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The Knight's Kiss
Lady Elinor of Hardford has fallen in love for the first time, with Dan, her cousin and knight-in-training. But her father has other plans. She must marry his friend, Sir William of Courtney - and he’s nearly 50! Ellie must draw on all her skills to work out a solution to her dilemma. Can she change her father’s mind? And will she ever get to marry Dan?
104 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Sally Nicholls
44 books280 followers Sally Nicholls is a prize-winning British children's author. She was born and grew up in Stockton-on-Tees. On finishing school, Nicholls chose to travel around the world. Her first novel was Ways to Live Forever.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 27, 2024
2.5🌟
This was…….something. First of all, the two main characters were COUSINS? And IN LOVE? That’s not a spoiler, you learn it on the first page. I was disgusted by it and didn’t care about them one bit. Oh, and our FMC was only 14 and said she was in love. I was so grossed out for the whole book and it was so short so it had no depth. The only reason this isn’t just a two star is the pictures were nice and I liked they were there. The romance had no depth, super insta lovey and at the end of the book I thought to myself “what was the book written for?” It did nothing for me and I’m sorry but I didn’t like it very much at all. It was very clean and only a few kisses mentioned.
This was…….something. First of all, the two main characters were COUSINS? And IN LOVE? That’s not a spoiler, you learn it on the first page. I was disgusted by it and didn’t care about them one bit. Oh, and our FMC was only 14 and said she was in love. I was so grossed out for the whole book and it was so short so it had no depth. The only reason this isn’t just a two star is the pictures were nice and I liked they were there. The romance had no depth, super insta lovey and at the end of the book I thought to myself “what was the book written for?” It did nothing for me and I’m sorry but I didn’t like it very much at all. It was very clean and only a few kisses mentioned.
December 9, 2014
I liked this book. Historical fiction is not normally a genre I go for but I enjoyed the story. I loved Elinor's character and thought that her Father was quite cruel and unfair to her with the arranged marriage situation. I was glad when Sir William made it so she was as happy as possible. I felt sorry for Dan but thought he could have understood Elinor's predicament and tried to be less angry with her as it wasn't exactly her fault that she couldn't marry him.
I was pleased with the ending and would recommend this book.
I was pleased with the ending and would recommend this book.
April 24, 2013
I loved Sally Nichols' 'Ways to Live Forever' an was interested to see how she brought her skill to a short book for dyslexic/reluctant teenage readers.
I wasn't disappointed. It was very reminiscent of the fantastic 'Catherine called Birdy' which I loved in my youth, set in medieval Britain about an intelligent teenage girl about to be married off to a much older man.
Elinor is intelligent and keeps her wits about her, using her brains to try and marry the young man she loves. The dialogue may not be authentic (would we want that?!) but the period detail is good, the plot compelling enough for the length of the story and the conclusion satisfying.
Definitely another Barrington Stoke winner.
I wasn't disappointed. It was very reminiscent of the fantastic 'Catherine called Birdy' which I loved in my youth, set in medieval Britain about an intelligent teenage girl about to be married off to a much older man.
Elinor is intelligent and keeps her wits about her, using her brains to try and marry the young man she loves. The dialogue may not be authentic (would we want that?!) but the period detail is good, the plot compelling enough for the length of the story and the conclusion satisfying.
Definitely another Barrington Stoke winner.
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February 28, 2016I'm looking for suitable books for teenagers to start them on the road to reading and spoke to the librarian who came up with this. It was ok but in my humble opinion would not grab the attention of uninterested readers. It's about a 14 year old girl in the 1300s who falls in love with one of her father's staff but her father finds out and finds her a husband old enough to be her father but ends up marrying a 16 year old. now I'm not a low level reader but I do feel this could lead to young people believing marriage so young is normal which it is not. So I wasn't very impressed really. But it is a simple reader. Not really much story, certainly not enough to get my attention so how it would with a teenager I have no idea..
June 12, 2013
Simply written (on purpose), but very well written. It's clear, yet interesting, story that has a realistic (but good) ending. Well researched too. I enjoyed it, even thought it's not aimed at me!
December 27, 2024
This is an interesting historical fiction romance but with an ending I wasn’t expecting. Lady Elinor’s only friends are her horse and her maid, until one day her cousin Dan moves into her father’s castle to learn to become a knight. Dan and Elinor love to play chess and spend time together and soon Dan gives Elinor a kiss. But as the two grow closer and Elinor realises her feelings for Dan, her father is upset when he finds out about the two of them and forbids Elinor from seeing Dan again.
I’ve always loved the medieval period and so I instantly loved getting into this story about Elinor and the knight-in-traning Dan. Elinor’s father refuses to accept any future marriage between the two, and soon arranges for Elinor to marry a very old friend of his instead, but Elinor is determined to marry Dan and tries to find a way for Dan and herself to be together. I love how this story begins, and the lovely way that Elinor and Dan become closer, their love being like so many first time loves out there. But although the story takes on some interesting twists with Elinor trying to find ways to overcome the challenge of her father’s wishes for her to marry a much older man, I’m not sure I liked the ending despite how good others might find it.
I won’t spoil the story here, but the ending just wasn’t what I expected, and although Elinor has a sort of happy ending, it just wasn’t the ending I was expecting and I think anyone who’s really into perfect romance endings, like me, would be disappointed reading this too. I’m not sure if the author was going for a more realistic ending, given what ends up happening, perhaps some realism for what happened during the medieval period as well as a nod to how some first time relationships end up for teenagers today, but the ending just disappointed me and it’s a shame as I really loved the way this story was going and all the illustrations in it too.
The book has some illustrations dotted throughout the text. I love the way everyone looks in the pictures and the expressions on everyone’s faces. The illustrations are all in black, white and grey and I just love how everything looks so medieval, with the hair cuts and outfits too. This book is especially made for dyslexics so features extra thick pages with a yellower colour which makes reading easier for anyone with eyesight problems as well as dyslexia, and the text is larger, with a special dyslexia-friendly font used, spaces between paragraphs and with the book being very short, around fifty pages long so it’s also a great read for reluctant readers too who might find bigger books daunting.
Overall I’m not sure what to say about this book. The story is good, interesting and a wonderful medieval tale, and it does have a kind of happy ending, but it’s just not the ending you really expect or possibly want, and that’s the reason I’ve rated it lower than I would have if it had ended the way I had hoped, as it just left me feeling disappointed instead of satisfied when I finished reading it, though I’m sure some people will enjoy the ending and won’t feel as disappointed as me.
-Thanks to Barrington Stoke for a free copy.
I’ve always loved the medieval period and so I instantly loved getting into this story about Elinor and the knight-in-traning Dan. Elinor’s father refuses to accept any future marriage between the two, and soon arranges for Elinor to marry a very old friend of his instead, but Elinor is determined to marry Dan and tries to find a way for Dan and herself to be together. I love how this story begins, and the lovely way that Elinor and Dan become closer, their love being like so many first time loves out there. But although the story takes on some interesting twists with Elinor trying to find ways to overcome the challenge of her father’s wishes for her to marry a much older man, I’m not sure I liked the ending despite how good others might find it.
I won’t spoil the story here, but the ending just wasn’t what I expected, and although Elinor has a sort of happy ending, it just wasn’t the ending I was expecting and I think anyone who’s really into perfect romance endings, like me, would be disappointed reading this too. I’m not sure if the author was going for a more realistic ending, given what ends up happening, perhaps some realism for what happened during the medieval period as well as a nod to how some first time relationships end up for teenagers today, but the ending just disappointed me and it’s a shame as I really loved the way this story was going and all the illustrations in it too.
