She Who Laughs Last

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Summary: medieval romantic romp
Review: Desperate times call for desperate measures. In a public tavern, nineteen years old Lady Syrah Dhion of the Ninth House is acting the harlot with the Crown Prince of the Dominion Jibril of the First House. His wine is drugged and Syrah and her fourteen-year-old brother Eben take Jibril prisoner. The Dhions hope to restore the wealth and splendor of their house ruined by their feeble father and destroyed by their odious cousin.

Syrah treats Jibril less like a royal and more like a pain until he kisses her. Soon Syrah finds her heart imprisoned by her captive. She frees Jibril, but he refuses to go because the future he wants now is to be her prisoner and she his forever once he dispatches her nasty relative.

This medieval romantic romp is a fun tale that lightens up the usual intense sub-genre with plenty of humor caused by the gender war between the lead couple in which both sides surrender. The amusing story line works because of the sexual battle between Syrah and Jibril. The secondary characters augment the ribaldry that goes the gamut from slapstick to double entendres proving that Jennie Klassel has a large funny bone, but the audience has the first, middle and last laughs at the antics of the cast.

Harriet Klausner

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Summary: A wily heroine, gold, and chamber pots--a lot of fun!
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. Historical romance that moves along a a fast clip, and keeps you guessing what will happen next. The characters are superbly written and that's what made the story so appealing--I was rooting for Lady Syrah from page one. Any story that can make such humorous use of stinky chamber pots has my vote! Only a few flaws kept this book from being perfect for me.

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Summary: I wanted to like this book, but...
Review: I liked the pseudo-historical world the author built. I initially found the characters and the plot engaging. That said, I really had a problem with some of the heavy-handed attempts at humor. There were humorous moments in the story, certainly, but there were quite a few others that just fell flat. The author would have the characters laughing and rolling around on the ground, but the humor just wasn't there. It felt forced. And the bits where the characters were saying things like "Har, har, har" and "Hee, hee, hee" were plain dumb.

Worse, though, was the fact that the author spent the whole book building up the heroine as a tactical genius just this side of Alexander the Great -- and making sure that the other characters acknowledged it -- only to have the hero and his allies do everything BUT enlist her help for the last half of the book. Yes, she's a woman, but that excuse fell flat as soon as they told her dim-bulb maid what was going on but still didn't tell the heroine. It just didn't make sense that they would go to such pains to keep her in the dark. It did nothing to increase her safety, nor did it make their plans more likely to succeed. In fact, by deliberately excluding her -- and, since she's this genius, of COURSE she's gonna figure it out -- they made her much likely to go off on her own and do something they totally won't expect. I know that we needed to have a bit more tension between the hero and heroine at that point, but to artificially preserve it in this way ruins the story.

I wanted to like this book, and some of the characters were quite interesting. But its flaws REALLY annoyed me.

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Summary: She Who Laughs Last-I Sure Did
Review: Loved this book!!! Haven't read a good Fairy Tale romance like this in awhile. The plot was original and very inventive, taking place in some kindom in the 14th century. Lets just say it is not your standard plot. I Liked the hero, Prince Jibril, very much, but I liked the heroine... alot!! Lady Syrah was clever, smart & very resourcefull. No whining maiden here. She knew what she had to do and did it, much to the dismay of Prince Jibril and the men after her. She would show them that she was not an inferior female in any way. But in a good way. The Prince & his men sure didn't know what Lady Syrah was plotting to do next! And I as the reader didn't either!. In that respect I thought that the author Jennie Klassel was superb. Ms. Klassel did not give much away and so the story was not predictible at all. Just the kind of stories I enjoy. An added bonus was that it made me laugh. It was very funny! I chuckled throughout the Whole book!! The secondary characters were great! Lady Syrah's brother Eben was quite a stitch, weaving tales galore to throw everyone off course.I would definitely recommend this book!! By the way, Jennie Klassel was voted New Historical Voice contest winner. This novel was well written, fast paced & humorous. I definitely look forward to her next novel. Hope it is real soon!

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Summary: Lyndsy Sands fans will enjoy
Review: This book was a real find. Lady Syphia, with several servants,and her young brother, have escaped from the Ninth Kingdom after her cousin moved in and told her she would have to marry him. This plot has been done before, but, this time, what she does to get the kingdom back for her brother, is so funny. She sets out to kidnap the prince and hold him for ransom so she can hire some mercenary's to kick her cousin out. From hiding the prince in a coffin to get out of town, to going around kings encampment smelling like a chamber pot, enjoying her performance as a tavern slut, outwitting even the king, you will diffentely cheer for this heroine. The little brother and her lady's maid are just as funny, I will never be able to see a dromedary again without laughing. If you want a light romance(she and the prince do bed down once)enjoyable characters, plenty of laughs and action, this book is for you.

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Summary: Magnificent Debut!!! Jennie Klassel is a WINNER
Review: This is an awesome book filled with romance, adventure and intrigue. I couldn't put it down. Eban and Syrah are amazing characters and Jibril is incredibly sexy and down to earth. I can't wait for Klassel's next book. Keep them coming Dorchester!!!

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Summary: A funny medieval romance for a change
Review: This is really funny and a real surprise. Lady Syrah kidnaps the crown prince in order to raise money to hire a mercenary to get her home and her family's honor back. The secondary characters are great, her brother with his tall tales and a hysterical maid. The hero has a great sense of humor.This is very lighthearted and fun! It reminds me of Amanda Quicks Mystique.This is Ms. Klassel's first book and I hope there are more coming soon.

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Summary: BRAVA, BRAVA MS. KLASSEL
Review: What a pleasant and great surprise to find this debut novel. Set in the middle ages somewhere (probably near Constantinople??), this is an adventure/romance with a super hero and absolutely great heroine. The plot involves the struggle of Lady Syrah to regain her family lands and title for her younger brother. In order to get the necesary funds to hire mercenaries for the job, she kidnaps Crown Prince Jibril of the realm (with whom she has secretly been in love with since meeting him when she was 13) and holds him for ransom. An so the fun begins...
This is a great novel, with fully-realized supporting characters, including Syrah's 14-year-old brother Eben (who spins hilarious detailed tall tales), wily and wise King Ahriman, an African "mercenary" Zebengo, and a lady's maid who has hysterical sexual fantasies at every moment.
But the star of this book is Syrah...who play's an expert game of chess...I won't say more - JUST READ THE BOOK!!