive in town near the home of Ethelred and meet a friend of his, Thorkell, who is also in service, Karin makes the biggest mistake of her life and asks for help in escaping. Eomond finds out just before she is about to leave and decides to take her fully, partly to punish her but largely because he wants her.
The next few chapters capture the arrival at the keep of Ethelred where she finds out that her uncle is still as perverted as ever, lusting after her because she looks likes her mother. Therefore, she does the only thing she can think of—flaunts Eomond around, which results in him sent away . And to top it all off, she discovers she is carrying his child which she uses to try and get out of marrying another man but her uncle has a solution … Here once again, I knew what was going to happen, I could already figure out who she was going to get married to because of the family presence in the keep.
At the end of part one, we see Karin lose the baby she is carrying and discover she is marrying the younger son of dowager Lady of Argent, who she had previously asked whether or not her son was married. Part two sees us travelling to the older brother Borovic’s castle to meet her betrothed Rafael le Senay who has inherited his title from his second brother. Rafael was to become a bishop and was studying under the Pope until his brother died at the Viking hand’s. Karin is expecting to have a bookish husband who her uncle thinks she can control but is surprised to find that he is not what she expected. In fact, Rafael has been pretending to be one of his knights, the Black Fox, who gained a reputation as a daring opponent.
Rafael heard the rumours and he has resigned himself to marry Karin if she will agree but he doesn’t expect his brother to take an interest. Wait for it—because she reminds him of his first wife. NOOOOO! Please anything else! I can’t stand to have another character like this; we already have the king. So the second half turna into the first half and Karin soon is slowly falling in love with her husband and dealing with problems from her dowager Lady of Argent and her brother-in-law.
I really wanted to like this book and give it an excellent rating (5 couples) but things deterred me from the onset. It still is an interesting take on a younger woman’s life in the year 1005 AD, but even so, I give it 3 couples.
July 24, 2012
Review originally posted at: http://thebookpushers.com/2012/07/04/...
Publisher: Carina Press
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: ARC from the publisher via Netgalley
Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war.
Katrin of Courtenay’s husband is dead—and she doesn’t mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn’t need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he’s ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.
On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled—she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.
A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover hanging over her, and Rafael’s powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate balance between survival and happiness?
This blurb came from the author’s website here.
I was browsing Netgalley last month when I saw the cover to this book. It looked interesting because I could tell it was a historical but it was missing the typical overflowing bodice complete with partial cinch with a man who manly boobs were almost as big as the woman’s. Thanks to my curiosity I had to click to see what it was about. The blurb intrigued me so I went ahead and requested it. Once I started reading By Royal Command it seemed like I was reading one of the epic historical romances from yesteryear.
It took a little while for the heroine to grow on me. Her attempts to get out of following her uncle’s command struck me as a combination as crafty and then immature likewise her affair with the Viking. Then I met her uncle…and I could see the reason behind some of her behavior. I really started liking her when she went through a traumatic event, not one I would wish on anyone, and was actually forced to grow up. She took stock of her options and decided to go with the one that had the best chance for her life/safety and the life/safety of her Viking lover. I will admit I was concerned about Katrin’s sense of morals when she arrived at the home of her betrothed but luckily for me part of Katrin’s maturing process included the fact that she would now keep her word.
Rafael was another character that had to grow on me. I liked him initially but then he displayed his immaturity when it came to dealing with women for more than sexy times. I felt that he violated the bargain that he struck with Katrin before their marriage and never gave her a chance tell her side of the story. He did come through for Katrin in the end in a very moving fashion, which I liked. I was slightly let down when it came to his big secret because I thought it was going to be more.
Overall I think my favorite character happened to be Rafael’s mother. She was such an enigma from her initial entrance into the story and then, while maintaining her character, she was instrumental in several key moments. I had my hopes that sometime after the book ended that she would actually become one of Katrin’s supporters. I enjoyed reading By Royal Command but had some issues with the logic behind the behavior of some of the characters. I did buy into the HEA but I thought that Rafael and Katrin would need to continue to watch their backs because of the combination of her uncle and his brother.
I give By Royal Command a B-
Publisher: Carina Press
Publish Date: Out now
How I got this book: ARC from the publisher via Netgalley
Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war.
Katrin of Courtenay’s husband is dead—and she doesn’t mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn’t need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he’s ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.
On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled—she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.
A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover hanging over her, and Rafael’s powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate balance between survival and happiness?
This blurb came from the author’s website here.
