Devastated by the murder of her father, Norman noblewoman Chrestien de Lontaine vows to become a nun, but while traveling to the convent, she is abducted by the handsome English warrior who killed her father. Original.
Tanya Anne Crosby is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of thirty novels. She has been featured in magazines, such as People, Romantic Times and Publisher’s Weekly, and her books have been translated into eight languages. Her first novel was published in 1992 by Avon Books, where Tanya was hailed as “one of Avon’s fastest rising stars.” Her fourth book was chosen to launch the company’s Avon Romantic Treasure imprint. Known for stories charged with emotion and humor and filled with flawed characters Tanya is an award-winning author, journalist, and editor, and her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She and her writer husband split their time between Charleston, SC, where she was raised, and northern Michigan, where the couple make their home.
I really did enjoy this and Marion Hussey is always a great narrator IMHO. Not sure on the strict historical accuracy of it all, but it wasn't fluff (which I find ridiculous in a medieval).
The setting is during the dissolution of William the Conqueror's empire after his death. His sons weren't happy to leave things as he wished (a split of his empire) and tried through various intrigues to be the one to reunite England and Normandy and rule it all.
The heroine and her sister are the identical twin daughters of a Norman nobleman and a English noblewoman. They all live in Normandy. Her father (and pretty much all his men) are killed when he decides to honor his pledge of loyalty to the Norman Duke rather than side with King Henry of England who claims Normandy as his. This leaves the sisters without any male protection aside from the loyalty of their father's unacknowledged bastard who was a very likeable character and likely a deliberate foil to the villain.
The heroine is strong yet likeable. She sometimes loses her temper and says things she doesn't mean, but she's not a "spitfire, foot stomping nightmare" by any means. She's smart and willing to make choices and take the responsibility if those choices come with unforseen consequences.
Some readers were turned off by the death of a main character (not H/h). It was hard to take and painful to read about, but to me it made it more real. Depends on your preference/point of view. I'm perhaps too conditioned by Game of Thrones to feel like I'm really reading a medieval unless something horrible happens to a beloved character (and yes, I realize GoT takes place in a make believe world).
Aside from the death (which I won't spoil) another tragedy befalls the heroine quickly upon that one's heels. The poor girl doesn't have an easy time of it.
I was pleased by Crosby's portrayal of the main villain. He was not cartoonishly evil although he did some very evil things. He evoked some unwanted sympathy both in the reader and the heroine. That's the kind of villain I genuinely prefer unless I'm reading an OTT Harlequin where the eeeeeevil villain with no redeeming characteristics is often entertaining.
My main criticism was that this should have been a bit longer. Which is odd since many of these older historicals tend to lean toward the too long. I felt like the H/h needed at least 25-50 pages together where they were doing something other than fighting their attraction or dealing with various tragedies.
I kept vacillating in how I felt about this book. The things I liked were the interesting characters, although they seemed mercurial at times. I liked that Chrestien was strong and independent, and the reasons why she was that way made sense for the time period. I thought that Weston was a pretty yummy hero. I liked the medieval setting and the storyline was interesting. I did not like that a major character was killed off (not the heroine or hero). I was very upset with that and I found it hard to go on to read. I am still not sure why this occurred. It's my first book by this author, and I would read more, but I certainly have read some better medievals, and probably a few that were not as good.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
3 1/2 stars Pleasant read, although in the beginning the FMC was depicted as quite spirited and bold, after meeting the MMC, her character became benign. The MMC was supposed to be a savage warrior it was said, but his actions never showed that. There were a lot of interesting and exciting things said about both MCs, but they were just words on the page and I did not feel the passion between them or in the story itself.
It was ok. What I didn't like is that Weston never tells her he loves her. What I did like is the fact the author made me feel compassion for the villian (Rowlfe). The story just lacked strength in the conflicts, but considering this was her first book, I was very impressed. I also discovered that the version I read is a re-write from the original.. cleaned up.. UGGH why must authors feel compelled to censor themselves for the prudish? Just write from your heart!
