To the Castle

by Joan Wolf

Twelfth-century Normandy -- as a fierce battle for the crown erupts, a powerful knight and his innocent bride will discover their destinies are passionately entwined . . .

Just weeks away from taking her holy vows, Nell de Bonvile learns of her elder sister's tragic death. Swept from the convent, she is ordered to take Sybilla's place as bride to Roger de Roche, heir to Britain's most powerful earldom. Lovely, naïve and totally unprepared for life outside the convent or the ways of men, Nell bravely faces her uncertain future.

Indifferent to marriage for anything other than political gain, Roger is prepared to wait until his innocent bride comes to him willingly. Yet as he watches Nell blossom from timid girl to courageous mistress of his keep, his desire for her grows all-consuming. But war gives no quarter to newfound passion, plunging them both into a battle that will pit father against son, invaders against loyalists, testing every whispered word, and each unspoken promise . . .

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

376 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Joan Wolf is a USA TODAY bestselling American writer, whose acclaimed Regency romances have earned her national recognition as a master of the genre. Her many historical and contemporary romances, some of which have been chosen as Literary Guild selections, have been highly praised by reviewers and authors alike.

Joan was born in 1951 and she grew up in the Bronx, New York. A former English teacher, she obtained a Bachelor's degree in Mercy College and Master in English and Comparative Literature at Hunter College. An avid rider and horse owner, Joan lives in Connecticut with her husband Joe and two grown children, Jay and Pam.

Reviews

[Elisabeth Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, fast read. I really liked that Nell and Roger both come across as dumb kids fumbling through the whole political marriage thing. They're 18 and 22, respectively, and they act their ages and make mistakes accordingly. It's something I've often wondered about with so many medieval rulers being in their late teens/early twenties.

I do wish there had been more 😤groveling😤 after Roger cheats on Nell with his ex-girlfriend, but at the same time I liked how the author shows there really isn't anything that can be done to un-cheat on your spouse.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I usually love Joan Wolf's stories but this was her worst book! Her sweet writing style doesn't fit with the timeperiod of the middle-ages. The MC were so sweet that I got a toothach and then begged for a root canal!

Problems:
Nell was raised in a convent since she was 8. After her sister dies her father forces her to take her sister's place and marry her groom. I understand this was a shock to someone who had been cloistered for so long but did she really have to be so spineless. It was so hard to like Nell. I just want to smack her!

Roger, on the other hand, was way too honorable for a medieval story. He definitely was not made for this time period. He had such modern ideals. He even allows Nell time to wait to consummate the marriage. We're talking months! The only dishonorable thing he did was have a one night stand with an ex bc he couldn't take sleeping in the same bed with Nell night after night and not being allowed to touch her.

The only real plot is when Roger learns that his evil father is still alive and wants Roger's title and lands. Unfortunately, this entanglement is resolved too easily. Roger didn't even have to dishonor himself by killing his father himself.

The history was also very inaccurate.! The story takes place when civil war broke out between King Stephen and Empress Maud. A very brutal time in history! The author jumps timelines to fit her story. It oversimplified a 19 year war. If your going to write a book in that time period then your characters need to be cunning and intelligent to survive (Pillars of The Earth for example) . Both MC would not have survived long in that world.

Conclusion:
This author should just stick to Regency books!

[Naksed · Rating 2 out of 5]

To the Castle was a let-down after reading Joan Wolf's wonderful regency romance Lord Richard's daughter. That one had smart, strong characters, witty dialogue, and palpable tension between the two would-be lovers. Unfortunately, the main protagonists in this story were a couple of one-dimensional ninnies (the simpering virgin, the knight in shining armor), their dialogue fell flat, and the story itself, though it is set during an intense civil war between Empress Matilda and King Stephen, was boring.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 1 out of 5]

He had sex with his mistress and he took his wifes virginity the same night. It was just gross plus the love scene was actually detailed in the book. It ruined the book for me. She found out and he said it was because they waited to consummate the marriage and men had needs and he was horny. Good excuse. She ended up for giving him but I did not. Pig of a man.

[Aly is so frigging bored · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has "train wreck" written all over it:
-a stupid, religious fanatic, without imagination, ninny aka Nell the Heroine
-a blond, hero who wants in a wife "a pretty face" and who the hell cares about the character?! aka Roger the Hero
-a narrative that reminds me of a bad newspaper

That's all I could stomach after reading 10% of the book and I couldn't make myself to read more...

[Nightwitch · Rating 2 out of 5]

As usual, Wolf goes for telling rather than showing, and a lot of the dialogue is both clunky and displays a writing-from-the-future knowledge of history. (“‘The wedding must take place soon,’ the earl said. ‘Everyone will want it done before the Empress Mathilda and her half brother, Robert of Gloucester, land in England to take up arms against King Stephen.’”) There are a lot of riding/horse details, again as typical for Wolf. It’s set early on in the English civil war (not the Cromwell one, the Stephen/Matilda one) but midway through the book someone suggests the actual eventual solution (Matilda’s son Henry becoming Stephen’s heir) which is more than a little ridiculous - at the time Stephen had several sons of his own and was convinced that he would win the war, so I’m highly skeptical anyone would have even suggested it at that point. Nobody seems to understand how war will work, which I guess makes sense for Nell (convent-raised heroine) but not for anybody else. Literally anybody.

The heroine reads as very young, which is not atypical for Wolf heroines (her regency heroines are often a very realistic eighteen or so; I’m assuming Nell here is also super young, although I didn’t do the math to figure out her age). There aren’t really any consent issues - Roger figures out pretty quickly that Nell is young and terrified and decides they won’t consummate their marriage until she’s ready; he asks permission to kiss her forehead at one point - but Roger, insofar as he has a personality, is kind of a dick. (“I was afraid you would be ugly and that I wouldn’t be attracted to you at all. I was much relieved when I saw how pretty you are.” Seriously, dude? She’s bringing you an entire fricking earldom, maybe don’t whine that you were afraid she wouldn’t meet your beauty standards.) When Nell’s too slow to consummate the marriage, he goes and sleeps with his former mistress (and yes, Wolf shows us that sex scene). He and Nell consummate the marriage later the same day and Roger is consumed with (totally ahistorical) guilt for chapters and chapters at having been unfaithful. Then Nell finds out and is consumed with misery for chapters and chapters. As a mediation on finding forgiveness for a beloved spouse after they’ve cheated on you, this is actually kind of interesting, but in the context of the middle ages it doesn’t work so well; everyone’s feelings about and responses to adultery feel very modern.

There is a lot of God talk, which makes sense - Nell grew up in a convent and it is the middle ages, but it was definitely a LOT. If you’re used to medievals where religion is really only covered in the secular sense (i.e. priests, bishops, etc.), this is not that - Nell is very religious and a lot of the book is from her POV. It eases up once she’s actually married and stops praying for God to return her to the convent, but the book is excruciatingly slow-paced so that takes a while, and it does pick up a bunch later when Nell’s father is dying, and her and her mother’s primary concern is to see him reconciled to God before he passes.

Anyway, I'd conclude that this is fine, but very much a Joan Wolf book - slow pacing, didactic feel - and the medieval setting felt awkward. It's definitely not what I suspect most readers are looking for in a medieval romance - despite all the battles and drama it feels pretty unexciting.

[Cam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, it's rare to find such close age gaps between hero and heroine with Nell only 17 and Roger 22. I liked Nell's innocence and Roger's patience with her in postponing the wedding night, although this itself leads to his infidelity which is understandable but I think he could have just used his right hand-or left, whichever- and not his ex-lover.

The plot is not at all complicated but the pacing is nice, however Roger's declaration of love came as a bit of a surprise since it felt a little sudden, maybe a little forced :/ But aside from that little qualm it was a good read :)

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

My predominant emotion on reading this was boredom. The characters were boring, the endless exposition about the political situation didn't really add to the story and while I originally liked Roger and his patience with Nell re the wedding night his unfaithfulness with his ex-mistress (no matter how realistic) ruined that for me. It is supposed to be a romance story - infidelity is NOT romantic.

[Niusa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entretenido, se lee de un tirón.

[WhatShouldIRead]

I gave this one to the 50 page mark. I'm afraid it was a bit too juvenile for me so I have set it aside.

[Vmontgzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lei Romance en el Castillo de Joan Wolf me gusto, es la historia de una chica que despues de vivir casi la mitad de su vida en el convento la sacan para tomar el lugar de su hermana (que murio) en un matrimonio por conveniencia, ella es aprendiz de sanadora, poco a poco va aprendiendo de la vida fuera del convento y claro se enamora de su esposo, el me encanto es paciente con ella pues la espera hasta que se siente lista para consumar el matrimonio, esta bonita.

