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The Magnificent Rogue
by Iris Johansen
by Iris Johansen
Corrine's review
bookshelves: marriage-of-convenience, uk-historical-misc-era, emotionally-or-physically-scarred
Aug 06, 09
bookshelves: marriage-of-convenience, uk-historical-misc-era, emotionally-or-physically-scarred
Read in August, 2009
I loved this one, and I am loving discovering Iris Johansen's historical romances. I haven't read a bad one yet!
Kate has spent her life being watched over (and dominated by) Sebastian Landfield, at the request of "the lady", i.e. Queen Elizabeth I. The speculation has always been that Kate is the illegitimate daughter of Mary of Scotland, whom Elizabeth had imprisoned. Elizabeth, seeing the danger that could be posed should someone discover Kate's existence, has spent years trying to find the perfect protector for the girl. She has finally found him in Robert MacDarren. She captures him and orders him to marry Kate and take her to Robert's remote Scottish island of Craighdu.
Though he's not pleased to be summoned and ordered around by an English queen, Robert sets out to fetch Kate, but he has plans of his own to circumvent Elizabeth's will: instead of a church wedding, he will bind himself to Kate in a handfast ceremony, that way he can repudiate the match in a year.
But Kate isn't what Robert expected, and soon her strength, charm, and perseverance have captivated him. However, in keeping Kate, he could lose his home, his life, and his country.
What a great story. At first I was a little disappointed in the illegitimate-daughter-of-a-queen storyline, but once you got to know the circumstances and the characters, it wasn't all that implausible. Kate has spent her whole life tucked away from civilization with guardians who cared more about disciplining her than raising her to be a woman. She's so starved for any kind of life experience that her curiosity can't be controlled. She wants to touch, taste, hear, and see everything. And she drives Robert crazy because of it.
I love Robert, there's really nothing more to say. He's rough and tough on the outside, but he can't refuse Kate's smallest request.
The supporting characters are just as interesting: Gavin, the man at arms who is more equipped to be a bard; Deirdre, the termagant housekeeper who really reminded me of my mom's oldest sister; Jock, the silent, hard but fair father-figure in Robert's life.
There wasn't a bad part to this book. A
Kate has spent her life being watched over (and dominated by) Sebastian Landfield, at the request of "the lady", i.e. Queen Elizabeth I. The speculation has always been that Kate is the illegitimate daughter of Mary of Scotland, whom Elizabeth had imprisoned. Elizabeth, seeing the danger that could be posed should someone discover Kate's existence, has spent years trying to find the perfect protector for the girl. She has finally found him in Robert MacDarren. She captures him and orders him to marry Kate and take her to Robert's remote Scottish island of Craighdu.
Though he's not pleased to be summoned and ordered around by an English queen, Robert sets out to fetch Kate, but he has plans of his own to circumvent Elizabeth's will: instead of a church wedding, he will bind himself to Kate in a handfast ceremony, that way he can repudiate the match in a year.
But Kate isn't what Robert expected, and soon her strength, charm, and perseverance have captivated him. However, in keeping Kate, he could lose his home, his life, and his country.
What a great story. At first I was a little disappointed in the illegitimate-daughter-of-a-queen storyline, but once you got to know the circumstances and the characters, it wasn't all that implausible. Kate has spent her whole life tucked away from civilization with guardians who cared more about disciplining her than raising her to be a woman. She's so starved for any kind of life experience that her curiosity can't be controlled. She wants to touch, taste, hear, and see everything. And she drives Robert crazy because of it.
I love Robert, there's really nothing more to say. He's rough and tough on the outside, but he can't refuse Kate's smallest request.
The supporting characters are just as interesting: Gavin, the man at arms who is more equipped to be a bard; Deirdre, the termagant housekeeper who really reminded me of my mom's oldest sister; Jock, the silent, hard but fair father-figure in Robert's life.
There wasn't a bad part to this book. A
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Reading Progress
| 08/04/2009 | page 0 |
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0.0% | |
| 08/05/2009 | page 140 |
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36.36% | "Robert reminds me of a really good Garwood Highlander: gruff hard outer shell, and soft center." 2 comments |
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Rane
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Aug 06, 2009 06:37am
I've never checked out a Iris Johansen book, but I may now! Great Review Corrine!
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Corrine - great review! Iris Johansen's historicals were some of my first romances back in high school.My favorite 3 are The Lion's Bride, Magnificent Rogue and Beloved Scoundrel. I like Tiger Prince for the exotic setting but the hero in that one is a little harsh. I also like Golden Barbarian. I have a few of hers I need to reread like Midnight Warrior because I don't remember what they were like.