I was browsing Netgalley last month when I saw the cover to this book. It looked interesting because I could tell it was a historical but it was missing the typical overflowing bodice complete with partial cinch with a man who manly boobs were almost as big as the woman’s. Thanks to my curiosity I had to click to see what it was about. The blurb intrigued me so I went ahead and requested it. Once I started reading By Royal Command it seemed like I was reading one of the epic historical romances from yesteryear.
It took a little while for the heroine to grow on me. Her attempts to get out of following her uncle’s command struck me as a combination as crafty and then immature likewise her affair with the Viking. Then I met her uncle…and I could see the reason behind some of her behavior. I really started liking her when she went through a traumatic event, not one I would wish on anyone, and was actually forced to grow up. She took stock of her options and decided to go with the one that had the best chance for her life/safety and the life/safety of her Viking lover. I will admit I was concerned about Katrin’s sense of morals when she arrived at the home of her betrothed but luckily for me part of Katrin’s maturing process included the fact that she would now keep her word.
Rafael was another character that had to grow on me. I liked him initially but then he displayed his immaturity when it came to dealing with women for more than sexy times. I felt that he violated the bargain that he struck with Katrin before their marriage and never gave her a chance tell her side of the story. He did come through for Katrin in the end in a very moving fashion, which I liked. I was slightly let down when it came to his big secret because I thought it was going to be more.
Overall I think my favorite character happened to be Rafael’s mother. She was such an enigma from her initial entrance into the story and then, while maintaining her character, she was instrumental in several key moments. I had my hopes that sometime after the book ended that she would actually become one of Katrin’s supporters. I enjoyed reading By Royal Command but had some issues with the logic behind the behavior of some of the characters. I did buy into the HEA but I thought that Rafael and Katrin would need to continue to watch their backs because of the combination of her uncle and his brother.
I give By Royal Command a B-
May 20, 2013
Title: By Royal Command*
Author: Laura Navarre
Series: N/A
Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Format: E-Book
Date/Year: July 2, 2012
Reviewed by: ElaineReads
*This book was provided to the reviewer by the author in exchange for an honest review
Summary from the publisher:
Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war.
Katrin of Courtenay's husband is dead--and she doesn't mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn't need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he's ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.
On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled--she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.
A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover hanging over her, and Rafael's powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate balance between survival and happiness?
My Musings:
1005 A.D. - England
This book is historical fiction with a strong romantic component. I like knowing that about a book going in because my expectations are different. Some books are romances with a historical setting. Other books focus more on the setting and historical events with the romance as a subplot. This one is somewhere in between.
Katrin of Courtenay is a strong female character who is not afraid to do whatever is necessary to protect her people. She feels guilty when she must lie to achieve her aims, but will do so anyway. (Should I admit that I admire her for putting the people she protects before her own moral code?)
Unfortunately, Katrin is the pawn of her uncle Ethelred, (Aethelred) the King of England. He has already married her off once to secure the border and now that she is a widow, he plans to do so again. Lady Katrin feels she is quite capable of holding her lands without a husband’s help, but is given no choice in the matter.
The king sends Eomond, a knight and captain of his guard, to bring Lady Katrin to court to be remarried. Katrin is just as determined not to go as Eomond is to obey his orders. And that is why I just couldn’t bring myself to like Eomond. As the story progresses, it didn’t matter how Katrin felt about being given to another man. It didn’t matter that Katrin and Eomond fell in love. The only thing that mattered was that Eomond followed his king’s orders. Yes, I know that was the honorable thing to do, but it definitely wasn’t the romantic thing.
The second half of the book is actually better than the first. Katrin is sent to the home of her future husband where an entirely different subplot develops. I can’t really say more without spoiling the book, but new characters are introduced that I found a lot more appealing than Eomond.
I guess I would summarize this book with the following question: Which is more important . . . a man’s honor or a woman’s heart? Although I had issues with the romantic elements of this book, the story itself was wonderful. Any book that entices me to explore its historical setting has obviously hooked me.
By Royal Command should be read for the excellent writing as well as the plot. Once the story moves away from the romance between Eomond and Katrin, it is difficult to put down.
Ratings:
Overall: 4 stars
Sensuality level: 3
Author: Laura Navarre
Series: N/A
Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Format: E-Book
Date/Year: July 2, 2012
Reviewed by: ElaineReads
*This book was provided to the reviewer by the author in exchange for an honest review
Summary from the publisher:
Two brothers. One woman. Three hearts at war.
Katrin of Courtenay's husband is dead--and she doesn't mourn him. He was cruel and controlling, and she doesn't need a husband to hold her northern keep. But her vengeful uncle, the King of England, has other ideas: intent on marrying her off, he's ordered his Viking-bred warrior to return her to court.
On the journey, the Viking captures her interest, and for the first time Katrin understands passion. But her guard is honor-bound to deliver her to the king, and so it is settled--she must wed the mysterious Rafael le Senay, the Baron of Belmaine.
A forced marriage to a stranger slowly becomes something more, and Katrin realizes she is in love with Rafael. But with the shadow of her former lover hanging over her, and Rafael's powerful brother making dangerous plans, can Katrin negotiate the delicate balance between survival and happiness?
My Musings:
1005 A.D. - England
This book is historical fiction with a strong romantic component. I like knowing that about a book going in because my expectations are different. Some books are romances with a historical setting. Other books focus more on the setting and historical events with the romance as a subplot. This one is somewhere in between.
Katrin of Courtenay is a strong female character who is not afraid to do whatever is necessary to protect her people. She feels guilty when she must lie to achieve her aims, but will do so anyway. (Should I admit that I admire her for putting the people she protects before her own moral code?)
Unfortunately, Katrin is the pawn of her uncle Ethelred, (Aethelred) the King of England. He has already married her off once to secure the border and now that she is a widow, he plans to do so again. Lady Katrin feels she is quite capable of holding her lands without a husband’s help, but is given no choice in the matter.
The king sends Eomond, a knight and captain of his guard, to bring Lady Katrin to court to be remarried. Katrin is just as determined not to go as Eomond is to obey his orders. And that is why I just couldn’t bring myself to like Eomond. As the story progresses, it didn’t matter how Katrin felt about being given to another man. It didn’t matter that Katrin and Eomond fell in love. The only thing that mattered was that Eomond followed his king’s orders. Yes, I know that was the honorable thing to do, but it definitely wasn’t the romantic thing.
The second half of the book is actually better than the first. Katrin is sent to the home of her future husband where an entirely different subplot develops. I can’t really say more without spoiling the book, but new characters are introduced that I found a lot more appealing than Eomond.
I guess I would summarize this book with the following question: Which is more important . . . a man’s honor or a woman’s heart? Although I had issues with the romantic elements of this book, the story itself was wonderful. Any book that entices me to explore its historical setting has obviously hooked me.
By Royal Command should be read for the excellent writing as well as the plot. Once the story moves away from the romance between Eomond and Katrin, it is difficult to put down.
Ratings:
Overall: 4 stars
Sensuality level: 3
February 26, 2017
Very satisfying
If you love romance then you will love this book. I couldn't put it down. Written very tastefully but left nothing to the imagination.
If you love romance then you will love this book. I couldn't put it down. Written very tastefully but left nothing to the imagination.
July 25, 2012
This was a hard one for me to read and review. The book is good but a bit cumbersome and the female lead wore a bit on my nerves.
Katrin is the daughter of the bastard brother of the king. She was married off for political gain (also revenge on her mother) by her uncle the king. This marriage was definitely not a love match but one of duty. She has never known passion and when her husband died she thought she had a shot of being left alone by her uncle. Unfortunately he has now decided she could serve him well by another political marriage. He has sent his thayne to bring her back to court to meet her next husband.
Eomond is the thayne sent to bring her back to court. He is of Viking blood but bound to the king in servitude. He and Katrin have a lust/hate pull for one another and act on it once. Katrin however knows that as a high-ranking woman she cannot have the low-born thayne even though she (eye-roll) loves him. I understand that in this time period women were property and were not allowed to make decisions but her "love" of him was a bit overstated. She ends up pregnant as a part of this one indiscretion and the king arranges for her to miscarry. She makes the agreements with the king for her remarriage based on her misconception of Eomond's relationship with another high-born woman and as a part of this agreement with the king Eomond gets a minor title and a measure of freedom as a landowner.
Now on to the hero of this book.... Rafael was an enigma and I can see why Katrin would have fallen in love with him. He was going to be a bishop but instead came home to fulfill family obligations.. now that being said what a loss it would have been to have him bound in the priesthood but what a gain it was for Katrin. I would have liked to see more of just this relationship without all the other mess that came with the rest of the story but oh well...
Again I enjoyed parts of the book but her what do I say .. what do I do... got a little old. I understand the time period and the role it plays in this behavior but it just made the book drag out more in my opinion.
Thanks to NetGalley.com and Carina Press for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.
Katrin is the daughter of the bastard brother of the king. She was married off for political gain (also revenge on her mother) by her uncle the king. This marriage was definitely not a love match but one of duty. She has never known passion and when her husband died she thought she had a shot of being left alone by her uncle. Unfortunately he has now decided she could serve him well by another political marriage. He has sent his thayne to bring her back to court to meet her next husband.
