By Right of Arms

by Robyn Carr

The Black Prince of England hungers to capture the lands of France, and Sir Hyatt Laidley is just the knight for the task. In exchange for years of faithful service, Hyatt will receive both land--and lady--of De La Noye in Aquitaine.When Hyatt and his men attack, both Lord and castle fall, but the young and newly widowed Aurelie is not so easily conquered. Impassioned by the subjugation of her people, Aurelie pledges to forever honor her late husband. She may be condemned to marry the English bastard, but her heart will never yield! But to Aurelie's surprise, Hyatt proves to be everything her former husband was not. Fearless, wise, and devastatingly handsome, he makes for a highly gifted Lord and protector. And try as she might, she simply can’t feign indifference to her virile husband’s passionate embrace. Yet Aurelie is not alone in her emotional torment. Previously robbed of his inheritance and title by a deceitful stepmother, Hyatt can’t bring himself to trust his French wife. But as rivals threaten the welfare of their people, the couple must decide which bond is stronger--allegiance to one's motherland or ties forged from love.Full of danger, lust, and love, BY RIGHT OF ARMS is a smoldering medieval romance set in 14th century France that is sure to enthrall fans of VIRGIN RIVER.Robyn Carr is the #1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Virgin River Series and The Thunder Point Series, published by MIRA. BY RIGHT OF ARMS is one of her historical novels, which will all be reissued as digital editions in the coming months.PRAISE FOR ROBYN CARR’S “She has done it again. Robyn Carr is absolutely marvelous.” —Danielle Steel“Adventure, danger, derring-do, as well as doings at the glittering anything-goes court of Charles II...Carr tells an entertaining yarn.” —Publishers Weekly“A fast, gripping story...The reading public can anticipate good books from an imaginative new author.” —Best SellersPRAISE FOR ROBYN CARR'S OTHER "Robyn Carr writes books that touch the heart and the funny bone." - Debbie Macomber“Robyn Carr creates strong men, fascinating women and a community you’ll want to visit again and again. Who could ask for more?” –Sherryl Woods “For great story telling and beautifully drawn characters, enter the world of Robyn Carr.” – NYT Bestselling author, Susan Elizabeth Phillips“There's a reason Robyn's a #1 New York Times bestselling author. She's just that good.” – Kristan Higgins “I found Carr’s style to be captivating…. I sat down with this kind of by accident…and read it in one sitting. That doesn’t happen for me very often—maybe once a year or once every other year.” – Pamela Clare on Virgin River“Virgin River is sexy, tense, emotional, and satisfying. I can’t wait for more!” –Carla Neggers“A thrilling debut of a series that promises much to come.” – Clive Cussler “Robyn is an amazing talent!!!!” – Addison Fox

Genres: Historical Romance, Medieval, Romance, Historical, Medieval Romance, Historical Fiction, Audiobook

357 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Robyn Carr is a RITA® Award-winning, eleven-time #1 New York Times bestselling author of over sixty novels, including the critically acclaimed Virgin River series and Sullivan's Crossing series. Robyn's new women's fiction novel, THE FRIENDSHIP CLUB, will be released in January 2024. The new hit Sullivan's Crossing TV series (season 1) inspired by Robyn's book series was released in the USA in the fall of 2023! Plus, season 5 of the worldwide fan-favorite Virgin River TV Series is now streaming on Netflix (July 2023) with two holiday episodes coming November 30, 2023. Both TV series have been renewed for another season!
Robyn is a recipient of the Romance Writers of America Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award 2016, and in 2017, VIRGIN RIVER was named one of the HarperCollins 200 Iconic Books of the past 200 years. Robyn currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. You can visit Robyn Carr's website at https://www.robyncarr.com/.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread: 11/23/23
This book has become a favorite of mine. I highly recommend this book!

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ReRead: 11/12/22
An enjoyable reread! I live how realistic the story is. No instalove, no shrew h, and the Conquerer doesn't win the enemy over in a day. The story progressed at a perfect pacing and yet entertaining. This book is up there with some of great medieval hr.
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Read:7/14/20

Excellent!! The H conquers a French castle to hold for the king. He then marries the widow. She is mature enough to know she has no choice and is embarrassingly attracted to her new husband. The H turns out to be a great, honorable man! Their romance goes from a slow burn to a very intense love.

Problem: he brings his son and the b*tch who bore the child. The OW thinks she is the mistress of the new castle, when in reality, the H hasn't touched the she-cat since his son was conceived. He just puts up with her bc of his son.

So he has problems with his ex mistress, his lying, cruel brother, and another Conquer. All of them want his new castle. Strangely, his enemy peasants are on his side along with his new wife.

This is an excellent medieval book!

[Lady Whitbrooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Re read. I really enjoyed this book. I first read it then listened to it on Audible. I enjoyed the reading the best. Plot 7(1-1-10)
Steaminess 5.5(1-1-10)

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

OMG, that cover! Those 1980s hairstyles! Just in case anyone was wondering when the book was written....

Continuing my tour of Award Winners of Yesteryear, I picked this historical romance, written in the mid-eighties. I’ve seen Robyn Carr’s contemporary romances all over the place, but didn’t know she had written any historicals.

I think this novel holds up pretty well. It’s well-written and fast-paced, and while the hero and heroine were a bit bland, there were some delightfully nasty villains.

[Olnega · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
My first book by Robyn Carr, I really enjoyed it. It probably deserves better rating but Medieval era is not my favourite time period. Romances set in that time always seem to have similar plot lines; castles, conquest/conquer, evil OW or other OTT villain and lengthy battle of wills.

[Rochelle Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, it is a historical romance .

Edward the Black Prince is eager to reward Sir Hyatt Laidley, he sends him to conquer De la Noye. In the battle, Giles the lord dies, and Hyatt claims Giles's widow, Aurelie, by right of conquest. She resists him and bitterly resents him and laments her own loss of power. But both her own strong sexual attraction to him and her growing awareness that he is an excellent landowner who promotes the welfare of his subordinates change her attitude. There is conflict with Hyatt's previous lover and the way she uses her son against his father. As Aurelie grows to love him, he comes to acknowledge at last his love and need for her.

[Whitney Millirons]

Sadly, sadly disappointed by this book. I was feeling nostalgic, and I wanted to read some of the books I'd read as a teen. I was looking for copies of "The Blue Falcon" and "The Troubadour's Romance" when I came across "By Right of Arms." I was really excited at first, because I hadn't read it before. But as I continued to read, I got more and more let down. Honestly, I don't know why Ms. Carr bothered. While so closely mirroring "The Troubadour's Romance" as to feel like you're reading that book instead, it's not written nearly as well. Maybe it came first? Anyway, I also couldn't help drawing a line from this book directly to "The Wolf and the Dove", by Kathleen Woodiwiss. The late Ms. Woodiwiss' writing itself wasn't the best, but she could tell a riveting story. "By Right of Arms" mimics "The Wolf and the Dove" in so many ways-the conquering hero with his huge sidekick, the heroine's former love being scholarly and physically weak, the enemy working to take both the castle and the heroine, both main characters falling in love despite themselves. Even the women's names start with the letter A. I was disappointed that Ms. Carr turned to almost exclusively writing contemporary novels, but after reading "By Right of Arms", maybe that's all for the best.

[Anne in VA · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It started off strong, I liked that the characters were given time to learn to trust and care for each other, I just wish this was more of a slow burn, rather than just slow. I needed a little more heat, a little more romance.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was alright. The cover had to be one of the silliest illustrations I've ever seen. Now isn't that a silly review?

[Melinda Mulcahy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly good read!
A deliciously delectable romance by a talented author.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. I enjoyed the characters and the story very much. And the ending was great.

[Birgit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audible

[Alice Harlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

As my first dive into this sort of genre it was a well rewarding read.

[Rochelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This kills me, as Robyn Carr is one of my favorite authors, but at page 250 I just gave up, and read the epilogue (which was cute, actually.) The book dragged, and it just didn't hold my interest.
Maybe it took Carr 21 years to perfect her craft and come up with my favorite Virgin River? I'm glad she didn't give up!

[Jon Abbott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical Romance. Medieval French Lady's husband goes off to battle and is killed. The English Knight victor claims the castle and the Lady, much to her dismay and dislike. Adventures and romance follow, together with jousts, pig roasts and abuse of peons.

The Lady is as wise as any man (wiser than most, actually), and their equal (or considerably better) in good stewardship of the land. She lacks the brawn and training to wield edged weapons, so she must use her brain and her patience.

[Patricia Solla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm glad I decided to go back and read these early books by this author; they are very good. This story is set in France and describes the English victory over the French and how different the victors enjoyed their spoils. The reader gets a view of both the destruction wrecked by a ravaging victor and the goodness of a true knight making his will known while treating his 'captives' in a just manner.

[Dawn ♥ romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was immersed in this historical romance all the way through to its exciting ending. I was totally in sync with the heroine when she justifiably hated the hero then followed right along with every step as it changed to love. English Sir Hyatt conquers the french stronghold of De la Noye and its lady Aurelie is forced to marry him.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd seen this author's books on the shelf many times and decided to grab a couple. Interesting to see that she has moved on to western romances. This and the other one I read were carbon copies - medieval woman forced to marry rough soldier type, she's a virgin, they have great sex but don't trust each other.

[Tracyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did really like this book, having said that though i sometimes got annoyed at the author's style of writing - the writing style was clever like how you would imagine them talking in that time period - but i'm not sure if i liked that.....!!!

[Ryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skilled writer with words. You read, the story goes, the main characters developed, and you wait for the story to reach its boiling point. Once, it's there and you were like that's it!? I felt that the story peak events doesn't really quite there yet.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit this was not one of my favorite Robin car books. Perhaps it was because I've almost always read her contemporary fiction. But it was a good book. I didn't really get all that into it until about halfway through. It took me a while but I finally did and I really enjoyed it.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love Robyn, but not a big fan of historical. I listened to this on audio. Glad I did with all the French words. Like Hyatt and Aurelie. Good story if you are a fan.

[Ganineg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure I was going to like it because of the different time period. I however loved it!

[phoebess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I both hated and loved the suspense in the story. I loved it because it was simply great. And I hated it because that freaking waiting game made my stomach hurt. I do not do patience well!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorites. Very common storyline but Robyn Carr just pulled it off (for me) better than all the others

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I chose to read this, I am such a fan of historical romance.

[Krita · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Extremely reminiscent of Kathleen Woodiwiss' Wolf and the Dove.