Shadowheart

Medieval Hearts #2

by Laura Kinsale

Dangerous and dashing assassin Allegreto wants to regain his rightful place in the rich Italian principality of Monteverde. Happily, the means to do so is Lady Elena, long-lost Monteverde princess and sole heir to the kingdom. Though she is promised to his rival, Allegreto seizes her ship, takes Elena prisoner, and weds her, thus beginning their battle of wits and passion.

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

488 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Laura Kinsale is a New York Times bestselling author and both winner and multiple nominee for the Best Book of the Year award given by the Romance Writers of America.

She become a romance writer after six years as a geologist--a career which consisted of getting out of bed in the middle of the night and driving hundreds of miles alone across west Texas to sit drilling rigs, wear a hard hat, and attempt to boss around oil-covered males considerably larger than herself. This, she decided, was pushing her luck. So she gave all that up to sit in a chair and stare into space for long periods of time, attempting to figure out What-Happens-Next. She and her husband David currently divide their time between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Texas.

Reviews

[jenjn79 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shadowheart wasn't quite what I expected it to be. After reading the reviews at Amazon and B&N, I thought it would be a lot darker, more erotic in nature. But it looks as though the reviewers were overreacting a bit to the so-called deviant sex in the book.

I can't say I particularly liked the book, but I also didn't dislike it. It's a nice story - key word there 'story'. It was kind of like a fairytale...not one of those cheesy, sanitized children's versions, but a real one with darkness and evil and a moral. The book was long and tedious at times, with a lot of wasted space on inane events. But overall, it was a fairly interesting storyline. There were just a lot of things I took issue with.

I think one of the critical errors of the books is the way Kinsale handled the POVs. The first 250+ pages (approximately) are told strictly from Elena's POV. You get no sense of Allegretto other than through Elena's eyes, no insight into his character through his POV. Then suddenly halfway through the book she slips into his POV for a short while. After that, the book is still mostly Elena, but once in a while, you get a glimpse of Allegretto's thoughts, just not enough. Allegretto is such a complicated character, who does things that are unexpected and unexplained. The book would have been served more if she had used his POV more, and it certainly would have worked out better if she had not ignored him for the first half of the book. Focusing so much on Elena kept the readers from connecting with Allegretto and understanding his character.

Another issue with the story is that it is supposedly directly connected to another book, in which Allegretto is first introduced. The plot of that book apparently deals with the time in Monteverde when the revolution began. Kinsale does a poor job of relaying the history of the fictional place in the beginning of the book. For readers who did not read this earlier book, you're left a bit out in the wind as to the situation, the events, and other aspects that would have made things clearer. Kinsale fell into the trap many authors do in assuming that if you are reading this book then you read the other and therefore don't need explanations. It just made things confusing for a while.

Issue 3 (and it's 3 sub-issues)...ah, the big S&M issue. The first comment I have to make here is: good grief, if readers got all freaked out about what they read in this book, I'd hate to see what would happen if they saw some truer S&M. Because though at it most elemental, what happens in this book would be considered sadomasochism, it is hardly true S&M. I'd venture to say that anyone in that realm would say it was barely S&M. The extent of it in the book involves some biting and the use of fingernails. That's all. No paddles, no whips, no tools of any kind. Just the biting and use of fingernails. Yes, the sex was violent and used pain liberally, but it wasn't hardcore. It just wasn't the pretty stuff of typical romance novels. If anything, I'd say the book had more of a FemDom (female domination) aspect than an S&M one - though I suppose the two are in reality heavily intertwined.

The issue with the S&M element lies not with its existence, but with how Kinsale presented it. Which leads to sub-issue one: Elena's age. In the beginning of the book, she is 17 years old (this is a historical after all, females are generally young). But she is an innocent young girl with no worldly knowledge. Then suddenly she is a FemDom who inflicts pain. There's no transition, no learning process for her. She's just suddenly a Dominatrix. It doesn't work and leads to an element of disbelief because the reader has a hard time accepting that she would know about any of these issues without some sort of learning process. There should have been a transition, with Elena gradually discovering the elements of pain and control.

Sub-issue 2 in this area relates to the POV issue. Since Kinsale does not use Allegretto's POV very much, and not at all for the first half of the book, the reader gets no insight into his actions. Why does he allow Elena to dominate him? Why does he submit? Why does he enjoy the pain she inflicts? Allegretto is built up as this true Alpha male who likes to be in control, who has no feelings and kills without remorse. Then he lets Elena do what she does to him, and the reader is given only small crumbs as to his inner thoughts and reasoning. Like the issue with Elena's age, this also fosters disbelief. How is the reader supposed to accept his actions without any kernels as to why he allows it? You get a slight impression now and then that he is allowing it as his penance for all the sins he has committed in his lifetime, but you never get a true insight into his character. It was just really hard to accept his submissiveness when you aren't given much insight into his character.

Sub-issue 3...and this one is more just a personal preference, than a real issue probably. But pretty much every single sexual scene in the book relied on the pain/pleasure - S&M aspect. There was hardly ever any gentleness between them. I had no problem with the S&M elements, but I thought there should not have been such a heavy reliance on it. I had a hard time accepting the love between them when their only interactions involved dominating and causing pain. It was like their bond depended solely on pain and domination. I suppose there is nothing wrong with that; it is probably a true element to some real S&M practitioners, but for a main-stream romance novel, it didn't quite work.

The love between them overall was hard to comprehend. It's built upon a typical historical romance premise of kidnapper/abductee...the whole victim falls for her capturer thing. It's a little too typical. Aside from that, you get no understanding of why Allegretto loves her and why Elena accepts who he is (after she complains about it for most of the book). I just did not feel the connection between them. They are just supposed to love each other. But most of the time, they just seemed like 2 characters who liked to have unorthodox sex. Yet Elena said numerous times that she would sacrifice going to Heaven for him. I didn't buy it.

Which leads to the last issue with the book - and again this is a personal preference one - is the very heavy reliance on religion. One of the main themes of the book is sin and redemption. For a true atheist like me, it made me want to roll my eyes half the time. But on a more general religious aspect...both characters claim to be Catholics who believe in sin and heaven and hell, and all that. They want to confess their sins and be redeemed, be 'good' Catholics. Yet both characters engaged in pagan practices and never seemed to have any qualms about it. Every other action they committed was intertwined with their religious beliefs, but their pagan practices were ignored and accepted. That seemed a bit wrong to me.

Okay...well, after all that...Shadowheart was a so-so book. Too many things about it bothered me to make me like it more. I often found myself enjoying the 'plot' of the book (where Monteverde is freed from its violent oppression) more than the characters and the supposed romance. Still, the story was long and tedious. I kept putting it down to take a break to do something fun. I had to work a bit to make it through the book. But it was an interesting story. And while I applaud Kinsale for delving into non-traditional sexual practices, I wish she would done it more realistically and explored the characters psyches more. In the end, the book has its virtues and it's a curious read, but I don't think I'd want to pay $8 for it. Luckily I got it for a buck.

[Becky (romantic_pursuing_feels) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot/Storyline: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑 (Some are longer but many are on the short side)
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 (Note: This book was surprisingly steamy. A touch of pain with sex, light BDSM. It was written in early 2000s, could probably be a touch more explicit, but still decent details. Some scenes are shorter.)
Humor: Just a touch (this is by no means a humorous book!) but it’s like a dark, dry, self deprecation type of humor that I loved.
Hero Jerk Scale: 😠 😠 😠 - I put him at 3 but there is a rape scene – so for some of you this will be an automatic max jerk scale. For me, personally, it was lower because of his other actions.

This is the second book in the medieval hearts series. Now, you get to know Allegreto pretty well in this book, as well as his father, and some of the politics going on between the countries. I am glad I read it, as I feel like I understand him so much more than I would have otherwise. That said, I wasn’t in love with that book. I found it really hard to read with all the middle english, though I adored Ruck and Melanthe’s story at the core. I guess if you do read book 1 and strongly dislike it, don’t give up on this book as it reads totally different.

In this story, Allegreto has wanted to go home. But his home has been destroyed and taken over by the Riata. Monteverde should be his, and with the princess of Monteverde as his bride, no one will gainsay him once they take what should be theirs.

Give this book a try if you want:
- Medieval time period – this book starts during the 5th year of King Richard II’s reign. I think about 1382
- Assassin hero who is not afraid to get his hands dirty and make my content warnings a long list
- You must be okay with content warnings (listed under spoiler warning on my goodreads review)
- You want a sage like story – the book takes place over a long period of time (I don’t know exactly but I would say at least a year if not 2)
- You are okay with a hero knowing the heroine when she is 6 (and I believe he is around 16) and basically knowing he would marry her one day (There is no sexual attraction mentioned when she’s younger) When the story starts I believe the heroine is 17
- You want a darker story – death, angst, betrayal
- You want a mid to high steam story with some light BDSM play – They could be a touch more explicit though – see more details and specifics under spoiler warning at end of review.
- You like the captive/kidnapped theme – this is how the hero originally gets the heroine with him
- You don’t mind (or love) a jealous hero
- I put it as world travel – starts in England, they end up on an island together, and then from there go to Italy and Monteverde

So I’m a touch conflicted about this book. The beginning was a bit slow. I adore Kinsale’s writing style but it can be a bit detailed and if the characters aren’t together I find myself wanting more. But once Elena (Sometimes called Elayne depending what form they are using the English or Italian) is with Allegreto I was utterly captivated.

Elena is a very strong heroine even though she’s young. She has the fate of her future country resting on her shoulders and isn’t afraid to take charge of the decisions. She also stands up to Allegreto and makes him make difficult decisions regarding her and his plans. Overall I really liked her.

Allegreto has probably made my top hero list, even if the book itself hasn’t. He’s dark. He’s jealous. He will, and does, literally kill for his heroine. She wrecks him and completely owns his heart. Completely, utterly and forever.

While I think romance can be quite subjective – I found this book actually really romantic. Yes there’s some toxicity problems and it’s quite dark. But….oh my heart. Allegreto is just wonderful. Elena has his heart, and he shows it in subtle but the sweetest ways. I love him.

Some complaints – I actually don’t believe Allegreto says I love you on page. I read a physical book, but maybe someone with the e-book can search, because I may be wrong. But I was waiting for it and I don’t believe if happened. He shows it in a multitude of other ways throughout the story.

I also was not a huge fan of where the story line went at about 70% or so. Basically the solution to the huge conflict within the book. I was not a fan of her imprisoning him for the majority of the end of the book. I hated their separation, I hated that she was deciding everything without him. I felt like in those moments, he deserved better. BUT I don’t think the storyline is terrible. It’s just not FOR ME. Because I adore the heroes and read for the hero and I wanted...more Allegreto. Though in itself it was nice to see Elena really come into her own, she’s 18 or 19 and running a country when women were not encouraged to do that without a man at her side. I know Kinsale has talked about her writers block that came about with this book. And this is probably the solution that ended up speaking to her heart. It’s just not what I necessarily expected or wanted from it.

Here’s a few scenes I loved
Where we meet Allegreto on page

He stood tall and still, watching them – arriving from nowhere, as if he had created himself out of the ether. Jet-dyed folds of silk fell from his shoulders to the floor: an iridescent cape of black. Beneath it he wore silver, a tunic fitted perfectly to his body. His hair too was black; the color of fathomless night, long and tied back at the nape of his neck. He was like to a statue of pure metal, something – some thing, inhuman – elegant and fantastic. Elayne was not even certain for a moment if he were real or a marble figure come to sudden life, but dark as sin, as gorgeous and corrupt as Lucifer himself.
For he was corrupt – and the master of this place – no one need bow to make that evident, although both the captain and the guard fell to their knees with haste.

As she gets to know him and you know, he drugs her to make her his. Swoon. Hahahah

She had thought Raymond handsome. But the Raven was something beyond handsome. Beyond gallant manners and teasing glances. He was like the old, old stories, like the unknown man who waited on a darkened hill, the mist around him, hand outstretched…
In the stories, if a woman went to him...she did not return.
But she wanted to go…
She wanted…

And as his plan is revealed

He traced the incisions on the black stone. “You don’t wish to marry the Riata?”
She drew a deep breath and took another generous swallow of the wine. “No. I abhor the idea.”
We are in wondrous accord, then, my lady.” He looked up at her as he ran his fingertip over the carvings. “I had no intention of allowing it to happen,”
There was nothing visible to betray it, but Elayne felt as if some faint lightning rushed between them, like a storm far off. The Raven stood, his tunic gleaming in the blue light. The water-dragon seemed to sway slowly overhead.
“Navona is not finished,” he said in a voice that caressed the words. “Not yet while I breathe.” He leaned on the table, his black cloak flowing down over his hands. Nothing he had discovered among his purchased treasures had elicited a look like the one he gave her now. “You may have your desire to linger with me, my lady Elena, but I need no payment from the duke. I demand another ransom, sweeting. I require you for my wife.”

And as he shows his jealousy

She was learning faintly toward the pirate, toward an unredeemed outlaw – her shadow angel turned to living man.
He felt it, for he drew her closer, skimming his hands over her body beneath the thin damp silk. Her hips and her back, and then a single rough motion that tore the last buttons free. She heard one button hit a metal chest wit ha faint chink, and then drop upon the carpet.
He spread her hair against her bare skin. “Now I will know the scent of you.” He took up a fistful, inhaling deeply in it. “If you are near, I will know it.”
The promise was no light flattery. He said it as if he branded her. He pushed his fingers deep into her tangled hair. The faint tug and twist sent a sweet pain down through her throat as he forced her to lift her face to him.
“He made your heart feel hot?” the pirate asked, tightening his fingers in her hair.
“Yes,” she said, a last defiance. One last piece of herself withheld, while her body submitted as he drew her against him, a gentle kiss upon her mouth, almost like a token between courtiers.
“Someday I may find this Raymond, and kill him.” He bent his head, trailing his mouth down the curve of her throat, and closed his teeth on her skin.
Elayne drew a sharp breath. He hurt her, but an instant afterward he pressed his lips to the place softly, as if to soothe it, and the flow of his breath on her skin was like thin fire.


And again

He put his hands to her shoulders. For a moment she thought he might kiss her, but instead he yanked her mantle up over her head and close to her face. “Keep your eyes down, and try to walk like a modest woman,” he said, holding it together under her chin. “I don’t want him supposing you will lie in the dirt and giggle for any yokel who passes by.”
“Only you!” She smirked at him, tapping the side of his boot with her stave.
“Only me,” he said. “Unless you care to leave a trail of dead men in your wake.”




Content warnings: almost sexual assault a side character pushes the heroine into kisses and lifting her dress when she doesn’t want to. When he realizes she is saying no, he stops , rape the hero definitely pushes the heroine past what she wants. Her arms are trapped behind her and she tries to fight him and refuses to yield as he takes her graphic murder on page, talk of committing suicide, talk of slavery and forced prostitution, judgment of women with ‘loose morals’ a side character shames another side character for having a child out of wedlock

Locations of kisses/intimate scenes:

Pg 131 – first sex scene
Pg 189 – brief kiss
Pg 238 – second sex scene – give and take of pain involved
Pg 250 – brief kiss
Pg 263 – brief kiss
Pg 274 – third sex scene – bondage and light whipping for hero from heroine
Pg 285 – oral for her followed by doggy style
Pg 398 – blow job for him followed by oral for her
Pg 430 – sex doggy style without penetration
Pg 483 – sex scene

Total pages - 502

[Maria Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

¿Qué puedo decir? Como siempre, Laura Kinsale, consigue crear historias fantásticas de héroes oscuros y de damiselas a las que no les asusta ningún lobo feroz... Una historia diferente, única, vibrante...

[Caz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've given this an A+ for narration and a B+ for content - I'm calling it 4.5 stars here

Having very much enjoyed For My Lady's Heart in audio format, I’ve been eagerly looking forward to its sequel, Shadowheart, which picks up the story of Allegretto della Navona, the ruthless young assassin who was one of the major secondary characters in that novel. He’s certainly an interesting choice for the hero of an historical romance but I knew that if anyone could make a murderer into a romantic hero, it would be Ms. Kinsale.

She does that and then some. Allegretto is utterly captivating, despite the terrible things he has done, his wicked past, and his dark thoughts. At times, he’s so charmingly seductive that it’s difficult to believe he has gone through life leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake and then will come a moment when the ruthless assassin comes to the fore and reminds us abruptly of that fact. He’s a very complex character and his path towards redemption, both spiritually and literally, is fittingly arduous. It would have been easy to turn him into a tortured soul who was badly misunderstood, to build on those flashes of conscience he displayed in For My Lady’s Heart and have him reforming somewhat in the intervening years. But this is Laura Kinsale, and she’s never one to take the easy way out. Her achievement in making the listener care about a man without conscience, without heart, and, given his status as an ex-communicate, without a soul, is nothing sort of masterly.

It’s clear in the previous book that Allegretto is a terribly disturbed and conflicted character. The bastard son of Gian Navona, he was taught to kill at a young age and put to work as an assassin. He has never known love or affection - at sixteen, everyone around him knows what he is and what he is capable of - and they are terrified of him. But he also shows himself to have a conscience during the events of that story, especially at the very end, when he arrives at Savernake, the home of Melanthe’s waiting woman, Cara, with the latter’s six-year-old half sister, Elena. Elena is, in reality, the sole heiress to the city-state of Monteverde in Northern Italy, a city torn asunder by the feud between the rival houses of Riata and Navona. Elena had been held hostage by the Riata as a way of blackmailing Cara into murdering her mistress. When Cara failed and the Riata would have killed Elena, Allegretto spirited her away to safety and England, where she is brought up in the house of her sister and brother-in-law, with no idea of her true identity.

When, at the age of seventeen, Elena discovers the truth, she is distraught. She has no wish to leave England and wants nothing to do with Monteverde, but she is given no alternative. Her godmother, the Lady Melanthe, has arranged her marriage to Franco Pietro, the head of the Riata family as a way to end the strife that is tearing Monteverde apart.

On the journey, Elena’s ship is attacked by pirates and she is taken to the island of “Il Corvo” (the Raven), a man who is clearly much to be feared. He is also the most beautiful man Elena has ever seen and seems strangely familiar to her. Il Corvo is none other than Allegretto della Navona, the same man who rescued Elena from the Riata over a decade previously, and who now intends to use her to stake his own claim to the throne of Monteverde.

As the story progresses, Elena discovers an abiding love for her homeland and the courage to do what she must in order to bring peace. Her transformation from a naïve young woman into a forceful head of state is remarkable, although dealing with the nature of her feelings for Allegretto seems at times to be even more difficult than brokering peace between the warring factions of the Riata and the Navona. Franco Pietro seems willing to bury the hatchet but Allegretto is not - until circumstances force him to work with his enemy in order to prevent disaster.

As a piece of historical fiction, a historical thriller, a story of revenge and redemption, Shadowheart works brilliantly. The hero – or perhaps I should say, anti-hero – is an utterly compelling character who, despite his catalogue of terrible deeds, is devastatingly attractive and he is brought vividly to life in Nicholas Boulton’s masterful and multi-layered performance.

As a romance, I found Shadowheart to be slightly less successful. I understand that there was some degree of controversy when the book first came out which mostly related to the unconventional sexual relationship between Allegretto and Elena. It’s probably going too far to call it sado-masochistic, but nearly all their sexual encounters involve Elena inflicting pain upon her lover – usually by using teeth and nails, and at one point, a leather strap or belt – and enjoying it.

I can rationalise it, certainly. The first time they have sex, it’s little more than rape, and during that, Elena bites Allegretto so hard that she draws blood. That’s understandable as she’s trying to defend herself; yet even in those circumstances, she realises that she enjoyed both inflicting the pain and seeing Allegretto’s reaction to it.

Their sexual encounters after this follow a similar pattern, with Elena wanting to hurt Allegretto in some way, and he inviting her to do so. I can certainly understand that she might want revenge on him for forcing her and that he could be allowing her to exact it because he knows what he did was wrong. I can also argue that Allegretto is a man so filled with self-loathing that he would see that sort of punishment as his due. He’s a murderer; he’s unprincipled, ruthless, and evil so why would he be deserving of love or tenderness or affection?

Elena’s life has been turned upside down and she is completely powerless to do anything about it. Here is the most gorgeous man in Christendom – a man who has done innumerable terrible things in his young life, a man who is so terrified at the thought of losing control that it makes him almost physically ill - and he is offering her power, power over him.

That’s what my head tells me about why these two people might have entered into a sexual relationship based on pain. But my gut tells me that the whole “hurt me while we’re having sex” thing doesn’t scream “romance”. In fact, it wasn’t until much later in the book, where the relationship between Elena and Allegretto had to take a back-seat to the political intrigue and machinations taking place in the rest of the story, that I began to feel a deeper emotional connection developing between them, which, in one scene during Allegretto’s imprisonment was so powerful as to have almost made me sob out loud.

This aspect of the novel seems to polarise readers and I can see why. I also found it difficult to reconcile the seventeen-year-old Elena who becomes alarmed at the over-enthusiastic kisses of the man she wants to marry with the seventeen-year-old Elena who finds she likes to hurt her lover during sex and is comfortable enough with that to suggest role-play in the bedroom that involves her tying him up and slapping him with a leather belt.

I’m not a prude. I don’t read a lot of erotica, although I do read it occasionally, and I’m more than okay with raunchy sex scenes in romantic novels. But the infliction of pain made for uncomfortable listening and, dare I say, felt a little out of place in a romance.

That said, however, the parts of the novel that deal with the emotional rather than the sexual side of the relationship between the protagonists are very intense and deeply romantic. Allegretto’s concern for Elena’s immortal soul and his desperation at the thought of her dying unshriven are beautifully written, with the sort of emotional punch that made me feel as though my heart had been ripped out and stomped on.

Nicholas Boulton is narrating once more, and again delivers a superb performance. He perfectly captures Allegretto’s mercurial nature, switching seamlessly between devastating sensuality, ruthless pragmatism, and murderous intent. His Allegretto just oozes sex appeal, while at the same time flawlessly conveys the sense of the barely leashed darkness he carries inside him. I was bowled over by the raw intensity of his interpretation, especially in those moments which – metaphorically – strip Allegretto bare and allow us a glimpse of the man beneath the surface. The scenes that really stand out for me are the one I’ve already mentioned, during Allegretto’s imprisonment, and the one towards the end of the book where he finally faces his demons.

Although most of the action takes place in Italy, Allegretto’s associates are a motley bunch – Italian, Turkish and English – and Mr. Boulton navigates his way easily through a myriad of different characters and accents without putting a foot wrong, from the authoritative, gruff, Italianate tones of Franco Pietro to the quiet yet lethal Turkish servant Zafer and the bluff, English mercenary, Philip Welles.

His interpretation of Elena works very well, too, with her progression from girlhood to maturity being marked by subtle changes of tone and a growing confidence in her speech. All the secondary characters are appropriately and distinctly voiced and I did enjoy the brief reunion with Ruck and Melanthe near the beginning of the book.

While taking place in the same historical period as For My Lady’s Heart, there is much less use of archaic language and expression in Shadowheart. The author has said that this is principally because the characters are speaking French and Italian rather than English for most of the time (which is consistent with For My Lady’s Heart – when characters spoke in languages other than English, the middle-English expressions disappeared), so some may find it more approachable in both print and audio than the earlier book.

I agonised over a final grading for this fabulous, difficult, and sometimes downright uncomfortable audiobook. I loved the complexity of the story, the political machinations, the intrigue, and the setting. I adored Allegretto, the ultimate in dark and tortured heroes; I liked seeing the rather naïve and nervous Elena transform into a strong ruler and equally strong woman. I have to be honest, however, and confess that I downgraded the story a little because I didn’t find the sexual relationship between Allegretto and Elena in the early part of the book to be convincing or romantic. However, the intensity of the emotions in the second half and the beauty of the writing bumped it back up again.

In all honesty, Shadowheart is probably not a book for everyone. It’s intense, brilliant, and rewarding, but can also be very problematic. Yet it’s an audiobook I will certainly revisit as the performance was utterly mesmerising and, in spite of my reservations, I was completely enthralled by the story.

[Maureen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the sequel to My Lady’s Heart in this Medieval series. The first story was the true love story of Lady Melanthe Princess of Monteverde and her Green Knight in Shining Armour Ruck Sir Ruadrik of Wolfscar. She was cunning and wary trusting no one except her Knight and her falcon. He was all things Knights strive to be a true man of faith and honour.They have 2 children a son Richard and a daughter Celestine.
This story h is the goddaughter of Lady Melanthe, Cara’s sister Elena (Elayne) and her love Lady Melanthe’s protector and assassin from Italy Allegreto, the late Gian Novanna’s son.

Lady Melanthe provided Elayne with a great education. She learned to speak read and write in French, Italian, English and Latin. She learned about world around her (Marco Polo’s travels to China ) the law being able read legal ease, she learned of herbs and medicine from a Bohemian(Czechia) woman.

Sent to Italy to Marry into the Riata intercepted by Navonna
She was sent to Italy as the Princess of Monteverde her true heritage at King Richard’s order. Her godmother was married to her Uncle the King of Monteverde and her Aunt was married to the Kings brother her second husband. Elena was the only remaining heir to the throne of Monteverde. “Her own father had been murdered before she was born, a brutal loss of Monteverde's only male successor. There was the family called Riata, usurpers who had grasped their chance at Prince Ligurio's death to defeat their mortal rivals in the house of Navona and seize power in Monteverde.
On their voyage to Italy they were intercepted by Saracen Pirates however they were aided by a Captain with a faster vessel and he invited Lady Beatrice Countess of Ludford and her maid “Elena”to travel the rest of the journey under his protection. On the way they stopped at Il Corvo an Island ruled by the Raven who seemed like a Prince.

The Raven Il Corvo
“He stood tall and still, watching them—arriving from nowhere, as if he had created himself out of the ether. Jet-dyed folds of silk fell from his shoulders. Beneath the dark cloak he wore silver, a tunic fitted perfectly to his body. His hair was black; the color of fathomless “night, tied back at the nape of his neck. He was like a statue of pure metal—inhuman—elegant and fantastic. Elayne wasn't even certain for a moment if he were real or a marble figure come to sudden life, but dark as sin, as gorgeous and corrupt as Lucifer himself.
For he was corrupt—and the master of this place—no one need bow to make that evident, although both the captain and the guard fell to their knees with haste. Elayne dipped into a reverence, keeping her head lowered, though she watched him from under her lashes. She could not tear her eyes away. Even Lady Beatrice leaned upon her cane and made a brief courtesy. “
“And who might you be?" Lady Beatrice demanded—with considerable audacity, Elayne thought.
"Alas, I have no noble titles, my lady. They call me only Raven, after the name of this island—Il Corvo."

Marry the The Raven Allegreto Navona
“"Navona is not finished," he said in a voice that caressed the words. "Not yet while I breathe." He leaned “on the table, his black cloak flowing down over his hands. Nothing he had discovered among his pirate treasures had elicited a look like the one he gave her now. "You may have your desire to linger with me, my lady Elena, but I need no payment from the duke. I demand another ransom, sweeting. I require you for my wife."

Elena’s Rescue by Allegreto
“You're alive by my hand—I'm the one who brought you out and conveyed you safe to your sister's godforsaken mud pit in the woods. Little though you seem to know or remember of it."“"Did you think you'd been wafted there upon some angel's wings? I smuggled you out of the Riata fortress “in a laundry basket, and a bold child you were, too, at a bare six years. We crossed the mountains with a dog for a guide—one just such as this, the white guardians of the flocks—I lost the way and the rain turned to ice; I carried you until I thought we'd both be dead. But that dog came to you, and you held onto it, and it took us. You don't remember." He shook his head. "You don't remember any of it?"

Elena Princess of Monteverde just rewards of Allegreto Navona
“ "I'll have what my father meant to take. Monteverde belongs to me. You cleanse the taint of my left-handed blood. You seal my claim. So abandon your love poems and don't imagine that you'll be suffered to dally with any mongrel such as this Raymond who pants after you."
Elayne put her hand on his wrist and wrenched free. "If you're not a pirate, then don't handle me as if I'm a pirate's trull."

Allegreto & Elena make love on journey to Monteverde
He kissed her, his tongue plunging deep into her mouth, driving her head back. His fingers slid down her back and into the curve of her buttocks, dragging her roughly against his thrusting cock. Hell-cat," he said, his voice harsh and breaking. He sank down over her, his arm locked behind her back, his breath discordant in her ear. He twisted with a groaning gasp, pushing halfway into her, fighting her as she gave back pain for each sweet burst of sensation, allowing him nothing without that price, until he was shuddering in all his limbs and she thought her body would disintegrate in torment and bliss. ."
"I am yours," he said, lifting his face to her.
She kissed his forehead; she cupped her hands around his jaw and pressed her lips to his bruised temple. Her hair wrapped them together, swirling around his body. He could have impaled her; she felt him ready for it, but he held her floating in the water above him.
"Now." It was barely a word, barely a murmur. "Take me now."
He ran his tongue over her lips as he let her slide downward. "Say my name," he whispered harshly.
She bent her head and closed her teeth on his shoulder. Water washed into her mouth as he pulled her down onto his hard shaft, pain in return for his blunt pleasure. He gripped her hips, going deep in one swift thrust. agony. He filled her, dragging her against him. He shoved hard inside, his fingers spreading her buttocks to bring her closer. It hurt her, too, pain deep inside at the limits of her body, but a brilliant wave of sensation coursed up through her. She gasped, throwing her head back, rocking against him again and again. "Allegreto!"
He answered, driving his seed into her, desire and pain and hot elation at her bidding.

His shaft throbbed and burned for her, still sore from her hand. When she moved back he followed her, turning over, rising with fervent obedience as she commanded him to serve her. She took a stance before him on her knees and arms, to be mounted like a lovely she-demon. She had abused him so that it hurt to enter her, but he was lost in it, gloried in it, his mind gone near to roaring blackness as he looked down at the sight of her pale back and sable hair, her round buttocks and his rod plunging in. He held her hips and shoved deep; he heard her whimper and cry, but it was delight and demand, and he answered fully, commanded by her even as he spilled his seed in blinded ecstasy.
The Princess of Monteverde

“Her Grace the Magnificent, the Prima Elect, the Most Potent and Just Principessa Elena di Monteverde”
Elena kept both Allegreto and Riata locked up until they agreed to peace.
Neither one believes it can happen. Their trust in each other is nil. They both want power and control not peace.
Elena loves Allegreto but ruling and peace take precedence.

Allegreto shares his past when her Grandfather ruled.