Eomond is the thayne sent to bring her back to court. He is of Viking blood but bound to the king in servitude. He and Katrin have a lust/hate pull for one another and act on it once. Katrin however knows that as a high-ranking woman she cannot have the low-born thayne even though she (eye-roll) loves him. I understand that in this time period women were property and were not allowed to make decisions but her "love" of him was a bit overstated. She ends up pregnant as a part of this one indiscretion and the king arranges for her to miscarry. She makes the agreements with the king for her remarriage based on her misconception of Eomond's relationship with another high-born woman and as a part of this agreement with the king Eomond gets a minor title and a measure of freedom as a landowner.
Now on to the hero of this book.... Rafael was an enigma and I can see why Katrin would have fallen in love with him. He was going to be a bishop but instead came home to fulfill family obligations.. now that being said what a loss it would have been to have him bound in the priesthood but what a gain it was for Katrin. I would have liked to see more of just this relationship without all the other mess that came with the rest of the story but oh well...
Again I enjoyed parts of the book but her what do I say .. what do I do... got a little old. I understand the time period and the role it plays in this behavior but it just made the book drag out more in my opinion.
Thanks to NetGalley.com and Carina Press for the chance to read this in exchange for my honest review.
December 27, 2013
This was one of the few truly historical romances that I have read, and based on previous experiences I expected to find a lack of real character development, lots of sex/passionate embraces, and the historical aspect only as the setting. Well, I was truly surprised with this novel, even though the 274 pages felt like 500.
The novel is set prior to the Norman Conquest of England with the Vikings raiding the shores and the countryside in turmoil. Historical events were peppered throughout as well as historical personages. Beyond this, there is a true feel for the atmosphere and way of life.
The characters were well crafted and had defined personalities. Despite the opening line of the book blurb, it really wasn’t the stereotypical two brothers and the woman caught in the middle unable to choose between two equally great men. There was an issue between two brothers, and she was torn between two men, but that doesn’t exactly go together. I was actually happy with the way the story progressed and wasn’t the cookie cutter storyline. In terms of dialogue, some of the lines that the characters came out with were repetitive and annoying.
In reference to my above comment about how the short novel felt at least twice the length – it wasn’t that the plot dragged or that it was not exciting. I think it was more of the fact that there was really a lot going on that made it feel much longer in the reading of it.
The romance was well done – there were sex scenes and passionate chaste scenes. However, they didn’t just fall into each other’s arms every second; there was a build-up of drama and passion which felt very natural. Overall I was very happy with this read and I would consider reading her other novels – although, truthfully, the reason I chose this one was because it was set in Saxon England and I LOVE that time period.
This review was previously posted @ The Maiden's Court. Was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The novel is set prior to the Norman Conquest of England with the Vikings raiding the shores and the countryside in turmoil. Historical events were peppered throughout as well as historical personages. Beyond this, there is a true feel for the atmosphere and way of life.
The characters were well crafted and had defined personalities. Despite the opening line of the book blurb, it really wasn’t the stereotypical two brothers and the woman caught in the middle unable to choose between two equally great men. There was an issue between two brothers, and she was torn between two men, but that doesn’t exactly go together. I was actually happy with the way the story progressed and wasn’t the cookie cutter storyline. In terms of dialogue, some of the lines that the characters came out with were repetitive and annoying.
In reference to my above comment about how the short novel felt at least twice the length – it wasn’t that the plot dragged or that it was not exciting. I think it was more of the fact that there was really a lot going on that made it feel much longer in the reading of it.
The romance was well done – there were sex scenes and passionate chaste scenes. However, they didn’t just fall into each other’s arms every second; there was a build-up of drama and passion which felt very natural. Overall I was very happy with this read and I would consider reading her other novels – although, truthfully, the reason I chose this one was because it was set in Saxon England and I LOVE that time period.
This review was previously posted @ The Maiden's Court. Was received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
June 19, 2012
By Royal Command tells the story of Katrin of Courtenay, the fictional niece of the King of England, the infamous Ethelred. Because of her proximity to the king, her care after the death of her first husband is of the utmost importance to the King. Katrin wants her independence and most definitely isn't wild about the King choosing a husband for her as she did not have the best relationship with her first husband.
Katrin is an interesting character. She wants to get her way but seems to employ some very interesting tactics in order to get her way (sleeping with people just to make a connection). I found myself wondering why the author chose to create a fictional character with such a close familial tie to the King. In this case, this actually works well. Katrin's close relation to the King allows the reader to see all of the things that King Ethelred was facing at the time. England was really getting ready to be under full attack at the time. To say that tensions were extremely high would be a vast understatement to say the very least.