Eine Braut für den Silberwolf: Mittelalterliche Liebesgeschichten von Tanya Anne Crosby ist eine mittelalterliche Liebesgeschichte, in der es um die Zwillingsschwestern Chrestien und Adelaine geht. Ihr Vater stirbt bei einer Schlacht und um ihr Anwesen und sich selbst zu retten beschließt Chrestien ihre Schwester zu verheiraten und selber im Kloster Schutz zu suchen. Jedoch geht einiges schief, denn so gut wie niemand weiß, dass Lord de Lontaine Zwillinge hatte. Als es ein Ritter davon erfährt, versucht er alles um Chrestien zu seiner Frau zu machen. Da kommt der Silberwolf des Königs Weston FitzStephens genau richtig um sie zu retten.
Als erstes muss ich sagen, dass ich mir ganz etwas anderes erwartet hatte. Als ich in der Buchbeschreibung über einen Silberwolf gelesen hatte, dacht ich mir in diesem Buch kommen Werwölfe vor, jedoch ist dieses Buch ganz ohne Fantasy. Was natürlich nichts Negatives ist. Es hat nur etwas gebraucht bis ich verstanden habe, dass keine Werwölfe vorkommen.
Im Großen und Ganzen war dieses Buch nicht schlecht. Mittelalterliche Szenarien haben mir schon immer sehr gut gefallen, jedoch zweifle ich etwas an der Richtigkeit des Mittelalterlichen. Einige Dinge sind mir dann doch etwas komisch vorgekommen. Aber ich finde es toll, dass am viel Mühe in ein einigermaßen richtiges Vokabular gesteckt hat. So hatte man doch das Gefühl direkt im französischen Mittelalter gelandet zu sein. Auch gewisse Geschehnisse oder Personen haben historische Grundlagen. Es war auch nicht übertrieben romantisch und kitschig, was ja nicht zu dieser Epoche passt.
Ich hatte im Buch ein paar Probleme mit den Charakteren. Mit Chrestien bin ich eigentlich nie ganz so warm geworden und auch ein paar ihrer Handlungen sind mir nicht sonderlich sinnvoll erschienen bzw. haben sich nicht passend angefühlt. Ihr Schwester Adelaine ist genau das Gegenteil von ihr, jedoch habe ich auch nicht zu ihr eine gute Bindung aufbauen können. Zu Weston, unseren männlichen Protagonisten waren von meiner Seite ebenfalls wenig Gefühle. Allgemein habe ich bei diesem Buch mit den Charakteren keine große Bindung aufgebaut. Wen ich aber sehr gerne mag ist Aubert, ein Ritter und guter Freund von Chrestien. Er war mir von Beginn an sympathisch!
Die Handlung hatte so ziemlich alles was man sich erhofft. Kämpfe, Liebe, Verschwörungen, Intrigen und vieles mehr. Es ist ein tolles Buch, das man Zwischendurch lesen kann, aber man fiebert dennoch mit.
Dieses Buch hatte ich mir auf den Kindle geladen, weil die Bewertungen doch durchwegs positiv ausgefallen sind und die Story an sich interessant klang. Leider musste ich für mich feststellen, dass es einfach keine Geschichte für mich ist angefangen von den Charakteren bis hin zur Umsetzung.
Chrestien ist eine willensstarke und kämpferische Persönlichkeit, welche eigentlich weiß wie ihr Leben verlaufen soll. Gleichzeitig hat sie sich innerhalb kürzester Zeit gewandelt und handelt so ein bisschen nach anderen ihren Anweisungen was ich persönlich nicht so gut empfunden habe.
Der Silberwolf ist schwer zu beschreiben. Für mich persönlich war er jetzt nicht so ultra liebenswert, teilweise echt schwierig zu greifen und zu verstehen.
Die Grundgeschichte an sich klang interessant, war für mich allerdings völlig verwirrend und irritierend aufgebaut. Ich bin teilweise etwas überfordert gewesen mit den Entwicklungen bzw. mit den Zusammensetzungen. Die Meinungen sind teilweise so schnell von A nach B gesprungen, dass es mir nicht so gut gefallen hat.
