This is all I ask (de Piaget Family Book 3)

This is a 3.5 for me. I really enjoyed it and will probably read more of her books. It is a medieval beautiful love story set near the Scottish border in England. I love the way this book begins with three witches stirring the pot (in more ways than one) and playing with the fate of Gillian and Christopher who have no idea the other exists.I had to remind myself throughout the book just who these people were and what had happened to them to make them who they are. Gillian could have irritated me many times had I not kept this in mind. At age 20 she has grown up in her cruel father's keep and never been outside of it. She never knew her mother and her beloved brother, who was only home occasionally, has died in battle. She has no friends and the servants, terrified of her father, have nothing to do with her thus she has never had a woman to talk to. She is the epitome of innocence and ignorance of the world only knowing the terror of offending her father in some way and the next beating. Her brother has taught her to use a sword and she practices in secret. Gillian's personality reminds me of stories of abused children locked in a closet only to see daylight when something bad is going to happen to them. Who she really is has had no chance to develop other than brief times with her brother. She overhears talk from the servants of superstition and evil, much of it regarding the devil's spawn himself, the Lord Blackmour. When Gillian is told during a beating that she is to be given in marriage to Blackmour, to her this is the kiss of death, and she is terrified.Christopher Blackmour is of course not the spawn of the devil but rather a good man who promised Gillian's brother that he would take care of his sister should anything happen to him. Christopher wants nothing less than a wife, but he honors his promise to his dead friend and has Gillian brought to his keep. Gillian discovers the first night the truth that he hides from everyone other than those closest to him that he is blind. She slowly as the book evolves discovered much more about this powerful knight who has had sight brutally taken away from him and what that has done to him. Any more would be a spoiler, but when reading and hoping these two would see things as the reader does, keep in mind that Gillian has nothing to base anything of life on and no reason to believe she is anything but a homely girl not deserving of any happiness. She is innocent to the point of having no idea what happens in the marriage bed which makes for interesting reading.I did love the way the three rather humorous witches are pulling the strings behind the scenes, loved Christopher's young squire, Jason and his devoted knight and friend, Colin. This is not a YA book but not overly graphic either. Some sex - they are married after all. There is action and an element of evil, obviously from Gillian's father.Overall a fun read.

One of my all-time favorite stories. I love medieval romances, and this one has a hero who is flawed yet perfect for the heroine. Christopher, a knight who carries physical and emotional scars from the past, weds- then falls in love with- a young woman who also has her share of physical and mental scars. Gillian's brother was Chris's best friend during knight training. Before Will died, he extracted a promise from Chris that he would protect and look after Gillian (Will and Gillian have an abusive father). Chris keeps his promise by marrying Gillian to get her away from her dad. Chris does this to satisfy his honor. He believes himself unable to love since he was terribly betrayed by his first wife and also blinded in a battle. The path to Chris and Gillian's happy ending is fraught with a lot of obstacles, the prime one being both find it very difficult to trust in other people. The story is well-crafted, with both character's viewpoints at various times. I love the progression and pacing of the tale. I love the fact that the hero is blind, stays blind, and yet is more of a true man than the others who have their physical sight. And I love seeing Gillian find her courage to love and trust again after a horrid childhood. This is a winner for me.

Book was supposed to be "Like New" however that was incorrect. Someone may have bought therefore used, but ones read it! Brand new! And to top everything off book arrived 10 days before earliest due date!!!!! Book arrived carefully wrapped in bubble wrap with a hand written note that they hoped I enjoyed the book. I will enjoy very much as one of all time favorites had to replace last book was falling apart! And I shall be definitely ordering from you again! Thanks

Based on the 5 star reviews, I was looking forward to diving into a juicy historical romance of true love on the Scottish border. It was a disappointment when I reached page 100 and was still in England and wondering what the hype was about. Having now reviewed other ratings on this and others in her De Piaget series (see full list below), I have begun to get the picture. You'll note there are often very low reviews (several of them) notwithstanding the 5 star reviews. And some of those low reviews are posted by her so called fans. Though Kurland certainly has fans (she's sold a lot of books), readers of more traditional historic romance may, like me, be disappointed in the story (not the writing, but the story). I gather that many of her books start off slow and pick up at the end (as this one did), with heroines who are weak and/or truly annoying, and some elements that are just not believable (and I'm not talking about the supernatural elements--this one had witches, and I was ok with that). Oh, yes, the love scenes are rated "G" for readers of romance looking for no scenes in the bedroom.This medieval romance begins as Gillian of Warewick is betrothed by her cruel father to Lord Christopher, the dreaded Dragon of Blackmour. Unbeknownst to her, Christopher is keeping a promise he made to her brother William who asked him to protect his sister upon his death. Gillian has heard the servants at her father's keep say that Blackmour is an evil sorcerer, and of course (being of weak character), she believes it, but when she travels to Christopher's castle and they are wed, she learns truths she never knew, and one of them is how noble he is. She also learns he is blind. On their wedding night, he feigns bedding her by cutting himself and smearing his own blood on the sheets. He has no intention of asking her to be a real wife, nor does he intend to be a real husband, because he's been wronged by his first wife (who's now conveniently dead).The story began slowly, but I hung in there, keeping those 5 star reviews in mind. It had to be great, right? For the first 100 pages, the heroine was the most annoying, pathetic creature. Gillian came across as weak, timid and bumbling--frightened of her own shadow and with few talents. Can you imagine spending weeks in your room doing nothing when you weren't a prisoner? I can't. She also seems dimwitted at times. Kurland also confused me as to her appearance. Gillian thought herself ugly (I assume it's what her father told her, but they did have mirrors...). But several men referred to her as "comely" and even "beautiful," so I had no idea whether she was or wasn't. I didn't like that.Without provocation, Christopher suddenly decides she is a slut out to take him, then the hero who seemed like a strong warrior with a noble heart became annoying. His sudden anger at her seemed contrived to me. He eventually sees he is wrong (through her fevered, fanciful mumblings), but that whole episode was a bit bizarre. I find contrived plot elements annoying.I agree with the reviewer who said Christopher's blindness wasn't only extreme, it was unnecessary. His promise to Gillian's brother to take care of her assured he would marry her, or at least bring her to his castle where he could see her inner beauty over time. The whole idea of his having to be blind to appreciate her inner qualities, if that was what the author intended, was ridiculous. And, the idea that the beautiful blond wife was a shrew and the ugly brown mouse was good as gold reflects an old prejudice (I note in passing the author is a brunette). Frankly, I would have thought the hero would find this heroine annoying whether he was blind or not.On the positive side, while the story was slow and disappointing in places and the characters sometimes exasperating, the writing was excellent, the language was right for the historical setting (13th century England), and the descriptions painted were vivid. I'm just not sure I'll ever be a Kurland fan. I prefer a more brisk pace, more believable conflict, more realistic story development and love scenes that don't shut us out of the bedroom. Finally, I prefer more history in my historical romances. Ah, well, to each her own taste. I'm giving it 3 stars since it was well written.Here's the whole De Piaget series in case you want to read more:* Another Chance to Dream* If I Had You* Dreams of Stardust* When I Fall in Love* The Christmas Cat* One Enchanted Evening* This is All I Ask* The More I See You* From This Moment On* Tapestry (anthology)* Stardust of Yesterday* Till There Was You

This is a lovely medieval romance with beautiful characterisation. The hero is blind but he is one of the best characters I have ever come across. This is not a time travel or fantasy novel as I believe Ms Kurland also writes those and it's also part of a series which I haven't read but can be read as a standalone. A beautiful book.

Liked the book very very much, and it was delivered between the stated window of delivery from Amazon.

Lynn Kurland is an excellent writer. This book is well written and has a solid story, but I like more adventure in my books. This one doesn't have much, and what it does have is very fleeting. It's more about two tortured souls climbing out of their dark minds to come together to heal. I know in medieval times, a lot of women didn't have much freedom, but Gillian spends most of her time in the bedroom doing nothing. You would think she would have at least some curiosity after she realizes her husband isn't a monster and she won't get hurt. One thing that is very lacking, is the physical romance. The author played it way too safe. It is non existent. As for the book itself, some pages were out of order: the first page of chapter 29 is actually page 326. Page 325 comes right after page 334. That made for a confusing read as the last sentence on a page didn't make sense on the next page. Took a few minutes to figure that out. First there was just two people having a conversation and all of a sudden a third was there saying goodbye. Huh? So, if you like a good slow plodding story that is heartfelt but no adventure or big romance, you might like this book.

I love Lynn Kurland's books on both the de Piaget & MacLeod families & related stories. They have given me a lot of pleasure & this book was no exception. You feel you know the characters as if they are friends or family & can get a sense of the time in which they lived. There is a lot of humour in the story as well, I had a lot of chuckles out of her characters. I loved this book!

Habe dieses Buch gestern aus der Hand gelegt. Ich kann es wirklich nur empfehlen. Man leidet mit Christopher, der stolze Krieger, der sich nun in seiner dunklen Welt zurecht finden muss. Und mit Gillian, die von ihrem Vater so eingeschüchtert wurde, dass sie vor allem Angst hat. Und man kann zusehen, wie beide einander helfen sich in in der Welt zurecht zufinden. Gillian ersetzt die Augen für Christopher und Christopher wird Stärke und Mut für Gill. Ein toller Roman, durch den man lernen kann, dass nicht nur Aussehen oder Ruf einen Menschen ausmachen, sondern man auf die innere Werte achten sollte.