The King's Man
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4.1 • 47 Ratings
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Ranulf Ombrier's fame throughout England for his skill at swordplay is rivaled only by his notoriety as King Edward I's favorite killer. Ranulf's actions have gained him lands, title, and a lasting reputation as a hired butcher. But after years of doing his king's bidding, he begins to fear for his mortal soul and follows his conscience away from Edward, all the way to the wilds of Wales.
Gwenllian of Ruardean, Welsh daughter of a powerful Marcher lord, has every reason to leave Ranulf for dead when one of her men nearly kills him. As a girl she was married by proxy to a man Ranulf murdered, only to become a widow before she ever met her groom. In the years since, she has shunned the life of a lady, instead studying warfare and combat at her mother's behest. But she has also studied healing and this, with her sense of duty to knightly virtues, leads her to tend to Ranulf's wounds.
Saving her enemy's life comes with consequences, and Gwenllian and Ranulf are soon caught up in dangerous intrigue. Forced together by political machinations, they discover a kinship of spirit and a surprising, intense desire. But even hard-won love cannot thrive when loyalties are divided and the winds of rebellion sweep the land.
Editorial Reviews
"The King's Man is a well-written, character-driven story, rich in historical detail and in the complexity of its characterisation....The romance between Ranulf and Gwenllian is intense, passionate and refreshingly free of so many of the tropes and stereotypes that abound in historical romance." - All About Romance
"I love this book because it's a great, angsty medieval, brought to life in the old school romance tradition. It's got a kick-ass heroine (who isn't a brat) and a dark, brooding hero with a past." - Laura Kinsale, author of Flowers from the Storm
"Kingston's leisurely pace may feel too slow for some readers, but her attention to period details and the growing emotional attachment between her lovers will be enough to keep most readers turning pages. Fans of unusual couples will be caught up in this story of romance and redemption." - Publisher's Weekly
"The King's Man is easily the best new medieval I've read in years and definitely one of my highlights of 2015. Kingston is a tremendous writer and I eagerly await her new offerings." - Cooking Up Romance
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A recovering English villain finds love with a young Welsh noblewoman amid intrigue and the threat of civil war in Kingston's languid historical romance set in medieval England. Sir Ranulf of Morency, known as King Edward's butcher for his skill at assassination, has come home to claim his holdings on the border between Wales and England the holdings he earned by murdering his foster father, Aymer of Morcency, at Edward's command. Gwenllian of Ruardean, who was wed by proxy to Aymer when she was only 10 years old, contends that the land should be hers. The last thing Ranulf expects is to find himself falling for the tough young woman whom Gwenllian has become. She's been trained as a warrior according to her mother's wishes, in defiance of all custom, and her heart is as armored as her body. As mutual lust between Ranulf and Gwenllian becomes marriage and love, the two are caught in the middle of a plot to hatch civil war that could tear them and the land apart. Kingston's leisurely pace may feel too slow for some readers, but her attention to period details and the growing emotional attachment between her lovers will be enough to keep most readers turning pages. Fans of unusual couples will be caught up in this story of romance and redemption. (BookLife)
Customer Reviews
The kings man
Really enjoyed it.
Not the best read
I was really hoping this would be a good read. I really love the 13th / 14th century so was looking forward to a period romance story. The story was painfully slow and the characters really difficult to connect to. I was going to stop reading at the half way mark as the story didn't seem to be going anywhere, I kept going and was actually glad when it was over. By the end of the book, I really didn't care what happened to the main characters.
There was very little action, hardly any reference to 13th century society and the biggest killer for me was the sporadic use of "13th century language" which sounded more 16th / 17th century. I was so bored at one point I started reading the book as a pirate, which I must admit did considerably improve the reading.
This could easily have been a short story, the plot was a maximum of a few pages, the rest was just padding, there was no side / sub plots or development of other characters. You sort of knew how it would end as soon as it started and without any surprises, twists, action scenes it just dragged on and on.
Do not miss this book! A wonderful story with interesting and complex characters and plot twists.
I loved this book! Almost invariably when reading historical novels, there will be one or two anachronistic notes, in speech or descriptions, that take the reader back out of the world that the author is depicting, and reduce the believability of that world.
Ms Kingston makes no such errors, and so the story of Gwenllian and Ranulf is rich and deep and true, and the reader can totally immerse themselves without encountering those jarring notes that might bring one back to the present day.
The characters are multi-dimensional and completely believable, and the complexity of their personalities,and hence the conflicts and connections between them, is almost inevitable given the rich back stories provided by the author.
A wonderful, complex and satisfying story. I am heading off to buy the second book immediately after I post this review. Definitely a strongly recommended read! If there was an option to give more than 5 stars, I would have taken it.