The Rose of Blacksword
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
A desperate lady engages in a unique contract to gain an escort home in this medieval romance by the USA Today–bestselling author of Thief of My Heart.
It is a dangerous time for a woman to travel alone in England. That is why young Lady Rosalynde of Stanwood has an entourage of knights with her as she urgently returns home to her father. But when a gang of thugs attacks, she is forced to flee and search a nearby town for help. Although she finds a suitable escort, he is also an alleged criminal known as “Blacksword.” The only way she can now ensure herself a safe journey home is to save the scoundrel by handfasting him . . .
Temporary marriage or no, Sir Aric of Wycliffe has better things to do than accompany some nymph through the woods. He has pledged revenge against those who wronged him but has also given his heart to this woman with a sacred vow. When he discovers Rosalynde is her father’s only heir, the thought of making their marriage permanent does cross his mind. But even a towering hulk of a man like Aric can be undone by the greatest conqueror of all: an irresistible, passionate love.
“This is a great story, well told—a page turner. . . . Lots of action, mystery and adventure with an exciting ending. I recommend it.” —Regan Walker, author of the Agents of the Crown series
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When Lady Rosalynde is attacked and robbed en route to her home, Stanwood Castle, she looks to the nearest village for help and stumbles on a combination festival/public hanging. Moving among the crowd, Rosalynde hears that if a woman claims a condemned man for a ``handfast'' (a trial marriage that lasts a year and a day)51 , he'll be spared. Rosalynde selects ``a fine specimen'' called Blacksword and by promising him a horse and weapons persuades him to escort her home. Blacksword is in fact the honorable Sir Aric and has been framed; his reward will help him find his enemy, Sir Gilbert Poole. After this imaginative meeting, Becnel ( Thief of My Heart ) dumps her characters into a tediously formulaic relationship, and with so little action, the setting feels more like the doldrums than the Middle Ages. Back at Stanwood, Rosalynde cannot reveal her dubious marriage to her father. But Aric earns a place in the household while she dabbles in medieval housekeeping; the author seems to be killing time until Gilbert arrives to force a resolution.
