Lord of the Keep

Medieval Trilogy #1

by Ann Lawrence

Lord of The Keep tells the tale of lovers who must overcome both class and age differences. Gilles d Argent is the 40-year-old lord of the manor. Emma is the young weaver he loves. Unfortunately, Emma was seduced some two years earlier by the castle Lothario, William Belfour, a young man in his early twenties.

Gilles first has to deal with the barrier of their social positions as well as his jealousy and insecurity over the much-younger man s seduction of Emma. Emma, on the other hand, is hampered by the differences in their respective stations as well as by vows she exchanged with William when he bedded her, vows and a child he does not recognize.

Emma wastes a lot of her energy on guilt, first for becoming William s lover and then for becoming Gilles. Gilles vacillates between fits of jealousy and fears that he is getting old. William is the only character who seems to enjoy himself as a thorough cad.

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Medieval, Historical, Medieval Romance, Age Gap Romance

395 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1999

About the author

I love both reading and writing romance novels. I also love a really good mystery, so I like to include a puzzle for my readers to solve along with the characters. I'll confess to being a chocoholic, but that's my only confession.

I was born near Rochester Castle, and I blame that proximity for my love of England and English history. When not reading, writing, and researching romance, I'm living the real thing with my husband in the Philadelphia suburbs.

I've decided backlists should not die so I've given mine to Ellora's Cave's "Blush" line.

I have a new historical romance out now, LORD OF SWORDS! It is my first book since returning to publishing after an illness hiatus. Please check it out!

You can learn more about me on my website or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-La....

I love books . . . reading and writing them! What more is there to say???

Reviews

[Lori ◡̈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Current rating: 3-stars, DNF at 39%
Original rating: 5-stars and a keeper.

I originally read this story over 15 yrs ago, before I was using GR and writing reviews. I picked this story to reread with the purpose of being able to officially write a review of my thoughts and also see if it needs to stay on my Keeper shelf.

I didn’t remember anything about this story as I was reading it and the more I read, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was about the story that had me loving it the first time so I’m completely ok and not saddened with pulling the plug and DNFing it.

There is a very well-written, passionate love story going on here, but the main conflict is with OM hovering near, causing turmoil. I would have rathered the OM being pushed into the moat and be devoured by alligators and have the sole focus be on the hero and heroine falling in love, their age gap, and their class difference love story.

So the story revolves around the heroine, an early 20s weaver from the surrounding village, an early 20s OM (he is a man-at-arms for the hero), and then the early 40s hero, who is the lord of the castle.

The sweet naive heroine didn’t realize the OM was the castle’s manwhore and thought his poems and songs sung were proof of his true love. So she gives in and shares a single night of fumbling passion (off page, this all happens a few days before the prologue starts). Before giving him her virginity, they spoke vows/promises to each other. Not in a church, just in bed, in the heat of the moment. Vows which this OM immediately broke once he got what he wanted, her virginity and left her on her own alone and pregnant. But this naive heroine wouldn’t let it go that they are ‘married’ because “she made a vow to him that night”.

At 30% into the book and she’s still tormented over the fact that she’s breaking those vows by now sleeping with the hero. The hero that is absolutely in awe of her and seems that he would do anything to make her happy. While this OM refuses to acknowledge their one-time affair and his infant daughter…. But now that the OM sees that the hero is interested in the heroine, he keeps trying to corner her to have another go at her. They weren’t even legitimate vows spoken in church or in front of witnesses, why hang on to them when the ass is a creep… and the hero is over there being a wonderful guy?

Ultimately I decided to DNF because I realized that this was not going to remain on my keeper shelf any longer for a few reasons. Medieval stories tend to have filler surrounding war and politics, and I’m not into that anymore. Secondly, at 39% the hero and heroine are on their second day as a couple and are both acknowledging that they love each other already. The main focus of the story seems to be now going in the direction of the OM causing drama with the heroine, and the hero being jealous of the OM and feeling like an old fart compared to the young OM. And the hero feeling certain he can’t marry the heroine as she’s just a villager.

Bedroom scenes are open door, but they are not half as described as a current bedroom scene would be described. So not a very steamy feel to them.

[Lover of Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emma, once sworn her heart to a man she thought she loved who in return rejected their vows to each other, and their daughter, and now barely survives as a weaver until she meets Lord Gilles, who is the Lord over Hawkwatch Castle. Gilles, a powerful warrior and Lord, has already been married once and raised a son, and starts to think he is getting old, until he meets Emma who brightens his day with her smile, and makes him feel alive again and will do anything to have her in his bed, to show her true passion in his arms, but then he falls in love with her and knows that she is the keeper of his heart forever..... Lord Of The Keep is one of my ultimate favorite books.....I first read this book when I first started reading romances, and I just fell iu love with the story and the characters. It starts out with unfortunate circumstances which in the end turns into a silver lining for both Gillles and Emma. What I truly loved was the connection you see the moment Gilles and Emma meet, and I just loved the verbal interaction between the characters. The emotion portrayed in this story is overpowering and riveting, and made it near impossible to put it down. The story plot was exciting and had some twists and turns especially toward the end that will keep you on your toes from beginning to end. Ann Lawrence creates a story of adventure and romance that will capture your heart....A KEEPER!!!!

[Nabilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I would have loved this one if I read it 20 years ago. Unfortunately, I'm older and jaded now. The story is a mess and the heroine is a doormat. I skimmed read this one.

[Karen Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful! Loved it!

[Nancy Steinle gummel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of the Keep is the first book of Ann Lawrence that i have read and it wont be the last. Lawrence spins a fantastic tale. This started with a young girl, Emma, being hauled before the Lord of the Keep, Giles, on charges of fornication. She refuses to name her lover, William, though she sees him there. He is a knight and unknown to all, he is Giles's bastard son. One day, Emma was in the woods with her daughter, Angelique, when she is attacked by wild dogs. Giles saves her and passion ignites. She ends up in his castle as a weaver. Giles eventually gets her in his bed. He's fallen madly in love with her. Emma comes to her sexuslity with her love for him. But problems threaten their happiness. William keeps trying to force himself on Emma. Giles is away when William accosts her again. She hits him on the shoulder and the side of his head with a stone and flees. Someone murders William and the blame falls on Emma. She's scheduled to hand. Giles returns and is beside himself. Will Giles save Emma? Will they ever find happiness in their love? Read the book for all the details and solution. I received a copy of this book for my honest review.

[Romancing the Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reviewed by Julie
Book provided by the publisher
Originally posted at Romancing the Book

Emma first meets Lord Gilles when her uncle drags her before him with the accusation she has lost her virtue and is most likely with child. This is Lord Gilles first day in this position and he feels sorry for Emma. She exchanged vows him a man that didn’t stand up for her now. Her uncle is furious that she has blown the chance to wed a man he picked for her. Lord Gilles sends them home to wait out the possiblity of pregnancy. To his utmost horror, he and his men discover Emma nearly starved to death and with a newborn daughter clinging to her.

Since Emma is an excellent weaver, Lord Gilles gives her a position as his personal weaver. It’s no secret to anyone looking close enough that Lord Gilles is quite smitten with Emma. Emma, however, is now a mother and must think of her child. She doesn’t want to be known as a fallen woman and she doesn’t want to make the same mistake that put her in this position in the first place. But, Emma can’t keep Lord Gilles at bay for long and soon the two are secret ( and not so secret) lovers.

Complications arise when Lord Gilles puts it together who fathered Emma’s child- a much younger man than he, and also connected to him personally. Lord Gilles is now in his forties and perhaps unable to father a child. He is consummed with jealously , to the point where he drives Emma away from him, if not in body, then in spirit. Just as things are smoothed over and Emma convinces Lord Gilles she only loves him, they are blindsided by a shocking announcement from King Richard.

As Lord Gilles tries to figure out how to please the king, but keep Emma as well, Emma is taken into custody for a crime she didn’t commit. Can Lord Gilles save her from the gallows?

This is one of those novels written back in the late 90’s when historical romances were written in much different manner than they are today. This book has been reissued by Ellora’s Cave in digital format and again I am just loving this trend. This is an outstanding medieval historical romance that has a May- December romance, a class difference, scandal, action, adventure, suspense, and plenty of drama and steamy romance scenes. Emma is a woman with her own mind and that is seldom a thing women dared to have in those days. Standing up to Lord Gilles was no problem for Emma. While he is formidable, an Alpha personality, ridden with human traits like jealously and pride, he is also honorable and gentle, can admit his errors and make amends for them. He has made mistakes in his life for which he is very sorry, but did the best he could to do the right thing.

Lord Gilles loves Emma in every way, deeply and passionately, so much that he is willing to pay the ultimate price for her freedom. * Sigh* I wish they still wrote ’em like this!! This is one of the best medieval period historical romances I’ve read in a good long while!

[Engineer19 · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book....this is the kind of book I'm looking for..i just loved every single page of this...
you don't have to wait for near end for the hero to acknowledge his feeling for the heroine, i think he confessed his love for the heroine near the middle of the book.
He is not an asshole and he is very much inlove with the heroine....

[Joey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review will be posted on Romancing the Book blog soon!

[Marionela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Изключително се радвам, че не живея в мрачното средновековие, в което една жена струва по-малко от добитък, няма право на глас, на мнение, на спокойствие.

[Noelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know?? I wanted to put it down so many times and kept going. Then I just couldn’t finish the last 20 pages. I have mixed feelings about this one

[Trenchologist · Rating 4 out of 5]

September Readathon

3+

Getting much closer to the Bonkers verve I've wanted for a while and that alone made it a worthwhile read.

I lament more romances aren't written this way these days--fraught, horny, overstuffed, B-plots C-plots and interweaving threads, so horny, so earnest in the best ways, huge strokes and small details, horny, why not add more in--and it's part of why I shop thrift and library and etc sales for the majority of the romances I read.

It's not as if there's *none* like it written right now, or that bonkers and fraught and horny always equals better/good, but there's a shameless sparkle in books like these that's hard to define or resist. Even when they are utterly B A D.

Vague but: early early on I went -GASP, his own granddaughter!- Not that I was scandalized, but the twisty connections woven between the players helped build the bonkers melodrama and various attendant angsts in excellent ways. I lol'd, but in anticipatory glee.

Lots going on, but that's a given for a longer historical, particularly Medieval with court politics and intrigues and such. But it's all handled well so I never felt muddled or lost, and the pace was such everything was resolved in its time as needed but also moved at a fair clip.

This pairing is age gap, but not as traditionally expected, because it's not as if much older men didn't take young women as wives the Medieval centuries. So the hero's cohort didn't see anything wrong in his choice and wouldn't have gotten social scorn for it. Instead it provides true conflict for the hero's internal journey, whether he's enough for her, and it being -her choice- to love and want him is where the age gap question resides and resolves itself in lovely ways.

There's one, if not a few, too many dramatic incidents for them to raise the alarm and have to run around dealing with. But, again, it moves along at a bustling trot so it's not a major complaint.

The ending came quickly and events unfolded fast to it; not enough ending for my taste, but then I almost always want more time in the resolution following the final climax/conflict and at last denouement.

I appreciated that all the players involved in the whole of the book, and then the defining catalyst in the third act, took time and hmm, proof-of-character (in their actions and spirit and deed, as it were), to fully accept and then even like one another. Understanding, bonds, willingness to throw in together, none of that was instantaneous. Which made it feel more earned, and nicer to get at the end of everything when all the bad stuff was put to rights.

A hero who allows his compulsion and then love for a heroine wreak havoc in and then turn his whole world inside-out -- and she repays him in kind with the only love he's known, a different life he thought could never be his, and equal fervor in compulsion -- what's better than that? Theirs is a HEA I cheered and fully believe in.

--Looking back on past reviews I see I have read another of the titles in this trilogy (Lord of the Hunt). I didn't think of it for a moment or connect it to this book at all. I didn't like it as much, but I liked it well enough. I'll have to find the third, and maybe a few other by Lawrence to boot, lol.

[Tanya Stoinova · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5

[Elizabeth Cole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Ann Lawrence HR that I've read. It starts a bit slow, but there are plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you going. Emma (our heroine) foolishly allows a handsome knight to take her virginity and is shamed and outcast once she becomes pregnant. A couple of years later, she is rescued from an attack in the woods by the hero Gilles, the Lord of Hawkswatch. Romance ensues.

There were a few aspects of the characters that I really liked. First, Emma isn't a virgin, so there aren't pages of her mooning about whether she should give it up to the hero. Instead, she worries about more practical things like "If I become his lover, will the benefits (steady food, warmth, and health) outweigh being considered a whore?" Also, Gilles is much older then Emma (almost 20 years), and this age difference worries him and drives some of the plot, and I like that the issue is out in the open. A lot of romances just sort of gloss over the fact that the hero is often much older than the sweet, innocent lady.

A major plot element is how little power most medieval woman have in their lives. While I appreciated the fact that Lawrence uses that truth to drive the plot, it did get rather frustrating, because throughout much of the story, Emma is responding to things happening to her, or accepting the least bad option in order to stay alive. As a child of the Buffy generation, I like my heroines to be active (even when it means bending history!). Emma is mostly only active in bed.

I liked the dirtiness and often grim reality of the medieval setting, and the honesty of Gilles and Emma's growing love. Nothing is made easy for the lovers, and when the ending comes, I was happy they made it through.

[Janice Hougland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Lawrence's Lord series is definitely a keeper. I read Lord of Swords first since it was the most recent in this series, but it was so good that I bought Ms. Lawrence's back list of the Lords series and started with the first one...this one. OMGosh! I am flabbergasted by this author's depth of detail and historical description! I truly feel like I am in the medieval era and witnessing everything in the story firsthand. What an exciting experience it was to read this book! I liked that Gilles, although a swoon-worthy hero, was an aging warrior with self doubts and insecurities. He was so realistic to me I fell in love with him myself. And I loved feisty Emma who, despite the put-down attitude toward women in those times, still fought for her integrity and self worth. I admired her so much! I lost sleep over this story as I couldn't put it down once I started it; stayed up way past my bedtime two nights running. :-) But now I can hardly wait to dig into my next book in the Lords series as I know I have another treat awaiting me.

[Claudia Staude · Rating 2 out of 5]

Total summer "junk reading" - and not a bad book til I hit the somewhat contrived plot ending. No spoilers but I found it rather predictable from that point on. Found the heroine, Emma, interesting and believable- the hero not quite so much.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit of a lovely mess, convoluted and crazy but also lots and lots of fun!

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereads:
23-28 October 2018

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

cant seem to find this bk....tried all the libraries...found second bk..Help

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok read