Reviews for Knight of Pleasure

The average rating for Knight of Pleasure based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-12-01 00:00:00 Andre Munandar Knight of Pleasure was an unexpectedly pleasurable read. (Ha! Get it? *cue cymbals*) I have a certain track record with medieval romances- that is to say, I avoid them, but Knight demonstrated none of the problems I associate with that genre. Margaret Mallory's characters are refreshingly human, rather than primitives with poor technology. I begin to see the appeal of the period, even though Mallory makes no bones about the drawbacks of the times too. People are stinky, events take place over months through the use of summary or narrative jumps rather than days, and women are not indulged endlessly, leggings and sword lessons aside. Even spoiled girls like Isobel come to some hard truths about life for women of the day. Isobel knows better than to refuse her king so she tries to make the best of her political marriage. No feminist rants or tantrums or dressing as a boy to escape (that comes later, LOL). She never launches into bizarre, anachronistic musings like, "Gee, life is difficult for women in my period." It's baffling the many times I've seen this in historicals. Mallory's narrative reads relatively light on internal dialogue and quickly paced. She also shows, not tells. I can understand Stephen's appeal for Isobel because he proves his awesomeness again and again. Egads, he really is chivalrous! The word's not just waved like a flag to identify This Book as a Medieval Romance. Stephen could live in our times, he's so sympathetic. He worries about the mayhem following his command's military victories, he has a close relationship with his brother, and little details like his brother's greater military history and prowess add texture. He agrees to culture a womanizing image (not unusual for him) to gather information for his king. He has wishes and ideas of himself independent of anything else. Nice. He is alpha or beta by turns, realistic and mature as their relationship problems are. He isn't overbearing, but he isn't fawning either. He has his pride. Isobel's story, first typical, becomes fresh when we meet the full cast around 100 pages. What a cool dramedy then with interesting characters and layered conflicts. What will happen to the twins and Isobel's brother? They actually have a role in the action. The action was a nice surprise! I was enthralled and especially thankful that the author chose real events to loosely ground her adventures, without adding unbelievable embellishments, rather than some wacky camp. I do love some politics. I also loved seeing the star of the next book as a youth in this novel. Brilliant device. It's just too bad I didn't get to see Stephen as a youngster. I bet that was a sight! While the writing is a little simple and unsophisticated, it is competent and smooth. Her style is not bloated, colloquial, or choppy. I really enjoyed the author's modern approach to her characters and conflicts and even dialogue. Instead of fumbling with medieval English, she writes a reasonable translation of the sentiments into modern language, mostly avoiding anachronisms or those jarring medieval expressions. She includes enough history to tide us over, chooses a clever, admirable warrior king and places her characters close to him (they all have to do his bidding, the poor sots, LOL). Her quick pacing, realism, and action made this like watching a TV show. I want a Stephen. LOL. I was curious about this author, and now I'm glad I tried her. Jamie was dashing enough as a young man, I'm interested to read his book (we also met his heroine here), and after reading the excerpt, it looks like we jump right into the action too, whoop! I'm between three stars and four. I'll round up for such an independent hero. :D

Review # 2 was written on 2010-01-30 00:00:00 Max Allen My review: Wow! Another fun read from Margaret Mallory, who has such a knack for storytelling! Stephen Carlton and Lady Isobel Hume made for some interesting - and hot - reading. Both were people who put aside their own wants and feelings to do whatever was necessary for the "greater good" and that just happens to be one of my favorite historical romance themes: the hero and heroine are kept apart by forces outside of their control, and have to battle not only the treachery around them, but their own emotions as well. There was a point in the novel where I had started pondering the question, is it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all? Fortunately that question wasn't put to the ultimate test. I adored both Stephen and Isobel and was thrilled that they found their happily ever after and I'm also thrilled to have stumbled upon Margaret Mallory's stories because one can never have too many 'auto buy' historical romance authors! I'm anxiously awaiting Knight of Passion coming this June!