Laura Kinsale

A pawn in a court of intrigue and secrets, Melanthe finds that her only hope for rescue is from the legendary Green Knight, a man whose life she once saved. Reprint.

For My Lady's Heart

b.andherbooks

I am so pleased I've finished my first ever Laura Kinsale romance! It did take me about a million Beth-years to finish reading it, but in my defense I did tackle the original, un-condensed version with ALL the Medieval words and ALL the plot. So much plot.

I am greedy and I wanted so many more pages of Melanthe and Ruck together. Those were my favorite parts, Melanthe being mean or cold, Ruck being in awe of her, Ruck fighting his lustful thoughts. Yes please. I regret that I didn't much care about Allegretto but that's probably because I was just waiting to get back to our main couple.

Melanthe is a queen and I loved her. I loved how much she slept, I loved how she protected herself. More heroines like this please. I also adored the Catholic guilt suffusing the page and the characters, especially Ruck. I feel you Ruck.

The language of this book is also stunning. The writing is superb. Just be prepared to really take your time and to take some breaths/pauses in reading to full enjoy.

I did a buddy read with Leigh Kramer!

Saayan

Wow. I think I have a new favorite book. The heroine is wonderfully complex and the hero is just amaaazing. More coherent thoughts to come later!

Editing to add coherent thoughts: 
I loved everything about this book! I read the Condensed Version without the Middle English, but I plan to go back and listen to the original version via audiobook next. This was probably the most unpredictable romance novel I've read. The side characters were also great and I can't wait to read Allegreto's book too!

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I came this close to setting this one aside over the Medieval language (I only learned at the end of the book that there is not only a glossary but also a modern English version...alas, reading on kindle has some drawbacks). After I acclimated to the language (let's take a moment and doff our hats to Ms. Kinsale for managing to basically learn Middle English, as well as falconry, knight culture, and all sorts of other things to write this epic), it ceased to be an obstacle and I found myself thinking in similar structure and style. Basically it rubbed off on me, as language does when I read something compelling.

I have to confess that I was initially confused by the players on the chessboard when it came to Melanthe's life and marriage status - I feel like those complexities were set up while I was getting accustomed to the language. I also didn't get why they didn't hatch their own plot to (view spoiler)[kill off the villain in the piece once he came to England, but perhaps that didn't make as exciting a love story as Melanthe agreeing to marry him to save Ruck and Ruck fighting for her, even if that means his death (hide spoiler)].

For My Lady's Heart

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