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Destinys Daughter
After the death of her father and the mysterious arrival of his research notes, Bryony St. Blaze soon discovers that his investigation into the whereabouts of an ancient, magical book led to his death at the hands of an enigmatic order known as the Abbey of the Divine, and determined to seek revenge, she journeys to Scotland to seek the help of historian Hamish Neville while a vicious killer tracks her every move. Original.
402 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
85 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca Brandewyne
61 books175 followersBorn in Knoxville, Tennessee, Rebecca lived in Knoxville and then, later, Chattanooga for the first few years of her life. After that, she and her family moved to Kansas, where she grew up, spending her summers in Alabama, visiting both sets of her grandparents. She says she's just a country girl with a dash of big city sprinkled in for spice. But having traveled extensively in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Caribbean, she moves easily between the publishing world of New York and her hometown.
Rebecca graduated cum laude with departmental honors from Wichita State University, earning a B.A. in journalism, minors in history and music (theory and composition), and an M.A. in communications [mass (broadcasting) and interpersonal (dyadic relationships):]. During the course of her education, she was fortunate enough to study at various times under, among several other distinguished instructors, three Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and one of the foremost authorities in the field of interpersonal communication. Twice a recipient of the Victor Murdock Scholarship, Rebecca taught interpersonal communication at the university level before becoming a published writer.
She was twenty-one when she started work on her first novel, No Gentle Love. She finished the book a year later and sold it to Warner Books some months after her twenty-third birthday, making her, at that time, the youngest romance author in America, a record that stood for ten years before finally being broken. To date, Rebecca has written over thirty consecutive bestselling titles, including novels and novellas on the following lists: New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Magazine & Bookseller, Ingram, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks, among many others.
Her books have been translated into a number of foreign languages, including Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish; and they have been published in over sixty countries worldwide. Many have been selections of the Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild. Hardback editions of several titles have been published by Severn House, and large-print editions of some books are also available from Macmillan Library Reference and Thorndike Press. Rebecca currently has millions of books in print in the United States alone.
From Affaire de Coeur magazine, she has won: the Classic Award for Classic Romances, for Love, Cherish Me, 1990; the Golden Quill Award for Best of the '80s Historical Romances, for Love, Cherish Me, 1990; the Bronze Pen (Wholesalers' Choice) Award, 1989; the Silver Pen (Readers' Choice) Award, 1988, 1987, and 1986; and a Gold Certificate for The Outlaw Hearts, 1987.
From Romantic Times magazine, she has won: the Reviewer's Choice Nominee for Best Historical Romantic Mystery, for The Ninefold Key, 2004; the Reviewer's Choice Certificate of Excellence for Victorian Historical Romance, for The Jacaranda Tree, 1995; the KISS (Knight in Shining Silver) of the Month for Best Hero, for The Jacaranda Tree, 1995, and for Swan Road, 1994; the Career Achievement Award for Futuristic Romance, 1991, for Passion Moon Rising and Beyond the Starlit Frost; the Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Gothic, for Across a Starlit Sea, 1989, and for Upon a Moon-Dark Moor, 1988; the Historical Romance Novelist of the Year Award, 1987; and the Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Western Romance, for The Outlaw Hearts, 1986. Rebecca has also been named one of Love's Leading Ladies and inducted into Romantic Times magazine's Hall of Fame.
http://www.brandewyne.com/castle/gall...
Rebecca graduated cum laude with departmental honors from Wichita State University, earning a B.A. in journalism, minors in history and music (theory and composition), and an M.A. in communications [mass (broadcasting) and interpersonal (dyadic relationships):]. During the course of her education, she was fortunate enough to study at various times under, among several other distinguished instructors, three Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and one of the foremost authorities in the field of interpersonal communication. Twice a recipient of the Victor Murdock Scholarship, Rebecca taught interpersonal communication at the university level before becoming a published writer.
She was twenty-one when she started work on her first novel, No Gentle Love. She finished the book a year later and sold it to Warner Books some months after her twenty-third birthday, making her, at that time, the youngest romance author in America, a record that stood for ten years before finally being broken. To date, Rebecca has written over thirty consecutive bestselling titles, including novels and novellas on the following lists: New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Magazine & Bookseller, Ingram, B. Dalton, and Waldenbooks, among many others.
Her books have been translated into a number of foreign languages, including Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Rumanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish; and they have been published in over sixty countries worldwide. Many have been selections of the Doubleday Book Club and Literary Guild. Hardback editions of several titles have been published by Severn House, and large-print editions of some books are also available from Macmillan Library Reference and Thorndike Press. Rebecca currently has millions of books in print in the United States alone.
From Affaire de Coeur magazine, she has won: the Classic Award for Classic Romances, for Love, Cherish Me, 1990; the Golden Quill Award for Best of the '80s Historical Romances, for Love, Cherish Me, 1990; the Bronze Pen (Wholesalers' Choice) Award, 1989; the Silver Pen (Readers' Choice) Award, 1988, 1987, and 1986; and a Gold Certificate for The Outlaw Hearts, 1987.
From Romantic Times magazine, she has won: the Reviewer's Choice Nominee for Best Historical Romantic Mystery, for The Ninefold Key, 2004; the Reviewer's Choice Certificate of Excellence for Victorian Historical Romance, for The Jacaranda Tree, 1995; the KISS (Knight in Shining Silver) of the Month for Best Hero, for The Jacaranda Tree, 1995, and for Swan Road, 1994; the Career Achievement Award for Futuristic Romance, 1991, for Passion Moon Rising and Beyond the Starlit Frost; the Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Historical Gothic, for Across a Starlit Sea, 1989, and for Upon a Moon-Dark Moor, 1988; the Historical Romance Novelist of the Year Award, 1987; and the Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Western Romance, for The Outlaw Hearts, 1986. Rebecca has also been named one of Love's Leading Ladies and inducted into Romantic Times magazine's Hall of Fame.
http://www.brandewyne.com/castle/gall...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 8, 2021
I can definitely see why a lot of people wouldn't like this book. First off, I wouldn't really classify this as a romance. The actual romance that takes place in this book is such a small part of it, that it seems to vanish into the rest of the story. I would say that the genre of this is much closer to suspense or a mystery. It has a similar feel to it as "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. The majority of the book is solving a historical mystery of the treasure of the Knight's Templar.
My biggest problem with this book was just how much time was spent on lecturing about history, philosophy, astrology and other things. By page 300, I just wanted the book to be done. Which was too bad because the first half was really good. I actually really enjoyed the historical aspect of it. I've always enjoyed history, especially ancient history, so those parts of the book were fun to read. I would say though, that if you don't really know much about history, it would be even more to take in and therefore even harder to get to the end. But even with my like for the content, it started to feel like I was reading a textbook, which got worse and worse as the book went on. By page 300, it was almost exclusively talks about history, philosophy, etc. Very little story was happening at that point. The content and the context were interesting and a really good, but it just got to be too much.
The other thing I would say was that I found the word usage a little too much, especially during the few sex scenes in the book. If you don't like to read the sex scenes, skip this part, but one example is "He bent his head to Bryony once more, his mouth finding the dark, secret heart of the tender, mellifluous, engorged petals of her that trembled and opened to him of their own exigent accord." Most of the love scenes between them have that kind of wording.
And even the every day conversation between them was a little off in the sense that it really didn't feel like how two people would talk.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book. Especially because I could see just how much work went into it. The research and organization alone that must have gone into this story is impressive. Like I've said, up until about page 300, I had thought that it was the kind of book I would recommend people read once, because it was an interesting concept, but not really one I'd re-read. After finishing it, though, I'm not sure I'd even say that much. It really was just too much information to take in, written in a way that wasn't super easy to digest with word choices that seemed to come from someone over using a thesaurus.
I haven't read any of the authors other books, but I've heard good things, so I may still try the better rated ones, but this isn't one I'd recommend, especially not if you're looking for a romance.
My biggest problem with this book was just how much time was spent on lecturing about history, philosophy, astrology and other things. By page 300, I just wanted the book to be done. Which was too bad because the first half was really good. I actually really enjoyed the historical aspect of it. I've always enjoyed history, especially ancient history, so those parts of the book were fun to read. I would say though, that if you don't really know much about history, it would be even more to take in and therefore even harder to get to the end. But even with my like for the content, it started to feel like I was reading a textbook, which got worse and worse as the book went on. By page 300, it was almost exclusively talks about history, philosophy, etc. Very little story was happening at that point. The content and the context were interesting and a really good, but it just got to be too much.
The other thing I would say was that I found the word usage a little too much, especially during the few sex scenes in the book. If you don't like to read the sex scenes, skip this part, but one example is "He bent his head to Bryony once more, his mouth finding the dark, secret heart of the tender, mellifluous, engorged petals of her that trembled and opened to him of their own exigent accord." Most of the love scenes between them have that kind of wording.
And even the every day conversation between them was a little off in the sense that it really didn't feel like how two people would talk.
Overall, I really wanted to like this book. Especially because I could see just how much work went into it. The research and organization alone that must have gone into this story is impressive. Like I've said, up until about page 300, I had thought that it was the kind of book I would recommend people read once, because it was an interesting concept, but not really one I'd re-read. After finishing it, though, I'm not sure I'd even say that much. It really was just too much information to take in, written in a way that wasn't super easy to digest with word choices that seemed to come from someone over using a thesaurus.
I haven't read any of the authors other books, but I've heard good things, so I may still try the better rated ones, but this isn't one I'd recommend, especially not if you're looking for a romance.
October 26, 2016
its quite exciting
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2018
Vuole essere un sofisticato romanzo di misteri, ma l'ho trovato poco più di un harmony. Totalmente evitabile
May 11, 2023
DaVinci ish - I enjoyed it.
September 13, 2011
Qui la recensione completa: http://bookland89.blogspot.com/2011/0...
L’Incipit della storia, narra la creazione di un potente libro magico, in un’isola dimenticata dagli uomini e anche da Dio, che racchiude conoscenze molto pericolose scritto da quello che sembra essere uno degli angeli caduti (almeno così sembra dalla descrizione).
A questo punto la storia si dirama, da un parte viene raccontato il percorso, segreto ed oscuro, che il libro compie nel corso dei secoli insieme ai personaggi storici, religiosi o mitologici che ne vengono in possesso e scoprono il significato di alcuni brani del libro, l’altra vi è il racconto delle avventure legate a personaggi dell’epoca moderna.
Uno di essi è un professore universitario di storia antica, amante dell’occultismo, che compie ricerche sulle sette come la classica Massoneria o dell’Abbazia dei Divini che ha origine con i Templari, di cui mai nessuno ha parlato, l’altra è sua figlia che dopo il misterioso omicidio del padre, riceve i suoi appunti ed assieme ad un bellissimo storico scozzese, inizia una ricerca per verificare se quello che diceva il padre era corretto e per avere vendetta sulla sua morte.
Di qui la caccia inizia, i due protagonisti sono costretti a nascondersi e a scappare, cercando però di decifrare il codice lasciato dal padre di lei che è la chiave per risolvere tutta la situazione.
L’Incipit della storia, narra la creazione di un potente libro magico, in un’isola dimenticata dagli uomini e anche da Dio, che racchiude conoscenze molto pericolose scritto da quello che sembra essere uno degli angeli caduti (almeno così sembra dalla descrizione).
A questo punto la storia si dirama, da un parte viene raccontato il percorso, segreto ed oscuro, che il libro compie nel corso dei secoli insieme ai personaggi storici, religiosi o mitologici che ne vengono in possesso e scoprono il significato di alcuni brani del libro, l’altra vi è il racconto delle avventure legate a personaggi dell’epoca moderna.
Uno di essi è un professore universitario di storia antica, amante dell’occultismo, che compie ricerche sulle sette come la classica Massoneria o dell’Abbazia dei Divini che ha origine con i Templari, di cui mai nessuno ha parlato, l’altra è sua figlia che dopo il misterioso omicidio del padre, riceve i suoi appunti ed assieme ad un bellissimo storico scozzese, inizia una ricerca per verificare se quello che diceva il padre era corretto e per avere vendetta sulla sua morte.
Di qui la caccia inizia, i due protagonisti sono costretti a nascondersi e a scappare, cercando però di decifrare il codice lasciato dal padre di lei che è la chiave per risolvere tutta la situazione.
July 17, 2011
A modern Scottish Romance, with mystery. This was a good read. It is about a young woman whose father is murdered, and she goes to Scotland to met an elusive man he had been corresponding with. The excitement grows as ther run from those who want the information they have and will kill to get it. As they race across Europe, she finds that this man whom she first thought was old like her father, is nothing like that at all, and their love grows as they face danger together. recommended.
December 21, 2010
If you like the Kights of the Templar you'll like this book. It has light romance in it.
It does start off very interesting and entertaining, later you really need to be interested in their theories as they follow clues to the treasure. I found it very interesting and read every word of it.
It's a book I'll be keeping and reading again some day.
It does start off very interesting and entertaining, later you really need to be interested in their theories as they follow clues to the treasure. I found it very interesting and read every word of it.
It's a book I'll be keeping and reading again some day.
June 8, 2010
Started off pretty good but was incredibly boring and wordy by the end.
August 10, 2016
I usually like Rebecca Brandewyne, but this one just didn't work for me... Hope the person that finds this one enjoys the read...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/4...
April 10, 2017
I loved this book but then I love all the details of that time period/societies etc.. It made me continue to research several points that she brought out. To learn while being entertained is a great thing & one that happens so rarely now - except Dan Brown or Brad Meltzer. To have this learning experience in a 'historical romance' is GREAT!!!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews