Simon the Loyal must marry Ariane the Betrayed in order to bring peace to the Disputed Lands. The catch? A brutal rape and her people's betrayal (hence the name) have left her unable to love and with a unreasonable fear of the marriage bed. This conflict drives the plot, but it is unnecessarily belabored during the first quarter of the book when it could have been cleared up by Ariane's simply explaining the situation to the seemingly understanding and compassionate Simon. This is not the only cause for confusion in this romance of 11th century England: Characters are hard to distinguish, having such similar names as Ariane and Amber, Dominic and Duncan and equally similar mystical powers--whether they be Learned, truth seers or witches. Lowell hones her writing skills in the second half of the book, finally displaying the talent behind the eight million copies of her titles in print. Her characters come into their own once freed from the mantle of a wearying plot device. The love scenes sizzle, motivations are plausible and the story becomes engrossing. Out of confusion comes a love story which will no doubt leave Lowell's loyal readers satisfied.

not much into her historical stuff, but this is a great read!
permanent collection

RELEASE NOTES:

This one wasn't requested, but you asked for some choices of this authour. I hope you'll enjoy it, Sonia.

travelling in my first M-Bag to Switzerland. I wish a save journey. Please N-Joy. :)

I see that thanks to this brilliant M-bag I'll be able to further my acquaintance with Lowell... lovely! I wonder if there's an order to these books or if they can be read in any order? I note that this is a loan and am very grateful - not quite sure though when I'll get to it as I have a few rings etc to read first. Thanks so much!

Oh my, I realize I've had this book since the summer! It has certainly been worth the wait though, what a good read. I am not always into medieval stories, but when they are well-written (such as those by Madeline Hunter, in my opinion), they are great. I enjoyed the mixture of history and magic in this tale, and found the characters credible and moving. Thanks so much for lending this to me, I'll try to get it back to you before the year is out! ;)

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way home... thanks so much! (Slow post, should take 1-2 weeks to make it up to Germany)

back home again. Thanks for mailing it back to me. I'll put it back into its slot to its brothers and sisters.
Glad you enjoyed it.

->perm coll