“I want to tell you something," he said. "I want to tell you about your grandfather."
Elayne looked up at his face.
"I knew him well, Elena. While I was still beardless, he used me to protect Melanthe. After your own father was murdered, and Ligurio was growing feeble, he made an accord with Gian for me to come into the citadel. I played the eunuch, so that I could sleep beside her, and act her lover." He had no expression”“he looked down at her and let his fingers trace down her cheek. "She suffered me, because Ligurio said she must. But she despised me. Everyone in the citadel did. And feared me for what I could do."
Elayne held his cold gaze, pressing his hand between hers, trying to warm him. She could feel his ring still on her finger.
"Only Ligurio gave me welcome there," he said. "He taught me there was another kind of man beyond my father. That there was something in love that was not wholly dread. That there was reason in the world. And kindness. He taught me alchemy and astrology. He “gave me a way to be something beyond what my father made of me." He scowled, his mouth hardening. "When Ligurio died, I went down in the pit under the citadel, where I knew no one would come, and wept until I was sick with it."
He sounded angry. He lifted his hand away from her and rubbed it across his mouth, the fetters clashing.
"I see him in you," he said. "I read his book. I heard what you said out there. We're all Monteverde first." He dropped his hand with a chinking noise. "But you can't do it while I live, Elena. Not I, and not Franco.”

“She did not hurt him, but caressed the tip gently while his mouth pressed hard into her hair.
He made sounds of desperation, holding himself taut. He shivered as she ran her hand down the length of him. Then he wrenched away, pulling her upright. "Turn over," he hissed, rising. He made her roll away from him, quick and brutal, dragging her up by the waist and shoving his cock between her legs from behind.”
Quote: Chapter 15
Elena finds Allegreto

She pushed her fingers between his, locking them with hers. "Love?" She felt tears slide down and fall onto her wrists. "I didn't know what it was until I lost you."She took a deep breath, swallowing tears. "Will you never understand? Allegreto—it's you I won't give up, no matter what you are."

Allegreto—you asked me this once—if I would spare my own soul at the cost of what I love." She lifted her chin as he opened his eyes. "I didn't know my answer then. But I know it now."
He stared at her, a lock of his dark hair falling down over his temple. His breath grew shallow and uneven, like an animal in distress.
"I'll risk eternity for you. What will you do for me?" she asked softly.
Allegreto goes to confession

“Then, with amazement, Elena watched the old man do something that she had never seen any priest do before. He knelt down onto the floor and took Allegreto's face between his hands, speaking earnestly close to his ear.
Allegreto listened. He nodded, and then nodded again as the cleric murmured to him. When the priest let him go, he caught the old man's knotty fingers and kissed them reverently.
With an effort, holding to the rail, the pastor rose to his feet. "In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I forgive you.”

You'd best have yourself shriven quickly now," he said hoarsely. "I'm not going to Heaven without you, hell-cat."
Elena and Allegreto wed

One tiny miracle took place at Elena's wedding.
She wore a garland of flowers for her headpiece, and the fine gown of blue damask that she'd brought for her audience with the Pope. A brisk spring breeze lifted her loose hair from her shoulders and her long train dragged over weeds and uneven pavement as she walked with Margaret toward the church. Allegreto and Dario stood with the priest at the door. Dario wore the green-and-silver of Monteverde, but Allegreto wore silver only, the glittering tunic of the first time she'd ever seen him, when she'd wondered if he were a demon or an angel or a man. His hair was uncovered, tied back, a black fall over the silvery cloth. He hardly looked like a man cleansed of all sin—he looked as if he were sin itself, pagan, everything of earthly life and beauty come together in pure temptation.
Margaret lifted Elena's train as she mounted the steps. The priest smiled at her, no beatific beam but a mischievous, knowing smile, like an old gnome grinning over his newfound hoard. She could hardly help from smirking back at him, as if they were childish conspirators who had succeeded in some clever game.
It all passed quickly then. The priest asked them for their free consent, and assisted them to say the proper vows. Elena had the words ready, but Allegreto

seemed to forget them and had to be led through line-by-line. He looked at her, a dark look from beneath his lashes, and then glanced away, frowning out toward the lake and back again.
It was as the priest took Elena's hand and drew it to her bridegroom that her small miracle occurred.
The day before, she'd forced the Navona ring from her finger, with great pain and effort, and given it to the priest. Now the old man blessed it and handed it again to Allegreto, jostling him a little to attract his attention away from the lake.
Twice before, she'd put on the same ring, and each time it had been a struggle to make it fit. She held her hand stiff, expecting a difficult moment. Allegreto closed his hand over hers. "With this ring I wed thee," he said hastily. The ring slipped onto her finger without effort, as smoothly as if it had been made for her. "With my body I worship thee."
Elena looked up in amazement. Allegreto seemed not to notice, still glancing in distraction toward the water. The old priest nodded benignly. He smiled at her.
Suddenly Zafer made a low shout from his position a little distance from the church—and it was not celebration. Elena finally turned to see what it was on the lake of such palpable interest. She gripped Allegreto's hand.
A painted galliot came rushing into shore, the oars backing water and the scarlet canopy rippling as it swung around for landing. Another was behind it, holding off. She could see a crowd of passengers under the shade. The delicate arched prow rode down the reeds and the oars pitched upward smartly as the first vessel came to rest against the abandoned quay.
"Do not offer violence," the priest said quietly.
She realized that Allegreto and Dario and Zafer all had their hands ready to draw weapons. It was Matteo who first bounded off the galley, even before the plank was laid. Nimue hesitated, her paws and white head hanging over the side, and then came in a great leap after him, racing across the piazza.
Elena turned as the eager dog bounded up the steps and pressed against her skirts. She looked toward the priest. "It's done?" she exclaimed anxiously. "We are wed?"
He made a calm nod. "In the eyes of God and the holy church, your union is established and sanctified."
Wedding Night
"Mary!" he growled. "Have me thrown in some dungeon, before I suppose I've wed the wrong bride."
She ran her tongue over her upper lip. "You would like that?"
"Oh, yes." He lowered his mouth to hers, barely touching. "If you'll come and torment me there."there."
"Allegreto," she whispered, looking up into his dark eyes. "I love you."
"My heart is in chains, hell-cat," he said. He pulled her close, his hands in a merciless tangle in her hair. "If I had one."

[Katie (Romance Novel Quotes)]

I don’t even know what to say. I feel like I took a master class in POV and I’m still thinking about it.

[Regan Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unusual, Fascinating and Disturbing

To say this book was difficult to review is an understatement. Let me say at the outset that Kinsale writes brilliantly and has obviously done an amazing job of presenting the historical setting of 14th century Northern Italy. The story certainly held my interest; however, it is also sometimes disturbing and, in places, had me figuratively tearing out my hair. Some historical romance readers will have difficulty with parts of it.

This is the sequel to For My Lady's Heart and much of our introduction to the hero, Allegreto, can be found there, should you want to read it. Shadowheart won the RITA in 2005 for Best Historical Romance, which is interesting in itself, as you’ll see from my comments below. Unlike the prequel, this one is only sprinkled with Middle English, and much better for the change—we can actually understand what Kinsale is saying.

Set in the late 14th-century, Allegreto, the 16-year-old assassin we met in book one, and bastard son of the Italian Navona family, now in his late 20’s, has one goal—to reclaim his birthright in Monteverde (Northern Italy). He is strong, mysterious and ruthless. To secure his claim, he uses treachery to capture the last heir and princess of Monteverde, 17-year-old Elena. Much happened after her capture that bothered me. I apologize for some spoilers, but I can’t review this book without them.

Allegreto (called “Il Corvo” after his island and “pirate” to Elena), rapes her and then calls her “wife,” though there is no marriage nor vows of any kind. How he intended to claim her lands with no lawful marriage mystified me but that’s how the story begins. That Elena, who seemed a bright, independent young woman, could be so witless as to walk into his trap and believe that he had married her and consummated the marriage while she was drugged was just bizarre. She never challenges it, though with her personality, one would have expected her to.

As to Elena and Allegreto’s sexual relationship, I just have to say it was strange for a 17-year-old innocent. While I don’t typically quote other reviewers, the following assessment so closely paralleled my own views I thought to use it: “Had she written a bigger buildup of Elena's obsession with her "angel" of the past so there was a foundation for the present relationship, then made Elena a reluctant apprentice in the S&M and bondage in an effort to "save" Allegreto's black heart and soul, the scenes could have been made darkly beautiful and believable. As it was, we had to make some lightning-fast adjustments to keep up with the young girl we were first introduced to who was alarmed by the aggressive kisses of a romantic knight, and within a matter of weeks morphed into a disturbing and disturbed seductress. We were given no reference point from which to understand the flowering of the relationship between Elena and Allegreto, other than the point at which they came together to draw blood. As a result, we have a very hard time envisioning a happily-ever-anything for these two.” I, too, found it unbelievable. One could expect Allegreto to engage in such behavior given his background, but Elena? Raised as an educated young woman in a happy home in England, it was hard to believe.

Almost all the story is in Elena’s point of view so we know little about Allegreto’s thoughts. We do know (early on) that on his island kingdom he pursued the occult and was creating a generation of young assassins in his own image. Elena, finding that disturbing as well she should, is naïve enough to believe if he promises not to train her own children (when they come) in his murderous ways, those children will somehow be different from their father or the assassin culture all around them. That made her look witless.

The change in the hero and heroine over the course of the book was interesting: she started out weak and became a dominating princess and he started out strong and ended up her love slave.

I wouldn’t recommend this book without the disclaimers in this review. But for those who don’t mind all that, I could say it deserves 4 stars simply for the achievement it represents.

[☾ Dαɴιyα ☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadowheart is the sixth Laura Kinsale's book I've read, and it is the sixth Laura Kinsale's book I've loved. I fully expected I would because I knew a book about Allegreto Navona would be something amazing. Somehow it turned out to be even better.

Allegreto Navona — his character in For My Lady's Heart was the main reason I wanted to finish reading that book as soon as possible and get to Shadowheart to see where the road took him after everything that had happened in For My Lady's Heart. Allegreto is such an odd name for that man. In the previous novel he was a ruthless seventeen-year-old assassin, terrified of the plague and his father, who still risked the wrath of his father to help Melanthe and Ruadrik. He was a complex young man. I would read about him and ask that person written on the pages Who are you? I could not wait to find out. Did I find out? I sincerely doubt it.

I was pumped to get Allegreto's perspective, so it came as a bit of a let-down to get it in the second half of this book, and to only get little of it. 469 pages of For My Lady's Heart, and 267 pages of Shadowheart I had to read before I finally got a chapter from Allegreto's POV. Not that I was counting or anything. I didn't mind terribly that the majority of the story was written from Elena's perspective, though. She was a character who kept surprising me in a good way. Plus, it was interesting getting to know the man Allegreto had become through her eyes. A dangerous man in exile plotting his revenge, and a captivating character as ever, he was. An assassin with revenge on his mind as a romantic hero is not something I find in my novels often or ever, or a hero who kidnaps the heroine to use her in his revenge plan, but Laura Kinsale made it work.

In the beginning I was mostly amused (and I know that's strange) by Elena and Allegreto's interactions, but there were times when I was nervous for Elena, times when I was unsettled by what was happening. That's why I welcomed with open arms Elena's transformation into a strong princess and Allegreto's acceptance to be defenseless with her. Also, I'm not gonna lie, when BDSM became a part of their relationship, I might have squealed. I had no idea I would find kink in this book and it was as good as chocolate. The paperback copy of Shadowheart: 13€. Allegreto having a masochistic, submissive side: priceless!

When I started reading this author, I would be nervous for the couple till the very last page. Silly, I know. They were romance novels — of course there would be a happy ending. Still, I worried. I don't anymore. Now I'm certain in the end they would be together, so I just buckle up and enjoy the ride. And what a ride this was! From England to the island of Il Corvo to Venice to Monteverde. My favorite part of the journey was near Monteverde when all Allegreto and Elena could do was wait, using the time for games and for getting to know each other, for one to say I love you, and the other to reply Kill me. I can't bear it. Yeah, that was my favorite.

The resolution of the Monteverde situation was unexpected. Elena did unexpected things throughout the book but in Monteverde she played a game worthy of Melanthe. However, as interesting as it was, it was the most depressing part of the story. I was glad when it was over. After everything the bloody battle over the rule of Monteverde did to Melanthe, Allegreto, Elena, and Ruadrik, I was happy for all of them that it was done. I particularly loved that Melanthe came to visit Monteverde in the end. That scene with her and Allegreto, though very short, was powerful.

On a side note, I am no longer peeved that the epilogue to For My Lady's Heart was another Cara's chapter. It's the perfect intro to Shadowheart, and I got all I wanted from that epilogue in this book.

I read the book. I loved the book. I've said this after every book by Laura Kinsale I've read. Hope to say it six more times.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of Laura Kinsale's books years ago. I revisit my favorites all the time. It's easy and soothing to sit on a short-haul flight (pre-COVID, of course) and reread the island chapters in Seize the Fire or the post-cherry brandy scenes in The Shadow and the Star. When I think of romance novels, I really do think of her books. They've even got the Fabio book covers!

I was listening to a Julia Quinn Instagram Live while cooking dinner a couple weeks ago and she said, and I'm paraphrasing here: "I remember that Avon dinner because it's the one that Laura Kinsale and her husband attended, and I was pretty young and kind of sat there like 'my God, that's Laura Kinsale!'" That's certainly how I felt when I met her. I don't think I've ever been so quiet. So many of her books are just plain awe-inspiring.

But...and maybe you knew there was a but coming, I found this book good but not great.

Her writing is always wonderful and full of depth. That remained consistent. No sentence serves just one function. If she's writing about a painful silence between hero and heroine, let's say, then it's going to be lyrically done, illuminate character, push the plot along, and make you feel as if forever has fucking passed between these two people, okay? It's why her stuff bears up to rereads.

I also thought the sex scenes in this were Kinsale's best. I can see the sex and S&M in this being a ymmv thing for a lot of people, however. For me...it was not to my usual taste and yet somehow Kinsale had me wanting to be a dom.


Me volunteering as tribute to spend two days in a room in Monteverde with Alegretto.

Maybe I should have read the prequel first. I just feel like there was a puzzle piece missing with this one. I had a difficult time connecting with the hero up until the 2/3rd mark of this novel, when he is betrayed by the heroine. Up until that point he always got his way and his issues and weaknesses didn't negatively impact him in any tangible way (except in the bedroom, perhaps). That just doesn't lend much to character development. Maybe we needed his POV earlier in the story.. The back half of the book is a lot stronger than the first half, which dragged at times. I really liked the heroine but she didn't really have any flaws apart from being young and untried.

All in all, it's still one of the better books I've read this summer, just not one for the favorites shelf.

Do you ever think how cool it would be if one day you woke up and Laura Kinsale or Meredith Duran (who is also no longer writing, it seems) pulled a Beyonce and dropped a surprise novel? Just me?

4 stars

[Crista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished reading this book several days ago. I usually write a review immediately after reading a book, but with this one, frankly, I didn't know what to rate it, or what to say about it. As a usually very opinionated and "sure" type of person...this was a first for me.

Laura Kinsale is not your ordinary romance novel writer. This needs to be understood first and foremost before reading anything by her. She does not write light and fluffy romances that make you sigh and smile. Her novels challenge you to look beyond the words into the characters and the time in which they lived. She is not a "quick read" and reading her books will push you...both in literary and literal senses.

Shadowheart is INTENSE, and quite frankly, probably not for everyone. Here's what I liked and didn't:
*SPOILER ALERT* (For those who haven't read it yet)!

Here's what bothered me:
1. This is the second book in a series and I should've read For My Lady's Heart, the preceding book first.
2. This book is told through Elena's perspective. I would usually be alright with this, but Allegretto was too dominating a character to be ignored. I long to have coffee with this author to ask her questions about Allegretto. This book did not give me nearly enough of him and his thoughts to satisfy me, rather, it just left me frustrated. However, kudos to Kinsale for creating a character so compelling to make me care!
3. This is a "wordy" novel, and although I resisted, there were parts that I wanted to skim over. My advise is to push through and read every word. You'll miss things if you don't. Again, not a "light and fun" read.
4. This book contains some the most "controversial" sex that I've ever read. I do not read erotica so the nature of Allegretto and Elena's sexual relationship was different for me, however, I understood it. Elena needs to regain control back over her life and Allegretto's past requires penance. The first couple of times, I liked the sex scenes, but by the end I wished that they would move past some of that to get to a more "healthy" intimacy. Why did it ALWAYS have to be about pain, submission, cruelty, and domination?

Here's what captivated me:
1. Allegretto. Allegretto. Allegretto. Allegretto. Dark Angel, Raven, Il Corvo...whatever name he's going by at the time...it doesn't matter. HE is what I am going to remember about this book. He is a cold blooded killer, and although he despises what he is, he is also resigned to "who he has been made to be". He kills without mercy and is as "bad" as they get but he also has deep regrets and feels beyond redemption. I think the word "tortured hero" doesn't even begin to touch this man. I will not forget him.
2. Elena. Elena. Elena. I loved this woman. She goes from flighty girl to regal leader in the span of this book. Her transformation is gradual and we get to see it up close. She challenges Allegretto making him a better man throughout the novel. In one part of the book Allegretto is talking about Elena and says this...."Nay, I have no heart. My father hacked it out of me long ago, for his convenience. But she is my compass and measure now.".............. Need I say more?
3. This is an "epic" sort of novel. It spans time, distance, and focuses on both past and present. It is a story of families sworn to be enemies. A story about one woman's ascension to her rightful place of rule, and the decisions made along the way. Ultimately, this story is about Allegretto finding redemption and letting go of his shame and hate.

I wish I knew him better. Had Kinsale done this, I think this might rank right up there, but for me as it stands, I will always feel a bit let down and deprived of this unbelievable man's motives, thoughts, and feelings.

[Pepa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leer a esta autora siempre es un placer. No es una lectura ágil, sino densa. Pero me gusta mucho su forma de escribir y disfruto mucho de su lectura.
El problema ha sido la historia. No me ha gustado, creo que en muchos momentos la alarga sin ningún sentido y el tema de los personajes no me ha cuajado nada.
No me ha dado la sensación de que esta jovencita de apenas 19 años esté cualificada para hacer (ella solita) todo lo que hace... la evolución a nivel sexual es, cuanto menos, sorprendente y esa faceta oculta me ha dejado pasmada (literalmente). No cabía en mi sorpresa.
Il Cuervo irreconocible, y eso no me gusta nada. Tenía un filón, en serio. Un hombre con el corazón oscuro, frío y calculador...y qué me he encontrado????? Leerlo para descubrirlo, pero ha sido todo un desengaño.

[Lu Han · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too boring, no chemistry between the hero and heroine, and worst of all the writing is bizarre and hard to follow.

[KatieV · Rating 4 out of 5]

The progression of their relationship and the way they complemented one another was amazing to read.

I read a lot of romance and much of it doesn't stick with me, but I'm still thinking about this book after finishing it. I didn't expect to like the "femdom" element to their sexual relationship, but it made sense in context. The H was still all alpha-male and the h was strong yet kind and not a shrew at all. I think much of her roughness with him in bed had to do with the fact that she no longer had any power in her life. She was afraid, confused, horrified by the H and yet attracted to him. He, on the other hand, had a deep self loathing that her biting/scratching satisfied. Personally, I was left with the feeling that their future sexual relationship would be a combination of tenderness and some kink (because they both like it) but above all, they would be making love.

The historical detail, language, and love story were all fascinating. It was definitely refreshing to have fully fleshed out characters in a romance novel and a dangerous alpha-hero who was not a ranting/raving jerk. Allegreto was fascinating, multi-dimensional (and sexy!). Elena was strong, yet not TSTL. Too often these writers seem to make a strong h synonymous with being bullheaded and waspish to the point of stupidity

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

First reread.

I think this is my favorite Kinsale book!

I loved it more after my reread. Allegretto and Elayne are unmatched main characters. This is an excellent love story as well as a captivating adventure.

[Leigh Kramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-read 11/27/21: When I buddy read this a year a half ago, I had no idea it would lead to buddy reading the rest of Laura Kinsale’s catalog or that it would form friendships that became a lifeline during the pandemic. The four of us independently read For My Lady’s Heart and Flowers From the Storm, buddy read this one, and then decided we needed to see if Kinsale’s catalog was as amazing as those three books were. Alas, those three still reign supreme. I'm still amazed by what Kinsale accomplished with them and by how different they are from anything else. We have one book left and nothing has knocked my original ranking. I’m grateful for the rich conversations I’ve had with Charlotte, Hannah, and Vicky as we’ve made sense of the highs and lows of Kinsale’s backlist.

I enjoyed Shadowheart even more this time around. The re-read meant I picked up on so many breadcrumbs I’d missed the first time around, like the way she laid the tracks for Elena’s Domme tendencies. It gave me more appreciation for the earlier parts of Elena’s arc where she came across as naive and TSTL. She could be a frustrating character in the first half of the book—and that was before I knew most of Kinsale’s FMCs were like that minus the growth—but this made her arc all the more impressive. This time I could more closely see how she evolved and the core of steel she unknowingly inherited from her godmother Melanthe. It was a delight to watch her transformation anew. Elena’s vision for Monteverde came across as even more hopeful and I was moved once more by Allegreto’s spiritual plight and Elena’s determination that she would risk hell for him. The problematic elements are still there (I’ve updated the content warnings with more details). There is no denying her mastery of language and prose and the way her characters truly come to life. Plus, let’s be honest: Allegreto is the tortured deadly dark angel that dreams are made of.


Original Review:
CW: rape

4.5 stars. This is now my second favorite Kinsale novel but it comes with a whole bunch of caveats and disclaimers. It will not be for everyone: pay close attention to the content warnings. This came out 15 years ago so it should be read in the context of old school romance. We also have to address the age difference: Allegreto is 28 and Elayne is 17. I had to think of age 17 in medieval times to be the equivalent of at least age 30 in present day times. This kind of age gap was commonplace then. I wouldn’t read it in a contemporary-set novel but I could roll with it here. There’s also the fact that Allegreto rescued Elayne when she was kidnapped at age 6 but they haven’t seen each other since then and she had barely any recollection.

You absolutely need to read For My Lady’s Heart (my favorite Kinsale) first. Allegreto first appears in FMLH and I was very curious what he’d be like as a hero. Initially, not great. He kidnaps the heroine, coerces her into marriage, and then rapes her. There's no way I would have stayed past the rape scene if I hadn't known more of his character and wanted to see his redemption. I understand if its inclusion is a hard pass for other readers.

Men could treat their wives (or women, in general really) however they wanted without consequence during the medieval age (and beyond.) This included having sex with them, regardless of what the woman wanted—that was their "wifely duty." But in no way is that consent. While that's how many wedding nights worked back then and even still function that way today (thanks, patriarchy), it was a lot to read. It was one of those cognitive dissonance moments where I know stuff like this very much happened back then but I don't want to see a character I'm supposed to root for doing it. I still wanted to get inside Allegreto's mind and see what made him tick but I wasn’t convinced he was the right person for Elayne.

Having read the whole story, I'm still not convinced the rape was "necessary" for the plot, even though Kinsale ultimately does some interesting things regarding their power dynamics, things she could not have accomplished without having included it. I understood Allegreto’s reasons for wanting her as his wife but he could have achieved this in less coercive ways, even seduced or manipulated her into it. Especially because Allegreto already knew Elayne didn't want to go marry that guy at Monteverde. (Not saying that’s necessarily better but certainly less horrific for Elayne.) This is the guy who eventually convinced his mortal enemy to set himself on pretend fire and pretend to be a ghost in that camp! He didn't have to use brute force to achieve his will.

Questions about whether Allegreto deserved Elayne aside, I also kept wondering how she was going to be a good match for him. At the start, she was so sheltered and naive and, frankly, weak. Especially when she acted without thinking. I wanted her to step up to the plate and be more than a pawn, as per one of my favorite lines when Melanthe told her, "And that is what I want you to remember—you have value. You can be more than a pawn. You do not have to dance to any tune they play for you.” And you know what? She really did step up to the plate. I thoroughly enjoyed Elayne coming into her own and becoming the leader she was meant to be. It was also interesting to see the dichotomy between when she’s called Elayne (the Anglicized version of her name) and when she starts to become Elena again. It made for one of the best emotional arcs I've ever read.

As the story continues, it becomes clear they are perfect for one another, in spite of their doubts and reservations. There are some super steamy scenes, including BDSM bath time and Queen-captured warrior role play. After their first nonconsensual time, Elayne is in complete charge of when and how they have sex. She function as a Domme. Their sex scenes toppled their previous dynamic. He started their relationship with pain and then she took it back and inflicted pain on him, with the benefit of him being into said pain. I was fascinated by how Elayne instinctively knew how to do BDSM after having no sexual experience. It made me very curious about when BDSM romance first emerged or how much it showed up outside of erotic romance/erotica back then. Shadowheart precedes 50 Shades by 7 years.

Much of the story is told from Elayne’s perspective. Chapter 18 the first time we got Allegreto’s POV and it was really striking that we got to experience the role play the way he did. The previous chapters built him up as a rather invulnerable person so it hit me even harder to see his soft underbelly. I really loved seeing him grow as a character, wrestling with what he thinks he deserves, his need for revenge, and so on.

In addition to the sex scenes toppling their power dynamic, the plot gives Elayne more power and Allegreto being completely subject to her whims and determinations, which ultimately changes things for the good of the entire region. It was ridiculously impressive!

Their Catholic faith figured in to the plot much more than I would have guessed but it was effective. She was willing to risk damning her eternal soul by waiting to confess until he’s no longer excommunicated and can join her and this becomes an even bigger deal by the story’s end. There was a lot of corruption in the Church then, including a murderous Pope, which also has big implications. In terms of what the Catholic church would sanction as marriage, not only did we have Allegreto and Elena forging their own way, there was also Zafer and her maid who are in love but can never marry since he won't convert. I did not like, however, that Zafer and his customs were repeatedly referred to as "infidel." I don't know if that was just another "that's how things were back then" or plain old Islamaphobia.

What a magnificent roller coaster that ending was. There’s so much more I could say about this book, in part because of how much plot Kinsale packed in, but this will suffice for now. I’m so glad I buddy read this one with friends so we could discuss along the way.

Content notes: MMC rapes FMC (first, he drugged her, put her in bed, and arranged for her to wake up with bloodied sheets so she’d think something had happened. Then it was a nonconsensual first time. It’s possible to read parts of it as dubious consent but she clearly stated beforehand that she did not want to have penetrative sex and she refers to it as rape later on in the book), sexual assault by suitor, suicidal ideation, abduction, coerced into marriage, drugged food and drink, MMC threatens to sell FMC as a concubine, threat of sexual assault, concussion from falling off a horse resulting in temporary memory loss, violence, threat of murder/assassination, attempted murder, brief torture of villain, battle scene, past child abuse, slut-shaming, sexism, FMC was kidnapped as a child and then rescued, xenophobia, religious bigotry, Muslim stereotypes, on page sex, D/s, pain play, impact play, bondage, Queen/captured warrior role play, alcohol, “manhood” used as euphemism, gendered insults, gender essentialism, ableist language, pregnant secondary character, mentions of sex slavery/prostitution (secondary and minor characters)

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

En la Inglaterra del s. XIV, Lady Elena se queda absolutamente asombrada al descrubir que es la princesa —desaparecida hace tiempo— del poderoso principado italiano de Monteverde y la única heredera viva. Ahora, a pesar de que quiere permanecer en el lugar que siempre ha sido su hogar, sabe que tiene que ir al principado y que deberá casarse por motivos políticos con un auténtico desconocido — el actual gobernante de Monteverde.

Allegreto, el joven y carismático asesino de For my Lady's Heart, convertido ahora en un atractivo y peligroso pirata, sólo quiere una cosa en este mundo: recuperar el lugar que le corresponde por derecho en el principado italiano. Y acaba de encontrar la oportunidad perfecta para cumplir sus deseos en la prometida de su mayor enemigo, Lady Elena. Cuando ésta va de camino hacia Monteverde, la secuestra en alta mar y la hace su prisionera.

La lucha acaba de comenzar... y corren el peligro de perder no sólo sus corazones, sino también sus vidas.






Muy pocas veces un libro del género romántico me deja sin palabras y es precisamente lo que me ha ocurrido con Shadowheart. Dentro de este género, éste es único, no hay nada parecido escrito aún y probablemente no lo habrá en un futuro.

Este es el segundo libro de la serie Medieval Hearts y aún no sé por qué no se ha traducido. En él la autora nos narra la historia de Allegreto, el hijo bastardo de Gian, un asesino sin escrúpulos que ya habíamos conocido en Por el Corazón de mi Dama cuando contaba con dieciséis años y Elena, la medio- hermana de Cara, quien fuera dama de compañía de la princesa Melanthe.

La historia comienza en Inglaterra, años después de que Elena fuera rescatada y llevada junto a su hermana. Ahora a los diecisiete años, la joven vive junto con su hermana, Sir Guy y sus sobrinos en un castillo alejado de la corte. Durante años su madrina, la princesa Melanthe la ha preparado intelectualmente para que adquiera las mejores habilidades en lenguas extranjeras, disposiciones judiciales, métodos de cura, etc.

En su mundo Elena sueña con un ángel negro que siempre la ayuda en los peores momentos. Su hermana mayor constantemente le recrimina lo poco decorosas que son sus actividades y forma de comportarse, pero Elena no escucha y escribe poemas cantándole al amor y a sus pensamientos más íntimos en un idioma que pocos conocen.

Debido a uno de sus actos en pos de mágicos hechizos de amor, su destino se ve torcido cuando el hombre que cree amar la rechaza debido a que es una heredera al trono del Principado de Monteverde y por ende comprometida en matrimonio con Franco Pietro de Riata, gobernante de ese país y enemigo acérrimo de los Navona.

En su viaje hacia su próximo destino es interceptada en el mar por piratas y llevada a una isla en la que finalmente conoce a Allegreto con el nombre de Il Corvo (el cuervo). El encuentro la deja fascinada. Allegreto fascina por su físico, su forma de hablar, sus gestos y al mismo tiempo la aterroriza porque termina descubriendo que es un asesino pero en la forma de su ángel negro.

Allegreto se aprovecha de su ingenuidad y juega sus mejores cartas valiéndose de métodos terribles que probablemente muchas lectoras no serán capaces de perdonar. La convierte en su prisionera, amante y esposa bajo la peor de las intimidaciones. Esto crea un abismo entre ambos protagonistas y es en el cierre de este espacio en lo que Kinsale demuestra una habilidad absolutamente magistral.

Allegreto es un héroe alfa con personalidad fuerte y dominante, pero más complejo que ninguno que haya leído. Pertenece a los hombres que están fuera de la sociedad y que mastican a los demás en sus restantes categorías y lo escupen hacia fuera como un pasatiempo. Esto es Allegreto, una creación brillante que salta de las páginas. Un asesino entrenado, decidido a recuperar el lugar que le corresponde en el Principado italiano de Monteverde y al que no le importa lo que tenga que hacer para lograr su objetivo o al que deba usar para el fin. Y para llegar a su meta, él ve a Elena de Monteverde como el peón perfecto, sellando así su destino.

Los métodos para coaccionarla serán detestados por muchas lectoras como lo hice yo en su momento y la relación sexual entre ambos se verá incluso polémica. Una de las relaciones sexuales entre protagonistas de la romántica histórica más controversial que haya leído y por esta razón probablemente no sea un libro para todas. No hay ninguna escritora que haya bordeado un campo de minas en este aspecto (comentado hace poco de esta manera por una lectora) como Kinsale. El resultado es confuso, chocante por momentos y asimilado o no si llegamos a entender a Allegreto porque la única forma es leyendo el primero de la serie y analizando su abusiva infancia. Nada justifica los medios que emplea para subyugar a Elena, pero he aquí la destreza de una escritora entre las grandes si no la mejor. En su empleo magistral de los giros y vueltas de la trama y del encausamiento de la relación. Esto es Kinsale en su faceta más oscura y al mismo tiempo brillante. No hay más sinónimos para describirlo. La conversión de asesino despiadado, repulsivo en sus acciones a héroe, es una espada de doble filo que muchas veces se vuelve en contra de las tramas que crean algunas autoras. Kinsale simplemente sorprende porque nos hace respirar arte y magia durante ese proceso. El significado de “héroe torturado” se queda en el camino al caracterizar a este personaje.

Esta novela realmente deja las pistas en el tramo final, donde las sobrepasa con las habituales intrigas políticas históricas de imaginar una utopía renacentista, no es una democracia plena, sino una república cuya princesa crea a base de normas por consenso general. Este gesto audaz por parte de Elena al final da un intento de golpe que hace que este principio sea posible, cuando comienza la tarea de reconciliar a Allegreto con su peor enemigo.

Kinsale es meticulosa en su investigación histórica y en el empleo de diálogos inteligentes adecuados a la época de la trama. No emplea el mismo lenguaje medieval exquisito que en Por el Corazón de mi Dama, sino que lo reforma y explota positivamente.

Se trata de una novela atípica en su género. Va más allá del tiempo. Es una historia de familias que han jurado ser enemigos. Una historia sobre la ascensión de una mujer a su lugar legítimo de gobierno y las decisiones tomadas a lo largo del camino. La base de todo, el corazón del libro es Allegreto y su torturada búsqueda por encontrar la redención y dejar ir su vergüenza y su odio.

Toda la historia encandila, pero quizás lo que nos llega como un flechazo al corazón es cuando Elena piensa, después de sus encuentros apasionados con Allegreto que deben ir a confesarse. Allegreto sabe que deberían hacerlo los dos por ir en contra de los mandamientos religiosos, pero cuando llega la oportunidad, Elena no lo hace a menos que Allegreto tenga la misma posibilidad de hacerlo. El problema es que él es consciente de sus muchos crímenes y por ello ha sido excomulgado. Considera que no hay esperanza para él en el cielo, que está fuera de toda redención, pero que ella debe hacerlo. Pero ni la república de Elena, ni la paz, ni el equilibrio político la harán renunciar a su promesa. Ella jamás renunciará a él y su único propósito será salvar su alma.

Shadowheart podría resumirse en una historia oscuramente cautivadora. INTENSA. El viaje de un héroe hacia la absolución de su alma. Shadowheart es Allegreto ¿Recomendable? Absolutamente.

[X · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unfortunately I ended up reading this during the beginning of a high-stress life period and although I enjoyed it I think I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I could have had my brain been able to actually focus 100% on it.

With the first two Kinsale books I’ve read, Flowers From the Storm and For My Lady’s Heart, I read them in long sittings with perfectly curated atmospheres (I literally read FFTS with the spring sun gleaming in the leaves of the tree outside my window from the raindrops left by a thunderstorm that passed as quickly as it arose) where I could just shut off my brain to the rest of the world…. And I think the length and detail of Kinsale’s books work best with that approach.

It kind of sucks because this book had SO much to love, and I felt like I was almost there - and then I would remember “oh yeah, I need to find a new apartment in another city and move there in less than a month, shouldn’t I be looking at listings and sending emails about that” and it would totally take me out of it. :/

So this review is just some random thoughts that I wrote down as I was reading, please know this was a great book but it went straight to the “reread when I can appreciate it more” pile:

- Incredible to have a romance novel where the heroine straight up gives the hero a brain injury a third of the way in. (Okay yes, technically she didn’t *mean* to…) Just, genius tier.

- There was a particular scene that reminded me of The Queen of Attolia… ☠️☠️☠️ Is there anything better than this particular vibe, this particular dynamic… don’t tell me if you disagree. (Look some people are the Gen/Allegreto and some people are the Irene/Elayne, and I’m over here as the Costis just like “damn… damn.”)

- You know what, poor Lancaster. I keep reading these books and forgetting he exists. In his own mind you know he’s a main character but….

Anyway I did really like this! All my other notes are basically me saying that about different plot/character things so I’ll uh leave them off lol.

Having never read anything by Kinsale before a few months ago, it’s been very nice to discover her, especially since she’s got a lot of books. I always feel a little bit ~famous last words~ when speculating about a well-known author, but from what I’ve read so far I think I can probably expect that most books I pick up by Kinsale will be, at the very least, *interesting* to read. I’ll definitely be adding her to the list of authors whose books I flip through at bookstores when I’m considering an impulse buy.

[GigiReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

reread- audiobook.

this book does not reach the heights of FMLH for me but I adored Allegretto and his superstitious dramatic, assassin pretty boy nonsense in that book so I ate this one up again in this reread. This time I didn't quite love it as much as I did years ago. I think my main problem is Elena is so young and so sheltered but she jumps right into some lite bdsm and slips right into being an actual princess and ruling a kingdom torn apart by crazy men bent on revenge, it was a little too much. Allegretto is now Il Corvo, a pirate in exile and still as dramatic as ever. I adore him. He carried the book for me. The plot is a shade too complex at times, the warring Italian kingdoms and the politics of it all had me zoning out during the last half but the narration by Nicholas Boulton and Kinsale's amazing ability to bring the middle ages in Italy to life keep this one on my keeper shelf.
I remember when this book was newer and the s*x scenes were thought to be super controversial and now I was like, that's it? 😆 how times have changed.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
🔥🔥/5

Tropes:
kidnapping
forced marriage
morally grey hero
age gap

CW: non-con, dub con.

[Rhosyo MT · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF %25 (Chapter 8)

I have to accept this book wasn’t for me and let it rest… (In my physical shelves, because I bought the damn paperback and now, I’ll have the constant dusty reminder that I probably will never finish it).😖

Allegreto, the (nearly) sole reason for me LOVING book 1, was in his own story a completely new person. I didn’t recognize the boy I loved from the prequel. And maybe his true self would come out after, but what I read in this %25 was NOT to my liking.
He was BITTER! And that I can understand, BUT he was bitter with his former love… just because she didn’t pick him… He mentioned her a couple of times, inquiring about her person and husband and life… But all in a manner that strongly suggested he wanted to make sure she was unhappy with her choices. AND he spoke of that former love like the woman had always been bland, and stupid and boring… Why love her in the first place, then???????? TOO BITTER FOR MY TASTE. He lost all his charm doing this, and with it all my respect for him.

Adding the teeny-tiny detail that he came up with the fabulous plan of abducting and marring the younger sister of his former love (for reasons of family vengeance and power and blah): A young girl he knew from when she was 6yo!
The first interactions with this girl were mainly about questioning her about HER OLDER SISTER… and in these conversations came up the topic about the current weight and physical appearance of the older sister, the younger sister saying she couldn’t fathom the man in front of her having feelings for her round matron-like older sister… yikes for both.

And that leaves me with the other MC of the book: the Younger Sister. She, I didn’t like one bit.
She was completely impossible to believe. She was a girl of 17, that lived like a peasant, but was educated in science and LOTS of things bc she had a rich godmother who send her books and an old witch to learn from (?)…
She was constantly criticizing her older sister…
She did NOTHING, but of course she was a polyglot, a scientist, a poetess. To then end up being a secret princess of a faraway kingdom…
She had all the insufferable and unrealistic traits of the worst YA heroines anyone could think of. Miss perfect. A Pick-Me girl too cool for school, not like ANY other girl around… But of course, she never thought about her in that way, bc she was blind to her own perfection… gods.

What happened to the lovely slow narrative of book one??? This was mainly boring.
The couple didn’t work for me one bit. There was the Dreaded instant attraction…
The girl is kept a prisoner (and thinks herself victim of rape in the hands of the “hero”!) but can’t help herself feeling something for the (apparently rapey) pirate…???

And I spoiled myself with some relationship dynamic that was to come that sounded ridiculous to me Apparently the young heroine is going to be some kind of Dom and Allegreto her Sub… She doesn’t have the first idea about sex or intimacy or anything (bc: “girl in medieval period”) but apparently that won’t be a problem for her to understand what’s happening and take the lead? I was tempted to read that part bc I really don’t know how that could have worked in a believable way. But not even that curiosity made me continue…
I think, perhaps, this arrangement came to the author’s mind in order to address the strong power-imbalance between the couple? He was ten years her senior, he knew her from when she was a kid, kidnapped her, forced her to marry him, she was only a GIRL IN MEDIEVAL TIMES, him an educated and battle-experienced pirate and assassin, he had a personal grudge with the sister, his former love that didn't want him back,… Too many red flags!
There was NO WAY to think this match as one made between equals.
Maybe that was what also didn’t work for me: The girl was in her teens, but we were to think her a possible rival to Allegreto’s wit? That’s not possible. It felt like grooming.

Not for me…😢

[Gaufre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is a leopard still magnificent if it's tame?