Die Gefühlswelt der Charaktere war für mich unübersichtlich und nicht greifbar bzw. wahrnehmbar, sodass ich mich in die Geschichte leider überhaupt nicht fallen lassen konnte. Mein Gesamtfazit:
Mit „Eine Braut für den Silberwolf“ hat Tanya Anne Crosy einen für mich leider sehr verwirrenden und extrem schnelllebigen Roman geschaffen, welcher leider für mich mit nicht greifbaren Charakteren spielt was es mir als Leser unheimlich schwer gemacht hat. Aber ich denke hier muss jeder selber reinlesen und entscheiden.
I own the Medieval Heroes book but am reviewing each novel separately. The story of Chrestien's and Weston's unlikely love blooming against a backdrop of sibling devotion and sibling jealousy, death and sadness. There are a few humorous moments as well, most taking place when the heroine is dressed as a boy. I laughed out loud when she was compared to an elf. The book is well-written, relatively free of grammatical errors, and flows nicely. The historical details are accurate; novels such as this always compel to do more historical research on my own. The book is not clean, I wasn't expecting it to be, but the few sex scenes involve the already-married couple.
SPOILERS: In my opinion, the death of one of the characters was unnecessary and much too sad. Plus, at the end of the book, I actually felt sorry for the villain. Criminally insane or not, weren't there places for a person so terribly ill back then?
This is an exciting well written storyline that is fast paced & full of action, plus we are provided with a good BLURB. Loved the characters & the descriptions; even in a reprehensible one he found a little of his humanity at the end.
Gives us twin daughters of a Lord who are very beautiful & have defended from Vikings. We get 2 romances but since only one of the twins is fiery we only get most of her mischief.
An attempt to kidnap her occurs 3 times keeping up the drama, action, & lots of remorseful sorrow. I really enjoyed this read & it was a page turner.
I only gave it 4 STARS because I was disappointed not to actually have her meet the great grandfather, and the wolf's wife didn't get a conversation with her sister's husband after she had been kept away almost 3 months & the sister's husband didn't go meet his daughter. If you are going to give me these tidbits I want to read about them.
I admit this book started out a little slow for me. I had to force myself to stick with it. But by around the third to the fourth chapter, it takes a turn and things get interesting.
This book is full of low, anger, jealously, and secrets. Which means it is good.
I loved the bond between the twin sisters and the relationship they had that balanced them out.
I found The Silver Wolfes first encounter with Chrestien de Lontaine to be entertaining. Their relationship is filled with a few bumps but ultimately they find their path.
This story was well written, the characters were complex and likable. The story itself though slow in the beginning becomes a very enjoyable read. The mixture of characters brings it to life and the secrets they reveal leave you wanting more.
Overall a very good read and one I would definitely recommend to friends.
Chrestien and Adelaine love their father and feel worried to lose him. They are twins and have limited exposure outside their hold. The neighboring holds don’t know twins exist, and have impression of a single daughter. Suddenly, they realize they have to make plans to leave and settle where they ought to be as they no longer have their father with them. Adelaine marries, and Chrestien plans to be a nun.
Warrior forces veer the plans for Chrestien, and she is held in her own home till she gets notice from the English King that she could settle elsewhere. Newer surprises change her course anew to bring a pleasant addition to her life, and forces her to face a loss that will reveal unexpected exposure to an evil scheme.
The story has love and frequent contentions, with a great show of maturity while experiencing added responsibilities.
This book has so much Love, Anger, Jealousy, Defeat, Fear, and so many other emotional scenes it was a hard one to put Down. After Lord Gilbert gets killed in battle, he leaves his twin daughters alone to figure out their futures. The girls are like night and day, one a loving genteel personality, while the other is a take charge and leave no prisoners type. As the story unfolds there is a vindictive step brother in their mist that causes an accident and the mild mannered twin is killed. . This part was so well written and emotional that I cried like a baby...There is much more to the story that will keep you awake past midnight. Another Winner By Tanya Ann Crosby.
Tanya Anne draws you immediately into VOLUME #1 of her THREE MEDIEVAL HEROES: ROMANCE COLLECTION; with Chrestien and Adelaine devastated by the death of their father. Chrestien has already decided to go to a nunnery to spend the rest of her days; but, will she be able to resist the magic and treachery of the WOLF and not go to the nunnery? To say anymore, would cause this REVIEW to become a SPOILER. Therefore, my advice is to buy this ROMANCE COLLECTION and find out what happens to Chrestien; as well as her sister Adelaine.