For me, this book definitely ignited a want to read more about this time period. I haven't read much about King Ethelred or the Viking conquest of England. Things were changing at such a rapid pace that I think it would be interesting to kind of compare and contrast what things were like in England before and after.
The romantic action in the book was nice and steamy. This book would definitely make a good beach book. I liked both of the main romances in the book. Katrin seems to give herself up easily in both cases and it would have been nice to see a little more of a fight, especially since she wants to be a lady in good standing in order to be wed to a good match.
Bottom line: A great romance with a lot of interesting history!
Katrin is an interesting character. She wants to get her way but seems to employ some very interesting tactics in order to get her way (sleeping with people just to make a connection). I found myself wondering why the author chose to create a fictional character with such a close familial tie to the King. In this case, this actually works well. Katrin's close relation to the King allows the reader to see all of the things that King Ethelred was facing at the time. England was really getting ready to be under full attack at the time. To say that tensions were extremely high would be a vast understatement to say the very least.
For me, this book definitely ignited a want to read more about this time period. I haven't read much about King Ethelred or the Viking conquest of England. Things were changing at such a rapid pace that I think it would be interesting to kind of compare and contrast what things were like in England before and after.
The romantic action in the book was nice and steamy. This book would definitely make a good beach book. I liked both of the main romances in the book. Katrin seems to give herself up easily in both cases and it would have been nice to see a little more of a fight, especially since she wants to be a lady in good standing in order to be wed to a good match.
Bottom line: A great romance with a lot of interesting history!
July 11, 2012
I admit it, it took me significantly longer to finish and get into the book than I would have initially thought. Especially as it’s a short book/story. Katrin views herself as strong and independent woman. Unfortunately, she’s living in a time where women have few if any rights. However, that in it itself isn’t justification for how she goes about ‘surviving’. Perhaps there is where my issue with this book lies. She believes that exploitation and deception is a woman’s tool for survival, which doesn’t make me like her very much. This book is divided into two parts. The first part we get to meet Katrin, find out about past and learn who the main characters are. We, the reader will feel bad for what Katrin has had to endure and may even understand her and her actions. Again, I had difficulties with how she went about certain things. Part two is where I was able to finally get into the story as we get to meet Rafael and see how their story develops. He, in fact is my favorite part of this book. This is where the “romance” in historical romance is truly showcased. I found myself warming up to Katrin and even liking her towards the end. She does grow as a character, which is always a good thing.
Overall, a pleasant quick read.
Note: book review for Reading Between the Wines Book Club
Overall, a pleasant quick read.
Note: book review for Reading Between the Wines Book Club
August 21, 2012
A really fine novel set in the Medieval period, just prior to the invasion by William the Conqueror and setting a historical context that is fraught with political tension, inner family strife, old hates, the terror under which women must live, especially aristocrat women or athelings (Saxon) or those closely connected to men in power. Katrin is niece to the Saxon king, widow of a cruel man, and now again a political pawn for her uncle--half-brother to her father and a man who took his brother's wife as his whore and whose death in childbirth has haunted Katrin for years. She is a woman who is a widow but innocent in so many ways. It is only after her Wiking-warrior guard has introduced her to the reality of what passion can mean does she begin her journey as a fully-aware woman, one who is not really prepared to live in an arranged marriage without love or passion. This is a story that is truly compelling for women and one that lays out the realities of life in that long ago time. This is a new author for me but I am impressed with her writing skills, her very adept use of the language, the historical research that is evident in the context, and what feels like a desire to make this time period come alive for readers. A terrific read!!
July 27, 2012
I enjoyed this book. At times I did find it a little tiresome but all in all it kept me entertained and wanting to read more. I felt like the characters were easy to relate to and that I kept hoping that life would work out.
I felt that the book dragged a little bit but not enough for me to get irritated at the slow nature of the book. All in all, it kept me entertained. I may read more from this author but I think I will stick to faster paced books.
I felt that the book dragged a little bit but not enough for me to get irritated at the slow nature of the book. All in all, it kept me entertained. I may read more from this author but I think I will stick to faster paced books.
May 15, 2013
better than i expected from the reviews it was given. I was a bit uncomfortable w/ all the near rape scenes or threatened rape scenes. there were so many. This is NOT a YA book- this IS an ADULT ONLY book! There is sex in this book.
August 30, 2012
3.5 stars
December 13, 2012
Wow
Couldn't put it down
Couldn't put it down
February 9, 2017
Not your typical Romance 3-way. Great historical fiction with a very happy ending.
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