His Enemy's Daughter

The Knights of Brittany #3

by Terri Brisbin

Once overwhelmingly irresistible to women, Soren Fitzrobert's life was changed forever by a brutal wound. Now Soren has come to wreak revenge by claiming his enemy's daughter.Left temporarily blind by his invasion, innocent Sybilla trembles before the scarred barbarian. But it's not entirely out of fear….Forced into marriage, Sybilla must surrender to Soren's seduction, one sense at a time. And Soren is drawn evermore to the woman he intended only to use….

Genres: Historical Romance, Romance, Historical, Medieval, Harlequin, Marriage Of Convenience, Medieval Romance

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 9, 2011

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. She's been published by Berkley/Jove, Harlequin, Kensington Books, NAL/Signet, Dragonblade Publishing and Oliver Heber Books. Terri has also self-published her works and will have new books out through 2026!

When not living the glamorous life of a romance author in the southern NJ suburbs, Terri spends her time being a married mom, a grammy and a dental hygienist while 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

[MelissaB · Rating 4 out of 5]

His Enemy's Daughter was an interesting medieval story. The first half was harder to read because the hero is very tortured and angry because the heroine's father tried to kill him and disfigured his body and face. Soren is gifted the lands of the man who tried to kill him and goes to kill all of his relatives and raize the land. He attacks the keep and during the attack the heroine, Sybilla, is injured in the head and goes blind. Soren almost kills the heroine but gives a last minute reprieve when her people try to save her. Instead he marries her against her will while she is injured. The first half of this book is full of the hero acting angrily toward the heroine but he does not actually abuse her. She takes a long time to recover from her head injury and it takes her even longer to come to terms with the fact she may be blind for life.

The second half was easier to read as Soren let go of some of his need for vengence toward Sybilla and her people. He is very tortured by his mangled looks and thinks Sybilla might be a perfect wife because she can't see how horrible his scars look. They slowly get to know each other and start to care about each other as their relationship turns physical. Soren was able to become a better man once he let go of the darkness and anger he carried. Sybilla seemed like a nice woman who struggled realistically with the horror of losing her sight. It was hard to see the hero treating her meanly when she was hurt and blinded but he soon realized she was a good person who didn't deserve his vengence.

This was an interesting read that was hard to read at first but got better as the characters learned from their pain. Soren was able to help Sybilla through her grief and anger at being blind because he too had to relearn how to live after his horrible injury that took one of his eyes. Sybilla was able to fall in love with Soren for who he was and he allowed himself to relax around her because she couldn't see him and be horrified about his looks. Overall, not bad for a Harlequin historical especially if you like tortured heroes.

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anachronistic HRs so annoy especially with the tormented but oh so sensitive Hs.
Now why would a medieval marauding and vengeful H not consummate his wedding to his enemy's daughter...AND remain celibate all this while as well!!?
I couldn't get past that and other such irksome bits (like his oversensitivity to his scarred/ruined looks!)
And No, I didn't want him to rape her! But some realism is required.

[♥ℳelody · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not an ounce of romance to be seen here. How we go from the hero hating the heroine's guts and being dismissively cruel to "oh my, I like her" was really laughable if it wasn't so badly bungled. The slow burn felt more like a light switch suddenly being turned on. Only reason I hung in there was I saw reviews saying the second half gets better and I was really hoping the hero would redeem himself. It didn't and he really didn't. He does the bare minimum in romancing her and here I'm supposed to believe he loves her and she sees his "kindness"? Pfft. I would like a refund of my time.

Soren Fitzrobert has a grudge against Lady Sybilla as her father nearly killed him with an axe which left him with excruciating scars on his body and a missing eye. As a former ladies man and rake who took great pride in his looks and reputation Soren now wants to make Sybilla pay for her father's crimes. He attacks her home and takes over their fortress which causes Sybilla to go blind during the invasion. I love enemies to lovers and a delicious Harlequin anti-hero but this was just bizarre. When you have your hero so relieved and quite happy that the heroine is blind because she can't see his deformed face and makes glib jokes about killing her then...yeah. You are expecting *some* kind of groveling or self awareness to happen. Here there was barely any of that. He didn't even once apologize for the accident that literally caused her blindness. Intentional or not, dude you are the reason she's suffering now. And the author's version of humor was just....weird. It didn't land well and had me cringing.

Killing you would do them no good, for I will simply bring a good Norman bride here and breed loyal Norman heirs.’

‘Sybilla, when you feel strong enough to show your face in the hall below, wear a contrite expression and let them believe I beat you. I have a reputation to uphold and a disobedient wife whom I have not disciplined will surely ruin it.’

This is the hero's version of "teasing".  😐 Like....Really? Am I supposed to swoon at this? I'm not giggling here. This happens at the 80% mark where he's supposedly now sweet on her after he's barely spent enough time with her for us to see that soft side much less personality beyond a sneer and moping about his scarred face. No seriously, the number of times this guy gripes and mopes about what a lady's man he used to be and how good looking he used to be was a serious test in the eye-roll department. It came off borderline childish instead of brooding. And this book suffered from what a quite a few Harlequins seem to suffer from: a ton of telling rather than showing. I skimmed a good 50% of this. And summarizing sex scenes that happened off the page? Love that. 🙄 I can't tell you how disappointing it was to finally get to the sex scene only for it to last 1 fucking paragraph. Like I sat through 170 pages of assholery for....this? And everything intimate following that is summarized which drives me insane. I WANT TO SEE IT, WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME? We get more time spent on summarizing things happening in real time or off the page. It's as if Terri Brisbin is allergic to actual dialogue. When the heroine is shot with a flaming arrow I don't know about you but I want to actually see the hero all frantic coming to her rescue, not him supposedly running in slow motion watching a kid save her instead cause the author feels it's more important to have the hero fucking stand there and describe what's *happening* in the scene. That's your job author, not the hero. Saying "he yells her name" instead of giving your characters actual dialogue to voice that reaction just falls so flat and feels pointless. And lazy to boot. The urgency is completely gone. A whole of "this happened, then that happened" robotic telling that it just completely ruins the urgency of scenes.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75⭐️

Amo muchísimo los libros de romance histórico desarrollados en la época de sajones y normados, cuando llevé historia inglesa en mi segundo semestre de universidad, fue un tema demasiado interesante para mí y adoro muchisimo leer libros de romance con esa temática pues me hace rememorar todo lo que aprendí.

Aparte de mi gusto personal por esa época, debo reconocer que el libro está muy bien narrado y desarrollado, los personajes de Soren y Sybilla me gustaron muchísimo y conecté con ambos, sin duda la autora sabe desarrollar en pocas páginas un buen vínculo entre sus personajes.

Recomiendo el libro para pasar un buen rato con este libro que puede parecer una historia tipo “la Bella y la Bestia” ya que él tenía la mitad de su cara destrozada y parecía un “monstruo” y ella se narra como alguien de buen ver (:.

[Love love · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a fast, easy and enjoyable read. The characters weren't complicated and the story was strait forward, kind of a Bueaty and the Beast plot.

Soren (H) lived only to get revenge on the man who had nearly killed him and left him scarred beyond belief. Soren, who before the battle was known as The Beautiful Bastard, killed the man who struck him down on the battle field after the battle had been called. That however wasn't enought for him, he wanted the land that the man owned and to kill his only child, a daughter named Sybilla.

Sybilla (h) only had a little time to try and defend her castle, with her father and brother dead there was no one else to see to her land and people but herself. They were under attack and the wall that she was hoping to get finished wasn't done and also wasn't very stable. As the attackers used a battling ram to break down the wall, some of the heavy stones fell on her and cause her to be blinded.

After taking the castle Soren had Sybilla brought before him. He saw that she was hurt, her eyes and head bandaged and bloody, but he still wanted to kill her. As he drew his sword he saw her people try and protect her and he also saw her bravery and some sain part that was left over in him took over. He knew he couldn't kill her, and he aslo knew that she was blind and he started to think that she would make the perfect wife. He was horrorably scared but she wouldn't be able to see that and then wouldn't look at him in discust like he was use too. Not that he would ever love her, no he would use her as a broodmare, have his hiers and if she ever regained her sight he would send her away.
Sybilla was terrified, she was newly blinded, had been attacked and thought that she would be killed and now she's told that she will be married to this man who had caused everything that had happend to her.Knowing that if she didn't agree it would mean death to everyone she accepted his offer.

I thought that Terri Brisbin did a good job discribing what Sybilla was going through with her blindness, the terror, the depression. And I loved the scenes with Soren and Sybilla in their room eating their dinner alone were he could take off his coverings and eat with no one staring at him and she could eat with no one staring at her while she makes a bit of a mess.
While I was reading this book I got the feeling that it was the third book in a triolgy so I think I will look up the others.

[Émeraude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry, but reviews in portugais *-*

Primeiro preciso dizer que eu fiquei enlouquecida quando li o primeiro livro da série Os cavaleiros da Bretenha, e contava os minutos até a chegada do livro de Soren, pois eu sabia que ele seria a personagem mais complexa e rica da trilogia. Toda aquela beleza que de repente se transformou em ira devia ser explorada então aqui estamos no livro de Soren <3 OMG!


Soren <3




"Pensou pela milésima vez que isso já não importava. Seus sonhos e esperanças tinham acabado no campo de batalha e agora vivia só para vingança. Embora procurasse o presente do rei, não tinha planejado o que faria quando o tivesse."

"Negro. Tudo o que usava era negro exceto a barra cruzada vermelha no escudo, inclinada à esquerda, o que indicava que era um bastardo. Filho de seu duque? O corpo de Sybilla tremeu. A armadura era negra e não refletia os raios do sol em cima dele. Seu cavalo, um animal gigantesco, monstruoso, era da cor da noite fechada, sem marcas que clareassem sua pele. Sybilla tinha a sensação de que a morte estava diante dela no campo."

Quanta amargura, dor e medo Soren!

Este livro é uma viagem pelo escuro literalmente, onde duas almas tão parecidas e tão diferentes ao mesmo tempo atravessam o caminha da dor e da perda em busca de amor verdadeiro. Sybilla é uma grande mocinha, forte, corajosa, inteligente e muito perspicaz há momento onde ela consegue deixar Soren sem palavras e aos poucos ela consegue atravessar a parede no qual ele mesmo ergueu, ante ao mundo que o rejeitou por sua aparência. Este livro é uma história de perdão e amor através das sombras, literalmente uma cega guiando um cego para redenção e o amor.

"Ela beijou a borda da carne que tinha quebrado a machadinha e foi seguindo o caminho de destruição das costas até o pescoço. Logo lhe baixou a cabeça e lhe beijou o rosto e o lugar onde deveria estar o olho. Ele caiu de joelhos ante ela e a abraçou.

—Fica comigo — suplicou —. Seja minha esposa, meu futuro."

owwwwwwwwwwwwww


4,5 stars

[Ipshita · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author delves into the political condition of the time instead of glossing over it like most others do.

One of the reasons why I don't read much of Medieval romances is that the hero acts all alpha and dominates over the submissive heroine. This one, I concede, had a strong hero, but we also get to see his vulnerabilities and his caring side. Also, the heroine isn't as meek and has a quiet strength. Though I would have liked to see her a little more active. I suppose her being blind made her

[Diana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book quite abit. Like the H not being a jerk the whole time, and growing from the beginning. Liked the way he took his time to get to know the h and let her do the same. He wasn't out for raping and piliging, but to preserve as much life as possible. He had the whole I need to act manly in front of everyone, but in private he was very good towards the h. The h was good as well. Not a doormat and not some shrew. She had emotions when they were called for and not overkill at anytime. Wish I had known there were more in the series, but will look for them. Writing was good and flowing. The author held my interest with all that was going on and I didn't need to do any skipping. It had the right amount of history and wasn't bogged down with too much of anything.

[Mou: Fae of Heartfelt ARC · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I did not like the book, but after 1st part, I started to like it. The hero was cruel to heroine when the heroine was already lost the sight of her eyes. He marries her to take his revenge and did such awful things that I was having a really hard time. But somehow hero understood heroine situation because of the past experiences of his life. And then I thought this book at least stood a chance. The way Soren (hero) helped Sybilla (heroine) to cope with her life is really appreciable.

[La Bruja Lectora (Tata) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta historia no me resulto tan llamativa como otras, sin embargo sigo pensando que la autora es excelente, Sybilla me pareció un personaje algo soso y sin gracias, y Soren le falto atractivo en su personalidad, no vi reflejado a un hombre perturbado por perder su belleza a causa de las cicatrices de guerra, pero la historia tiene el toque al que nos tiene acostumbrados Terri Brisbin.

Reseña en https://labrujalectora1.blogspot.com/

[Jacqueline J · Rating 2 out of 5]

Readable and an effort was made to make this reasonably medieval in feel. The romance developed in a believable way and the hero's problems were handled pretty well. I did find the fact that he wore a hood to cover his scars kind of hokey since the people who lived in that time period had to be pretty used to battle scars.

[Martina Nix Govoni · Rating 4 out of 5]

E' carino anche questo, mi è piaciuto, peccato metta un po' troppa carne al fuoco e poi se la dimentica.
Pensavo prendesse una via diversa ad un certo punto, invece è stato piuttosto prevedibile come trama e paradossalmente molto profondo come contenuto. E' molto intenso, doloroso e catartico.
Peccato per il finale a tarallucci e vino, con cui si cancella con un colpo di spugna in un attimo l'ultimo ostacolo alla felicità della coppia, finale che è anche molto accelerato.
Promosso comunque, promossa tutta la serie.

[S Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars 2 people literally blind to the love between them. Their tragedy was a constant backdrop to the story so by the time the HEA happened, it was sweet but brief and did not cleanse the sadnesss of the story for me.

[StellaR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haven't read any from this author, hence I'm glad I enjoyed this book and will read more from her backlist.
This was a quick read, not too complicated although politic was the background story. No annoying characters, both MCs were "flawed" and each had their own mental struggles which I found were realistic.

[Zona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Total bodice-busting, lusty fun :)
It was the usual man vs. man, beauty and the beast retelling with a Briton/Norman/Saxon rebellion thrown in for funzies. It was a very quick read. Took me about two hours total from start to finish while we drove up the mountain.
I would highly recommend this if you are looking for some virginity-stealing, swoony, giggly good times with the marauding, hulking good-bad-guy knight and the fierce, do-gooding virgin with spunk.
All around brain candy :)

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started reading and immediately thought "hmmm.... Haven't I read this before?" Turns out I hadn't but the similarities were so exhaustingly the same I had a hard time reading the book. I thought it was boring and the plot overused... I did enjoy some parts, but not many. Hence the 2 star and not 1star rating.

[Bks43v3r · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 - 2 1/2 Stars

This is kind of a beauty and beast tale. Here the 'Beast' or H, Soren Fitzrobert's, a bastard turned noble. He used to be, well beautiful. He was even called Soren, the Beautiful Bastard. He was probably a bit vain and unknowingly relied on his looks. But he's no longer beautiful. At least not on half of his face/body. Does it make the deformity easier or harder I wonder? The constant left-side reminder of all that has been lost.

Anyway, all that changed irreparably during the, I believe, previous Fall (not totally sure on the timeline though). Soren was horribly disfigured with an axe or axe-like weapon. The upper right side of his body-mostly the right side of his head, neck, shoulder and back. I believe his arm was ok. Although the left side of his face is unmarred; the right side is quite deformed. He lost his right eye (wears a patch) and hearing in the right ear too I believe. It was a miracle he survived. It was not expected. And for a long time, Soren did not want to live. But somehow, he did. Due to most people's dramatic reactions, he wears a hood. Can you imagine going from everyone looking upon your face with pleasure/delight to disgust and revulsion? It is a hard reckoning. Women threw themselves at him and he was indiscriminate about his bed partners (married, unmarried etc.-yeah jerk move). Now, he has to pay for it. Yes, the mighty has fallen. And it hadn't happened (again, I think) that long ago. Under a year. Soren is devasted and beyond mad. All he wants is vengeance-to wipe out his attacker's (the Durward of Alston) line.

The heroine or 'Beauty', Sybilla Durward, is Soren's attacker daughter. Soren comes to take over Durward and she's hurt and blinded in the resulting attack. Soren had planned to kill her (and almost did) but upon finding out she is now completely blind-therefore cannot see him-he decides to marry her. I found Sybilla to be delicate, kind of fragile, and sweet. I liked her which is unusual as I usually like my heroines to be strong-willed, spunky. But the h had a quieter kind of strength. The bulk of the story is Soren trying not to fall for Sybilla and praying she doesn't regain her sight and Sybilla trying to come to terms with her blindness and falling for Soren. Does she regain her sight? This reviewer won't say.

The last couple of chapters for me were really rushed. For a long time, everyone was prepping for not only the winter but more importantly an attack by some rebels. I thought that would be described but ended up only being like one or two sentences in the last few chapters. What?! Then we readers get some new information regarding Soren's attack that wasn't even hinted at before. Double what?! So, I had to knock a star off for that. I do like that last chapter. Sybilla is about to roll out and leave Soren. She returns one last time to their chamber and Soren lays himself pretty bare. (And yes, grovels.) I found it very touching.

I did not read the previous books and don't plan to. However, Brice and Giles sound interesting.

Content: Sex: Not clean with multiple intimate scenes. Violence: Soren's attack is described. Language: Nothing I can recall now.

**Note: One reviewer thought that the hood wearing was a bit much. I don't agree. Although the reader had to use their imagination to fully visualize how Soren appeared; it had to be gruesome. Folk's extreme response to his injured face was highlighted repeatedly. (Of course, there was no plastic surgery, skin grafting etc. then to realign/reassembly his face/injuries.)

[Nora Cayetano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este es otro de estos libros que me encontré en un intercambio de libros...

Durante una batalla, el padre de Sybilla hirió de manera mortal con un hacha al caballero Soren. Meses más tarde y con la balanza de la guerra de su parte, Soren se presenta en las tierras de Sybilla para reclamarlas para su rey.
El hombre quiere cobrar venganza en la familia de aquel enemigo suyo que lo desfiguró por completo, pero cuando Soren descubre que Sybilla ha quedado ciega debido a un accidente, decide que su mejor ataque será casarse con ella y seducirla.
No obstante, con la ceguera de su esposa de por medio, Soren comienza a esperar poder enamorar de manera honesta a Sybilla y encontrar con ella la verdadera felicidad. Pero eso sólo será posible si él puede superar el odio que siente hacia la familia de la joven y si ella es capaz de perdonarlo por todo lo que ha hecho.

En mi camino en convertirme en una verdadera señora, me he puesto a leer estos libritos de romances tórridos. Este estuvo bien, pero siento que le faltó explotar un poco más a los personajes de fondo y ahondar en sus historias (al ver que es sólo la cuarta parte de una saga, pienso que es muy probable que su autora vaya a abordar al resto del elenco en próximas entregas, cosa que me gustaría leer).
Soren y Sybilla me alegraron. Su situación al estilo "La bella y la bestia" me hizo pensar en un momento que sería un poco cliché, pero admito que hubo momentos en que sí me sentí mal por ellos y hasta encontré paz cuando comenzaron a sortear algunas de las dificultades que se les fueron apareciendo en el camino.

Aunque resultó un libro muy corto y con un final que llega mucho antes de lo que uno se lo espera, en definitiva es otra de esas novelas que me alegra haber hallado en el Trueque de Libros de San Pedro de Pinta~

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read this one in 2012. Medieval romance is one of my favorite genres and I love this author's style of writing and the characters she delivers. Soren is one of three bastard born men raised by a man as his own sons. They all have become William's knights and have fought beside him to conquer England. Soren was once known as the Beautiful Bastard. He had lived life only to bed as many women as he could and fight as many battles as he could. Then fate delivers an injury that disfigures him horribly. He is awarded the lands previously owned by Sybilla's father, the very man who inflicted the physical damage he suffers. Soren goes to the keep with nothing but vengeance and revenge on his mind, intent on making his attacker's family suffer. Sybilla suffers an injury during the siege and ends up blind. Soren fights against the feelings he has for Sybilla but the good man comes through in him and he finds himself helping her through her struggles to adapt to her new world of darkness. My heart hurt for both Soren and Sybilla but in the end their struggles bring them to a better place.

[Bea Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was brilliant! So many things I *loved*.

A scarred hero who is actually scarred for one. No teeny little silver scar near his eye, oh no, we're talking devastating, life changing injuries to his face and body. I imagined he looked like the Hound from GoT. Bravo to this author for giving us a genuinely scarred hero.

Actual enemies to lovers. I mean he was seconds away from murdering her ass, and it took him a while to come around to the idea of not wanting to kill her. He *hated* her with a burning vengeance and so watching his hate turn to regard and then love was so satisfying.

How our sweet heroine was also brave and selfless, yet she's not perfect - like all of us humans given to outbursts of self-pity and doubt and confusion. I really loved her, I will always love sensible, kind heroines.

[GingerOrange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance:3.5
Steaminess:2
Action/suspense:1.5
Overall:4

So it’s not the best historical romance I’ve ever read but it is very sweet.

I loved both Sybilla and Soren. Sybilla was a true lady and she had a kindness about her. Soren was such a dreamy knight and his vulnerability was especially appealing. The romance was very sweet and emotional. There’s a lot of character growth for both of them which I liked. The writing wasn’t very engaging. Often, I felt that the author could have dug into more of a scene or emotions. It felt very surface level emotional wise and that didn’t do the story justice. The action and back drop needed more work.

Overall, despite the writing, the feel of this book was very sweet and I enjoyed it immensely.

[Fedora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars.

A disfiguring injury at the hands of a man he considered an enemy changed the life of Soren. He vows vengeance, but at the last moment decides to wed this man's daughter Sybilla rather than take her life.

Sybilla is blinded by Soren's attack on the keep, and his consideration of her as she navigates her changed life draws these two closer.

An interesting enemies-to-lovers story. This is clearly a later book in a series, but I was able to enjoy it without having read the others.

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written medieval period romance story. Loved the enemies to lovers trope with Soren ready to end the life of his bitter enemy's daughter, Sybella, but instead deciding to marry her due to her being blinded while he was storming the keep. I liked the progression of his hate and her fear turning to love. Terri Brisbin, as always, did a fine job researching the history of England and Europe in the 1060's and adding it to the story without making it dull or difficult to understand. I would recommend reading this book.

[Mrs.Pearl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, short and solid read. I was looking for something not too much heavy and dark and found it in this book. 3.5 from me and I rounded it to 4 cause I liked the story and the hero and heroine. They really suited each other and despite all that could have separated them they found the way to each other and grew during the process.

[Aline Damasceno]

Adorei reler cada parte dessa história, não me lembrava que iria simpatizar tanto com a dor dos personagens, embora o fim foi meio abrupto, o que é uma pena. No fim, amei ler a história desses três bastardos durões que caem de quatro para o amor...

[Charlene Whitehouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A story of hatred turned into love

A wonderfully written book of War and love. War brings scars and love brings healing. I truly enjoyed reading this book. I highly recommend it.

[Brenda Jaeger · Rating 5 out of 5]

my Fav 💕.
I need one Soren

[Katya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Story!

[Noemi Franco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Son 3.5 estrellas. Esta entretenido. Me gustó como el personaje masculino se va ablandando poco a poco y que el romance no esta forzado. Esta bien para pasar el rato.

[Marie Rusanen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una novela corta, pero preciosa.