KNIGHT OF PASSION Nicolette de St. Clair had married solely to bear the son who would fulfill the terms of her inheritance. And so she broke her own heart and that of Alex de Perigueux, the young knight she loved. Now, a decade later, Nicolette is still without a child, and her husband gravely ill.
Alex returns to France a hero, handsome in body, yet scarred deep in his soul. Honor should forbid him accepting Nicolette's husband's request to seduce his wife, sire a child, then disappear forever. It is an indecent but irresistible proposal -- unleashing a wild storm of desire that will sweep Alex and Nicolette either to damnation or toward a love so pure and powerful -- so impossible -- even heaven will weep...
Patricia Burford Ryan (born August 9, 1954 in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States) is an American writer of romance novels as Patricia Ryan, mystery novels as P.B. Ryan and erotica novels as Louisa Burton. She is the twin sister of the romance writer Pamela Burford.
She won a Golden Heart award in 1994 in the category "short contemporary series" and a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award. Her book Silken Threads also won a RITA, the top award of the Romance Writers of America, for "Best Long Historical Romance" of 2000.
“An indecent proposal” woulda been a more apt title. This sequel to “Secret Thunder” (we get to see Luke & Faithe too w/ their 3 kids) features Luke’s younger bro’. Alex & Luke are sponsoring their nephew’s knighthood @ Tour de Rouen, Normandy. To his consternation, his cousin, Milo & his wife, Nicolette (Alex’s former flame), are also in attendance. Even tho’ Milo is only 10 years older than him, he’s now a frail & emaciated alcoholic, who relies on Gaspar, his apothecary castellan cum caretaker. He’s also in dire straits. W/in the next 15 months, he & Nicki must produce a male heir – per Nicki’s late uncle’s decree – or they’ll lose their home to the church. Alas, Milo’s born in an era where the potent Viagra has not been invented yet, so the best solution he can come up w/, is to ask Alex to be the sperm donor, the ol’ fashioned way. W/out Nicki’s knowledge, he desperately wants Alex to seduce, impregnate Nicki & leave the child behind. Family resemblance is a big factor, even if people will question the improbability, after 9 years of barren matrimony. He guilt-trips Alex that there are only 2 other options if Alex refuses (which he does initially). Gaspar has volunteered to do the deeds & w/out Nicki’s consent if necessary (w/ his apothecary skills, he can concoct a sleeping draught & tamper w/ Nicki’s wine). Nicki wants to try the last option, which is to appeal to the church to appoint them as stewards when the church takes over the title of Peverell. Milo is against this idea ‘cuz the chances are slim to none, knowing the Father Octavian has an aversion to women in general (he goes to Clay Aiken’s church if U catch my drift). Alex points out that Milo’s diabolical plan has more gaping holes than a Swiss cheese. What if Nicki fails to produce the requisite heir & has a baby gal ? That would defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it ? Milo’s plan B: Well, if worse comes to worst, they’ll just have to buy a baby boy & claim Nicki has twins. Problem solved. Alex is not swayed by Milo’s dishonorable scheme. Milo knows that Alex – the lone wolf - is renowned for sticking to his vows once made. He keeps badgering @ Alex’s resistance & finally succeeds ‘cuz Alex begins to notice the disturbingly improper way Gaspar has been ogling Nicki. Might as well be him than Gaspar. Besides, the flame that he thought had been put out 4ever, is re-kindled the more he spends time w/ her.
Thru’ flashbacks (shoulda been titled “The Young & The Landless”), we get a glimpse of what really happened between Alex & Nicki. 9 years ago, Alex & Nicki (2 yrs older than Alex) were in luv, had chaste clandestine meetings @ their enchanted cave. Their idyllic encounters crashed to an end when Nicki & Milo were betrothed w/out advance notice & a hasty wedding ensued due to Nicki’s uncle, who’s terminally ill. Heartbroken, Alex beseeched Nicki to run away w/ him, but he neglected to propose ‘cuz he’s landless. Nicki opted to forsake her luv for Alex. Ironically, Milo’s in luv w/ another unsuitable gal too, Violette, who’d born Milo a child, so the question of his infertility is moot, proving he’s capable of siring offspring. Nicki also had a secret of her own that she’d never divulged to Alex. Gaspar (who had also proposed to Nicki & been turned down – planting the seeds of hatred & obsession for Nicki) & his 2 minions beat the crap outta Alex, to prevent him from crashing Nicki’s wedding (per the executive order from Nicki’s mommie dearest). Alex learned his painful lesson & became a hardened soldier who appreciates women as bedsport but not lifemates. In the meantime, Gaspar doesn’t sit idle w/ his own plan. Despite his utter distaste, he sacrifices himself to be the object of Father Octavian’s deviated inclination, to tip the scales in his favors by officially having his own name on paper as Peverell’s steward. Time is running out. The irreversible damage is done. W/ so much history & pent-up bitterness between ‘em, can Alex & Nicki find their way to forgive & forget ? Will Nicki adhere to the sanctity of marriage or should she give in to Alex’s seduction ?
PR seems to specialize in “Forbidden luv” theme (which is right up my alley), as I’ve found in her medievals that I’ve read. Sad to say I only have 1 more left in my TBR pile (Silken Threads). I usually don’t like adultery theme but I do make a rare exception once in a blue moon if the execution is well-done (a la 1 of my all-time fav books, Jo Beverley = Secrets of the night – w/ a similar premise of having Brand Malloren impregnate Rosamunde to save her estate, per hubby's prior approval). In this case, I rooted for Alex & Nicki to have their HEA. Luck hasn't been on their side. I thought it’s endearing that Alex is illiterate. He genuinely wants to learn how to read & write (no easy feat @ his age), yet is not above using his sessions as a means to weaken Nicki’s defenses. Gaspar is really creepy. Both H/H struggle w/ their conscience, knowing there’ll be more heartaches even if they succumb to temptation. Their lack of choices (before / after Nicki’s marriage), internal & external conflicts were beautifully laid out. They’re meant to be together but fate keeps throwing a curve ball @ them. They’re flawed & have made regrettable mistakes, but they learned that what doesn’t break them, only makes them stronger. Milo also is not the all-around baddie, his bark is worse than his bite. He’s consumed w/ his own inner demons for abandoning the true luv of his life. He does realize that he’s digging his own grave & is aware of the consequences of his methodical self-destruction but doesn't have the willpower to stop the bleeding. This book may not have an uplifting mood, but I enjoyed it nonetheless thanx to PR’s realistic writing. She didn’t sugarcoat the unfolding drama & just like in ‘Secret Thunder’, I sympathized w/ the H/H’s plight & felt a sense of relief that all’s well in the end. The building tension, predicaments, twists & turns, were suspenseful. “Heaven’s fire” is still my fav PR to date, I’m just not a fan of adultery. I'm looking forward to reading 'Silken Threads'.
I just finished Wild Wind by Patricia Ryan and I thought the story and the writing was fantastic! I only gave it 4-1/2 stars however becausee she makes reference to eating potatoes which were not introduced to the Old World until after the Spanish had conquered the Incas in the Andes in the 16th century. Alas, Wild Wind takes place in the 11th century. But I guess you could say that was "small potatoes" compared to the overall enjoyment I derived from the story. :)
Este libro lo leí porque su anterior me había gustado bastante, pero mucho me temo que la trama que se desarrolla y sus personajes no me han convencido, más bien aburrido te ver al típico héroe y al típico malo en una trama muy, muy predecible y al igual que en la entrega anterior, con un final precipitado. Fue una pequeña decepción pero al menos pude terminarlo.
*Aclaración: Es la única novela de la saga que he leído, así que lo reseñare como un libro autoconclusivo*
La mejor manera de describir este libro en una palabra es "Encantador", la autora tiene una pluma bastante adictiva, no podía parar de leer una vez iniciado el tercer capítulo. Desconocía por completo todos los personajes pero me encariñe con ellos casi de inmediato al ver la relación y compañerismo que se tenían y bueno, lo mejor de esta historia, en definitiva y sin miedo a decir que es el mejor personaje romántico que he leído hasta el momento, Alexandre de Perigueux.
Se ha vuelto mi crunch (lo escribí a propósito así) número 1 en novios literarios. Ojalá existiera para hacer que mi corazón se acelere y con ese verbo que tiene me inunde la mente.
La historia en si es en verdad simple pero son lo hechos tan drásticos que te hacen seguir leyendo, los momentos donde sentía que si algún personaje no moría iba a morir yo del impacto, solo recuerdo una trilogía que me ha hecho sentir así y este libro lo logró en todo su esplendor. Tienes sus momentos lentos, en cierto punto lo sentí como un drama coreano donde solo dan largas pero cuando al fin sucede algo romántico las emociones ya están a tope y lloras o gritas de la emoción o ambos agregándole suspiros de alivio.
Definitivamente cumple su función, me hizo olvidar que el presente existía y me transporto al pasado donde pude vivir esa historia de amor que parecía imposible, que incluso en las últimas 2 páginas ya sentía que todo estaba perdido, mis sentimientos y pensamientos a tope, y al finalizarlo estaba contento y al mismo tiempo triste porque no sabré que fue de ellos después, solo me queda la imaginación.
Para este punto este libro lo unico que me hizo darme cuenta es que no tuve tantas lecturas buenas en este año como pense, o tal vez tengo dañado mi chip para elegir buenos libro.
Young and innocent Alexandre de Perigueux falls in love with Nicolette de St. Clair but she breaks his heart by marrying his cousin, Milo, and he has vowed never to let his heart become trampled upon again. It's now nine years later and Alex has grown into a fearless Knight who is bound by honor, who is respected for keeping an oath and who refuses to settle down. It's all of these qualities that prompt his cousin Milo into making an unsavory offer to Alex.
Good old cousin Milo is about to lose his home because he has failed to impregnate Nicki, whose Uncle placed a clause in the will that her first son was to inherit the castle and if there was no child after ten years of marriage the castle would revert to the church. Milo is a drunken louse who is impotent. So he wants Alex to seduce, impregnate and then leave Nicolette forevermore so that he can claim the child as his own and happily drink the rest of his life away. Alex initially refuses but eventually gives in because he still cares for Nicki and when Milo tells him he will let another man, a man Alex knows is evil, drug her and "do the deed" he is left with no other choice.
I honestly wasn't sure how I was going to react to this book because of the adultery plot. Usually adultery in any way, shape or form leaves a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and I end up detesting the couple. It takes a skilled author, one who knows her characters inside and out - and who has the talent to let her readers see into the souls of those characters - to make me love, respect and ache for two people caught in this kind of sticky, seemingly impossible situation. And Patricia Ryan is just that kind of author.
Alex and Nicki aren't vain, selfish people and they don't want to hurt anyone, they're soul mates who because of a set of misunderstandings and the inexperience and immaturity of youth were torn apart. Their rediscovery of love is beautifully portrayed and my eyes went bleary more than once. And it helped that Milo, pitiful excuse for a human being that he was, wasn't adverse to the union between Alex and his wife, especially when he realized he'd gotten in the way of their true love nine years earlier.
If you've read SECRET THUNDER and were dying for light-hearted, funny and carefree Alex's story you might be a little surprised to find that he's very serious throughout WW because of the circumstances he's thrown into the middle of but he's just as sexy.
This book isn't always pleasant but it paints a vivid picture of life in historical times, smelliness and all, and there is a villain who can only be described as disgusting! The conflict, although painful and heart-rending, makes for some super sensual tension and allows the love story to grow slowly. So if you've decided against reading this book because of the adultery theme I beg you to reconsider. This one is done with care and class and isn't filled with silly plot devices thrown in just to keep the couple apart.
I made it to the 80% mark of this story and decided to stop. I enjoy Patricia Ryan and her alter ego PB Ryan even more. This was supposed to be a cozy historical romance for me, but I did not enjoy the storyline nor many of the characters. Nicki and Alex are our love interests but their characters seemed light in characterization and depth and relied mostly on their attractiveness to others. Milo, Nicki's husband and Alex's cousin, was an alcoholic whose disease had ravaged him nearly to death. I imagine that he may have died at the end of the book. He had made a plan to have Alex seduce and impregnate his wife in an effort to create a male heir. Unfortunately for the reader, Milo was two dimensional and unsympathetic. This character was rich with opportunity. He could have had many facets and still be marginalized while being more sympathetic.
Gaspar, the villain, was yet again another power hungry employee and tenant of the property. In this case, we spent almost half of the book reading details of his desire to rape and humiliate the lady of the house. And by details, I mean many saddening horrible details, over and over again. No thanks.
I hope this series improves and does not focus on the leading tenent of the estate being twisted, angry and secretly plotting to control the entire operation. Given the times it is highly unlikely and from a historical romance perspective not very interesting or gratifying.
Read in Mallorca Back to Mathilda and William, back to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest... this is apparently part of a series, but the fact that I hadn't read anything previous to this was not a problem. I had picked this up and put it down a while ago, so was pleasantly surprised to note that the story did catch and hold my interest. At times I found it a bit too dire for my mood, however - the bad guy is simply so unrelentingly bad, that I couldn''t wait to finish the story. On the whole I found it fairly interesting, but am not in despair that I don't have any of the others in this series. This book came to me as part of a bookcrossing excerpt game, and may go to a swap shelf in Arta, Mallorca. (The way the excerpt game works, is you get an envelope from another participating bookcrosser, with a photocopy of a page from a certain number of books. The person who has put the excerpts in doesn't identify the books they're from, just who they are so they can be contacted. You photocopy a page from each book you want to put into the game. You choose books based on the excerpts in the envelope, and replace the ones you take out with the ones you've prepared. It's a fun way to trade books and discover new books and authors).
This is the second Birthday Book I've finished. I love that my friends know to get me books!
As usual, there were some modernisms in this Medieval romance that drove me crazy, but I did think that the relationship between the two lovers was poignant, and I did find myself rooting for them. OTOH, I really wish that I could do away with the "We've been separated for years, and I resent you now because I didn't have all the facts" trope.
No suelo leer tramas medievales, sobre todo por esas cosas de la higiene de la época o más bien, por su falta de ella. Éste libro lo compré por error porque el sumario no daba luces de la época, pero me sorprendió gratamente, fue muy entretenido y los protagonistas bonitos y personajes bien caracterizados. Además me azotó la maldición de las sagas, pues éste es el libro 2, y ahora a buscar como loca el libro 1 para leerlo. Bien escrito y traducido, voy a buscar más de esta autora.
A devious romance that whiled away a few hours on holiday. The first Patricia Ryan that I have read and I may try the others in this series as it was light! easy to read and had a couple of devious characters woven in for good measure.
We have a study of real classes with which we are governed. We have two youths that fall in love. I was a true affair of the heart! Others interfere, and tragedy happens over and over. I enjoyed my read.
Este me ha gustado casi más que el primero (Tormenta Secreta). Al personaje le tenía más cariño. Lo que sí he notado es que en los dos han seguido unas pautas bastante similares. Sobretodo en la malaleche que tenía el malo. Está muy bien para pasar el rato y se lee muy fácil.