Devil's Dominion

Battle Lords of de Velt #2

by Kathryn Le Veque

FROM #1 BESTSELLING and AMAZON ALL-STAR AUTHOR KATHRYN LE VEQUE comes a dark Medieval Romance of hatred, revenge, and ultimately redemption. Enter the DEVIL'S DOMINION....

1205 A.D.

It's years after The Dark Lord, Jax de Velt, tore through the Welsh marches and captured several castles. Still, he holds lands that do not belong to him. Out of the ashes from this dark and lawless time rises the son of one of the men Jax de Velt put to the stake. Bent on revenge against The Dark Lord, Bretton de Llion has grown up in obscurity, hidden from de Velt's rage, and has learned to hate the very world around him. His sense of vengeance against de Velt has been his guiding force for years. Gathering a powerful mercenary army, Bretton rages through Wales, emulating de Velt's reign of terror, killing and destroying, moving towards a target he has long planned for - abducting one of Jax de Velt's children in order to lure Jax into his trap. Discovering that Jax's eldest daughter is a novice nun at Alberbury Priory, he burns down the priory in his quest to abduct Lady Allaston de Velt. Successful in his endeavor, he sends word to de Velt: come to me or your daughter will suffer. His perfect revenge is planned.

But it is not so perfect when this warrior, who has never known love or kindness, discovers feelings for the daughter of the man he has hated his entire life. Join Bretton and Allaston in a very complex journey of terror, sadness, and the ultimate conquest - love. Old friends such as Christopher de Lohr and Keller de Poyer join Jax de Velt as integral parts of this riveting Medieval tale.

Can Allaston prevent Bretton from killing her father? Or do old hatreds burn too deep?

Enter the Devil's Dominion at your own risk...

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Medieval, Romance, Medieval Romance, Dark, Audiobook

389 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 11, 2014

About the author

Juggernaut Indie author Kathryn Le Veque is a 'tour de force' in publishing.

Kathryn is a critically acclaimed 21-time USA TODAY Bestselling author, a charter Amazon All-Star author, an Indie Reader top seller, and a #1 bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author in Medieval Historical Romance with over 100 published novels.

Among her many accomplishments, she is the CEO of Dragonblade Publishing, the #1 Historical Romance e-book publisher on Amazon. In 2020, Kathryn collaborated with Sourcebooks publishing for a Medieval Fight Club series set in Scotland.

Reviews

[Lisa C. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I see I'm one of the few who didn't care for this book, although I'm a tried and true fan of LeVeque's medieval stories. This was a difficult review to write in that it felt way too much like The Dark Lord and Jax's story. Honestly, I didn't see much romance but more controlling through fear and threats. It seemed pretty unoriginal to have Bretton repeat what de Velt did 25 years before. The revenge angle was a bit off the mark as it didn't appear to hurt de Velt that the castles were taken, because he wasn't even aware a couple had been seized.

I understand that Allaston was able to get Bretton to see that revenge and killing wasn't going to heal his heart. However, their relationship was too violent. Yes, he was complex and had loads of issues, but he regularly threatened her in one way or another. And don't get me started on his killings. The prioress no less! He was an evil, twisted murderer and then all of a sudden it was behind him and he was reformed.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-Reading (3rd time). Reminder: the medieval time period was a brutal part of history.

At the conclusion of the book, the author makes some interesting and insightful comments. Oh, yes, this is a very complex story with difficult scenes. However, it is a good tale. I especially enjoyed the interactions between an older Christopher de Lohr (the "Lion's Claw" from Rise of the Defender, an epic book) and an older, calmer, wiser Ajax de Velt (the "Dark Lord" from the book of the same name). Also fun was reading about an older Keller de Poyer (from "Netherworld"). I always love when other characters from previous books make appearances.

[Sissy's Romance Book Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bretton de Llion has a growing vengeance against Jax de Velt who meet as the main character in the "The Dark Lord" book. Brett wants to get revenge for the death of his family who he blames Jax in killing. Brett has been trying to find a way to get this revenge and it comes in the form of Lady Allaston de Velt, who is Jax daughter. Allaston is at a convent working to become a nun. There Brett goes and kidnaps her and kills most all of the nuns there. Allaston is then held hostage by him until her father can come and get her... then Brett will kill Jax. But while waiting for Jax to come over time Brett starts to loosen his mean and hard cord hate for Allaston and starts to fall in love. She too starts to drop her guard and has feelings for him.
I gave this three starts just because I thought like "The Dark Lord" book that the main male character was to hard and mean...yes he changed but he had a lot to change from.

[🦉Maggie Whitworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋💋💋
Featuring not only Bretton de Llion , but the offspring of Ajax de Velt , plus the Dark Lord himself and Christopher de Lohr.
What a line up , and the story is truly stunning.
This is a pretty graphic book, it’s gritty and descriptive and really gets down to business.
If you liked the Dark Lord ,you’ll love this .
Bretton is taking after Ajax , he’s sacking castles and putting the whole place to the sword or stakes , told you it was graphic.
This author definitely is the Queen of Medieval, I don’t think I’ve read a book of hers I’ve not enjoyed, and this book is really among the top of the list .
Brilliantly written and thought out , wonderful characters and it really gets your emotions on edge .
Bretton is the man you love to hate and hate to love , and you find yourself alternately wanting to both kill and hug him ,
Hating yourself for feeling sorry for him .
This is a brilliant book , enjoy!

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find Le Veque's tense, intense and violent books to be a better read. It is in these moments of crisis, when characters are stretchered and pummeled to their limits, that she is able to make them breathe, unlike the characters in her softer books which seem to float on the surface of the story. Pummeled and stressed they are in Devil's Dominion, as characters deal with horror and atrocity, loss and love to find their way home. Unfortunately I found zero logic in the hero's chosen path of destruction. While he is intent on making a very bloody point, he's been blinded, almost hypnotized, by incandescent rage, and unleashes those dogs of war on the wrong people.

[Space Cowgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reap What Ye Sow🏰👊💪🔪 🔥

ADULT Historical Medieval Romance 💕 and War👊💪🔪🔥with Abduction
This is a continuation of what the Devil Lord of de Velt 👹sowed in his years as a terrorizing and murdering conquerer.

Lord Betton is following in the path of total destruction left by Lord de Velt, after de Velt killed his family in a most horrible fashion. Betton decides he will wreak his own havok by emulating de Velt and killing and rampaging across England ! He also kidnaps de Velt's daughter!

This is a very violent and gory book, but very well written, too. It's a wonder anyone survived the constant warfare in those days.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (5/6/2020)! 🎁

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complex love story with some brutal scenes.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting & Intense

Riveting and very intense! It was a page turner for me, so far this author never disappointed me. She never sugar coats the time period. There is a saying "It is what it is." and it truly was.

The man in this story, Bretton de Llion is highly complexed. He suffers through losing his family during a violent siege, at the tender and impressionable age of five. Throughout the years... the grief of losing his parents, the only home he has known and the intense suffering he has endured has turned him into not only a ruthless mercenary, but into the Devil himself. He lives and breaths vengeance. This Devil is on a reign of terror to complete his own imposed mission. His mission and sole purpose is one thing, and one thing alone.....the total destruction of his enemy, the legendary and feared man called The Dark Lord, Ajax de Velt.

Allaston de Velt, is in the process of taking her vows to be a nun. During one night of terror all changes for her. She is a very strong beautiful woman who will bravely endure and protect those she loves.

Prepare yourselves for The Devil and the Angel will take you on an intense journey of the Devil's Dominion. The battle of wills begins and legends return. It is an intense journey to be a part of.

[Bonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was a hard one to read. The ending was beautiful and the story was wrapped up nicely as all of Kathryn's books I have read are, but the journey to the ending was disturbing at times. I'm not quite certain I cared for the hero. The things I love most about KLV's stories is the nature of them are true and are meant to be so for in those times this is what occurred as a way of life. There is no sugar coating it for the most part aside from the ultimate HEA of the H/h. That road to happiness is not pleasant and is more real to a story than simply aligning everything up with hearts and rainbows. Both H/h must work for their HEA and at times it's heartbreaking & tragic. So even though this wasn't my favorite hero the story was well written and I can not fault the book simply for not liking a character even a main one. Medieval times were of true horrors and in this book we received true horror but in the end a devil did find redemption in the form of a woman who found the goodness hidden deep within. There is someone for everyone even the devil...

[Junior Apprentices · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bretton broke my heart!

His story was so heartwrenching that you just couldn't hate him despite his evil deeds. Our heroine seemed like God's perfect gift for him to help him heal.

[Darien · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - The kind of story where the "hero" burns a group of women alive right at the beginning is not redeemable for me.

[MaryD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very graphic descriptions of violent torture & murder.

[Rachel Smith Horn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stalled finishing this book because I did not want to write this review.

I hated the hero, and he was beyond redemption. A nineteen year old girl was deemed his therapist to change his avenging ways.

The story starts 25 years in the past when Jax De Velt ran his raid through the marches. He raided Four Crosses castle and killed five year old Bretton De Llion's father. Bretton also lost his mother when she killed herself and her sister to get away from the raiding men.

Bretton had a HORRIBLE life, sold into slavery he was beaten and S.A'd until he finally ran away. He found a mercenary who trained him how to fight, but liked to beat him as well. All the while Bretton is going through this, he vows vengeance on Jax De Velt.

Understandable.

Fast forward twenty five years, we are in a priory where Bretton's mercenary army has raided in search of De Velt's daughter, Allaston.

I liked Allaston, poor girl had a lot on her shoulders.

Bretton himself kills a nun right in front of Allaston when the old nun refuses to give over Allaston. Allaston ends up giving herself up, after the remaining nuns claim to be De Velt. Before the chapter ends, the mercenary army is raping some nuns while locking others up to burn them alive. They left one nun alive to send a message... Bretton wants Jax De Velt in exchange for his daughter.

He takes his prisoner to Cloryn Castle, another castle his mercenary army raided and in Jax De Velt style, posted all the inhabitants on spikes. At first Allaston didn't know, feeling guilty for borrowing the lady's clothes, until she finds out she's on a pike in front.

For some reason, Bretton is intent on following De Velt's march to the letter, but I don't get the motive. It's only hurting innocent people. I know trauma does weird things, but to put all that hate back out into the world? I suppose some people are like that, and I don't care for them.

Jax De Velt was gruesome, but that is because that is what his father taught him. Jax thought that was the way he was supposed to be until Kellington showed him something different Bretton, however, knew what it was like to be loved and have family. Yes, his family was brutally taken from him, but his response is to sentence people to gruesome deaths. Not even children were safe.

I know things were cut-throat back then, but this was too much.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I see this cover, I believe I probably have the audiobook for this one, but I bought the book because of the new cover. Unfortunately, I tend to do this frequently when the covers to the books are updated and look different. Being a visual person, the cover often controls my book purchases just as the narrators do with my audiobook purchases. The audiobook covers often don’t match the book covers as I haven’t know the audible company to change their covers when the book covers change.

I’ve been reading Kathryn Le Veque’s books for at least 6 or 7 years and have loved every single one of them! She gives much attention to detail & her characters and plots are usually very complex. She always does a masterful job of pulling in your emotions with her unique & gifted style of storytelling.

As with so many of her other books, you will probably need a box of tissues while reading it. Many of the characters are interwoven through her books, either the original cast of characters, or as they age, their children & grandchildren.