Laura Kinsale's books are always interesting. But they are interesting in the same way a 9-course meal at a fancy restaurant would be. Sometimes, like in Flowers of the Storm, all the pieces work well together and make for a memorable experience. Other times, the book takes a long time to get going and I find myself looking forward to something more substantial happening.

The writing is superb. I was transported to Italy and could see the lakes, cliffs, and plants. The characters are unique. For example, the hero Allegretto was used by his father as an assassin and had the most frightful childhood ever. He is mysterious, wild, deadly, and incredibly controlled. In short, a perfect character for a romance novel and utterly fascinating... until he turns into a lovesick kitten. The transformation of 17-year old innocent Elena is also quite abrupt.

It's quite an adventure full of political intrigues but the characters didn't stay true.

[Heather ~*dread mushrooms*~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm unsure how to feel about this novel. There were several elements and passages I liked, but at the same time I found the book as a whole incredibly boring. I think it boils down to me not being at all interested in Monteverde, which is held up as some perfect, heavenly place... oddly enough, since it's also rife with danger and deadly intrigue. But the characters who love Monteverde REALLY love it, and I'm just back here yawning and checking my watch.

I thought the characters were fairly interesting, and the sex in this book is more explicit than I expected. The sex scenes were also a trifle unbelievable, given Elena's transformation from artless innocent to practiced dominatrix in a few days' time. While not quite to my personal taste, they were INTENSE.

The first half of the book was heavy with romance and sex, and the plot took over in the second half. I ended up skimming quite a lot, due to my aforementioned boredom. My previous attempt to read Kinsale ended in a quick DNF, so this three-star read is a definite improvement.

[Victoria (Eve's Alexandria) · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd reading, November 2021

I was right, I loved it even more with rereading. Like a ridiculous amount more. So much that it’s knocking Flowers out of 2nd place, where it now languishes behind For My Lady’s Heart.

1st reading, April 2020

There is angst. And then there is Laura Kinsale.

The depth of my thoughts on this right now is that I love it more than I should, and probably less than I will the second time around. It can't top Flowers from the Storm, but it gives Allegreto - my favourite character from its sister novel, For My Lady's Heart - a wonderful chance at a HEA. For this I will forgive almost anything.

[Aou]

Dnf after reading 62%. I was bored!

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I experienced this story as an AUDIOBOOK - if you have never read a Kinsale book there are a few things you need to know:
- Laura Kinsale books are angsty.
- Things are NEVER tidy
- The heroes are always flawed
- The heroines usually get hurt by the heroes
AND MOST OF ALL -
- Laura Kinsale's writing talent MAY ruin you for less gifted authors. Now that I have read her work, I get far less enjoyment reading/ listening to historical romance/ fantasy stories that are written by lesser authors. Kinsale has an almost magical ability to rip you from reality and drop you smack in the middle of a pirate ship, a desert or a hidden kingdom but it is her partnership with the most amazing narrator EVER - Nicholas Boulton, that fills these new locales with vivid colors and amazing people.

I do not care for angsty books-(period.) They are unpleasant, frustrating and frazzle me to discomfort. If my reading is interrupted before the misunderstanding is resolved (as is common when you have 2 kids) I am not a happy camper so I have always screened and avoided those reads as a general rule. All Kinsale books are ANGSTY and if I had read them rather than listened they would have lost a star rating from me by default. The unpleasantness of conflict based on unnecessary secrets, misunderstandings, pride, personal demons, villains or self doubt always takes away from my overall experience but when Nicholas Boulton reads to me, all is forgiven. His voice, acting, interpretation and most of all, companionship on these literary journeys are more than enough compensation for any discomfort Kinsale imposes upon me. And the reason I feel distress is because she makes me care, she forces me to believe, she puts me into the story and I suffer along with the characters. She is an extraordinary talent and her books are a life experience.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. I read the original (long) version of the book. I did enjoy the first book in the series a little bit more, but she did a great job with Allegreto's story.

[Sanjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

the thing you need to know about this book is that allegretto says “I’ll let you kill me,” to elayne because he loves her more than anything he’s ever loved in his desperate, lonely, cruel life. and it’s probably one of the more romantic things i’ve ever read in my life.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread November 2021: I found this book even more stunning on the reread. There’s just so MUCH packed in these 500 pages and knowing where we were headed helped me sink into the moment with the characters without worrying so much about keeping track of all that plot. On my first read I almost DNF’d because for the first half of the book I thought Elena was a little TSTL and the dubcon is rampant. This time, the dubcon is obviously still there but I felt much warmer toward Elena. And Allegreto is just…dreamy sigh. Allegreto. The beautiful, haunted, tortured, snarky, (subby) manslayer of your dreams.
I have no idea how Kinsale managed to take so many threads of story and make it work (she doesn’t always).

Original Review May 2020:
I've thought and tried for a couple of days to write a thorough review, but I just don't think I can ever reasonably convey the kind of storyteller that is Laura Kinsale. Despite majorly problematic elements (see CWs), I was completely and thoroughly sucked into this wild plot and 100% invested in these characters. On paper, I should like absolutely nothing about Shadowheart. I'm tired of young and naive heroines, I don't like a bunch of religion in romance, I don't like age gap. But by the halfway mark Kinsale made me forget about all of that and I was in it, securely buckled in for the ride I was being taken on. And now I cannot stop thinking about this book. Everything you think you know about these characters in the first half is turned on its head in the second and I believed every word of it. And the angst. Oh, the angst.

If you're going to read this book, make sure you read For My Lady's Heart first and have a good understanding of what you're getting yourself into. Although I am ultimately giving it all the stars, I would not recommend it for all readers. I think it's important to have an understanding of Laura Kinsale as an author, the romance genre and its history, and a high tolerance for bananas plot in order to truly fall in love with Shadowheart.

This book feels old school and, as previously mentioned, has a lot of problems so I recommend checking the following CWs and/or setting up a buddy read so you have someone to vent to. (Buddy reading made the experience so much better for me! In fact, DM me here or reach out on my other SM if you're interested but want a support person.)

Overall Rating: 5
Hannah Angst Scale™️ Rating: 4.25
Content notes (updated Nov 2021): kidnapping, dubious consent and sexual violence (hero drugs heroine and makes it appear they had sex though they didn’t actually; hero forcibly penetrates heroine with his penis following other dubcon sex acts which heroine is described as enjoying/desiring prior to penetration), on-page physical violence and killing, imprisonment, kink/elements of BDSM (pain play, bondage), hero’s father was psychologically abusive, discussion of Christian hell and damnation, Islamophobic language, slut shaming language, gender essentialist language

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I'm giving Shadowheart the same rating as For My Lady's Heart, I much preferred it. It's probably more of a 4.5 and FMLH is more of a 3.5.

This was much easier to read than FMLH. I don't know whether that was because the language seemed to have changed, there wasn't nearly as much medieval speech, or whether the story got going much quicker, or perhaps both. I haven't read the condensed version at the end but I assumed that the condensed versions were the same books but with more modern language so I wasn't quite sure whether that was needed in this case.

There was a scene towards the beginning of Allegretto and Elena's relationship that did make me a little uncomfortable - I'm not sure if it was intended as rape or not. I'm leaning towards 'yes, it was' and I'm not really here for that. But maybe I'd change my mind on a re-read. I have the audiobook so I probably will listen to that at some point.

Allegretto is a complicated character and I love my dark, twisted, tortured and complicated heroes. He was raised to be an assassin, he's been killing since before the age of nine, and he's bloody good at it. He hates that he made to be who he is, but he never tries to change that and I don't think he really wants to. He knows that he'll be going to hell when he dies and is determined to put that off for as long as possible. It's strange (but in a good way) to read about a hero that doesn't have a heart (and I know in a lot of HR a hero will go on about how he's heartless and that gets dropped pretty soon but this is different). He says his father cut it out when he was young and kept it for his convenience (or something like that, I don't have the exact quote).

Elena is not one of my favourite heroines but I did enjoy that she was a strong character. She did the best to take control of the situations she found herself in, she made tough decisions that didn't really make her happy for the good of her people, she didn't let herself be walked all over.

The plot did drag in places towards the end and there were times when I thought it was coming to end only to realise that it wasn't and that something else was going to happen but overall another great read.

[Emma (howlsmovinglibrary) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allegreto della Navona:



If I tried to describe this book, I honestly think I'd sound mentally ill. It's got an arranged marriage. It's got an Italian pirate assassin who turns into a raging sub when he knows his first touch of a woman whilst in a loving relationship. It's got vows to meet each other in the afterlife, only they're all medieval catholics, so they sincerely mean it when they keep damning their souls to hell. It's got bathing scenes. It's got crises of faith. And then you reach the 60% mark, and the girlboss arc happens. OUT OF NOWHERE.

I can't believe that this is what every single 'unhinged' 'steamy' self-published booktok romance novel is trying and failing to be. it's a book from over 20 years ago. the words it uses for genitalia are genuine hatecrimes. it has no rights being this damn good !!!

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a wild ride for me! I should first note that when you purchase the e-book, you have the choice of reading the original (2004) version or an edited version with "simpler dialogue." I chose the original version and boy did it drag at times so suggest new readers try the edited version.

Throughout the first 20 percent or so, I felt like I was missing just a touch of context. This was later explained by my discovery that this is the second book in the series. Even so, I immediately vibed with the main character, Elayne/Elena, an unwitting princess-in-exile forced to return to her birthplace in Italy to marry some nobleman. When the brilliant, ruthless, and deadly Allegretto masterminds a plan to take Elena for his own wife and claim the throne of Monteverde for himself, I just knew that he was going to be an anti-hero I could get behind (despite his very unfortunate name).

Then came the sex. I recognize I'm not into BDSM, but, even setting aside my prejudices, I found it to be a caricature. Elena goes from an innocent virgin to a femdom in a split second. After the first few liaisons, I hardcore skimmed the rest of these scenes. This combined with a lot of boring Catholicism stuff made the middle of the book a chore. I seriously contemplated DNFing, but things got interesting again when, in a surprise twist, Elena decided to take control outside of the bedroom. The last 25 percent or so that focused on her attempts to bring peace to Monteverde was definitely my favorite.

All in all, 3 stars. I did like Allegretto and wonder if I would give the edited version a slightly higher rating. Maybe I'll give it a try one of these days.