Mystique

I have ready many of her books. She also writes under Jayne Ann Krentz, but those take place in present day. This book by Amanda Quick occurs around the Renaissance Period. I had to push myself to give it a chance, because the way they spoke was not only annoying to me, but difficult to decipher. This author less than many others, though. She even didn’t go to the level of that which they actually spoke.Her books are usually based in London and involve a mystery with an unmarried lady as a paid companion. I have thought all were very enjoyable. Those are light entertaining reads.This was involves a lady living in basically a castle with her brother. Their inheritance has been stolen by her uncle. Since her brother had a disfiguring injury to his leg, he can’t become a knight.As the story opens, the uncle and his cohorts are eating in the massive dining hall entertaing a knight who is trying to track down a large green crystal which belongs to his estate.Alice had purchased the ugly crystal but it had since been stolen from her. They come to a bargain to work together to get it back.This has been my favorite of her books so far. I have given most a rating of 5 but would give this a 6 compared to the others.As in the others, there are a few short explicit scenes that you may want to skip over.

This book is a little out of the normal time frame of Ms Quick. It takes place in medieval England. The heroine and her younger brother are under the guardianship of an evil relative who has stolen her brother"s manor. The hero is a legendary knight with a sworn oath for vengance to his maternal grandfather. He arrives at her castle seeking a green crystal that had been in her possession. She ends up bartering its location for a dowry to send her brother to learn law in exchange he seeks a temporary betrothed to bring back to his castle and village. The commonality of both sets of parents dying via poison; her interest in natural physics vs his known character and fierce temper sets the stage for a series of mysterious circumstances that they must partner together to solve and requires that they place trust in each other. The consequences are predictable, the answer to the riddles are very surprising. The book holds one"s interest until the end. A typically good read from Ms. Quick.

I wanted to love this book, and the premise was compelling... sorta, but the dialogue was just SO stilted it ruined the book for me. Add in yet another hero and heroine who think a bit too highly of their own intellects and overuse of the word "stratagem" and... blech.

Amanda Quick does it again! Another riveting story of romance and intrigue. The relationship between Hugh and Alice, as in all Amanda's novels that I've read, is an alliance of intelligence, attraction and chemistry that sizzles. Her heroes and heroines forge a strong partnership and respect the best qualities in each other. It really makes for a believable connection that you don't often see in romance novels. I love how they work together to not only solve the riddles present in the story but the riddle of what makes each other tick. I love her strong women and thoughtful men who break down the barriers that they have erected around their hearts. Such an enjoyable read with great dialogue, funny moments and wonderful secondary characters.

Jayne/Amanda does medieval romance with a bit of spice and a bout of suspense very well. I wish there were more of them. It has been a long time since I first read this one so I picked it up as an old friend, sat back, and enjoyed it all over again. This is a very good author who can and does write multiple genres marvelously. But the knight in shining armour being saved by and also saving the fiesty, brave, smart heroine are some her most delightful. Great entertainment.

This is my second read of this wonderful novel by Amanda Quick and I enjoyed it even more this time. The story has a strong female who is clever and has a very interesting personality but she is not gorgeous or so disgustingly perfect that she is one dimensional. There are many twists and turns and while there is some predictability it is a very heartwarming and sweet love story. Definitely a keeper!!

I just re read this book.Hugh and Lady Alice are captivating. Hugh is a stoic man whose word and honor mean everything to him. Alice is a pragmatic woman who thinks only logically and does not see that honor has anything to do with jousting and fighting.She is the very thing that Hugh the Relentless needs and she is just what he gets.She cracks the shell and defies him at every turn and Hugh gives in to her.It is an awesome story of love and giving and healing.Very very highly recommended.

Good story with plenty of good fun. Although a bit repetitive as with all her books this one is a top pick for this author

I have read most of Amanda Quick's novels, but somehow this one got missed. It is based in the same vague mediaeval time as 'Desire'. The hero is a large and determined knight, known as Hugh the Relentless, who has at last acquired the manor and lands which were lost to him as a child on his grandfather's death. In his search for a stolen 'stone', which all Lords of Scarcliffe are said to need to hold the land successfully. In his journey, he is led to Lingwood Manor, where he meets Lady Alice, an intelligent and sharp-tongued young woman.The tale of their relationship, and the discovery of a murderer in their midst, is told with the usual delightful Amanda Quick flair. I loved both the hero and the heroine and was sad when the book ended. It has romance, suspense and humour. I would certainly recommend this book - but don't start it if you want an early night! I couldn't put it down.

Sir Hugh, known as the Relentless, is in some ways a very untypical hero: he has no winning ways to appeal to women, he seems at first to be totally devoid of humour, on the other hand he is thoroughly strong and intelligent, which he proves every time he opens his mouth - he rather reminds one of a sword blade made of steel. As his opponent, there is Lady Alice, with a very cutting intelligence herself. Often when there is a very strong male protagonist, the female counterpart seems to pale in comparison. This does not happen with Lady Alice. She does not fall into any of the classical heroine types. In fact, the person she most resembles is Sir Hugh, although he is a mysterious person who doesn't reveal his character or inner feelings at all easily, whereas she is blunt, straightforward, energetic, and warm. There is something of a guillotine blade in her way of speaking and reacting.This is a very promising beginning, and indeed I find that the promises are fulfilled. In the course of the book I start liking these persons more and more, and I am delighted that they see in each other the qualities that I like but that would make them difficult spouses to anybody but each other: only a woman of Alice'c character could survive with a man of Hugh's dominant personality, and Alice would no doubt sweep the latrine floor with a lesser man than Hugh.Humour is not the first word that leaps to mind when thinking about Hugh and Alice, and still the book makes one laugh once and again. The book contains some of Ms. Quick's funniest dialogue, which is one of the main reasons for me to like it. The humour is less a question of wittiness of the lines themselves than the timing of those lines, and that in my opinion is quite a difficult genre of writing comedy. Congratulations, Ms. Quick. Hugh and Alice are both matter-of-fact people who tend to cut directly into the practical heart of the matter, which I find very funny and refreshing, as it is hard for me to tolerate sentimentalism and people's feelings getting hurt and them being miserable all the time for no reason.The romantic / erotic side of the book is believable in spite of (or maybe because of) the totally un-romantic characters of both the main figures. The suspense plot, that Ms Quick always seems to have as a sub-plot to the romantic development, is in this case rather natural and even interesting (which it not always is in her books).This is a very entertaining book to be enjoyed on the couch in a rainy day. Be sure to start early enough, because you are not going to stop reading before you come to the finish.

This was just my kind of romance. Tough hero with a soft heart underneath and courageous heroine who knew and understood her hero. She pushed him a little but never too far and their love was beautiful. Their relationship was almost perfect to me and I hated to see the end of the story. Would highly recommend.

I like historical novels as long as the history is well researched and the era is identified clearly. This is British history according to Disney and about as accurate as the average fairy tale,which, when added to the diabolical English grammar puts me off completely.

tutto ok