Lord of My Heart

Rating:
Summary: History and Passion
Review: "I don't like you Madeline de la Haute Vironage. I don't want Baddersly. If you force me to marry you, I will make your life a misery." So says Aimery de Gaillard in Lord of My Heart, another great medieval by Jo Beverley.

Convent-bread Madeline heiress to a barony, is offered a choice by King William of three lords to wed. The King's choice is obvious, the powerful and honorable Aimery de Gaillard. By his own machinations, William hopes to help Madeline make the "right choice". There is just one problem, Madeline has given Aimery her solemn promise that she will not choose him. She suspects that he might be The Golden Hart, champion to the common English folk, and as such, a traitor to the crown. She soon realizes however, that the handsome Gaillard is her only choice.

Torn between his Norman and Saxon roots, Aimery must balance his love for the English people, and his duty as a Norman knight. He does not need or want the complications of a marriage to a Norman heiress, especially one he believes to be cruel and oblivious to the English peoples' sufferings. Aimery must keep his covert raids secret and does not trust Madeline; he is sure she will eventually betray him to the King. Though neither of them want it, their attraction for each other is strong and soon becomes an all-consuming love.

Jo Beverley once again brings the medieval world to life, and fills her story with rich and complex characters. I know you will enjoy this book. It is a must read for her fans; indeed any fan of this genre.

Rating:
Summary: wonderful tale with two unforgettable characters
Review: Courtesy of A Romance Review

Lord of My Heart, the first historical romance of Jo Beverley, is set in 1068, two years after the Battle of Hastings. With this magical and historical background, Ms Beverley has created a wonderful tale with two unforgettable characters. Once again, Ms Beverley proves to be an excellent storyteller and Lord of My Heart is surely one of her best historical novel. A must read no matter you are a fan of historical romance or a new romance lover.

Rating:
Summary: Book Description from back cover
Review: In most romances one would expect the hero and heroine to get to know each other and fall in love. Not so this couple. We first of all get six extremely long background chapters trying to fill us in on all of the implications of Harold vs William trying to become the King of England pre- and post-1066.

We also get helps of violence and the hero Aimery's divided loyalties because he had an English mother. All of what he suffers at the Battle of hastings comes out in only occasional spurts to make him seem a tortured hero. He is totally inconsistent otherwise.

As for the heroine, she is stcuk in a convent at the start of the book, and will eventually be freed from there by the deaths of her father and brother. These events are treated in such an offhand manner it is insulting to the reader's intelligence. But since she is not a very interesting character, we do not really care anyway.

She is given an English estate to run, but her aunt and uncle treat the people really badly, and so the Engllish hate her and scheme against her at every turn.

Aimery is disguised as a highwayman to try to help the English people, and to oversee the lands which have been given away by William. I can understand some divided loyalty, with his uncle Hereward being the true owner of the land, and William being his godfather and liege lord. Much is also made of how English versus Norman he is. Yet he never once has any doubts about his course of action? It is all glossed over and made to seem irrelevant, when he risks danger from all sides.

Madeleine does, however, have doubts about everything he does. She is convinced he is a traitor right until the last few pages of the book. They never get to know each other well enough to trust in the other. He is sure that she has been cruel to her tenants and so he avoids her like the plague. He only cares that her uncle beats her with a LOG because he is afraid the English people will be punished if anyone finds out they have been complicit in the abuse she is suffering.

The wedding night is crude, and indeed all the violence as she is spanked, manipulated, and nearly if not totally raped by the different men who want to control her is really offensive even if we do assume that things were a lot more rough than in they are now. Aimery's reiterated point that it is not rape because she is his wife is just revolting.

Her sleazy cousin trying to betray them at every turn, and a cast of odious traitors makes it very hard to like anyone in the book apart from Aimery's brother Leo, already married. The next book in the series is supposed to be about his brother Roger, but the couple of times he appears he is so offensive, why bother? Aimery is supposed to be the hero but he has abot as much depth of character and heroic qualities as a sponge.

Madleine tries very hard to be a heroine, but she has little personality and is only seen a a voluptuous woman wih a natural talent in bed. Or the target of the men's brutal violence and lust. When she finally tells her she loves him, it is laughable.

This book was only interesting in terms of the historical period of time and William and his wife Matilda. Everything else was just macho posturing, violence, and crudity. Fans of the Mallorens will be sadly disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Very unromantic
Review: In most romances one would expect the hero and heroine to get to know each other and fall in love. Not so this couple. We first of all get six extremely long background chapters trying to fill us in on all of the implications of Harold vs William trying to become the King of England pre- and post-1066.

We also get helps of violence and the hero Aimery's divided loyalties because he had an English mother. All of what he suffers at the Battle of hastings comes out in only occasional spurts to make him seem a tortured hero. He is totally inconsistent otherwise.

As for the heroine, she is stcuk in a convent at the start of the book, and will eventually be freed from there by the deaths of her father and brother. These events are treated in such an offhand manner it is insulting to the reader's intelligence. But since she is not a very interesting character, we do not really care anyway.

She is given an English estate to run, but her aunt and uncle treat the people really badly, and so the Engllish hate her and scheme against her at every turn.

Aimery is disguised as a highwayman to try to help the English people, and to oversee the lands which have been given away by William. I can understand some divided loyalty, with his uncle Hereward being the true owner of the land, and William being his godfather and liege lord. