A Knight for the Defiant Lady

Convent Brides #1

by Carol Townend

A dramatic, emotional medieval romance

Sworn to protect her

But she’s threatening his guarded heart…

Retrieving Lady Allis from a convent is no easy task, as mercenary knight Sir Leon soon discovers… Brave and beautiful, Allis awakens emotions Leon thought he’d long buried after losing his family. Yet upon their return to her castle, the social gulf between them widens when Allis’s father demands she marry a nobleman. Leon has always believed love is an illusion, but will he be able to watch his defiant lady marry another? 

From Harlequin Historical: Your romantic escape to the past.

Convent Brides

Book 1: A Knight for the Defiant Lady
Book 2: A Knight for the Runaway Nun

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Medieval Romance, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published April 25, 2023

About the author

Carol Townend writes atmospheric Historical Romances and Sagas set in England and Europe. Born in Yorkshire, she went to a convent school high on the Whitby cliffs. Later, she studied history at Royal Holloway College, London. She lives in London with her husband and daughter.

Carol's first novel, Sapphire in the Snow, won the RNA New Writers' Award. Two other novels were shortlisted for the RoNA Rose award - Betrothed to the Barbarian in 2013 and Unveiling Lady Clare in 2015.

Carol loves research, and spends too much time hunting for excuses to go on research trips. She can often be seen teetering on the battlements of various stately homes or castles.

Reviews

[Romanticamente Fantasy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vanilla_91 - per RFS
.
Care Fenici,
Un cavaliere per la dama ribelle possiede tutte le caratteristiche più pure e intrinseche dei romanzi del genere: abbondanti dosi di romanticismo, una passione bollente e un amore capace di superare ogni ostacolo.
Allis, figlia di un conte, fugge in convento pur di sottrarsi alla volontà del padre che vuole darla in sposa a un uomo che non ama. La giovane è una donna coraggiosa, testarda e appassionata e non sopporta l’idea di trascorrere una vita costretta in un matrimonio infelice.
Lord Michel, padre della giovane, assolda un gruppo di mercenari capitanati da sir Leon di Tarascona e affida loro il compito di riportare l’adorata figlia a casa sana e salva. L’accordo appena concluso appare agli occhi di Leon davvero semplice e vantaggioso rispetto agli incarichi precedenti, ma il cavaliere non poteva certo prevedere le reazioni intense che la compagnia di Lady Allis gli avrebbe suscitato.
Si tratta di una lettura leggera, che scorre con semplicità e senza eccessivi intoppi. L’ostacolo maggiore che la neo-coppia dovrà affrontare sarà la differenza di ceto sociale, ma i due sapranno lottare pur di offrire una chance di sopravvivenza al legame appena nato.
È un romanzo breve che si legge in un soffio, ma è anche una bella carica di dolcezza, tenerezza e desiderio, una forte combinazione di sentimenti ed emozioni pure e piacevoli.
Vi consiglio la lettura di questo romanzo se avete voglia di fare un tuffo nel passato in compagnia di un valoroso cavaliere e di una tenace dama.

[elle (taylor's version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following a heated disagreement with her father whereby the spirited and intelligent Lady Allis refuses to marry a man she does not love, she steals away in the middle of the night with the help of a household knight and her handmaid sworn to secrecy. Weeks pass until her location is found out, and enlisted to retrieve her and bring her home is mercenary-knight Sir Leonidas of Tarascon, a man as cunning and clever as he is guarded to Lady Allis' charms. Yet, upon their return to her home, all between them becomes more and more difficult to navigate when her father continues to demand she marry a nobleman she does not love, or one she cannot stand, and Sir Leon finds he must face his past in order to secure a seemingly out-of-reach future.

I think I enjoyed the premise of this a lot more than I did the overall execution, because I couldn't help but feel that there was something missing in and amongst the characters. I may need time to let this one sink in because I can't quite put my finger on what it was, but there was something that just didn't quite hit right. There were moments when I felt things were going a bit too fast, moments where they went a bit too slowly, and a few tension build ups that ultimately didn't go as far as I think they should have.

Overall though I did like this, Townend is a new author to me, and I can see myself picking up more of her work in the future. Despite being a fairly cut-and-paste plot, A Knight for the Defiant Lady is well written and doesn't try to be more than it is, instead makes good use of the tropes that it employs to deliver a satisfying book.

[Bea Tea · Rating 2 out of 5]

A so-so, ultimately dull read that I was struggling to bother with by the end. The last 100 pages where skipped hard. The leading couple are rather bland, I wasn't feeling much in the way of romance at all. The plot was so wishy-washy and meh - any tension or urgency that may exist are done away with the hey-ho attitude the father has to his daughter's betrothal. She just skips off and does her own thing without any consequences like a bold, modern wo-man and not, you know, like a woman living under the dictates and strictures of the medieval setting. She has a few rousing feminist rants as well, and smashes the patriarchy with the full support of her father, jilted betrothed, and husband. You go grrrrl. No thanks.

[Lapis Lazuli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante l'ambientazione e il background del protagonista, ma come al solito tutto poco approfondito in un romance storico. Storia d'amore piuttosto banale, lei un tantino insopportabile e del tutto anacronistica, ma ho letto di peggio.

[Harlequin Books]

Historical Fiction, Sagas, Medieval Romance
Miniseries
Convent Brides (Book #1)

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable medieval romance novel. Sir Leon was a swoon-worthy hero and the story was mildly interesting.