[Carla Hostetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking place during the tumultuous War of the Roses, the story opens with Nell, a young woman given to a convent as a child as a thank offering for the birth of a son, being retrieved just before taking her final vows to marry her dead sister's fiance in a dynastic marriage. She wishes to remain in the only home she knows and her groom is not too pleased either but both agree to go through with it, there being very little choice left to them. Roger de Roche is the perfect knight of the times, skilled in all sorts of arms and considerate of women. He is pleased at least to find Nell is pretty and good natured, but on their wedding night, she pleads for more time before consummating the marriage. She turns him down time after time. No wonder he visits an former mistress for his needs at a time when he really needs a release having just discovered his supposedly dead father has returned to claim Roger's birthright and has allied himself with Queen Matilda while Roger is loyal to the king. Of course, Nell finds out and accuses him of adultery. Though she eventually forgives him as he begs her to do, never once does she take any of the blame on herself. When Roger goes off to war against his own father, about all she does is pray for him in the second half of the book. While her awkwardness in adjusting to castle life is understandable, it takes her some time to assert herself with the older women, but finally she does. There is a little too much telling and not enough showing as we learn the rooms in a castle, why Normans wash so much, what they eat, etc. and not enough action. The rout that is the battle of Lincoln is accurately told and Roger survives to confront his father, it would have been more interesting if his own castle had been besieged with Nell taking a part and having final confrontation with his father held there. Afterwards the story skips ahead in time to the HEA. Wolf has done better.

[Susan Ross · Rating 2 out of 5]

I speed read this book because it was boring. The writing was dry with corny italics. The characters were underdeveloped and there were no side characters of worth to give the book some depth. Religion and politics were the main focus with a brief glance at psycopath relative thrown in for good measure. Not even the ending was worth reading.

The cover mentioned "humour" first in the review. I must have missed it.

[JulianneWells · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate medieval romances, so despite being one of my favorite authors, I didn't expect much from this.

Both MC just seemed young and undeveloped. Nell was a religious fanatic and spent half the book praying. She didn't have much agency or identity that was believable.

Roger decided to not push himself on her after their marriage, but then cheated on her with a village woman.

The whole book just dragged on and on, and was more about the war than a relationship between the two MC.

Bleh.

[Nabilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're new to Ms. Wolf, don't start with this one - her other books that I've read are far better. She’s actually a fantastic author, but this particular novel falls flat. The romance is bland, the hero is too perfect (except for one cheating incidence, I guess Ms. Wolf has to make him seem human somehow), and the heroine is utterly forgettable. Given the historical backdrop, the story should have been thrilling, yet everything feels half-baked and underwhelming. My advise? Skip it!

[Millie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I stopped halfway into this book because it was boring, I felt like there was no development happening AT ALL between the main characters, and it felt more political than romantic.

If you're looking for a historical romance where the heroine is taken out of her convent to replace her sister in a political marriage, I would suggest "An English Bride in Scotland" by Lynsay Sands.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably wouldn't have read this if I'd seen the reviews here first. But I've enjoyed books by this author before so I gave it a go. It was OK, I liked parts of it. I don't read medieval history/romance often so it was a change of pace.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly dull. Pretty basic. Our heroine was very passive and our hero was a bit too young to deal with what he was dealing with. I say skip.

[Sandra Dagg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this book last night. It was a short read, only about 180 pages, and I usually like a longer story. This is the second Joan Wolf I've read, and although I enjoyed it, it wasn't as good as the other one, His Lordship's Mistress. I found the writing a bit stilted at times, perhaps because the author was limited lengthwise to the story. It held my interest though, and some of the other reviewers mentioned that Lady Eleanor was very religious. That's true, but this novel is not 'preachy' by any stretch of the imagination, at least not in my opinion. If you enjoy medieval romance(the story takes place in the early 12th century, then I would recommend this book if you are looking for a quick enjoyable read.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

After her sister dies, Nell is taken from her convent only weeks before she was supposed to take her vows in order to take her place as Roger's bride.

The heroine is not well-received. The hero commits adultery. A little too neatly wrapped up.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just arrived from Portugal through BM.

I bit disappointing book especially after have enjoyed The Road to Avalon. In addition, I must admit, I am not a big fan of historical romance.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought this was a good book - Nell who was in the convent studing to be a nun is taken out by her mother and father to marry a man she has never met.

[Irène Wadowski uliasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

une histoire simple plus intéressante d'un point de vue psychologique et us et coutumes de ces temps reculés que du point de vue intrigue .

[Krita · Rating 1 out of 5]

What to say....read it and wish I hadn't. God so boring! My grocery list was more interesting!

[xenu01 · Rating 2 out of 5]

mehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh