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Spellbound
THE POWER OF HIS EMBRACE
Slender Norah Ramsay was terrified of the finance she'd just spurned. Now that her father had died, Norah wasn't about to honor promises she herself hadn't made! Still the innocent heiress knew Jervais Le Strand would want her for her lands, so she fled to the countryside. The runaway bride thought she was safe - until the furious groom tracked her down and bound her to him forever. but even through her enemy's muscular arms cradles her and his sensual mouth loved her in a thousand shocking ways, Norah could never submit to such a husband's complete domination..and she seized her first chance to escape!
THE TEMPTATION OF HER BODY
By all that was holy! Jervaise Le Strand swore at the poor little rich girl's struggle to elude him. The knight had vanquished many much stronger than she and he soon had her saying "I do." But the fearless conqueror never counted on being swept away by his spirited young wife. Her eager response to his lovemaking made him desire her all the more. So when the heartless wench abandoned him, Jervaise pursued her with all his cunning, determined to bring back to his bower the beautiful, black-haired witch who haunted his days and held him SPELLBOUND.
Slender Norah Ramsay was terrified of the finance she'd just spurned. Now that her father had died, Norah wasn't about to honor promises she herself hadn't made! Still the innocent heiress knew Jervais Le Strand would want her for her lands, so she fled to the countryside. The runaway bride thought she was safe - until the furious groom tracked her down and bound her to him forever. but even through her enemy's muscular arms cradles her and his sensual mouth loved her in a thousand shocking ways, Norah could never submit to such a husband's complete domination..and she seized her first chance to escape!
THE TEMPTATION OF HER BODY
By all that was holy! Jervaise Le Strand swore at the poor little rich girl's struggle to elude him. The knight had vanquished many much stronger than she and he soon had her saying "I do." But the fearless conqueror never counted on being swept away by his spirited young wife. Her eager response to his lovemaking made him desire her all the more. So when the heartless wench abandoned him, Jervaise pursued her with all his cunning, determined to bring back to his bower the beautiful, black-haired witch who haunted his days and held him SPELLBOUND.
448 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1990
3 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 6, 2025
Read: 2/5/25
2 stars!
Very disappointing! The story started out great. Jervais is madly in love with Queen Eleanor. Since he can't have her, he is willing to take Lady Norah. They have been engaged for 12 years, but before her father died, she ran off to a nunnery. He needs her land, so he tracks her down. The abesss was keeping him from his betrothed, so he stormed the abbey.
Poor Norah has been on her own for a long time. Her father forced her to this horrible place to atone for his sins according to his priest. The priest wanted her dowry. Luckily, she was saved by her betrothed. She marries and beds her new husband. Norah wished she wasn't so thin and ugly, but she'll make him happy. She has fallen head over heels in love and is hurt when his squire tells her of Jervais's forbidden love for the queen.
Here's where the story goes downhill! She leaves him in the night. Jervais thinks she died and has to atone for it. 13 months later, he finds out his wife died in labor after birthing his son. When Jervais arrives, he finds a beautiful woman named Kate. He takes her and his child to court. Yes, Kate is Norah! She wants to make Jervais love her. And the plot gets even more ridiculous as the story continues. She pretends until the end. She even makes him marry Kate, a peasant.
The plot just went downhill! This would have been a better story as a MOC trope, where they slowly learn to love each other. Instead, we have an asinine story! Her secret identity made no sense, and it just irritated me the whole book. NC can write better than this!
2 stars!
Very disappointing! The story started out great. Jervais is madly in love with Queen Eleanor. Since he can't have her, he is willing to take Lady Norah. They have been engaged for 12 years, but before her father died, she ran off to a nunnery. He needs her land, so he tracks her down. The abesss was keeping him from his betrothed, so he stormed the abbey.
Poor Norah has been on her own for a long time. Her father forced her to this horrible place to atone for his sins according to his priest. The priest wanted her dowry. Luckily, she was saved by her betrothed. She marries and beds her new husband. Norah wished she wasn't so thin and ugly, but she'll make him happy. She has fallen head over heels in love and is hurt when his squire tells her of Jervais's forbidden love for the queen.
Here's where the story goes downhill! She leaves him in the night. Jervais thinks she died and has to atone for it. 13 months later, he finds out his wife died in labor after birthing his son. When Jervais arrives, he finds a beautiful woman named Kate. He takes her and his child to court. Yes, Kate is Norah! She wants to make Jervais love her. And the plot gets even more ridiculous as the story continues. She pretends until the end. She even makes him marry Kate, a peasant.
The plot just went downhill! This would have been a better story as a MOC trope, where they slowly learn to love each other. Instead, we have an asinine story! Her secret identity made no sense, and it just irritated me the whole book. NC can write better than this!
January 24, 2025
Been craving a good historical romance to fall in love with and Nadine Crenshaw's Spellbound delivered. Medieval romance. Hero is a chivalrous knight with love for his queen Eleanor and his castle that he wants to rebuild. He is retrieving his runaway bride, Norah, from a nunnery. His land and hers border each other's, and her dowry will help fund his renovations, in a marriage that had been agreed to since they were kids. He is under the misunderstanding that she has run away from him, whereas Norah has been sent there to atone for her "sins." (She has an affinity with wild creatures and unlucky coincidences happen near her). The religious order are not cast in a good light, either greedy or sanctimonious, calling for penance and punishment.
The action is fast-paced and you understand the characters. One of Crenshaw's strengths is how the characters develop and grow through their relationship. I was worried I would not like the direction the plot was going in, or how the characters would be treated but I loved it. It passed the feminist test: To me, it's not about a hero or heroine being perfect feminists with the correct actions or opinions, but about what the author is trying to show through her story.
Spellbound brings up conversations around beauty. Norah believes being beautiful beyond temptation is how she will win Jervais over to her, yet there is a price. She realizes that although he may lust after her, that attraction does not turn into respect, love, or honour of her. It's the agony of feeling like you must look a certain way all the time otherwise you are not worthy of being loved. There is also the belief by Norah that it is important to get a commitment from a man and then worry about everything else afterwards. While that may be true for economic purposes, Norah also sees that it is hard to get Jervais to her side. I was worried that this plot would annoy me, but I felt sympathetic for Norah, and I enjoyed her as a character.
Jervais is also an interesting character. As a knight who is in love with his queen, I was skeptical. I was worried that it would feel as though Eleanor would always be #1 but the author has a few sentences scattered throughout the novel where it is emphatic that his love of Norah is realer than his love of Eleanor. I also feel that how he responds to Norah, even when he finds her "ugly" (she was underfed at the nunnery) and how he tries to find her afterwards showed more than any deep, internal monologues would have. It was clear to the reader that Jervais was enchanted by his young bride (yup she's 16 when they meet and about 17 at the end of the novel. He's about 20-something). She adored him, and was a little silly (her apologizing for not being pretty LOL was the funniest thing in the novel and his reaction Oh lord! ) but he was charmed by her innocence, and her loyalty to him, even if he couldn't realize it. Jervais was also astute in that he realizes his loyalty is being tugged by both king and queen and he hopes he isn't pulled apart in the middle!
One thing that was not satisfactory was how the hero felt humiliated to be with a peasant woman. Definitely hypocritical on his part. He was fine to adore her as a leman mistress but not honour her as a wife? I respect it because it grounds the romance in the historical setting, but wished there was more commentary. It almost makes you wish the hero could have loved Kate before he realized she was Norah.
As to the spell itself, I wondered if magic would be real, but I'm leaning towards spell as metaphor for confidence/lifestyle. When she was under the spell, she was more confident in flirting with Jervais. She most likely carried herself in a way where she believed in the spell. After the spell is "broken", she notices people staring at her differently, and she wonders if Gervais is still attracted to her. When the spell is broken, she is recovering from an injury, so she has lost some health and weight, as well as knows that there is no more enchantment.
I'm incredibly surprised Nadine Crenshaw's works are not more highly reviewed on GR. She's an excellent author! Can't decide whether to read her viking work next or to save it lol.
The action is fast-paced and you understand the characters. One of Crenshaw's strengths is how the characters develop and grow through their relationship. I was worried I would not like the direction the plot was going in, or how the characters would be treated but I loved it. It passed the feminist test: To me, it's not about a hero or heroine being perfect feminists with the correct actions or opinions, but about what the author is trying to show through her story.
Spellbound brings up conversations around beauty. Norah believes being beautiful beyond temptation is how she will win Jervais over to her, yet there is a price. She realizes that although he may lust after her, that attraction does not turn into respect, love, or honour of her. It's the agony of feeling like you must look a certain way all the time otherwise you are not worthy of being loved. There is also the belief by Norah that it is important to get a commitment from a man and then worry about everything else afterwards. While that may be true for economic purposes, Norah also sees that it is hard to get Jervais to her side. I was worried that this plot would annoy me, but I felt sympathetic for Norah, and I enjoyed her as a character.
Jervais is also an interesting character. As a knight who is in love with his queen, I was skeptical. I was worried that it would feel as though Eleanor would always be #1 but the author has a few sentences scattered throughout the novel where it is emphatic that his love of Norah is realer than his love of Eleanor. I also feel that how he responds to Norah, even when he finds her "ugly" (she was underfed at the nunnery) and how he tries to find her afterwards showed more than any deep, internal monologues would have. It was clear to the reader that Jervais was enchanted by his young bride (yup she's 16 when they meet and about 17 at the end of the novel. He's about 20-something). She adored him, and was a little silly (her apologizing for not being pretty LOL was the funniest thing in the novel and his reaction Oh lord! ) but he was charmed by her innocence, and her loyalty to him, even if he couldn't realize it. Jervais was also astute in that he realizes his loyalty is being tugged by both king and queen and he hopes he isn't pulled apart in the middle!
One thing that was not satisfactory was how the hero felt humiliated to be with a peasant woman. Definitely hypocritical on his part. He was fine to adore her as a leman mistress but not honour her as a wife? I respect it because it grounds the romance in the historical setting, but wished there was more commentary. It almost makes you wish the hero could have loved Kate before he realized she was Norah.
As to the spell itself, I wondered if magic would be real, but I'm leaning towards spell as metaphor for confidence/lifestyle. When she was under the spell, she was more confident in flirting with Jervais. She most likely carried herself in a way where she believed in the spell. After the spell is "broken", she notices people staring at her differently, and she wonders if Gervais is still attracted to her. When the spell is broken, she is recovering from an injury, so she has lost some health and weight, as well as knows that there is no more enchantment.
I'm incredibly surprised Nadine Crenshaw's works are not more highly reviewed on GR. She's an excellent author! Can't decide whether to read her viking work next or to save it lol.
October 11, 2015
A Great Medieval from a Great Author… a Keeper!
Crenshaw weaves a story that will keep you reading late into the night. She is a master storyteller and takes care with historical detail and descriptions of places. This story is set in 12th century England during Henry II’s reign. He was married to the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine and both are featured characters in the story at the time when Henry was still a young king.
Norah of Ramsay, a girl of 15, has been betrothed to the neighboring lord, Jervais Le Strand, Earl of Conniebrook, since she was a young child though she has never met him. Jervais has become a knight and a friend of King Henry. Somewhere in his battles in the Holy Land, he fell in love with Eleanor when she was married to the King of France. Though their relationship could never be consummated, Jervais harbors love for Eleanor in his heart. All other women are just bedmates to him.
When she is 15, Norah's dying father decides to give her to the church as penance. So Norah ends up in a cloister that is more like a prison. Her only dream had been to marry Jervais and she hates the cloistered life. Norah is special, one of those people uniquely gifted with extra sensory powers. She sees visions of things to come, shadows of the future. On the day she is to take her vows, her 16th birthday, she plans to escape over the wall having seen it in a vision. Meanwhile, Jervais wants her lands and is angry that her father would thwart his plans to use the Ramsey wealth to fortify his castle. So, he breaks into the convent to steal his bride and captures her as she is running away. When she realizes who it is, she gladly marries him and soon falls in love with the handsome knight. But he sees her only as a mission accomplished; he doesn't even remember her eye color.
When his squire tells Norah that Jervais is in love with another, very beautiful woman, Norah (who sees herself as plain) flees. Then the story gets even more interesting. With the help of a witch, Norah takes on another life, a disguise--one of amazing beauty.
I highly recommend this one. I think Nadine Crenshaw was one of the early great romance authors and deserves to be on your keeper shelf.
Her books:
MOUNTAIN MISTRESS (Golden Heart Winner; 1987)
CAPTIVE MELODY (1988)
EDIN'S EMBRACE (1989)
SPELLBOUND (1990)
DESTINY AND DESIRE (1992)
THE HIGHWAYMAN (1993)
VIKING GOLD (1995)
CELTIC TALES: BALOR OF THE EVIL EYE (1995)
FIELDS OF THE SUN (1997)
I believe the book of hers you'll see on some lists titled CITY OF DREAMS and published in 1992 is actually DESTINY AND DESIRE, as the City of San Francisco is described in that novel as "the city of dreams."
Crenshaw weaves a story that will keep you reading late into the night. She is a master storyteller and takes care with historical detail and descriptions of places. This story is set in 12th century England during Henry II’s reign. He was married to the famous Eleanor of Aquitaine and both are featured characters in the story at the time when Henry was still a young king.
Norah of Ramsay, a girl of 15, has been betrothed to the neighboring lord, Jervais Le Strand, Earl of Conniebrook, since she was a young child though she has never met him. Jervais has become a knight and a friend of King Henry. Somewhere in his battles in the Holy Land, he fell in love with Eleanor when she was married to the King of France. Though their relationship could never be consummated, Jervais harbors love for Eleanor in his heart. All other women are just bedmates to him.
When she is 15, Norah's dying father decides to give her to the church as penance. So Norah ends up in a cloister that is more like a prison. Her only dream had been to marry Jervais and she hates the cloistered life. Norah is special, one of those people uniquely gifted with extra sensory powers. She sees visions of things to come, shadows of the future. On the day she is to take her vows, her 16th birthday, she plans to escape over the wall having seen it in a vision. Meanwhile, Jervais wants her lands and is angry that her father would thwart his plans to use the Ramsey wealth to fortify his castle. So, he breaks into the convent to steal his bride and captures her as she is running away. When she realizes who it is, she gladly marries him and soon falls in love with the handsome knight. But he sees her only as a mission accomplished; he doesn't even remember her eye color.
When his squire tells Norah that Jervais is in love with another, very beautiful woman, Norah (who sees herself as plain) flees. Then the story gets even more interesting. With the help of a witch, Norah takes on another life, a disguise--one of amazing beauty.
I highly recommend this one. I think Nadine Crenshaw was one of the early great romance authors and deserves to be on your keeper shelf.
Her books:
MOUNTAIN MISTRESS (Golden Heart Winner; 1987)
CAPTIVE MELODY (1988)
EDIN'S EMBRACE (1989)
SPELLBOUND (1990)
DESTINY AND DESIRE (1992)
THE HIGHWAYMAN (1993)
VIKING GOLD (1995)
CELTIC TALES: BALOR OF THE EVIL EYE (1995)
FIELDS OF THE SUN (1997)
I believe the book of hers you'll see on some lists titled CITY OF DREAMS and published in 1992 is actually DESTINY AND DESIRE, as the City of San Francisco is described in that novel as "the city of dreams."
December 2, 2023
3.5 stars (Would have been 4 stars, but the big time ow-drama started to really get to me by the end of the book)
One thing to note, the blurb for this book incorrectly describes the plot. Norah did not run away to a convent, so she didn't have to marry her fiancé, Jervais. Jervais wrongly thinks that. In reality she's carted off to a convent bc she has visions and people think she is a witch. Her father gives her and her dowry to the convent to atone for her being a witch and also his sins. Idk who wrote the description, but it wasn't the author and they obviously didn't read the first 50 pages of this book.
I really like Nadine Crenshaw's characters and writing style, you can tell that a lot of research went into her books. Like for this being a $4.99 paperback bodice ripper there's a significant amount of history that comes with it. I also like her style of writing, it comes off very magical and it flows really well.
I think the only character that I loathed throughout this entire book was Eleanor, because she is in love with being queen and could give a fig less about Jervais. At least Jervais realizes it in the end. Also she is using Jervais, so she can gain more power and clout at court. I also loved Henry's commentary about his wife. The back and forth between Norah and him at the end made me lol so hard.
Jervais is one of those MMCs people are either going to fall in love with or hate right off the bat. He makes no apologies for who he is, and sometimes that's a chivalrous knight and other times he's a real jerk.
I really liked Norah! I liked the witch/sorceress vibes that she had going for her. People may think her trying to change her appearance to attract Jervais might be shallow, but she's like a 16/17 year old girl in this story, so not a big surprise. Also she wants to be loved since she came from such a crap family, I can't blame her. I could understand that she knows Jervais won't love her unless she can attract him away from Elanor. I also like by the end of the book it doesn't really matter anymore.
I think Crenshaw did a really good job of making Jervais and Norah's love story come together really well towards the end. Their relationship grows over time and both Norah and Jervais experience growth by learning to love one another as well. I actually really liked how Crenshaw's FMCs and MMCs learn to love one another and it's not love at first sight.
I liked Edin's Embrace more than Spellbound, but I want to make it known that they are completely different stories set in different times. I can appreciate Crenshaw taking a chance and trying to write something different.
Next up is Mountain Mistress, which she won an award for, so fingers crossed that it's just as good as EE and Spellbound.
One thing to note, the blurb for this book incorrectly describes the plot. Norah did not run away to a convent, so she didn't have to marry her fiancé, Jervais. Jervais wrongly thinks that. In reality she's carted off to a convent bc she has visions and people think she is a witch. Her father gives her and her dowry to the convent to atone for her being a witch and also his sins. Idk who wrote the description, but it wasn't the author and they obviously didn't read the first 50 pages of this book.
I really like Nadine Crenshaw's characters and writing style, you can tell that a lot of research went into her books. Like for this being a $4.99 paperback bodice ripper there's a significant amount of history that comes with it. I also like her style of writing, it comes off very magical and it flows really well.
I think the only character that I loathed throughout this entire book was Eleanor, because she is in love with being queen and could give a fig less about Jervais. At least Jervais realizes it in the end. Also she is using Jervais, so she can gain more power and clout at court. I also loved Henry's commentary about his wife. The back and forth between Norah and him at the end made me lol so hard.
Jervais is one of those MMCs people are either going to fall in love with or hate right off the bat. He makes no apologies for who he is, and sometimes that's a chivalrous knight and other times he's a real jerk.
I really liked Norah! I liked the witch/sorceress vibes that she had going for her. People may think her trying to change her appearance to attract Jervais might be shallow, but she's like a 16/17 year old girl in this story, so not a big surprise. Also she wants to be loved since she came from such a crap family, I can't blame her. I could understand that she knows Jervais won't love her unless she can attract him away from Elanor. I also like by the end of the book it doesn't really matter anymore.
I think Crenshaw did a really good job of making Jervais and Norah's love story come together really well towards the end. Their relationship grows over time and both Norah and Jervais experience growth by learning to love one another as well. I actually really liked how Crenshaw's FMCs and MMCs learn to love one another and it's not love at first sight.
I liked Edin's Embrace more than Spellbound, but I want to make it known that they are completely different stories set in different times. I can appreciate Crenshaw taking a chance and trying to write something different.
Next up is Mountain Mistress, which she won an award for, so fingers crossed that it's just as good as EE and Spellbound.
September 4, 2025
I love medieval stories and this was a fun one with a bit of magic, a secret baby, a comeback wife in disguise, escape from a nunnery and much more including appearances by Eleanor of Aquitaine. Norah was an endearing character and I couldn’t put this down. Will def check out her other books. 🏰💖
February 5, 2024
Reread 4/2/2024 - 5stars
1st read 21/1/2021
5 keeper stars
Never a dull moments in this book.
1st read 21/1/2021
5 keeper stars
Never a dull moments in this book.
July 20, 2013
The story is set during the reign of Henry II. Jervais le Strand has come to claim his bride, Norah, only to find her off in a convent and about to take The Vow. Jervais has no choice but to bust the doors down and take her back. The couple have about four days of wedded bliss before they're separated and Jervais believes Norah has been killed.
She's not dead. She's getting better. Norah gives birth to a son. She reappears in Jervais' life under the new identity of Kate. She's determined to win her husband's love which has already been given over to Queen Eleanor.
This was one of those books that I had to force myself to keep reading. I didn't care for either lead characters. In fact, truth be told, they both kind of got on my nerves. As part of her disguise as Kate, all Norah did was pack on a few pounds and grow out her hair and absolutely no one recognized her! There wasn't even a "You kind of remind me of someone" anywhere in the story. It was like how all Superman needs to disguise himself as Clark Kent is a pair of glasses. I just didn't buy this premise at all.
Norah/Kate was absolutely obsessed with making Jervais love her yet she never really did do anything to make him love her. She never talked with him, learned his hopes and dreams, helped him achieve his goals, etc. What Norah/Kate did do was practically blackmail Jervais into marrying her again, and who is going to love someone who forced them into an unwanted marriage?
Jervais was a cold, cold fish. The only reason he married Norah (the first time) was for access to the quarry on her land. When he thought his wife was dead he had a momentary "Aww, too bad" and then went on with life. When "Kate" showed up in his life he was all hot and horny for her but once he gets his he's once more aloof and ashamed he's now stuck with a peasant wife.
And don't even get me started on that plot moppet Roger. The only time Norah/Kate bothers with her son is when she needs to feed him and Jervais gets to oggle her breasts. Otherwise the kid is packed off to the Land of Oblivion until the next feeding.
She's not dead. She's getting better. Norah gives birth to a son. She reappears in Jervais' life under the new identity of Kate. She's determined to win her husband's love which has already been given over to Queen Eleanor.
This was one of those books that I had to force myself to keep reading. I didn't care for either lead characters. In fact, truth be told, they both kind of got on my nerves. As part of her disguise as Kate, all Norah did was pack on a few pounds and grow out her hair and absolutely no one recognized her! There wasn't even a "You kind of remind me of someone" anywhere in the story. It was like how all Superman needs to disguise himself as Clark Kent is a pair of glasses. I just didn't buy this premise at all.
Norah/Kate was absolutely obsessed with making Jervais love her yet she never really did do anything to make him love her. She never talked with him, learned his hopes and dreams, helped him achieve his goals, etc. What Norah/Kate did do was practically blackmail Jervais into marrying her again, and who is going to love someone who forced them into an unwanted marriage?
Jervais was a cold, cold fish. The only reason he married Norah (the first time) was for access to the quarry on her land. When he thought his wife was dead he had a momentary "Aww, too bad" and then went on with life. When "Kate" showed up in his life he was all hot and horny for her but once he gets his he's once more aloof and ashamed he's now stuck with a peasant wife.
And don't even get me started on that plot moppet Roger. The only time Norah/Kate bothers with her son is when she needs to feed him and Jervais gets to oggle her breasts. Otherwise the kid is packed off to the Land of Oblivion until the next feeding.
August 18, 2025
Well I guess I should have known that a romance entitled “Spellbound” would actually have a spell in it. Norah Ramsay is rescued from the nunnery by the man she was promised to marry, Jervais Le Strand. Jervais was not chivalrous; he wanted to marry her for the dowry of the Ramsay lands. She is skittish and barely grown, with a skinny underdeveloped body. Still he consummates the marriage. Two nights into their marriage, as they travel back to his home, they are beset by bandits. Jervais and his fellow knights go to chase them off. At that time, his squire tells Norah that Jervais is in love with Queen Eleanor of Acquitane. He falsely tells her that they are actual lovers. Norah in a fit of teenage pique decides she has to leave him.
So she sets out on foot with no plan and of course she is attacked by the outlaws who are intent on raping her. One of them will not allow them to rape a nun so he engages in a fight with them to allow her to get away. She stumbles into a witch’s cottage. Over a year passes and she gives birth to a baby boy. She tells the witch that she wants to be beautiful so that she can get her husband to love her. The witch warns her that if the spell is broken, she will be a monster. Still she goes ahead with it and contacts Jervais telling him that his lady wife died, but that she, Kate, has been acting as a wet nurse to his son.
He is immediately bewitched by her beauty. He thinks her to be a woman of loose morals and does not take her seriously. She continues in her love for him, but gets upset that he is attracted to this persona that she cannot shake. There is so much push and pull and it did become tedious. I did not love the subplot of King Henry II and Eleanor. But probably the worst was that the heroine’s actions made no sense.
So she sets out on foot with no plan and of course she is attacked by the outlaws who are intent on raping her. One of them will not allow them to rape a nun so he engages in a fight with them to allow her to get away. She stumbles into a witch’s cottage. Over a year passes and she gives birth to a baby boy. She tells the witch that she wants to be beautiful so that she can get her husband to love her. The witch warns her that if the spell is broken, she will be a monster. Still she goes ahead with it and contacts Jervais telling him that his lady wife died, but that she, Kate, has been acting as a wet nurse to his son.
He is immediately bewitched by her beauty. He thinks her to be a woman of loose morals and does not take her seriously. She continues in her love for him, but gets upset that he is attracted to this persona that she cannot shake. There is so much push and pull and it did become tedious. I did not love the subplot of King Henry II and Eleanor. But probably the worst was that the heroine’s actions made no sense.
March 24, 2025
Kate/Norah was obsessed with her getting Jervaise to love her. She was obsessed with being beautiful. It was all about her appearance and her “gift of sight” never really came into play other than in the beginning a few times.
Jervaise was cold and hard. He wasn’t likeable because all he wanted was this beautiful lady he lusted after because he was truly in love with the Queen and he couldn’t be with her. Then he was upset he got stuck with the peasant he was lusting after.
The sorcery part of the story was lame and weird. I get that Norah was an awkward gawky young girl who hadn’t had a chance to grow into herself yet … making a “spell” so she was beautiful so her husband would desire her was corny and weird. It would have been better when they reunited 13 months after she ran away and after having Roger that they grew to know and understand one another. Jervaise loving the Queen even though he could never have a true intimate relationship with her was weird. However, I couldn’t put the book down and I finished it. I just wish it didn’t go the way of corny with spells and sorcery.
Jervaise was cold and hard. He wasn’t likeable because all he wanted was this beautiful lady he lusted after because he was truly in love with the Queen and he couldn’t be with her. Then he was upset he got stuck with the peasant he was lusting after.
The sorcery part of the story was lame and weird. I get that Norah was an awkward gawky young girl who hadn’t had a chance to grow into herself yet … making a “spell” so she was beautiful so her husband would desire her was corny and weird. It would have been better when they reunited 13 months after she ran away and after having Roger that they grew to know and understand one another. Jervaise loving the Queen even though he could never have a true intimate relationship with her was weird. However, I couldn’t put the book down and I finished it. I just wish it didn’t go the way of corny with spells and sorcery.
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February 17, 2019Did not put in a date/day
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