[WXY]≫ Read Free This is all I ask de Piaget Family Lynn Kurland 9780425180334 Books

This is all I ask de Piaget Family Lynn Kurland 9780425180334 Books

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This is all I ask de Piaget Family Lynn Kurland 9780425180334 Books

One of my all-time favorite stories. I love medieval romances, and this one has a hero who is flawed yet perfect for the heroine. Christopher, a knight who carries physical and emotional scars from the past, weds- then falls in love with- a young woman who also has her share of physical and mental scars. Gillian's brother was Chris's best friend during knight training. Before Will died, he extracted a promise from Chris that he would protect and look after Gillian (Will and Gillian have an abusive father). Chris keeps his promise by marrying Gillian to get her away from her dad. Chris does this to satisfy his honor. He believes himself unable to love since he was terribly betrayed by his first wife and also blinded in a battle. The path to Chris and Gillian's happy ending is fraught with a lot of obstacles, the prime one being both find it very difficult to trust in other people. The story is well-crafted, with both character's viewpoints at various times. I love the progression and pacing of the tale. I love the fact that the hero is blind, stays blind, and yet is more of a true man than the others who have their physical sight. And I love seeing Gillian find her courage to love and trust again after a horrid childhood. This is a winner for me.


Tags : This is all I ask (de Piaget Family) [Lynn Kurland] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <b>From Lynn Kurland, the New York Times </i>bestselling author of the Nine Kingdom series.</b> Set near the Scottish border at a rugged castle on the edge of the sea,Lynn Kurland,This is all I ask (de Piaget Family),Berkley,0425180336,Romance - Historical - General,Knights and knighthood;Fiction.,Love stories.,FICTION Romance Historical General,FICTION Romance Historical Medieval,FICTION Romance Historical Scottish,FICTION Romance Time Travel,Fiction,Fiction - Romance,Historical romance,Love stories,MASS MARKET,RomanceHistorical,Romance: Historical,romance;historical romance;fiction;medieval;historical;england;time travel;scottish;highlanders;macleod;scotland;knight;sorcerer;romance novels;romance books;medieval romance;love;highlander romance;highland romance;time travel romance;novels;fiction books;books fiction;time travel romance historical;romance novel;scottish romance;historical romance books;romance book;romantic novels;fantasy;relationship books;paranormal romance;books for women;magic;paranormal;castles;relationship,romance; historical romance; fiction; medieval; historical; england; time travel; scottish; highlanders; macleod; scotland; knight; sorcerer; time travel romance; paranormal romance; highlander romance; royalty; medieval romance; relationship books; relationships; highland romance; scottish romance; historical romance books; romance novels; fiction books; romance books; time travel romance historical; magic; castles; love; adventure; fantasy romance; books for women; romantic; love story; romance novel; sword; highland; fairy tales

This is all I ask de Piaget Family Lynn Kurland 9780425180334 Books Reviews

Based on the 5 star reviews, I was looking forward to diving into a juicy historical romance of true love on the Scottish border. It was a disappointment when I reached page 100 and was still in England and wondering what the hype was about. Having now reviewed other ratings on this and others in her De Piaget series (see full list below), I have begun to get the picture. You'll note there are often very low reviews (several of them) notwithstanding the 5 star reviews. And some of those low reviews are posted by her so called fans. Though Kurland certainly has fans (she's sold a lot of books), readers of more traditional historic romance may, like me, be disappointed in the story (not the writing, but the story). I gather that many of her books start off slow and pick up at the end (as this one did), with heroines who are weak and/or truly annoying, and some elements that are just not believable (and I'm not talking about the supernatural elements--this one had witches, and I was ok with that). Oh, yes, the love scenes are rated "G" for readers of romance looking for no scenes in the bedroom.

This medieval romance begins as Gillian of Warewick is betrothed by her cruel father to Lord Christopher, the dreaded Dragon of Blackmour. Unbeknownst to her, Christopher is keeping a promise he made to her brother William who asked him to protect his sister upon his death. Gillian has heard the servants at her father's keep say that Blackmour is an evil sorcerer, and of course (being of weak character), she believes it, but when she travels to Christopher's castle and they are wed, she learns truths she never knew, and one of them is how noble he is. She also learns he is blind. On their wedding night, he feigns bedding her by cutting himself and smearing his own blood on the sheets. He has no intention of asking her to be a real wife, nor does he intend to be a real husband, because he's been wronged by his first wife (who's now conveniently dead).

The story began slowly, but I hung in there, keeping those 5 star reviews in mind. It had to be great, right? For the first 100 pages, the heroine was the most annoying, pathetic creature. Gillian came across as weak, timid and bumbling--frightened of her own shadow and with few talents. Can you imagine spending weeks in your room doing nothing when you weren't a prisoner? I can't. She also seems dimwitted at times. Kurland also confused me as to her appearance. Gillian thought herself ugly (I assume it's what her father told her, but they did have mirrors...). But several men referred to her as "comely" and even "beautiful," so I had no idea whether she was or wasn't. I didn't like that.

Without provocation, Christopher suddenly decides she is a slut out to take him, then the hero who seemed like a strong warrior with a noble heart became annoying. His sudden anger at her seemed contrived to me. He eventually sees he is wrong (through her fevered, fanciful mumblings), but that whole episode was a bit bizarre. I find contrived plot elements annoying.

I agree with the reviewer who said Christopher's blindness wasn't only extreme, it was unnecessary. His promise to Gillian's brother to take care of her assured he would marry her, or at least bring her to his castle where he could see her inner beauty over time. The whole idea of his having to be blind to appreciate her inner qualities, if that was what the author intended, was ridiculous. And, the idea that the beautiful blond wife was a shrew and the ugly brown mouse was good as gold reflects an old prejudice (I note in passing the author is a brunette). Frankly, I would have thought the hero would find this heroine annoying whether he was blind or not.

On the positive side, while the story was slow and disappointing in places and the characters sometimes exasperating, the writing was excellent, the language was right for the historical setting (13th century England), and the descriptions painted were vivid. I'm just not sure I'll ever be a Kurland fan. I prefer a more brisk pace, more believable conflict, more realistic story development and love scenes that don't shut us out of the bedroom. Finally, I prefer more history in my historical romances. Ah, well, to each her own taste. I'm giving it 3 stars since it was well written.

Here's the whole De Piaget series in case you want to read more

* Another Chance to Dream
* If I Had You
* Dreams of Stardust
* When I Fall in Love
* The Christmas Cat
* One Enchanted Evening
* This is All I Ask
* The More I See You
* From This Moment On
* Tapestry (anthology)
* Stardust of Yesterday
* Till There Was You
The first half of this book was a 5 star read, but it seemed to dissolve a bit from there. I loved the two main characters. Gillian and Christopher, two tortured souls that could find peace in each others arms. There was a big build up to their finding each other and the growth of their relationship...and then the culmination of all this ended up with a letdown. Where was the hot, sizzling, descriptive sex scene I was hoping for?
Then things got further muddled with a visit from the family that hosted Christopher as a boy where all they did was try and roughhouse with each other. I felt that took things off course and it was hard to follow their antics. it only served to water down the main attraction of Gillian and Christopher. I loved the premise of two lost souls coming together to form a whole and the love and passion they shared was beautiful. I wished for more heat and more focus on that and the rest could have been edited out.
One of my all-time favorite stories. I love medieval romances, and this one has a hero who is flawed yet perfect for the heroine. Christopher, a knight who carries physical and emotional scars from the past, weds- then falls in love with- a young woman who also has her share of physical and mental scars. Gillian's brother was Chris's best friend during knight training. Before Will died, he extracted a promise from Chris that he would protect and look after Gillian (Will and Gillian have an abusive father). Chris keeps his promise by marrying Gillian to get her away from her dad. Chris does this to satisfy his honor. He believes himself unable to love since he was terribly betrayed by his first wife and also blinded in a battle. The path to Chris and Gillian's happy ending is fraught with a lot of obstacles, the prime one being both find it very difficult to trust in other people. The story is well-crafted, with both character's viewpoints at various times. I love the progression and pacing of the tale. I love the fact that the hero is blind, stays blind, and yet is more of a true man than the others who have their physical sight. And I love seeing Gillian find her courage to love and trust again after a horrid childhood. This is a winner for me.