One Burning Heart

Welsh Blades #4

by Elizabeth Kingston

William prefers not to think of his insufferable burden of a wife. She’s far too pious and, even worse, painfully meek and submissive – qualities he holds in the highest contempt. But there’s very little he won’t do to achieve his political ambitions and fulfill his duty as the Lord of Ruardean, even if that means marrying this bore of a woman and forcing himself to finally produce an heir with her.

Margaret could not be more pleased that her loathsome lord husband thinks her an overly devout fool. She’s worked quite hard to make him dismiss her as little more than a vapid nuisance – a skillful ruse to mask her true intentions to undermine the vast power of the Church and William’s aspirations for a new Crusade. But when he insists that they attend to their duty to provide an heir to Ruardean, she finds her powers of deception are not quite up to the task of pretending to be repelled by his touch.

Attraction and affection somehow grow between them, but can their connection withstand the tangle of lies, political intrigue, and lethal accusations of heresy?

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Medieval, Historical Fiction, Enemies To Lovers, Medieval Romance

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 30, 2024

About the author

***Sign up for the Elizabeth Kingston Newsletter for updates on new publications.***

Elizabeth Kingston lives in Chicago, where she can be found gleefully subverting tropes and inventing new ways to make fictional people kiss. When there's time for it (hint: there's always time for it) she shouts loudly about the intersection of historical romance and white supremacist narratives. Lipstick, skincare, and baked goods all rank high on her list of Other Interests. She sincerely hopes you enjoy her writing, and that you'll share it with others.

Reviews

[Chels · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book opens on a perfunctory sex scene that could be the stuff of nightmares. Margaret has been married to William for six years, and he's decided to tamper down his ill-concealed loathing for his wife in order to beget an heir.

William is a scheming lord of Ruardean, attempting to curry favor with King Edward to launch a new crusade that will ultimately give him more power. He strategically married Margaret in hopes of an alliance that will get him what he wants -- one of the hundred moving pieces he has been juggling for ten years. Margaret herself is a pious boor, simultaneously too religiously fervent and too meek, and William finds her proximity a chore.

What he doesn't know, what we know, is that Margaret also married him for strategy, both to sabotage his crusade and to use the wealth of Ruardean to question the church's teachings. If William has one hundred moving pieces, Margaret has one thousand. I was simultaneously in awe of her and terrified for her throughout the whole book, the stakes are truly that high.

William slowly starts to realize that his wife is a force of nature, and falls completely, irrevocably in love with the woman he is truly meeting for the first time. Just when things are unbearably sweet between them, some of Margaret's moving pieces come to light, and William now has to choose between his heretic wife who ruthlessly outmaneuvered him, and the power and prestige he's been carefully working toward.

The way Kingston wrote Margaret is a revelation - a character so densely packed with desire, doubt, and care that I would give anything to spend more time with her. "For all my life, I have trained my sight on the empty space between what men of God have taught, and what they have done," she tells William.

There's a scene at the end of Flowers from the Storm, Laura Kinsale's beloved Regency romance, that makes me choke every time I read it: when the Duke of Jervaulx publicly confronts his wife and questions her decision to leave him. There's so much raw emotion in his words, so much at stake, that I've held it up as the pinnacle of grand gestures. One Burning Heart has a similar moment in the climax, and I am beyond elated that it came from Margaret. When reading it I felt overjoyed and winded and terrified.

That's romance.

If this doesn't become a new genre classic I will riot in the streets.

[Allison E · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my favorite romance I’ve ever read. I wish I was kidding. This book is a revelation.

I’ve looked at the receipts, and I just think that everything combined here makes for something that is beyond brilliant. Setting, characters, plot, stakes, romance, tension, and yes, the sex too. Individually as a novel and overall as a 4 book series arc, the emotional satisfaction I experienced cannot be understated.

William is a character that you’ve gotten glimpses of throughout the first 3 books of the Welsh Baldes. Frankly, he’s just been goated for the entire series. Will is Gwenllian’s brother, Eluned’s son, and Gryff’s childhood best friend. He is the smartest guy in the room always. He’s observant and calculating, he is a favorite of the king, he eats court intrigue for breakfast, he’s 7 steps ahead of everyone at all times (he gets that from his mother). NO ONE is pulling a fast one on this guy.

So how fun is it, how utterly delightful, when you get to know his politically motivated, hastily arranged marriaged wife. Lady Margaret is pious and overly devout. The bigger offense to Will though, is that she’s unbearably meek and submissive. She giving 0 spark and 0 personality. What. A. Bore. Will loathes just about everything about her… especially that strange hint of distain for him she always seems to have wafting about her person. They have been married FOR 6 YEARS.

So how awesome is it that the smartest guy in the room !! has been completely and utterly fooled. Margaret is not as she seems. She is playing an act for her own agenda and she will do whatever is necessary to see it through. Margaret has some fucking balls I’ll tell you that. Genuinely one of the most rich characters I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. I loved every moment of being in her brain. There is dialogue from her in the story that quite literally took my breath away. There are things that Will says and does that had be throwing my kindle across the room. It’s. That. Good.

On page one, scene one, everything changes for Will and Margaret’s chilly relationship. They have clinical sex maybe a few times a year to do their duty of getting an heir. But now Will Needs An Hier. All caps. An astute physician has advised Will that in order to impregnate his wife, she needs to experience pleasure in the act. So lo and behold, Will puts on the moves… and Margaret has been prepared to withstand just about anything, except for her husband’s seduction.

“As the reality of it sank in, she turned her face into the mattress to muffle a sudden shout of laughter. What an agreement they had made. She would lie there and pretend to pray for his immortal soul while he worked diligently to give her spasms of great pleasure. All while they silently loathed one another.”

Like plssss. You all are simply not prepared for what goes down in this book once Margaret’s mask starts slipping and Will starts catching on that his wife may be more than she seems. Nothing has ever been so deliciously executed.

This book was the most stressful I think of the 4 in this series. The ending I was like ????????? How are we surviving this??

This is also a series I would recommend reading in order… The books are chronological in plot and I think each story is greatly enriched by the characters (and relationships) that populate it. And you get to know a lot of these characters intimately from their proceeding books (The King’s Man, Fair Bright and Terrible, Desire Lines). For example, Eluned’s cameos in this book actually had me screaming. Like THATS MY GIRL. If you really truly are desperate to get to this book 4 (as I was when I read the concept), I think you could get away with skipping Desire Lines but :((( it’s so good. All to say, reading 3 books to get to this 4th was by no means a chore. What an amazing journey. A new favorite series of all time for me.

In case it’s not clear, this book is infinity stars to me literally Kingston wrote this for me and me alone.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

The latest instalment in the Welsh Blades series has been my most anticipated book for the past couple of years, and it’s without a doubt the best newly released HR I’ve read in a long time.
The story follows the machiavellian William, Lord of Ruardean, and his peevishly pious wife Margaret as they face political intrigues, accusations of heresy and most shockingly, the feelings developing between them.
I was captivated by their quietly antagonistic dynamic from the very first line, and from there on I pretty much inhaled the entire book.
Watching two passionate people goad each other into love is as much fun as one can have when reading a historical romance, and this one features a perfectly balanced mix of angst and tenderness.
The main reason why I love this series so much is that it features a cast of characters who behave like human beings, riddled with doubts, contradictions and shortcomings, instead of robotic barbies governed by lust, as is the case in a lot of ye oldie medieval romances I’ve come across.
The lapsed Catholic in me had a field day every time the question of faith was discussed, so that was neat!
Finally, another pleasant surprise were beloved characters from previous books in the series reappearing to either support or oppose the protagonists, and sometimes both.
Highly recommend this one not only to my HR friends, but to every fiction lover in general!

[Caz · Rating 4 out of 5]

B+ / 4.5 stars

One Burning Heart, the fourth and final book in Elizabeth Kingston’s Welsh Blades series, is the story of Lord William of Ruardean (brother of Gwenillan from The King's Man and good friend of Gruffydd ab Iowerth from Desire Lines ) and his wife, Margaret, whose previous betrothal to Gryff had been arranged by William to further certain political ends. Gryff broke the betrothal when he fell in love with Nan, and William married Margaret in his stead in order to maintain the alliance he had brokered. When One Burning Heart begins, William and Margaret have been married for six years and they thoroughly despise each other.

William, one of the most powerful of the Marcher Lords, is a seasoned and wily political operator, a high-ranking courtier with the ear of the King (Edward I). Ruardean is more than his home, it’s the place of his heart, but he spends most of his time at court because he needs to keep his finger on the pulse of court life and gossip if he’s to bring his current ambition to fruition - to have the King mount a new Crusade – while making sure he gives no opportunity for his political rivals to oust him from his favoured position

Margaret is utterly delighted not to have to see a great deal of her loathsome lord. She’s worked hard to cultivate a persona of passive vapidity and the appearance of extreme piety and religious devotion, happy in the knowledge that her docility and frequent praying spark dislike and the deepest contempt in William. His long absences provide ample opportunity for Margaret to attend to ambitions of her own – to thwart her husband’s plans and to undermine the power of the Church at every opportunity because she despises the endemic corruption that sees supposedly holy men putting greed and ambition above God’s word:

“For all my life, I have trained my sight on the empty space between what men of God have taught, and what they have done.”

It’s been six years since they wed, and there is no sign of an heir for Ruardean – which is not surprising given William’s frequent absences – but he now appears determined to devote himself to that task and, on the advice of the local physician, to give Margaret pleasure. (Yes, back then and at various times throughout history, it really was believed that a woman needed to orgasm in order to conceive.) So when William starts paying her more than perfunctory attention in bed, Margaret is confused – and worried, because she likes his touch and fears her newly-awakened desire for what he offers will start breaking down all the barriers she’s so carefully built over the last six years.

One Burning Heart is an expertly blended mixture of historical fiction and romance, the story of two people who have been deliberately deceiving each other for their own ends learning that everything they believe about each other is also a lie – and growing to admire and love one another as they begin to look beneath the masks they wear. The author’s research and attention to detail are impeccable, and if you, like me, are here for lots of high-stakes intrigue and political manouevering, then it’s absolutely a book you’ll want to read. William and Margaret are determined, intelligent, devious and passionate, and have never shown each other their true faces, intentions or desires. Their quiet, deep-seated antagonism towards each other is palpable from the very first page and the slowly dawning realisation that they’ve both failed to see the truth of each other is accompanied by smouldering sexual tension, and, for Margaret especially, their lovemaking brings a real sense of freedom. Being able to be themselves at last brings trust and respect, and deeper feelings begin to emerge as the pair realise they’re not so different after all. But their new-found felicity looks set to be destroyed when their enemies strike with the might of Court and Church behind them.

