Knight of Desire, by Margaret Mallory - Review

Review and Giveaway!

The Facts

Title: Knight of Desire
Author: Margaret Mallory
Pub Date: July 1, 2009






Don't get me wrong. I like Regencies; I like them a lot.

But there's just something about a medieval, isn't there? And I've missed them; it seemed like they disappeared from the shelves for awhile. I hope this is the beginning of a trend, along with Madeleine Hunter and ? who else? seems like I've seen a couple surfacing here and there lately.

Anyway, I talked a bit about medieval romance in general a while ago, and I have to say, Knight of Desire does a great job of delivering everything you could want from a classic Knight In Shining Armor story. A larger-than-life hero, terrifying on the battlefield, with an irresistably tender spot only for the heroine. Yum.

Catherine is no slouch either. She endures and survives a disastrous and abusive first marriage, made for political reasons, but "passive" is not a word she knows. In romance books, the hero's sense of honor often leads him into difficult choices between duty and love, but Mallory gives us a twist by sending the heroine down that path instead. Catherine's unswerving patriotism leads her into treacherous political waters, with rather unfair but somehow inevitable consequences for her personal life.

In the end, this is a story about trust, on many levels. The two protagonists are both likeable people of honor, integrity, and loyalty, but nonetheless, those very traits cause frustrating obstacles along the way as they learn to apply those virtues to each other. I want to say too that it would have been easy for Mallory to have gone down the Big Misunderstanding road with this story, but instead she has constructed a fast-paced plot that throws natural-feeling curves into the character-driven twists and turns of the relationship development.

Which happily enough, is exactly what I want in a romance novel.

The Giveaway

Want to see for yourself? Comment on this post for a chance to win one of 5 copies. No PO Boxes! Add a link back to this post, share on Facebook, etc. for additional entries (you have to let me know what you've done though). Stop back here on Tuesday, July 14 to see if you won.

**New Rule for Alpha Heroes Giveaways** I'm not going to chase down the winners! Stop back here to find out if you've won and email me your address. If I don't have it within 3-4 days, I will choose an alternate winner.

Readers from outside of North America: let me know in your comment where you are - the sponsors of the contest do not ship outside of the US and Canada, but I will enter all the international names in the last drawing and cover shipping myself if one is chosen. So you only have one chance instead of five, but you DO have a chance!

Big thanks to Hachette books for sponsoring the giveaway!

The Blog Tour

There are a number of folks around the blogosphere discussing this one, so if you don't believe me, try a second opinion. Or third. Or seventeenth.

PARTICIPATING BLOGS:

http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/ - June 29 giveaway.
http://www.thisbookforfree.com/ - June 29 giveaway
http://mustreadfaster.blogspot.com/ - June 29 review and giveaway.
http://yankeeromancereviewers.blogspot.com/ - June 29 to July 10 review and giveaway
http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/ - June 30 review and giveaway.
http://booksoulmates.blogspot.com/ - July 1 review and giveaway.
http://www.morbid-romantic.net/ - July 4 review, giveaway, and Q&A.
http://www.chickwithbooks.blogspot.com/ - July 4 review and giveaway
http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/ - July 5 review; July 19 giveaway.
http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com/ - July 5
http://ajourneyofbooks.blogspot.com/ - July 6 review and giveaway.
http://seductivemusings.blogspot.com/ - July 7 review and giveaway.
http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/ - July 8 review and giveaway.
http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com/ - July 9 review and giveaway.
http://reviewfromhere.com/ - July 10 review.
http://www.startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/ - July 10 review and giveaway
http://reesspace.blogspot.com/ - review and giveaway.
http://www.myspace.com/darbyscloset - review.
http://www.foreigncircuslibrary.blogspot.com/

Update: I've removed a few of the links where I couldn't find a Margaret Mallory post. If you have reviewed this book and would like a link, just leave your info in comments!