Lady of the Knife

Rating:
Summary: A Science Fiction Romance Review
Review: Bartered away by his sister as a contract husband then stolen by bandits before he can even meet his wife, Lady Evelyn of Silavale, poor young Thomas of Alandale isn't having a very good introduction to married life. Though the lady sent her finest guard, Martin, to escort her blushing bridegroom, even that fierce warrior wasn't enough. Lucky for him, Lady Evelyn is friendly with a group of vigilantes called "The Pack", led by the beautiful and mysterious Lupa, who vanquish the bandits. On the way home Lupa also introduces Thomas to the delights of the flesh, explaining that Lady Evelyn and she have an understanding. Needless to say Thomas is delighted when his seductress turns out to be none other than Evelyn herself.

Things go well for Thomas and Evelyn and they decide to make their marriage a real one instead of a temporary union to last only until an offspring is produced. After a jump in time, Evelyn, hugely pregnant, is kidnapped by an old enemy, and Thomas, Martin, and Thomas's sister Emma, a midwife, set off to round up the Pack once again and rescue their due-any-day lady. While Martin and Emma fight a building attraction, Thomas frets that he'll never see Evelyn again and show her that he's become a man worthy of sharing the reins of the estate.

LADY OF THE KNIFE is a quick-paced adventure with two love stories for the price of one, though the love story of Martin and Emma proceeds more in the traditional "romance novel" format. The blend of worldbuilding and relationship is balanced, and the protagonists avoid stereotypes. The males in particular are not what you'd call alpha, not even that big mean powderpuff Martin. I found the text easy to read and speckled nicely with humorous scenes. This is not a darkly atmospheric novel but instead veers towards a basic, low-key adventure story. Nobody in here is the world's most powerful dragon master, and nobody's saving the world with a magic sword.

There are some problems with flow in the novel. The first couple chapters feel like a short story-and a good one-instead of the beginning of a book. The novel, in this reader's opinion, should have ended closer to the time that the kidnapping adventure plot was wrapped up. The villain is not as interesting a character as the protagonists, being more stereotypical, and doesn't seem smart enough to have carried all this off.

That being said, LADY OF THE KNIFE was an uncomplicated read that avoids the recent epic fantasy fad of saving the world in at least four really big books. There's something to be said for a book that's done when you reach the end.

Rating:
Summary: Timeless Tales review
Review: By TT reviewer Chere Gruver

Thomas is on his way to his wedding to the Lady Evelyn of Silvadale. In Alanadon, things are done a bit differently than they were in England. In Alanadon, the eldest child inherits the estate, regardless of sex. Thomas's eldest sibling, his sister, Lady Carolyn, has basically sold him into marriage. When Carolyn inherited the estate, she learned that it was basically bankrupt, and Carolyn has four sisters and Thomas to take care of. Thomas was naturally very upset when his sister told him about the wedding, but he accepted his responsibility and agreed to the match. See, the weddings are also very different in Alanadon, they can be written as a two-year contract. Upon inheriting, a child must be produced within two years; this is the reason for the two-year wedding.

On the way to Silvadale, Thomas is kidnapped. He is trying to get out of the rope that he is tied with, when all of a sudden, someone dressed all in black cuts the bonds and asks if he can use a sword to fight with. He readily agrees and the battle between the black dressed people and the kidnappers is on. Thomas finds out his rescuers are the Wolf Pack. The Wolf Pack is a force for good in these times. The Leader tells Thomas that they were sent by the Lady Evelyn to rescue him. Martin, who was sent by the Lady Evelyn to escort her groom and his family to Silvadale, and the rest of the rescuers leave. The Leader states that she will have Thomas to the wedding in time. Once they are all gone, Thomas asks the Leader to remove her mask. The Leader turns out to be a beautiful woman with long black hair. The two of them spend the night together, and Thomas loses his virginity the night before he is to wed Lady Evelyn. He realizes this is just a one-night stand.

The two of them make their way to Silvadale. The next morning, Thomas is speaking to one of his older sisters, Emma, when he sees his bride-to-be. She is dressed all in white with a heavy veil hiding her face. They go into a room to talk and it turns out that his bride is none other than his rescuer from the night before. Thomas requests that they have a real marriage. He has been trained with books and would like to be the real lord of the estate. Evelyn agrees to the marriage and they are already halfway in love.

Martin asks Emma to dance after the contracts have been signed. Emma was betrothed before. When her betrothed found out that the estate was bankrupt, he broke the betrothal. The physical part of the their relationship left a lot to be desired, and Emma wants nothing more to do with men. She has gone into training to become a midwife and is quite happy to do that for the rest of her life.

Evelyn becomes pregnant with Thomas's child. As her time comes close, she asks for Emma to stay with them to attend her at the birth. Emma comes to Silvadale and takes charge of her patient. All that Emma and Martin do is fight constantly, about every little thing. Evelyn takes off on her morning ride with a different groom, and never makes it back to the castle. She has been kidnapped. Martin was with Evelyn in the ISB and they created the Wolf Pack together. Now, Martin is determined to get Evelyn back. Thomas demands to accompany him. Of course, Emma is not going to left behind either. So the three of them set out to find Evelyn and save her.

This was a wonderful fantasy tale. I really loved the Alanadale Society and it's different organization. It was filled with adventure, danger and excitement, plus the bonus of two romances, that of Thomas and Evelyn and Emma and Martin. The story also dealt with Thomas becoming a man and a leader. It also dealt with the healing of Emma and of Martin and they each overcame their pasts to accept the other as the person they were and as equals, which Evelyn was also forced to do with Thomas. This was a wonderful tale and I recommend it to all lovers of fantasy and romance.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining story
Review: Heroines: varied

Lady Evelyn of Silvavale needs to find a husband in a hurry. If she doesn't marry and produce an heir, her inheritance will slip through her fingers and pass to another relative. So she fixes her eyes upon Thomas, a tough, young, debt-ridden fighter who is a champion in the ring but untried in real combat--a circumstance that is set to change when he is kidnapped just before his wedding.

Thomas has a passel of sisters, the most annoying of which is the plump red-headed midwife Emma, who gave up her dreams of being married when her oafish betrothed abandoned her as soon as her dowry dissipated into thin air. Now she alternately ignores and exacerbates all men folk, especially the handsome, dangerous-looking Martin, right-hand man to her new sister-in-law.

But some persistent person means to see Evelyn's estate pass out of her hands. If kidnapping the bridegroom won't do the trick, then perhaps kidnapping the very pregnant bride will. Can Thomas, Emma, and Martin rescue Evelyn and her unborn babe in time?

What worked for me:

I thought that the opening for this story was pretty strong, dropping the reader right into the kidnapping of Thomas rather than filling us all in on the whole history first. The rest of the storyline was also enjoyable and the characters were sympathetic, with the women being particularly strong.

Size-wise Evelyn and Emma were opposite as day and night--one a slender fighter, the other a plump nurturer. But when cornered Emma could handle herself very well, thank you very much!

What didn't work for me:

The writing was less than polished in spots, with some rather noticeable typos and missing words in some passages.

I didn't mind it once I realized what sort of story this was, but its inclusion in the fantasy genre had me conjuring up magical beasties and such which never appeared. This book really feels more like a medieval romance with some unusual societal details in place of those of Europe from a thousand years ago.

Overall:

Fans of medieval romances should enjoy this story, but fantasy fans looking for paranormal elements may be disappointed when they don't appear.

Warning: There are some steamy and violent scenes in this book.

If you liked "Lady of the Knife" you might also enjoy the "Darkover" series "The Conqueror", "Earth Song", or "Oracle".

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining story
Review: Heroines: varied

Lady Evelyn of Silvavale needs to find a husband in a hurry. If she doesn't marry and produce an heir, her inheritance will slip through her fingers and pass to another relative. So she fixes her eyes upon Thomas, a tough, young, debt-ridden fighter who is a champion in the ring but untried in real combat--a circumstance that is set to change when he is kidnapped just before his wedding.

Thomas has a passel of sisters, the most annoying of which is the plump red-headed midwife Emma, who gave up her dreams of being married when her oafish betrothed abandoned her as soon as her dowry dissipated into thin air. Now she alternately ignores and exacerbates all men folk, especially the handsome, dangerous-looking Martin, right-hand man to her new sister-in-law.

But some persistent person means to see Evelyn's estate pass out of her hands. If kidnapping the bridegroom won't do the trick, then perhaps kidnapping the very pregnant bride will. Can Thomas, Emma, and Martin rescue Evelyn and her unborn babe in time?

What worked for me:

I thought that the opening for this story was pretty strong, dropping the reader right into the kidnapping of Thomas rather than filling us all in on the whole history first. The rest of the storyline was also enjoyable and the characters were sympathetic, with the women being particularly strong.

Size-wise Evelyn and Emma were opposite as day and night--one a slender fighter, the other a plump nurturer. But when cornered Emma could handle herself very well, thank you very much!

What didn't work for me:

The writing was less than polished in spots, with some rather noticeable typos and missing words in some passages.

I didn't mind it once I realized what sort of story this was, but its inclusion in the fantasy genre had me conjuring up magical beasties and such which never appeared. This book really feels more like a medieval romance with some unusual societal details in place of those of Europe from a thousand years ago.

Overall:

Fans of medieval romances should enjoy this story, but fantasy fans looking for paranormal elements may be disappointed when they don't appear.

Warning: There are some steamy and violent scenes in this book.

If you liked "Lady of the Knife" you might also enjoy the "Darkover" series "The Conqueror", "Earth Song", or "Oracle".