The King's Mistress

Dumont #4

by Terri Brisbin

There were worse things than to be shackled in marriage to a handsome, powerful lord who desired her -- but Marguerite of Alencon was bred to be consort to a king and could not abide her fate. She had great power as Henry Plantagenet's mistress, and to be set aside and promised as a bride to noble Orrick of Silloth was an insult she could not bear...!

Orrick knew his reluctant bride was a creature of the court with many secrets. And yet, Marguerite of Alencon would make him a perfect partner -- accomplished and gracious, a true Lady of the Keep -- if only she could release her turbulent past and embrace a passionate future...in his arms!

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

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Terri Brisbin is the USA TODAY Bestselling author of more than 50 historical, paranormal and fantasy romances and her books have been released in more than 20 languages and 25 countries around the world since 1998. Her current and upcoming releases will be with Harlequin Historicals and self-published, too.

When not living the glamorous life of a romance author in the southern NJ suburbs, Terri spends her time being a mom of 3, a grammy of 4 and a dental hygienist. And she's always plotting and planning future stories and trips to Scotland .

For more info (more than you could possibly want or need to know) visit her website – www.terribrisbin.com .

Reviews

[Danielle The Book Huntress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book really snuck in past my prejudices and preconceived notions. I don't particularly like books with heroines who have been mistresses to other men besides the hero, but then I'm not crazy about mistress books period. But when I started reading this one, I couldn't put it down. It was just that engrossing. The book starts with the heroine being put aside by King Henry. However, his method of putting her aside is to marry her to a loyal subject. There are several issues that arise at this point. One, she is pregnant with the King's child. Two, she is in love with the King and hardly happy with being pushed off on another man. Three, the hero is the lucky fellow who is "asked" to marry the King's mistress. Asking doesn't mean you can say no. And another issue is, if she's pregnant with the King's child, that means she's less likely to be able to produce an heir for her new husband right away. It's a great way to start a romance, I'm thinking sarcastically. No, it's a challenge for the reader and especially the writer. How can this end with two people happily in love and married? Well Ms. Brisbin managed to achieve this. Very well in fact.

The key was making Lady Marguerite a three-dimensional, sympathetic character. At first she was spoiled and shallow, but consider that she was pretty much raised to be the plaything of a king. She knew no other life. Lord Orrick was marvelous. If he had issues with getting the King's discarded mistress, he put those aside and made the best of it. Instead of pouting, he focused on wooing his wife and loving her. In fact, he loves and regards her to a degree that her beloved King never did.

So I must say that I am very glad that I gave this book a chance. It turned out to be a gem. Well-written, and full of deep characters who hold your interest, and earn your respect. I highly recommend this book.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

So, I'll admit when I decided to give this book a try I was near damn sure I'd likely not make it to thirty percent. After the awfulness of book one and reading about what the two books in between were about I had no hope the last book in the series might be anything worth reading.

And you know what? I was wrong. I'm actually glad I gave it a try. Was it great? Nope. But it was interesting and it was written far better than the first book. It had more emotion and depth of feeling in its characters that's for damn sure.

Thanks to some reviews I was really resistant to trying this one not just because my own bad experience with the first book in the series but because a few mentioned the FMC is pregnant with the Kings child. Not gonna lie, first thought when I saw that was "not this shit again!" as this was essentially the basis of book one. And truly there isn't much romantic about the FMC not only being the mistress of another man, but carrying his child AND being in love with him? Yeah, that does not sound like a fun time to me.

But I was pleasantly surprised when after the first chapter we learn the FMC gave birth to her daughter six months prior and the day of her marriage to the MMC was upon her. So, I believe because of this turn of events that's why I really gave it a chance to grab my interest.

In the end, I liked the pacing. I loved the MMC Orrick. Him and his monk ways and teachings were entirely charming and I think exactly what the FMC Marguerite needed in her life. Orrick was incredibly patient and saw more than she wished he could see. He observed her and began to understand her even when she was doing her best to avoid him.

The FMC Marguerite was better than I hoped. At first I expected the woman she acted like. A haughty woman who thought herself above her place because of how she was raised and due to her being favored by the king. Thankfully that behavior didn't bleed into her marriage with Orrick. It appears from time to time when she felt like a wounded animal and needed to lash out but otherwise that was not truly who Marguerite was. I appreciated her strength and her resilience. I loved how intelligent she was and so did Orrick. I loved watching her learn how to be the woman she wished to be and not the one she was forced to be by her father or even the kings court.

I even appreciated her naivety when it came to the king. While it was frustrating that she remained in denial that the King meant to leave her with Orrick permanently, and about her love for him, even writing to him of how awful it was to be his wife and begging for him to return her to his side for most of the months of her marriage, I also understood her behavior. Especially because she truly thought she was special to the King, that he loved her above all other women and she felt betrayed by his throwing her away to another man. Ironically she didn't know the King as well as she thought, only had seen what he wished her to of himself, and learning of his womanizing ways and that he had multiple children with five other women and the stuff with her own sister... well it broke her a little bit. It shattered that false reality she had been clinging to. And I did feel bad for her because everything she had known and been taught how to deal with wasn't what she thought it was or turned out to be. She was unmoored and had no anchor any longer.

So I really liked the metamorphosis of watching Marguerite find herself, figure out what she wanted out of her life and fall in love with Orrick. Because Orrick gave her every opportunity to make her own choices and show her how she could have a good life with him, how wanted and helpful she would be to him as his wife. He loved her and he had been willing to let her go if that was what she wished.

And because of all that I enjoyed this one quite a bit. So, I'm glad I didn't miss out on the chance to experience this unique tale.

Did they not understand? She was not a whore for money. She was the beloved of the king. The wife of his heart. Not some harlot who lay on her back for coin or trinkets. She had been raised to be the consort of a king and there was no shame in that. None at all.

“I think there is good in her, but that she has been taught and rewarded for behaving in certain ways.”

“Please hear me. I mean no insult to you by my words or by being ill at ease over my hands. This is who I am.” “No, Marguerite, this is not who you are. It is who they made you think you must be.”

[Roxana Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sido entretenido y a pesar de que en estas novelas el final suele ser feliz, las triquiñuelas palaciega de aquí me ha parecido de lo mejorcito que he leído en mis últimas selecciones historicas. No por ello que me espere leer un libro con un final triste (para eso ya esta la realidad y el noticiero).

[Brenda Jaeger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry is cute but Orrick OMG

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very quick read for me. Shallow plot that never really grabbed the emotional "angst" that it should have. But I like to have books like this from time to time to help balance out when I'm reading something heavy like politics :(

[Misti Pilgrim]

I loved this book. I really loved how the author expanded the story with more books. I would give anything to read yet another Orrick and Margaret book! The monk in Orrick is very attractive to me for some weird reason, lol . Enjoyed it! Have read all the Dumont series. They are wonderful.

[SheLove2Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

The review by Danielle sums up my thoughts exactly. This book is much more than it appears to be at first. Very good read!

[Brycen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were times when I thought about not finishing this book. I did it though. It was ok for what it was.

[Sylvia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Medieval