One Burning Heart is well-paced, complex and superbly grounded in time and place, and I was fascinated by the machinations and lengths William and Margaret are prepared to go to achieve their aims, whether it’s Margaret secretly working against hypocrisy, William persuading the King to do what he wants or both of them choosing to make big sacrifices to keep the other safe. Margaret’s relationship with the Church is a big part of the story, but don’t let that put you off – there are no sermons here. The focus is very much on how those in power abuse it, Margaret’s disdain for those who wield it, and her determination to act according to her conscience regardless of whether or not her actions align with the Church’s teachings. Ms. Kingston balances all the elements of the story really well, and I loved that the solution to the third-act crisis is so down-to-earth. There’s no Deus ex Machina or knight on a white charger; the only machinations are William’s as he schemes to keep his wife safe while also outwitting his enemies.

So… why 4.5 stars and not 5? It’s hard to put my finger on why exactly, but much as I loved the complexity, the intrigue and the political shenanigans, at times, it became a bit overwhelming and even dry, which interrupted the flow of the story. And I couldn’t help feeling that while Margaret is strongly drawn, William is less so; she’s very vivid while he’s more often in the background.

But even with those reservations, One Burning Heart is a must read for anyone looking for a meaty historical romance with a strong sense of time and place, lots of intrigue, and a sensual slow-burn romance between two flawed and interesting protagonists.

Note: A number of characters from the other Welsh Blades books make appearances here, so I’d say it’s pretty much essential to have read those in order to understand how they relate to the characters and events in this one.

[Jultri · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75/5. The first half of the book was thrilling, the machinations, deception and palpable animosity between husband and wife was reminiscent of Sherry Thomas at her best. Both MCs however lost their sense of themselves in the second half, becoming pawns in the bigger political picture. Perhaps the ending was the only possible outcome in an impossible situation but I can't help but wish for more for them. It feels like they were let down by their respective causes, but perhaps that was the point.

[Blackjack · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭒

This book felt like two somewhat separate reading experiences for me, with a promising start, a wonderful middle, but then a weak and disappointing final act that left me feeling divided about it as an overall cohesive story.

The early chapters are a little painful to read as we witness the palpable contempt William feels for his wife's apparent meekness and sanctimonious religious fervor. Likewise though, Margaret views William just as disparagingly, believing him to be easily misled and repellent in his greed and power-grabbing. Margaret is the more opaque character of the two with several facades that hide a complicated person behind the appearance of piety and subservience, as well as the fact that she has been taught that "a woman's life is pretending." It takes William many chapters to figure out who she is after deciding that now is the time in their marriage when they need to commit to having a child, and therefore need to spend time each other's company. Forced to spend time together, their subterfuges begin to unravel, and they like what they see.

In the midst of this burgeoning, passionate romance, Margaret's secrets and her acts of protest against the institutional corruptness of the Church start to come to light. I was holding my breath for William to make a wrong move, but he never does. He listens to her reasons for questioning dogma and approves of her convictions, and even more, her confidence and courage to stand up for her beliefs. I loved the middle of this book not just for the developing romance between the two characters but also, and perhaps just as much, for the deft plotting of Margaret's resistance to the Church. It serves as a reminder that there is no form of total dominance and resistance is always possible, even if it happens in the most minute of ways. In this respect, the introduction of the village beguines was exciting because it shows a feminist collective undermining of the patriarchal church. Women reading and passing along alternative understandings of scripture and even their roles in the larger order of society was thrilling. I love that Kingston meticulously details all of the little ways in which Margaret has stealthily been undermining her husband's authority in the villages surrounding their court and paving the way forward for new ways of thinking in generations to come. Foolishly though, I got so caught up in my admiration for Margaret's schemes that I set aside the danger that happens to those who fail to conform. The danger begins to build with the arrival of the villainous bishop and his cohorts until it subsumes the entire novel, which is where I felt the story fell apart.

Once Margaret is called out as a heretic and all of her doings are brought to light, the inquisition becomes the central focus, and a narrative choice is made to strip Margaret of her agency and allow external forces to dictate the resolution of the story. Characters are acted upon more than acting, especially for the women of the novel: Eluned who made a daring but fruitless decision to counsel her daughter-in- law during her imprisonment; the village beguines; Constance and Johanna, Margaret's beloved friends, and Margaret herself, sadly. William's choice in the end was off-putting to me in his initial reluctance to grab it, though his character's ending felt like the right one for him. Margaret's story left me feeling sad. What happens to resistance and any type of collective women's agency? There just aren't many glimmers of hope, and the resolution felt like a retreat. I love that Kingston explored so many of these ideas here, and I hope she continues to write as she is among the more interesting historical romance writers today. I just think this book did not quite pull off what it initially promised.

[h o l l i s]

Oh no, how terrible, an unexpected (seriously, the last book was 2019, and I think I did assume it was the last!) addition to this world may force me to reread the Welsh Blades series. I'm devastated.

(tee hee)

[Jody Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We spoke of naught but the game. The many ways a queen may shield an imperiled king, and how the other pieces might be sacrificed in service of saving him."

THIS BOOK. I have loved this whole series so much, I don't know that anyone is writing heroines or the moment of love acknowledgment/declaration as well as Kingston. Every book in this series has been five stars for me, and this one might be the best of them.

William is the brother and son of two previous FMCs in the series, Lord of Ruardean in Wales. He is a machinator and manipulator like his mother Eluned, and has been currying favor and power at King Edward's court for years, laying the groundwork for a crusade to the Holy Lands (and the financial gains that would stem from it). One of the things he did at the Kings behest? Step into the arranged marriage that Gryff from Desire Lines walked away from. He thinks Margaret is an overly pious and submissive annoyance of a wife, and after six years is reluctantly stepping up their heir-making schedule. Little does he know Margaret has been wearing a carefully constructed mask of prayer and obedience the entire marriage so she can work behind the scenes on stopping his crusade (her family was wiped out in one) and in providing charity that may not pass the church's muster. ITS SO GOOD. "He pressed the heels of his hands gently into his eyes and across his forehead, the sign of a man beleaguered by an unbearable headache of a wife. It was wonderfully satisfying to see."

"A woman's life is pretending." Margaret learns this lesson at her mother's knee, and it serves her well. She is able to carry out her charities and her plans for six years under William's nose because he never looked at her true self. There's another character who wears a mask as well, and who knows exactly who Margaret is, and their friendship and support is a literal and figurative lifeline as they embrace both Lady Margaret and "sweet Meg." The work with the mask her friend wears, with the various personas Margaret slips on as the situation demands, the false faces and pieties the worn by religious leaders out to enrich themselves is amazing.

As Margaret and William become more intimate and start to care for each other, the mask starts to slip. He finally sees glimpses of her true self, a little "secret flash of colors he now knew was real." Kingston is truly a master at showing the slow build of intimacy and trust in a relationship. As they embark on the heir-making project, Margaret goes from carefully not touching him at all, to allowing herself to touch his face, to full intimacy. She has, by the end, completely dropped the pretense. "When his eyes came to hers, she did not shy away or hide. She seemed incapable of pretending anything at all. 'There you are,' he said."

There is a pivotal moment between them where their relationship takes a turn and there is finally honesty and seeing and accepting and NO ONE does that moment better than Kingston. I remember marking it in each book in this series, and this is no exception. What follows is a period where the two of them are deeply happy with each other but it's only 74% in. As any reader would tell you, Uh Oh.

There's still fear and regret, the specter of lost years when they could have been intimate, and shortcomings of character to be faced. There's games played and lost. There's actual religious visions showing the path forward. When past machinations meet betrayal all appears to be lost. "This was how it ended, then. All her efforts, all her hopes. All their brief happiness. All of it was fading, to be forgotten like summer sun in the depth of winter."

Kingston's books are so layered and thematically loopy and textured. This book is so much about Faith, professed and felt, performative and quiet. It's about Love in all its forms, with partners and friends and family and how difficult and easy that can be. And it's about the calculations and machinations one does, and why, and removing oneself from the game once you realize the only way to win is to refuse to play. I loved this series so much.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book started with a nice hook. I love the setting in medieval Wales. I thought there was something interesting happening between our MCs but I just could not get behind our heroine. She had really high ambitions (like to stop the crusade) but absolutely no resources and very little actual agency.

The evolution of MCs relationship with each other was very nice but the plot around it made me dislike the heroine.

[Sanjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

a perfect book :’)

edit, because i’m rereading the end of this and weeping into my sheets - probably one of the best romance novels ever written. at the very least it is hall of fame for me. margaret. margaret! my beautiful lady. she gives a speech in the closing chapters that makes me wonder if i should take up religion or perhaps go outside and fall in love. she is my willful, clever, funny, complex dream of a heroine.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

sometimes the real enemy….is the church

“I know only that I have loved you,” she said. “And it has made a heaven of this earth.”

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Лорд Уилям от Руърдийн се вглежда по-внимателно в съпругата си едва когато над нея надвисва обвинение в ерес. Векът е 13-ти, и в Уелс и Англия такива обвинения често са с летален изход.

Лейди Маргарет Руърдийн е привикнала на живот в ежеминутни преструвки - единственият начин жена да получи малко свобода на действие в дълбоко мрачна епоха и в уговорен политически брак. Приучена на тях от дете, макар и свободомислеща бунтарка, тя дори не знае как да се държи с всички околни, включително с често отсъстващия си, хладно-манипулативен и много влиятелен съпруг, без да е потънала дълбоко в ролята на кротка, безропотна, набожна до припадък дама. В резултат на това Уилям и Маргарет започват да разбират кои са в действителност и един за друг чак когато инквизицията похлопва на вратата на замъка им.

Много ми хареса познаването на авторката на конкретния период и място. Хареса ми липсата на илюзии и че драмата беше естествена и достоверна, а щастливият край дойде на много висока цена. Адски приятна изненада на фронта на любовните романи.

4,5⭐️

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best romance of 2024, to me. I'd read one Kingston before and enjoyed it, but now I'm all in on her.

[Peyton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I zoomed through this medieval historical romance due to a good recommendation and had a fun time! William and Margaret's marriage dynamic is quite bad at the beginning, both full of contempt for each other. However, William's contempt is for Margaret's wimpy, pious facade, the only face she's ever shown him. Underneath, she is plotting against her husband's plan to start a new crusade and doing a fantastic job. I loved the rivals-to-lovers dynamic here, especially as William falls head over heels for Margaret's true personality.

Religion plays an interesting role throughout the story, from William's father who went mad with religious fervor to Margaret who almost became a nun before entering into marriage to William. And an amazing sex scene while Margaret is praying, wow! I understand that the plot necessitated him saving her in the end, but I wished it could have happened a bit differently, maybe a brilliant plan she'd had in place. Her schemes all fell apart around her, and it made me sad. She had to send away her dearest friends as well which felt like a heavy price to pay.

[Sam I AMNreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was the lone person so far in my buddy group to rate this over a 3 and it occurred to me part of it may have been world building and context of prior novels. Alternatively, it could be my expectations were met by this author in a similar fashion as usual: characters full of machinations and survival trying to figure out how to do partnership. Regardless, my suggestion is to read the prior books.

While I thought the first third was dense with the religious backdrop of the story, there was enough sparkle for me to hint at the budding romance. The pacing ultimately wasn't my favorite but for me this really hit a stride right around 30-45% I think.

While I would've preferred more room for the romance to breathe, and this is slightly lower rated because William's characterization was slightly too off page (prior books knowledge?) or absent, it is slightly lower. I found Margaret flawed, fallible and fascinating in her aims and in her growth as a character. She didn't go as far to steal the show, and Will's rich history and family background helped his development along the way. However, in the end the other hindrance were just the beats, it was too front loaded and a little dry on historical background.

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

impossibly, ms kingston has done it again. another 5 star read that has made me spend the last 24 hours ignoring food and sleep in order to lose my mind over this series. her mind!!!♥️♥️♥️

[S · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions. I was utterly captivated by the hero's enigmatic aura and his aloof demeanor. He was the perfect blend of mystery and intrigue. The angst-filled plot kept me on the edge of my seat, but the heroine's deceitful nature left a sour taste in my mouth. While I initially found her charming, her subterfuge and deceptions quickly turned me off. It's a testament to the author's skill that I was so invested in the story despite my dislike for the heroine.

[Gianna Saad · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

What on earth am I supposed to do now that this beautiful, perfect book is over????

If there was ever a basically perfect book ever written, I do believe it would be this one. Every time I think “Kingston’s done it. This one’s it” She proves to me that oh no, she CAN and WILL do it again

The absolute scheming in this book, from both Will and Margaret, was phenomenal but the true star was Margaret. Two people who loathe one another, and yet are more alike than either can truly understand. Two people who are so alone, who won’t ever allow weakness in their lives

Margaret. My absolute QUEEN. Every moment with her was perfect. From beginning to end I found nothing I could possibly dislike. An incredibly smart and cunning woman, so independent yet doesn’t even realize that having a partnership that INCLUDES all of the things she is scheming for is something she longs for. In the slowest, most DELICIOUS way, she thaws and lets her guard down enough to let Will in. But not in the sweet way we see most relationships flourish- but in a very Margaret way; fiery, strong and with her on top (HEHE)

WILLIAMMMMMMM. MY BELOVED!!!!!! Oh I love him. I think about him day and night. I adore him. The male counterpart to Margaret’s scheming and conniving. He is too observant, too calculating. He’s always planning his next move and everyone else’s too. He thinks he has Margaret figured out- she’s pious, meek and so unbearably loathsome. At least…. That’s what Will believes. And HE COULDNT BE MORE WRONG!! And to my absolute delight, he RELISHES in realizing she is the most cunning woman he’s ever known. He finds her fascinating. He finds her to be the most amazing woman he’s ever laid eyes on. He gives up everything simply because he loves her. It’s an absolute delicacy.

We see moments of doubt, of weakness, of love and faith. It’s such a beautiful blend of so many human emotions. It’s perfect. It’s immaculate.

I want to read 500 more pages of this. I’ll be thinking of them forever

[Manon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the reviews, I was expecting this to be my favourite. But alas, the religious context was a little confusing so I found it hard to get in to. That being said I loved Margaret’s journey in this book, you go girl!! I hope this series continues, what a ride! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

[Lydia]

Hot girls who love Hildegard of Bingen, this one’s for you

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

1293, Wales. Lady Margaret has all the appearances of a model 13th century noble wife: demure, pious, yielding. In six years of marriage to Lord William of Ruardean, she's never let that facade slip.... until her lord husband consults a physician and suggests that the reason she has yet to conceive is that she does not experience pleasure in the marriage bed. (The likely reason is the infrequency of his visits, as he is often away at King Edward's court.) At nights, Margaret allows herself to melt into her husband's embrace but her days are spent in subterfuge, supporting the poor, the beguines, and others the Church deems heretical, while Will plans and plot and hopes for the future of Ruardean.

I've loved every book in this series so far, but One Burning Heart touches on one of my favorite topics of the High Middle Ages: the power, wealth, and greed of the Catholic Church, and the work of the people (like the beguines) who held on to faith rather than politics. The beguines were laypeople who took temporary vows to serve the poor, taking up what they considered the work of Christ, a movement that brought sharp criticism from the establishment. Kingston sets up Margaret's religious beliefs with roots in Catharism, and memories of the destruction of whole communities of people. Margaret's religiosity is set up to protect the vulnerable. Will hates Margaret's brand of piety because it too closely mirrors his father's descent into religious madness on Crusade. While he hates the bishop (from a longstanding family feud), he recognizes the power granted the bishop by King Edward, and Will was raised to play court politics. They both balance on the knife's edge, and for the first portion of the book, they don't realize the other is in just as tentative a place.

One Burning Heart starts with the cracks in the facade of their loveless marriage. Will starts to notice more about Margaret the more time he spends at Ruardean, and the day he realizes she is more than she appears is an enlightening one. He is drawn to her fire and conviction, which she never shows to anyone save her lady's maid Constance and her dear friend Stephan/Johanna. As readers we are treated to both sides of Margaret early, so watching Will discover her is wonderful, in large part because much of this is conveyed through sex. The brilliance of this book for me is how long Margaret continues to try to conceal her motives (of caring for the poor!! as a modern reader think it was fascinating to see what she is trying to conceal!) and how long she and Will both think they are keeping their masks of indifference outside of the bedroom in place.

Reading this in 2025 has a big impact on readers following the religious-political climate of the US. Components of religion have been entrenched in power for centuries, particularly in the era of the divine right of kings, which still appeals to some in the 21st century. Margaret chooses to provide aid for those who need it - the infirm poor, the prostitutes, the forgotten - while the bishop wants her to buy indulgences in the form of new windows for his cathedral to "save her soul." I found the parallels uncanny and also unsurprising, making this a more crucial and more moving read than I expected in a series I already loved.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe 4.5? Might be grading this on a curve relative to the rest of the series.

One of the best medieval historical romance series I’ve read, for sure! While “Fair, Bright, and Terrible” was my fav of the three I’ve read, they’ve all been brilliant and stressful (the stakes of a medieval are so high!) and romantic.

New grand gesture all others will be measured against: will he stop a Crusade for you?

[Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 mayyyybe 4 stars?

This is the third book I've read by this author, and I find that she writes pretty exceptional romance, but the conflicts/climaxes/endings always end up being some level of dissatisfying for me.

In this case the hero and heroine’s life together is so thoroughly wrecked by the heroine's actions that it was...quite depressing. (At least for me! Maybe it's because I'm a big baby, honestly!!) There is some amazing character work and growth in the book, on both of their parts, but it all begs the question of why the heroine was doing all this heresy in the first place, and the fact that her ultimate answer is “arrogance” is like... again, very great character work but also not the right basis for a romance where I need to find the protagonists like-able and reasonable and sympathetic.

I absolutely will keep reading anything Elizabeth Kingston writes though and will simply hope for more satisfying endings.

[Jos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Elizabeth Kingston! I'm so happy to have discovered her this year. Another banger with this one.

[Alison · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5✨’s

RTC

[Purple Galaxy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing. More, please.

[inés · Rating 4 out of 5]

entiendo perfectamente porque es el favorito
4.5 ☆

[Rusha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aye, good this was thinks me

[ForeverBooked · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Say me what you want.”
She turned her head to meet his gaze. “I want you will abandon this notion of crusade.”
“Then I will abandon it,” he said.
For a long moment, they only looked at each other. In the clear grey of his eyes she saw no amusement, nor any trace of deception. Not a careful absence of lies or a light twisting of the truth. Just him.
“So easily?” she asked, trying and failing utterly to lighten her tone.
He nodded.
“Why?”
His mouth curved just barely. “Because you ask it.”

William, my man, can you be mine?

The book opens on a spicy scene that immediately left me shook. Margaret has been married to William for six years, and he's decided to tamper down his ill-concealed loathing for his wife in order to beget an heir.

There is no sign of an heir for Ruardean – which is not surprising given William’s frequent absences – but he now appears determined to devote himself to that task and, on the advice of the local physician, to give Margaret pleasure. So when William starts paying her more than perfunctory attention in bed, Margaret is confused – and worried, because she likes his touch and fears her newly-awakened desire for what he offers will start breaking down all the barriers she’s so carefully built over the last six years.

Two people who are trying so hard to not reveal that they actually do not loath each other, forced to engage in the most intimate act; the setup couldn't have been more brilliant.

William is a scheming lord of Ruardean, attempting to curry favor with King Edward to launch a new crusade that will ultimately give him more power. He strategically married Margaret in hopes of an alliance that will get him what he wants -- one of the hundred moving pieces he has been juggling for ten years. Margaret herself is a pious boor, simultaneously too religiously fervent and too meek, and William finds her proximity a chore.

What he doesn't know, what we know, is that Margaret also married him for strategy, both to sabotage his crusade and to use the wealth of Ruardean to question the church's teachings. If William has one hundred moving pieces, Margaret has one thousand. I was simultaneously in awe of her and terrified for her throughout the whole book, the stakes are truly that high.

William slowly starts to realize that his wife is a force of nature, and falls completely, irrevocably in love with the woman he is truly meeting for the first time. Just when things are unbearably sweet between them, some of Margaret's moving pieces come to light, and William now has to choose between his heretic wife who ruthlessly outmaneuvered him, and the power and prestige he's been carefully working toward.

“I know only that I have loved you,” she said. “And it has made a heaven of this earth.”

The real enemy was literally THE CHURCH! and can I have a man love me so much that he gives up his entire inheritance for me?????

“To lose all your inheritance to my folly…” She swallowed, the enormity of it almost choking her. “I fear a resentment will take root in your heart against me, that you must give so much.”
Now his hands came to her face, turned her to face him and those clear grey eyes. “Do not think me some selfless martyr, Margaret. I am no less ambitious or greedy than ever I have been. I want not the world’s esteem, but yours. And there is little that has relieved me more than laying down the burden of Ruardean. It is as much a reward in this world as the next.”

Also that moment when she was trying to pray and he breaks her rosary.......Um I have been transported to another dimension!

He raised her skirt, pulled it up over her hips when she bent over the table and stopped her words. The book of hours was knocked to the floor as he shoved himself inside her. The string broke between her tight fists, filling the room with the sweet music of the beads rolling free across the floor as she gasped beneath him, all pretense burned away.
......
He untied the leather wallet from his belt. Within it, the crimson beads glowed next to the plain boxwood. He stared at the two, nestled so closely together.
Brilliant, calculated show or plain truth. What he wanted, or what she preferred. He must choose, for now.
“You will want these,” he said. He laid the string across her palm, impulsively covering it with his own. They stood that way, hands clasped, the beads nestled in a pocket of warmth they made together. “It is only boxwood. But they say it is a sacred tree.”
Her eyes lifted to his, startled, as if she did not expect him to know it. He meant to say it was replacement for the string that had broken, so that he might taunt her with a reminder of her own unbridled lust. But the words dried up as she looked at him.
“My thanks,” she said, and he knew there was no falseness in her. Not in this moment. She squeezed his hand tighter, pressing the beads into his palm. “My thanks, William.”
It was nothing. Bits of worthless wood on a string. But he did not say so. He only nodded in acknowledgement, and fixed his eyes on the tiny unbound curl at her temple until she turned and entered the chapel.

book notes:

“Nor do I doubt your prayers are constant and precise, lady, but surely you know prayer alone cannot produce a child. More earthly measures must be taken.” His lip curled. “Unless you have been visited by an archangel, or have seen a star in the east?”

“There is no need yet,” her husband continued, “to bring the physician’s skill to bear in this matter. He tells me he thinks it very likely you will conceive, do we attend to our duty. It wants only your pleasure.”

I will come to your bed again soon. A week hence, if naught has changed.”
A week. Clearly he knew her courses were due. She had not realized he had been observing her so closely. It felt like a warning, a reminder to be careful, so careful, because his scrutiny would only increase. Already something felt different between them: her mask slipping, his attention so keen, this talk of pleasure and sin and what she might be willing to compromise. It had always been a dangerous game she played, and now the danger grew.

“One thing I would require of you in this, and I will not have you call it a sin.” She nodded, startled by the unprecedented gentleness in his tone. “When my touch displeased you, you did not bear it in silence, but commanded me to stop.” He was holding her trapped in his gaze again, the way he held peasants and kings. “I would have you swear that you will always do so, without fear.”

As the reality of it sank in, she turned her face into the mattress to muffle a sudden shout of laughter. What an agreement they had made. She would lie there and pretend to pray for his immortal soul while he worked diligently to give her spasms of great pleasure. All while they silently loathed one another.

That was true enough. And though he did not feel compelled to admit it aloud, he was sure he could find some pleasure for himself in it. Already it was a pleasurable thing, to imagine his stiff and righteous lady wife melting beneath him, mindless with lust. It was a task ripe with all manner of rewards.
So he would try to give his dull wife some kind of pleasure, and she would try to give him an heir. Everyone used everyone, after all, and this at least seemed a fair enough exchange.


 Will found it mildly appalling that a man he had so long admired was reduced to this. But of all the weaknesses that might be acquired in life, he supposed that love was the most natural, and forgivable.

 And then she watched as his eyes swept down over her body, pausing the barest instant on her chest, and then her midriff.
He was thinking, right now, of putting a child in her. Of pleasuring her.

He entertained thoughts of ravishing her in the daylight, driving the tedious words out of her mouth and replacing them with her delightful moans. But there was the inconvenient matter of his nephew, whose ears were now turning pink as he gave his answer

But she said nothing at all. Her chin tipped up to look at him, her eyes dark and wide as they fixed on his mouth. Her brows drew together, soft concern as she looked at his small injury. Her fingers came to his jaw, a feather-light touch as she rose up on her toes. She pressed her lips gently, so gently, to the cut at the corner of his mouth.
It was sweet. So sweet. Like honey, dropping slow and heavy from her lips, sinking down into him. His whole body ached with the sweetness of it. He had not known there was such sweetness in the world.


All of these were known complications, difficulties she had overcome or reasoned away over the years.
But now. Now he held a piece of her. A piece that did not pretend at all, that he coaxed from her every night. It broke free of the lie to meet him, and a new truth was made between them in the dark.


her stomach dropped so suddenly at the mention of her father that she thought she might be ill. “I do not forget that hatred and dissent are in your blood–”
“You forget a great many things.”
Lord William spoke softly enough, but his voice seemed to reach into every corner of the room. For an instant she felt a rush of cowardly relief, thinking he meant to step before her and shield her from the contempt of these men. But he only moved so that he stood more closely beside her, his broad shoulder looming above hers as he looked steadily at the bishop.
“She is the Lady of Ruardean.” He spoke so low that the scribes strained to hear, unconcealed warning in every syllable. When the bishop looked as though he would argue the point, William only lowered his voice further. “Have a care, my lord bishop. You stand on my land, where I rule. Not the Church, nor even the king, but the Lord – and Lady – of Ruardean.”
All the room held its breath.


“Nay, my lord–”
“William,” he insisted.
“Lord William–”
“Just William. Or Will, if you like.”
She seemed incapable of speaking for a moment – not his name, or anything else. Just her open mouth, her suspended objection, her rapid blinking. She was floundering.
“William,” she said finally, half-peeved, half-confused. Husky. True.
“Margaret.” He stepped close and turned her face up to him, fingers beneath her chin. Her eyes stayed down, leaving him with a view of her lashes. “Look at me.” He felt her gather herself before lifting her gaze to his. There was no fear or disgust. There was only keen wit in her eyes and soft skin beneath his hand. It aroused him more than he thought was possible.


He tugged at her full skirt to loosen it, free it from the press of her knees, just enough to allow his hand to smooth over her leg, bare beneath the linen.
“It is day,” she whispered, breaking from her prayer.
“Command me to stop,” he suggested, a murmur in her ear as his fingers skimmed over the hidden flesh of her thighs. “You are sworn to say me nay if I displease you.”


He raised her skirt, pulled it up over her hips when she bent over the table and stopped her words. The book of hours was knocked to the floor as he shoved himself inside her. The string broke between her tight fists, filling the room with the sweet music of the beads rolling free across the floor as she gasped beneath him, all pretense burned away.

He untied the leather wallet from his belt. Within it, the crimson beads glowed next to the plain boxwood. He stared at the two, nestled so closely together.
Brilliant, calculated show or plain truth. What he wanted, or what she preferred. He must choose, for now.
“You will want these,” he said. He laid the string across her palm, impulsively covering it with his own. They stood that way, hands clasped, the beads nestled in a pocket of warmth they made together. “It is only boxwood. But they say it is a sacred tree.”
Her eyes lifted to his, startled, as if she did not expect him to know it. He meant to say it was replacement for the string that had broken, so that he might taunt her with a reminder of her own unbridled lust. But the words dried up as she looked at him.
“My thanks,” she said, and he knew there was no falseness in her. Not in this moment. She squeezed his hand tighter, pressing the beads into his palm. “My thanks, William.”
It was nothing. Bits of worthless wood on a string. But he did not say so. He only nodded in acknowledgement, and fixed his eyes on the tiny unbound curl at her temple until she turned and entered the chapel.


Her hand came to rest, warm and soft against his neck. “Love does not seek to gain. It cannot, or else it is not love.”
The ache pressed up from his breastbone to his throat, under his tongue, behind his eyes. She made it sound so simple. He opened his mouth to explain that it was nothing to do with love. But he was too infernally tired.
His body shifted, moving lower, until her heart was beneath his cheek. She said nothing more, only smoothed his hair back from his temple over and over again, slow and rhythmic. She let him lie there, her breath falling on his temple, her heartbeat his companion in the dark.


“All these many months have you pretended. Counterfeit prayers for the preservation of my soul, while you moan beneath me,” he murmured, and she thought of serpents in gardens, hissing temptation that slithered up from her ankle and wound around her body. “You may take what you want now, Margaret, with no hindrance.”
“I do not want you.” She stared at the rushes beneath her feet. “I do not. I cannot.”
“Do you lie even to yourself? But I know the truth of you.”

There were freckles across her cheeks. They spread out from her nose, fanning across her broad cheekbones all the way to her curl-framed temples. In six years of being her husband, he had never seen them before

“In truth,” she said in this new and strangely confident voice that was entirely her own, “there may be much about me you will mislike. Nor will I change my convictions only for your comfort.”
He was looking at her as he had last night, when she had shouted her defiance at him. Like he had never seen anything like her. Then without warning he kissed her, soundly and thoroughly. It caught her unprepared, his mouth swallowing her startled little gasp, his hands holding her face steady.
As he stopped, there was a rumbling in his chest, gentle laughter vibrating on lips that hovered over hers while she recovered her breath.
“I would not change you for all the world,” he vowed. “Not any part of you.” Then his lips pressed firmly against her temple, a brief and solid connection before he moved to pick up his linen and prepare for the day.


“Say me what you want.”
She turned her head to meet his gaze. “I want you will abandon this notion of crusade.”
“Then I will abandon it,” he said.
For a long moment, they only looked at each other. In the clear grey of his eyes she saw no amusement, nor any trace of deception. Not a careful absence of lies or a light twisting of the truth. Just him.
“So easily?” she asked, trying and failing utterly to lighten her tone.
He nodded.
“Why?”
His mouth curved just barely. “Because you ask it.”


She had called him enemy from the first, and made him enemy every day since. She had not even tried to soften her heart or open her arms.
And when at last she did, he looked at her with affection and said, Because you ask it.
Six years of scheming and lies. Six years of searching for a way, any way at all, to stop a great evil. And for all those years the answer was – of course it was, how stupid she had been – the one thing that was supposed to be written on her heart.

“Will you tell –” She stopped, unable to say his name. But she must say something, no matter how her throat swelled, or her hands shook. It may be her only chance. “I beg you will tell my lord husband that I sought only to protect him from my folly. Naught but my great fear for him could compel me to hide such a thing.”
“But you will tell him?” Margaret swallowed. “I know not what may become of me, lady, and I would not die without… I would have him know I meant to shield him from harm, not cause it.”

“My son does not abandon what is his,” she said, a soft reassurance.

“Margaret,” he answered, and though he sounded so very weary, she savored the sound of her name in his mouth. It would be a memory soon. He leaned his forehead against the doorpost, eyes fixed on the scarred wood. “It is your boldness I have loved best, you know. The challenge in you. The defiance. And now it will be your destruction.” He closed his eyes briefly as if in prayer. Or as if he could not bear the sight of her. “Just live,” he said, so softly she almost did not hear it. “Live.”

[Iryna Babenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ Чогось не вистачило на повні 5.