Ajax de Velt has always been one of my favorite characters. The Dark Lord is deeply flawed yet with the love of Kellington, becomes a changed man. In Devil’s Dominion, his eldest daughter is kidnapped from a priory but a mercenary bent on revenge against her father, Ajax de Velt. Lonely, broken, flawed & hopeless, Bretton de Llion is out for revenge. Excellent book! So easy to recommend this and any of her books. I don’t remember ever listening to the audiobook, though I do have it, since I have several hundred at last count, but I’m sure it’s great as she always uses outstanding narrators. ❤️😍

[Petula · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sins of the father are definitely a burden for the children in this story. 
Our "hero" is a particularly nasty man.  He is copying the pattern of the man who tore his family and everything he knew from him when he was a small child.  It's taken him twenty-five years to be strong enough.  Nothing will stop him now. 
Lady Allaston De Velt decided when she was twelve to become a nun,  but fate it seems has other ideas.  She has heard the tales of her father's past deeds but now she will see for herself the consequences of them. 
How our author get us to feel sorry for the "monsters" some of her heroes are is a wonder in itself.  She gives us a lot of gory details that some might find hard to read,  but are essential to the story.  It is an emotional story especially near the end.  Families can give us the greatest heartbreak and the greatest joy.  We get both here.  We also meet up with quite a few heroes from other books by this author,  but not with details that would spoil their books if you haven't read them yet. 
I bought a boxed set with this the only book of the four that I didn't already have.  It was more than worth it.  The set is called "The Nunnery Brides" and they are all great full length books. 
This author has never dissapointed me and I have read over thirty of her books in the last several years.  I buy them now without even reading the blurb because I know I will love it.  But I do have to check my records to see if I already have it because she's changed her covers for much nicer ones,  so I sometimes think it's one that escaped me.

[Nancy Yohe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Allaston and Bretton.

I enjoyed the characters and the storyline of this book and the twists and turns it held with a few exceptions. I found much of the storyline to be a repeat of the previous book. Same basic story with different characters. Bad boy mercenary Bretton pushes his way through the Marches leaving a path of death and destruction in his wake seeking riches, power and in his case, revenge. Good girl Allaston is his captive. Bretton gives her the run of the keep as long as she stays put and doesn’t try to escape. She wants to soften his heart and he wants her to love him. This causes concern and plotting from Brettons commanders because they believe he has lost focus. You know the rest. Much like the story of Jax and Kellington in the previous book. The difference is Bretton is after revenge for his fathers death which was committed by Allastons father 25 years earlier. There are a lot of characters to get to know in this book. It is a good story of revenge, redemption, and love. It is graphic and brutal representing the times as they were. I just felt a little deja vu.

[Bunga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku ini bagus banget sih ya. Bikin saya rela begadang dan tidur cuma 4 jam semalam. Gak bisa berhenti baca. Mewek juga beberapa kali. Hero yg broken man. Kisah hidupnya menderita banget sejak kecil. Saya sempat dapat vibe yang sama waktu baca Born in Sin dari Sherrylin Kenyon, kebetulan heronya juga model begini biarpun lebih ke beta male. Kalau di sini si Bretton jelas alpha ya.

Buku ini sejak prolog udah menyuguhkan kengerian, teror, kesadisan & perang yang brutal. Bunuh-bunuhan, penyiksaan, rape, dll. Pokoknya kudu nyiapin hati buat baca buku ini. Temanya Stockholm Syndrom alias tahanan yang jatuh cinta ke penculiknya. Biasanya saya kurang suka sama tema ini tapi ga tahu kenapa kok bisa sangat terhanyut. Mungkin karena gaya penulisan Kathryn Le Vegue yang sangat apik, bikin saya enggan berhenti baca. Udah mirip kaya nonton film sih ya. Karakter2 yang muncul sangat banyak, didatangkan dari buku2 sebelumnya. Tapi gak membingungkan sama sekali. Biarpun buku ini sekuel dari series The Dark Lord, bisa kok dibaca standalone.

[Simo · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't particularly enthusiastic about the novels in the Nunnery's brides collection, but I positively hated this one! The so-called hero is a monster, so is the heroine's father, so at the core of the book is very healthy relationships! 🤢I'm sorry, but in my book there is no coming back from the beyond despicable actions of the 2 monsters and the heroine must be seriously damaged to loved them. I'm truly disgusted, it made me sick to my stomach, and this is definitely the last book I read by this author.

[Crystal Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of excitement

Breton was a small boy of five years old when Jax developed attacked the castle and killed his father, and his mother and sister died because of it. Breton was taken away by the servants then sold to an abusive man, he escaped only to be taken in by another man who also abused him but taught him to be a mercenary. All his life his was out for revenge against de Velt. He abducts de Velt’s daughter from an Abbey and holds her prisoner together to her father, but unbelievable things happen.

[Sheryl Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome tears

It has been a very, very long time since a book brought tears to my eyes. This book was so emotional that I hated for it to end. My heart went out to Bretton for the life he lived before he gathered his own army. More than once I wanted to hold him. I am always amazed how Kathryn can bring you in to the middle of a story. I love her books and the history she bring in to each story. As always, a must read book.

[Fredrick W. Beaty II · Rating 5 out of 5]

The angel and the devil clash!

While I really enjoyed the theme and plot of the book, as well as the character development, I thought it sad that so many innocent lives were lost as a result of Bretton's vengeance.....not spoils of war. The vivid descriptions of the captives deaths were truly gruesome and unbelievable. Hopefully Allaston's prayers were heard! Hope to see further episodes involving this family.

[Debbie Odachowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!

I had a hard time with book #2 but I am glad I got into it. It made me want to read more and I am glad I did. I would have missed out on the past coming back to haunt Jax Dr Velt. As he has to relive the horrors of his past rampages he has to come to terms with the man he was and the man he is now to save his daughter. You will enjoy this book and not want to put it down.Enjoy!

[Pamela Olmstead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much thesae

I was very disappointed with the first third of this book. It was the same plot and story line as the previous book. I was about to stop read until Christopher DeLohr was introduced into the story. I loved the DeLohr saga. I can see that this is suppose to be a stand-alone book, but for a reader how reads your series sequentially it was disappointing and boring to see the plot and story so much the same.

[Verna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book

I loved everything about this book. It kept me up all night. Also it was hard for me to get any of my work done. Ladies, If you love drama and warlords. Try this book. It is a page turner. I read about Jax and kellington but Bretton and Alanston was my favourite. Bretton was strong and still loveable. Epic love story! Love, love, loved💖

[A M · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fav KLV so far!

This is my all time favorite KLV novel so far out if the 35 I've read. It is such a culmination of previous great heros coming together that I loved the background stories just as much as the main hero and heroine. But the H and h are wonderful too and so many of their moments made me cry. It is full of pain and redemption. A great read.

[Terryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read but I found the repetitive nature of some of the storyline annoying so started skipping lines, not a good sign. Set in Medieval times with lots of blood and gore. He is out for revenge and she is the daughter he has captured to lure her father to his fate. In my opinion not as good as the first book.

[Mary Hart · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

Hero was very brutal and the war practises of medieval knights depraved. The 4 stars is for the writing rather than the story as I didn't really like the hero and the heroine was a bit too pollyanna ish for my taste.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devils Dominion

This is another novel by Kathryn LeVeque. The book was excellent. The continuation of the Battle Lords of de Velt. There were many wonderful characters that are well known.

[Joyce Neigebauer]

Awesome reading

To burn down a place of peace and a place for sanctuary a place of god. To take the daughter of his enemy to seek revenge for her father pass sins. To realize that all he wanted was to get justice for his family to fall in love with his enemy daughter.