The book has some illustrations dotted throughout the text. I love the way everyone looks in the pictures and the expressions on everyone’s faces. The illustrations are all in black, white and grey and I just love how everything looks so medieval, with the hair cuts and outfits too. This book is especially made for dyslexics so features extra thick pages with a yellower colour which makes reading easier for anyone with eyesight problems as well as dyslexia, and the text is larger, with a special dyslexia-friendly font used, spaces between paragraphs and with the book being very short, around fifty pages long so it’s also a great read for reluctant readers too who might find bigger books daunting.
Overall I’m not sure what to say about this book. The story is good, interesting and a wonderful medieval tale, and it does have a kind of happy ending, but it’s just not the ending you really expect or possibly want, and that’s the reason I’ve rated it lower than I would have if it had ended the way I had hoped, as it just left me feeling disappointed instead of satisfied when I finished reading it, though I’m sure some people will enjoy the ending and won’t feel as disappointed as me.
-Thanks to Barrington Stoke for a free copy.
August 20, 2024
Elinor is a lady of a manor, a free spirit and reckless, she loves nothing more than playing chess with her cousin Dan. Then one day Dan kisses her and all her feelings change. Her father insists they end it fast and soon brings another man for her to marry.
This was a little strange for me, for a start Elinor was fourteen but acted like she was between five and ten most of the time, she was very immature which seems odd for the era set in as young girls were raised to be proper young ladies. For a second strange part she fell In love with her cousin, now I know things like this happened in the past but it’s still always weird to read.
I liked the storyline idea and wish there was a bit more to it than there was. We were set in medieval times and other than mentioning them becoming knights there was nothing about it at all. I liked the story of her being in love with the wrong guy and eventually finding her way to the right guy and still finding she can love him too. I wish we’d had more detail and story extension.
The illustrations were cute, you could see the era within the clothing and though not detailed drawings they were still not too bad. I liked parts of this book, however I think it could have had a bit more to it, to fill out the story better, it was still a great read though.
This was a little strange for me, for a start Elinor was fourteen but acted like she was between five and ten most of the time, she was very immature which seems odd for the era set in as young girls were raised to be proper young ladies. For a second strange part she fell In love with her cousin, now I know things like this happened in the past but it’s still always weird to read.
I liked the storyline idea and wish there was a bit more to it than there was. We were set in medieval times and other than mentioning them becoming knights there was nothing about it at all. I liked the story of her being in love with the wrong guy and eventually finding her way to the right guy and still finding she can love him too. I wish we’d had more detail and story extension.
The illustrations were cute, you could see the era within the clothing and though not detailed drawings they were still not too bad. I liked parts of this book, however I think it could have had a bit more to it, to fill out the story better, it was still a great read though.
April 8, 2019
det är 1300-tal. Elinor lever i sin fars slott, Hardford Castle. Det är ett ensamt liv, det finns ingen på slottet eller i närheten som är i samma ålder som hon själv. När sedan Dan kommer till slottet för att tränas till riddare blir Elinor glad, äntligen någon i samma ålder som henne som hon kan umgås med. Dan är rolig att umgås med och de har mycket gemensamt.
Vänskapen utvecklas till någonting mer, Elinor och Dan blir förälskade. Det är inget Elinors far tycker om. Han har sina egna planer för Elinor, han vill gifta bort henne med en av sina vänner på gränsen till Skottland. En man som är lika gammal som Elinors egen far.
Vänskapen utvecklas till någonting mer, Elinor och Dan blir förälskade. Det är inget Elinors far tycker om. Han har sina egna planer för Elinor, han vill gifta bort henne med en av sina vänner på gränsen till Skottland. En man som är lika gammal som Elinors egen far.
April 15, 2024
I need some time to process what I read
July 29, 2024
Dan was so annoying .
September 14, 2024
This book was what made me love reading as a kid, I’ll probably never pick it up again but I’m happy to have it on my bookshelf. It was a cute little story
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews