Friday, February 1, 2013

Tender is the Knight - Jackie Ivie (Zebra - Dec 2005)

A LADY OF ICE
Beautiful and elegant, Elise, the Duchess of Wynd, has survived among the nobility by carefully cultivating a facade of cutting wit and heartlessness. Nothing ruffles her. And no man can break through her defenses...

A MAN OF FIRE
A fierce Scottish warrior, Colin is the new Duke of MacGowan and--in polite circles--looked upon as no better than a barbarian. Nevertheless, he is a lord who brooks no defiance...and holds no rein on his pleasures...

A PROMISE OF PASSION
Colin's very presence ties Elise's sharp-edged tongue: She is all too aware that he could be the answer to her prayers--or her worst nightmare. For Elise harbors secrets that could change the course of both their lives. But before she can reveal them, she must make the wild knight her own...


This book was okay.  I liked the idea of the book but I had a hard time connecting with the main characters.  Elise was married and widowed at a very young age.  Since then she has protected herself by playing the part of a heartless flirt.  Then her sister ends up falling for a Scotsman who leaves her pregnant, then she dies in childbirth.  Elise is left with trying to find a way to tell his family about the baby.  This worries her a lot because her sister had nothing good to say about the family.  When she meets Colin, the baby's uncle, she is not impressed by him at all.  She finds him crude and rude, but is also drawn to him.  She spends most of the book trying to tell him about the baby, but only telling bits at a time which get she into trouble with him.  I know she is young, but I really wanted to smack her at times.  Colin was definitely living up to his reputation as a barbarian.  He kept giving her orders, not listening when she tried to tell him things, and generally being a butthead.  There were occasional glimpses of a nice guy, but then he'd turn around and be an ass again.  Perhaps if the author had included his point of view and thoughts his actions might have been understandable, but most of the time he just seemed mean.  The last few chapters were the best, but even the resolution wasn't completely satisfying with Colin going from ass to lover in just a few pages.  I preferred the maid, Daisy, and Colin's servant, Miles, as characters.



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