Bond of Blood

by Roberta Gellis

A beautiful young girl in twelfth-century England is betrothed to the Lord of Radnor in order to bring peace between two noble families

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

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Roberta Gellis has been one of the most successful writers of historical fiction of the last few decades, having published about 25 meticulously researched historical novels since 1964. She was married to her husband Charles for over 50 years and they lived together in Lafayette, Indiana with a lively Lakeland terrier called Taffy. She has one child called Mark.

Her page at the Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase

Reviews

[KatieV · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is hard to rate. I am convinced that 12th century England sucked for pretty much everybody and I'm glad I didn't live there.

I went in thinking I was reading an old-school bodice ripper and got something more serious. It does have elements of the bodice ripper, but is more gritty than the over-the-top camp I expect from that genre. There are disturbing elements, no doubt. Much of the rating comes from the fact that the author was able to make me see the hero as a man and a sympathetic character. That was no mean feat, considering the things he does (cheating, hitting, past rape of unwilling serf girls). Amazingly, I didn't find the hero to be a deliberately cruel person. Somehow Gellis manages to balance all the bad with a picture of a guy who is doing the best he can in a time very different from ours. She also does a good job of showing that he suffered from mental health issues due to all the violence, without using modern jargon or making him a navel-gazer.

The heroine is only 15, but given the setting that didn't bother me. She is not a bodice ripper heroine. She is also a woman of her time raised to be subservient and sees nothing wrong with that. However, she is clever and saves the day with her innate grasp of court politics.

In the end, I believed that the two MCs loved one another and wished them the best. I wanted an epilogue, but thought the HEA suited the tone and uncertainty of the times. The heroine is pregnant in the end and both are privately struggling with the fear that she will not survive the pregnancy. So many women did not, yet it was their duty. I'm going to choose to believe she did make it through and they would get to enjoy their dirty, smelly, imperfect HEA.

If I wish to revisit medieval times, I'll be honest and admit I'll probably go with the more standard OTT bodice ripper or campy and fun Julie Garwood novel. I have to be in a certain mood to read a romance this heavy, but give kudos to the author.

[Julz · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5

I read this one back in June and cannot believe that I haven't written a peep on this beauty. This is a story about an older man (a whopping 29 if I can remember correctly) marrying a tender little thing of 15 or 16? This is an arranged marriage between neighboring families, which was actually a plot by the girl's parents to do in the H so they can take his lands.

I loved this story for its details. The author gives us a little history lesson at the beginning, telling us some truths about our knights in shining armor (they stunk to high heaven), what it really meant to lord over a land and what they had to do to maintain their position, as well as the beliefs of society (such as those with deformities being viewed as being of the devil.)

I also loved the hero, who was the picture of imperfection. He was beat all to hell, had a limp due to a foot deformity (didn't detract from the story for those who require more perfection), was an insecure tortured soul, was apparently one of those stinky knights mentioned in the preface, and was known to take it whether the woman was willingly giving it up or not (though we never acutally get to see any of this taking followed through to its fruition, but not for a lack of trying.) There is a rather big hard limit: He cheats on the heroine, though she made his ass sorry. See! That's why I could've sworn I wrote a review for this story, because I remember I was going to take off a star for that. Well, changed my mind anyway ;D

The heroine was young but mature. She has to do a lot of submitting to things that would piss a person off, but still tended to be seen as strong. She wasn't daring or wild but likable nonetheless.

So bottom line, this is your typical old skool bodice ripper. Not as demented as The Silver Devil or as exciting as Stormfire, but it definitely can hold its own.

[Meredith is a hot mess · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Roberta Gellis is well-known in the historical fiction and historical romance genres. I've been meaning to read her for awhile. I picked up this book first, because I heard it was the most unpc. I'm not one to shy from controversial content. There are unpc elements in this book, including: Marital rape, domestic violence, and infidelity. None of these elements offended me (though the execution of the cheating & how the heroine responded I disliked). Something about Roberta Gellis' writing style in this book failed to hook me or capture my attention. I often found myself skimming & speed reading to hurry myself along. This book is rather heavy on political intrigue & history. I'm not against that whatsoever, and I often enjoy historical fiction books with political intrigue, that maybe have light romantic elements, but overall are not a romance. This book is not one of those. I do see this as a romance though, it was just lackluster. It's a shame, because I enjoyed reading about a hero who had a disability (a crippled foot), and if written better he could have been a much more dynamic character. The heroine in short, was boring. The author made her nice, sweet, and obedient. I'm not opposed to soft, kind, and meek heroines. They have to have some kind of personality though. Coming from Fountains of Glory, which contained much more nuance when it came to gender relations in medieval times - a time where the society was saturated in misogyny, the commentary here fell flat. Over and over again, in not so many terms, I felt the author was continually trying to remind the reader that men felt superior to women, and women were expected to be obedient & 'breed' heirs. (The term 'breed' was used a lot btw, Gellis really liked that word to emphasize to the reader women were viewed as chattel). I wanted to tell the author: I get it. Beyond this? There wasn't much commentary. To be clear it's not so much I was offended. There was misogyny in this time period. The depiction of misogyny lacked nuance.

Some people love this book - if you're a fan of old school historical romance and are in KU it's worth a try. I'm glad I didn't spend money on this book.

...


My off the cuff review: I started this book today, and finished it today. While I'm capable of speed reading, it's not my preferred method of reading & enjoying books. I skimmed & skimmed & skimmed & then forced myself to speed read this book to get to the end. This is unpc, to give the publisher credit they did not neuter or censor this book for republication. With that said, this story was underwhelming. It's not a bodice ripper - somewhere between historical fiction & historical romance. I don't buy the argument this is typical of historical romance published in the 60s, because I've read much more romantic, and sensual historical romances with fade to black scenes in the 50s. I found the politics & intrigue boring, and the romantic elements lackluster. As far as historical accuracy? Oh, I don't know. I felt I was being beat over the head with the notion that the author realized in this time period women were considered dumb & nothing but breeders & men superior. This notion was reinforced flatly over and over again with not much nuance. Especially coming from Fountains of Glory, which I'm now highly tempted to upgrade to 4 stars because the characterization & nuance was wayyy better than what was contained in this book. Fiona Harrowe is underrated while Bond of Blood is overrated imo.

Full review to come.

...

This is currently in KU! Was published on Amazon in Dec. 2020. Previously out of print for years. *Nevermind I saw another ebook copy was published by Baen books some time ago. It seems they took this off the market, but have recently republished this & put into KU.

This is supposedly v. unpc. I'm checking to see if it has been neutered for republication.

Other Roberta Gellis books that were out of print that are now in KU-

Some from The Roselynde Chronicles:

Roselynde
Joanna
Gilliane
Desiree
+More

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read: 11/20/24
4.5 stars
This was an unexpected gem! I really loved this medieval tale. I really need to write a long review but haven't had the time. But this book was a real highlight for me

[Regan Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Medieval Classic…a Keeper to Treasure!

This is a classic from 1965 that all historical romance fans should read. Set in 1147, it is intricately detailed, starkly realistic and historically accurate, reflecting great research. So much so it’s like watching a movie in your mind. It’s the story of Leah, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke and Cain, Lord Radmor, a Welsh marcher lord who, by heritage, was more Welsh than English. Though Cain was sworn to King Stephen, Cain recognized the country was ill served by the weak monarch. The tale begins as the country’s noblemen are all plotting to enhance their own coffers with the news that Henry of Anjou, Maud’s son, may be coming to England to take the throne. Henry is only 16, but already looks more the ruler than Stephen.

Cain is a scarred man, both inside and out, who didn’t want to marry but did so at the urging of his father to make an heir. What he got in the bargain with the scheming Earl of Pembroke were rich lands and a 15-year-old beauty (though he doesn’t see her as such), who is amazingly giving and wise beyond her years. Cain is just possibly the most selfish, sometimes brutal, cad ever to grace a romance novel, whereas Leah is so good it’s hard to believe. Beaten by her father and isolated to the women’s quarters, intelligent Leah has few expectations for a husband. She is pleased when it seems Cain isn’t as cruel as her father, the earl. Leah’s father hates the Radmors but consented to the marriage in order to gain the Radmor lands by assuring the death of both father and son; his ambition is to become the ruler of Wales. But the earl’s attempts to take Cain’s life keep coming to naught as Cain outwits him, all the while straddling the fence between his oath to Stephen and his reason telling him Henry is better for England.

It is hard to believe that years before Kathleen Woodiwiss’ THE FLAME AND THE FLOWER, a romance like BOND OF BLOOD was sitting on the shelf. In fact, this was not even Gellis’ first historical romance; KNIGHT'S HONOR was published in 1964.

Take my word for it; this is not one to pass by. Intriguing, captivating and absorbing. If you’re tired of the light offering of so much of modern historical romance, try this one. There’s lots of the really good stuff here.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is certainly classified as a historical romance, the text is full of interesting historical detail from 12th century England. This is a world where girls are married at 15 to 30 year old men. It is also a world where the Welsh are always at war with their Norman overlords and the vast majority of people are serfs, dependent on knights for protection but still vulnerable to rape, murder and starvation at the hands of that same lordly class. A "comfortable" home for a noble has thick stone walls, rushes on the floor, only one or two chairs with backs, windows covered in cowhides or shutters or, in the case of arrow slits, not at all. Only the most important guests get beds, everyone else sleeps on the floor. Night is long and dark because candles are guarded jealously. Journeys take weeks and entire households of servants and linens and beds and cooking utensils travel with you. Life is short and even for the noble class it is often brutal. But this tale of the political machinations of the baronial class in the England of King Stephen is also the tale of Leah, daughter of the Earl of Pembroke, and Cain, son of the Duke of Gaunt. In many ways, the actual romance is the smallest part of this novel, yet the bond between these newlyweds is nevertheless what drives the plot. The story has inspired me to read more about Stephen of Blois and the ascent to power of Henry of Anjou.

[Kagama-the Literaturevixen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had heard of this authors other series Roselynde from other readers praising the series.

Not feeling quite ready to take that on I decided to start off with a standalone book of hers.

Some other reviewers mentioned it not being PC,but that since the author was historically correct I decided to go with it.

The heroine is awfully young,15 years old to be precise and the hero was nearer to 30. But I thought I could overlook that since from what I know about the medieval that sort of age gap wasnt very unusual.
One of my favorite historical romances,The Wild Hunt has about the same age difference between the characters in that.

The couple got off to a great start,no tantrums Just two people being pushed together in an arranged marriage and getting to know each other. Yay I thought,sensible people.

Then after they are married he asks to have a private moment with her so they can talk. And well...he more or less raped her.Then tells her to stop crying so they can go back to the feast.

I was like 00. Thats horrible!

This is just not something that I think. The guy even recognizes the look on her face as the same as the womens he would seize on his land have RAPEhis way with.

The reason he raped her had to do with trying to get it on with two women (not at the same time) while he was away from the heroine,and not being able to because parts of his anatomy wouldnt co-operate. *hint* *hint*

The reader will recognize this as the guy having feelings for the heroine,but if he has such strong feelings why does he use her to check if his "tool" work in such a brutal way? I am speechless...

The hero guy also cheats on the heroine by going after some woman right in front of her eyes

This makes her upset and angry so when he returns from his she is less than happy and tells him so. And he gets angry "How dare she question me!!!!!!" and punches her and beats her with his belt.

This guy has gone from hero to bastard as far as I go.

Not to mention the heroine going through the book worrying that she would be abandoned,wich means she goes through most of it being so subservient and afraid

And there is so much history bits.Well of course you say,youre reading a historical romance But I felt like it was info dumping too much,characters would be talking about mundane and then suddenly drift in to history lesson mode.

As to the supporting characters,the heroines father is pretty horrible (beats his wife and daughter) but in cardboard cutout kind of way.

Then there is the heroines mother who is clearly shown to love her daughter but she just sort disappears from the story after the heroine has married. The heroine doesnt think about her much if at all.

This seemed very strange to me.

Pretty much all of the supporting characters didnt make much impression on me.

I forced myself to slog through the rest of this book. Hoping that maybe the love interest would redeem himself or the heroine would stop being afraid.

But it never happens...she just settles. Happy ending? Not so much.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compelling, well-written novel set during the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda. Fifteen year-old Leah is married to the much-older Cain, Lord Radnor, and their love develops in spite of the various plots that are being woven around them.

Roberta Gellis is brilliant at creating atmosphere, and while there are inaccuracies, this does not detract from the skill with which she creates her settings, which include isolated castles on the Welsh border, London and the Royal Court. (The characters wearing velvet in the twelfth century, the possible lack of understanding of native Welsh inheritance law and the hero's father holding the title of duke, are examples of these inaccuracies). Her characters are well drawn and the lead characters involving. Cain's disability creates interest, as we see how the various characters react to it.

When I first read this book I was approximately Leah's age, and a keen reader of medieval-set books so the age of the heroine has never really shocked me, nor the age difference between herself and her husband. (The canonical age for marriage for girls in the Middle Ages was 12). Roberta Gellis has tried very hard to recreate this time period and her interpretation of gender roles in the period is not quite as happy as many writers who have written medieval-set novels more recently. Her heroine is generally obedient, she is relatively submissive. Her husband is warlike, selfish, domineering and overwhelmingly possessive. The double-standard is well and truly alive in this book. Gellis' characters treat marital rape, and wife-beating as normal. Probably the main reason why this book is not in print now is because it would offend the "PC Police". I find this book so well-written that I can overcome my distaste for such scenes, mainly because they fit into the context of the novel, and the time period in which it is set.

For anyone interested in following the story further, one of the key secondary characters in this book, Roger of Hereford, features in his own book Knight's Honour. Also a good read, and one I may re-tackle soon. Both books are well worth making the effort to track down.

[P C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fucking YUCK!

@ the bitch on r/historicalromance that recommended this under the 'best MMC grovelling for forgiveness' HR book, count your motherfucking days you liar!!

Why would you subject me or anyone else to read about a book centered mainly on political drama/intrigue, domestic violence and infidelity when all we wanted was some romance and cute making up of the main couple?
And also, damn R. Gellis (RIP) when you went old school medieval romance you went HAM on the accuracy of the deets girl!

I know some bad reviews here on GR do the opposite on a demographic of readers and actually urge them to read a book regardless but trust me when I tell you: you don't want to read this if you're an average human being. No morally decent person reads about an arranged marriage between a 15 y/o and a 30 y/o where he cheats, beats and verbally abuses his bride and says yay for romance!

I don't trigger easily and I was wincing the entire time, I was feeling like shit reading this.
The writing style is outdated and doesn't read well, had to skim, the romance was a flopmance you cannot tell me this was cute and heartwarming when I was living in a nightmare alongside the h!

Semi spoilered this book so I can prevent some good people out there to read this crap in this day and age.

Catch me reading shit similar to this NEVER!

[Jessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

He cheats multiple times, once right in front of her, and abuses her several times as well. All the heroine does is cry and swoon and beg for HIS forgiveness...like...what did I just read. Even for a bodice ripper, this was pretty unsatisfactory.

[Emiliya Bozhilova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Книгата има непростимия недостатък да е ужасно скучна и провлачена. При цялата ужасия на средновековието е направо изумително как при толкова благодатен материал авторката успява да приспи читателките. Е, някои не толкова сънливи се оплакват колко ужасен бил героят. Общо взето - да, но не по причините на възмутените читателки, а защото чисто и просто е тъп като гребло. А, да, и бие жена си.

Явно Гелис е от авторките с 1 хубава книга на всеки 10. В момента явно съм попаднала на хубавата, но не се сдържах да си припомня и това недоразумение от “историческата” и кариера. Хей, историческият период не влияе напълно дали някой е свестен или противен! То зависи и как си изградиш героя, в крайна сметка.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really fantastic. Never thought I would have been so hooked on a historical romance, written in the 1960's about Wales in the 12th century. Well, I was. Harsh, difficult, harrowing...that's life in the 12th century, that's an apt description of Cain and it is definitely the life a woman in that era. This is first and foremost a love story, but it is not terribly romantic and my heart broke quite a few times in 300 pages. But this story is so well written and the characters are woven around each other with such care as politics and territories are bantered and plundered. I am so grateful to have not lived in that era. No amount of romance could make that very difficult life desirable now. But I found this story to be fascinating, compelling and nearly impossible to put down.

[Didichan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a romance novel. This should be a historical document of how disgusting and disrespectful men were in that era. What a revolting read. I can not believe this book has such high rating; the romance between poor innocent Leah and the hero was so sad and repulsing. The hero was the worst thing ever, he was violent, crude and had an inferiority complex that he kept projecting onto Leah. I have read other books in medieval times, this is one the first that was so bad I almost threw my iPad across the room. I really, really hated this book.

[Jena]

Self Note AVOID.

- He rapes her, he raped serf women, cheats on her multiple times, beats her, and she grovels at the end every time.

"he humiliated his loving, sensual and loyal bride of two weeks by picking up a whore in front of her and all the people at court, then backhanding her when she lashed out at him for his treachery later on when he came home still smelling of the other woman's perfume and wanting to pick up where they left off. And then, SHE begged him and apologized to him in tears"

[Rebecca Huston · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Roberta Gellis novel. Not very PC by today's standards, but so well written that you don't care. Cain is a tortured, nearly mad, soul (and for good reason); Leah is the one who manages to tame him. A classic, and worth the hunt to find.

[Jill Dunlop · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very hard to book for me to grade. It is a very well written and researched book, but some things in it were very hard to swallow. Bond of Blood is one of the first books Roberta Gellis wrote, if not the first. It is a story of two families who come together by marriage. Politics plays a major reason for the marriage. The Earl of Pembroke ultimately wants to kill his son-in-law to gain control of his lands. So he hatches a scheme to wed his daughter Leah to Cain, Lord of Radnor.

Cain and Leah are instantly attracted to one another and are pleased with the arranged marriage. Cain has never had luck with the ladies. He was in love once before, but she was cruel to him and hurt him pretty badly. Cain is unlike other men from his time. He was taught by priests when he was a boy, so he can read and write unlike other men of war. Cain also has a deformed foot. He has made adjustments for it and has over compensated all his life to be a better warrior because of it. He also has emotional scars from people thinking his foot is the mark of the devil. Even his own Father has said this to him.

Cain is very intelligent and Wiley. He easily picks up on traitorous feelings from his father-in-law and takes precautions against him. I really liked Cain. Gellis made him very human, which means he makes a lot of mistakes. Even though, he does some things that are cringe worthy, I still really liked him. He learns from his mistakes and when he did something wrong and he knew it, he would apologize. I found him endearing.

Let’s talk about Leah. Okay, she is fifteen. I know. It goes against everything I like in a romance and yet I still liked this book. Cain is twice her age and yet somehow Gellis made it work. I think the reason for this is that Leah and Cain truly felt like characters from the twelfth century. I could believe that they were a product of the times they lived in and all their decisions and actions remained true to the era. Leah was just precious. She was very obedient and sweet, but when something really mattered to her she could become mulish and take a stand. She was always honest. Thank God, because there were enough lies floating around with all the political intrigue.

That is where the story stumbled for me a little bit. I had a very hard time keeping track of all the different Lords and Ladies and Kings and Queens and who was on who’s side and who was going to stab who in the back. Did I confuse you? That’s because I am still scratching my head over what exactly happened in the book as far as that goes. After thinking on this book for a few days, I must say that I did really enjoy it. It is a lot different from the romances of today, but different in a good way. This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. Leah and Cain have a difficult journey to their “Happily Ever After”, but wow, what a journey.

[Morena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wavered between two and three stars, in the end the clunky and convoluted prose that made me skim paragraphs turned this into an OK book. However, this is the first time (since the Reckoning) that I loved the heroine. There was none of that feisty, willful bullshit personality. Lea was a kind human being. I felt sad for her and wanted her to persevere. The hero was also a breath of fresh air. Compared to all those Gary Stews and super villains, he was interesting human and if Gilles prose was better he would be fascinating. There were even times when he made me cringe. He was passionate and loyal but above all prone to hysteria, neurotic, violent and self-conscious because he was born crippled and abused as a child.

The book was rife with historical inaccuracies, but in the 60s when it was written, perhaps R. Gellis didn't have access to as much information as we do today. The lack of education and utter ignorance is only reflective of the readers who use book like this to judge medieval era harshly.

[Sandra Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another old favorite - written in 1965 by a medieval scholar - romance and intrigue in the middle ages.

Beautifully written and researched - a romance with both a heart and a brain.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it. I would have given it five stars except the ending wasn't enough for me. I needed more and if you read it, you will understand what I mean.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in England during the reign of King Stephen. A noble fifteen-year-old girl is married off--for political reasons--to a neighboring lord. He's a hardened soldier with a foot deformity. She's sweet and innocent. And her father is secretly plotting at very high levels to kill his son-in-law, recoup his own lands as well as his son-in-law's, and consolidate a power base in Wales. A lot of the plot of the book revolves around this scheme and its resolution, as well as related conspiracies involving Henry Plantagenet (later Henry II).

The hero of this book is the first romance hero I've read in a long time who is actually horrible in bed! And he's--let's say less abusive to the heroine than her father is. This book is probably historically accurate when it comes to relationships but still sounds horrible to modern people--the husband is possessive, jealous, unfaithful, and inconsiderate, and beats the heroine on a few occasions. The heroine is submissive and uses her tears to manipulate her husband; on the other hand, her own behavior at court shows that she is smart as a whip. I would have liked to see them working together as a team in the court-intrigue-political part of the plot, that would have been more compelling but their lack of trust--for good plot reasons--precluded this.

And they call this a romance! or they did in 1975.

[Helen Robare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a typical (and I mean that word as in "usual" not an insulting way) Roberta Gellis novel. It was set in the time of King Stephen but the "heroes' of that era don't really feature into the story. Put simply, it's a medieval love story with a plot of "killing to gain lands". I found Cain to be a bit bipolar (and I'm not cutting down anyone who suffers from this dread mental illness). But the man is nice, then mean, then nice, then mean, etc. As for the heroine, she is a fifteen-year-old girl with scoundrel parents. Now if this were set in modern day (the book came out, I believe, in 1968) then the father's brutality towards his daughter would be subject to arrest but in medieval times it was the standard operating procedure for parents so it didn't bother me all that much. However, I did find that Leah came off as a bit of a nonentity in her own story.

That's not to say the book wasn't readable because it was. However, this was only due to Roberta Gellis' wonderful writing style. While I couldn't identify with either of the main characters, the plot and the writing were excellent. I probably would have enjoyed this book more if I had read it when I was decades younger. :)

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

The parts of this book that I found very interesting were the details of the daily lives of the nobles in 12th century England. It was a fun read.

[Dendera · Rating 3 out of 5]

**2.5 stars**

I'm very surprised that after having read the entire novel, I found myself giving 3 stars instead of what I expected. Before reading Roberta Gellis for the first time and after seeing such positive reviews on this novel, I thought it would be a 5 star read, but sadly it did not hold up to that. I am kind of disappointed to be truthful. First of all, it more likely sounded like a historical book rather than a historical romance. There was almost no romance in the story between the H&H at all and at any time. At least when I was reading I didn't feel the intimate moments between H&H were anything resembling romantic at all. Their interaction was a summary of typical men and women during that historic medieval time in England. There was also nothing likeable about the hero or heroine either. Both were dry and dull so was the storyline. Sadly, I found myself can't wait to finish the entire book and be over with and ended up skipping pages.

[Margaret Harbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my introduction to Roberta Gellis (sometime in the early 1970's) and became the basis on which I judged other "historical" romances. In today's terms, it is not PC, but it feels so accurate in depicting not only the physical world of the time but also the way in which people of that time thought. I have re-read this book over the years, and found it even better the second time around. I think in re-reading it, I understood and accepted a little more of the world she's describing.

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first historical romances I read back in the early '80s. I've read it at least 3 times beginning to end. It was printed in 1965, I think. I still have the book and used to read it once in awhile but I skim past most of the writing about the history part of the middle ages now and just read the parts with the characters actual story. I used to love reading the parts about the history.

[Lil'z · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hero was a hypocrite & cruel. He cheats on his wife, tries to beat her and tries to rape a servant. Nevertheless the author makes you cheer for him. The best thing about this book was Leah, she was more mature than her husband who was double her age. The prose had me skimming sometimes. The politics gave me a headache.

[Sumi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A romance set in the middle of the 12th century in England. The Earl of Pembroke is marrying off his daughter to a knight twice her age for political reasons, intending to kill his son-in-law at some later date.

[Tee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A c1965; a prebodice ripper(?). Usually the mother, or someone, gives the bride a warning talk of what's to come (the exaggerated "oh, the horror that awaits you") ... someone should have done this for our poor h. Cain is a dumb brute. eh, good enuf story . bit flat at the end.

[Brenna]

I might go back to this someday

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one oF multiple rereads of this book. It is historically interesting and romantically satisfying. It is one of those books that make it hard to pick up another book.