Rating: 
Summary: A good read...
Review: "Lord of Midnight" was a good read. I enjoyed it well enough, however it fell short of keeper status for a few reasons. First off...The speed that Renald and Claire feel in love was just too hard to believe..one moment she hated him..then she felt some stirrings of desire then..bam!! She says to herself that this is a man that she will love for always..now...I can understand hating a man, but still desiring him..I can even understand EVENTUALLY falling im love with him, but in this story..it happened so out of nowhwere..I couldnt help but wonder where in the hell I was when this great love developed! I also felt that this book belonged to Claire..I dont have a problem with a book being dominated by one character, but I would have liked a chance to get inside of Renalds mind more often..I wanted to know him better...all in all this WAS a good book, but it fell short of fantastic...still..it is worth reading. I look forward to more from Jo Beverley.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: Can you live with the man who killed your father? Jo Beverley believes that you can, that love can conquer anything - even that. That is probably the main reason I gave this book 4 stars only.. everything else about it is excellent, but I found the central theme too difficult to swallow.The characters are very well written.. Renald is hard, tough, unyielding.. but oddly vulnerable in his attraction to Claire.. she is defeated, heartbroken and vulnerable, but beautifully strong in her pride and dignity.. Very well written.. the twists and turns will surprise you and delight you.. funny at time, heart wrenching at others.. what else can you ask for from a historical romance?
Rating: 
Summary: Good but ......
Review: Courtesy of A Romance Review Lord of Midnight is a sequel to Ms. Beverley's earlier novel, Dark Champion, which is the story of Imogen and FitzRoger. These two appear as secondary characters in Lord of Midnight and play the role in bringing Claire and Renald to face their love and overcome their problems. There are a lot of tenderness, humorous and desire screens between Renald and Claire throughout the book. This book is a good read but it still feels wrong to marry your father's killer.
Rating: 
Summary: Jo Beverley proves she can write mediaeval!
Review: For some reason, I am less keen on mediaeval romances than on those set in the Regency or Georgian period. However, with books like this one, and Mary Jo Putney's Uncommon Vows, I might read mediaevel more often! Renald de Lisle, the new King's Champion, fights in a tourney on the king's behalf, and kills his man. As a reward, he is given the dead man's estate, Summerbourne, but the king asks him to marry one of the unmarried women on the estate. By process of elimination, he chooses Claire Summerbourne, the dead man's daughter, as his wife. Claire - still in mourning for her father - is deeply distrustful of de Lisle: she is wary of him because he is a warrior by profession, and she resents his acquisition of her father's property. She doesn't want to marry him, but has little choice. However, by the day of their betrothal the two have come to understand each other, and by the following day - their wedding day - they are ready to admit that they love each other. However - as the editorial review above makes clear - it's at this point that Claire discovers Renald is the man who killed her father, and she realises that she cannot commit to him. The remainder of the book deals with Renald and Claire coming to terms with the harsh knowledge which lies between them, made all the more difficult by Renald's feeling that he did nothing wrong; he was acting lawfully and in accordance with the king's instructions. How Claire comes to understand and forgive, and to reconcile her love for Renald with her love for her father, is told very well and very convingly by Beverley. The historical detail is also very interesting, as well as being accurate; I certainly learned a lot from this book. My only complaint is that - typically - there was no indication on the book's cover, or even inside before the start of the book, that this was a sequel to another mediaeval romance by Beverley, Dark Champion. While reading Lord of Midnight, I kept coming across references to Imogen and Fitzroger, and when eventually these characters were encountered, it did seem as if readers were supposed to be familiar with them. Beverley's postscript then revealed that Lord of Midnight is a sequel to Dark Champion. I wouldn't say that it's essential to read Dark Champion first, but I did feel that it might have been useful to have read it. I do wish publishers would be honest when one book is a sequel to another!
Rating:
Summary: A turning point-book for me!
Review: I always used to hate medieval romances because I thought they were dry and boring...and most of them probably were, but not thsi one. I had read two of Jo Beverley's Georgian books before and I really liked her style so I decided to give this one a chance. Halfway through, I was still unconvinced that medievals COULD be good, but towards the ending I was mesmerized and couldn't put it down.
I think the thing with Jo Beverley is that her romances aren't just about love and sex...they're about the problems that real people actually deal with, about honor, death, God, morals, and all those other tricky questions. And she deals with them beautifully without always losing that passion--and I'm not just talking about the lovers'. This book goes so deep and really makes me think about the problem with justice, and also to see justice from the medieval point of view and then compare it with our modern day notions.
Before this book, I read romance purely for fun but with Jo Beverley, the word 'romance' has become so much more. Don't get me wrong, the romantic element is as strong here as in any other book, but it is intertwined with some pracical issues which I appreciate.
I really recommend this book and the only reason I don't give it a 5 because I have REALLY high standards for books and a 4 is definitely a good rating for a book I would not look at twice if I found it on a bookshelf before reading Jo Beverley's other romances.
Rating: 
Summary: Could barely get through it
Review: I have never read one of her books before and I know I won't again. This book was so boring it took me a week to read it. I usually polish off a book in one night but this one kept going and going. It really doesn't have a good plot I found myself wishing that I could just smack the heroine and make her shutup, but alas it is only a book. Plus the evil sheriff part had me a bit confused as to why he was even included but hey what do I know.
Rating:
Summary: Could barely get through it
Review: I have never read one of her books before and I know I won't again. This book was so boring it took me a week to read it. I usually polish off a book in one night but this one kept going and going. It really doesn't have a good plot I found myself wishing that I could just smack the heroine and make her shutup, but alas it is only a book. Plus the evil sheriff part had me a bit confused as to why he was even included but hey what do I know.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Story
Review: I just love Jo Beverley! She never fails to move you into the period and into the hearts of minds of her main characters. Here you have the story of Claire Summerbourne, anxiously awaiting the return of her father from a rebellion to overthrow the upstart king Henry Beauclerk. Instead, who rides up to the castle but Renald de Lisle, kings champion, to bring her fathers body home and assume ownership and title to Summerbourne. He has won the prize of Summerbourne, along with the kings orders to wed without delay, one of the three maidens living there and to care for the rest of the deceased Lord Summerbournes family. Meeting Claire Summerbourne, he is immediately taken with her and as much as she would admit to herself, she finds him physically disturbing. The plot goes on with Renald trying to wed the lovely Claire before she discovers his awful truth. The characters are so well fleshed out, you can feel all the emotions and struggles each has in their hearts and soul. Again, a most magnificent story set in and during the reign of King Henry. I also love the way she reintroduces characters from previous novels so that the flow of these books brings you back to revisit the other characters that you hated to lose track of once their stories had ended.
Rating:
Summary: Magnificent Story
Review: I just love Jo Beverley! She never fails to move you into the period and into the hearts of minds of her main characters. Here you have the story of Claire Summerbourne, anxiously awaiting the return of her father from a rebellion to overthrow the upstart king Henry Beauclerk. Instead, who rides up to the castle but Renald de Lisle, kings champion, to bring her fathers body home and assume ownership and title to Summerbourne. He has won the prize of Summerbourne, along with the kings orders to wed without delay, one of the three maidens living there and to care for the rest of the deceased Lord Summerbournes family. Meeting Claire Summerbourne, he is immediately taken with her and as much as she would admit to herself, she finds him physically disturbing. The plot goes on with Renald trying to wed the lovely Claire before she discovers his awful truth. The characters are so well fleshed out, you can feel all the emotions and struggles each has in their hearts and soul. Again, a most magnificent story set in and during the reign of King Henry. I also love the way she reintroduces characters from previous novels so that the flow of these books brings you back to revisit the other characters that you hated to lose track of once their stories had ended.
Rating:
Summary: A rich and satisfying medieval
Review: I loved this book. The main conflict is heartwrenching and realistic, respectfully rooted in the times. Beverley uses the language with a pleasing, subtle grace that lends a sense of beauty and a shiver of sensuality to every scene.
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