The fierce Landless Knight know as the Silver Wolf finds love
Weston FitzStephen, the Silver Wolf, a favorite of King Henry. Sent to secure Lontaine as a prize of war. While camped nearby, Weston sees a small, poorly outfitted party leaving the area with a larger band chasing after them. He urges his men to join the fray, being injured by what he believes is a young boy.
That is how the Silver Wolf met his lady and a home for the first time in his life.
I would like to give this more than 2 stars purely for the villain. He was surprisingly three-dimensional, and I felt sorry for him. Sadly the rest of the characters were typical vanilla dumplings, along with the "ill-reputed" hero, the Silver Wolf, who was just a puppy, though to the author's credit, she had her heroine or her sister point that out. The worst though was the pedestrian prose, the research behind this book didn't even scrape the surface of the 12th century Normandy, and the plotting was ridiculous.
I totally loved this story because my genre for historical romance is, medieval romance. These story tend to go straight to the good stuff, SEX, and do not waste time building a plot. The two main characters of this story, Lord Weston & Lady Chrestien are on different sides of the war. As usual, the spoils of war tend to have the maiden of the house marry the opposing winning warrior, this was no exception. So many evil, romantic and mysterious plots brewing throughout this wonderful story.
Despite the cheap and tasteless coverpicture and rather gaudy title, the book wasn't as bad as originally thought. Actually most of it was rather likeable. Spirited heroine different smaller plots and acceptable prose. A bit overdone on the carnal descriptions. The ending ruined it for me as it felt hurried, poorly written and rather unlikely. Not awful not great as far as historical romance goes.
I love the book which was delightful because of the twins. Spoiler alert.!! So up to the point one of the girls die it turned from wonderful to awful. I had already purchased several of the books, sadly I don't trust reading them. This author was new to me and I had hopes of a great new series and author. Sadly ,for me, the disappointment was so much I had hard time reading to the end. I won't read the others.
It has all the elements of an epic story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and going through the emotional ups and downs. The heroine is admirable in her innocence and courage. The hero is noble and brave. The love story is spectacular. It is just something one has to read and be moved by the experience. And be touched by the characters. There are love scenes but nothing too crude or graphic. It was all quite romantic. The epilogue is sublime.
Weston and Chrestien. I mostly liked this book. She is a bit hotheaded at times and has some outbursts, but those seemed in character. I really liked Weston. The only thing about him that I didn't like was at the end, he asks her if she loves him, she says yes, but he never tells her. Bad editing? The villain was odd and his treatment of her during her kidnapping was very odd. His side story seemed to come out of nowhere.
Chrietsen de Lontaine was to go to the church. But things changed because of one man knick named silver wolf. Tanya did a awesome job drawing you into the story. She gives you a look into the time period she is writing about. It is so different than today. It is full of action, mystery and of course romance. Reading Chrestien & Weston's story is a interesting read. For her plans change drastically because of Weston. Its a great read and you will find it hard to put down. J
To be honest, I had started this book before but had not got past the first chapter or two. Glad I went back to it. The story starts out slow and not so good, but then takes an interesting turn. I liked the characters and story. I will admit to one part that I can't get past. Not happy, but won't spoil it for others.
I truly enjoyed this book it was just wonderful it has all the elements of a wonderful story adventure excitement and sadness romance and I just love I really did love Weston. I have been reading Tanya Ann Crosby for years, she is one of my favorite authors I recommend her books ALL of her books to everyone she is fantastic.
Such a wonderful story. Identical twins left without mother or father. One married a neighbor the other the Kings warrior. But the neighbors brother has plans for one of them and as he tries to steal her away he causes the death of the other. Will her Lord husband find her before it's too late or will her captor finally release her??????
A lot of action with intrigue. The twin sisters left on their own, after their father dies, both end up happily married but so much happens after that. Without giving away spoilers, there is much that occurs after that. Some good, some sad. Still the story carries on to the end and all gets revealed
The characters in this story were rich with personality. I liked their strength, integrity, honesty and practical natures. The plot had many exciting moments and some realistic gritty portions. I don't want to reveal any details as it is so delicious to wonder what might happen next in this book. Pick it up and enjoy it yourself!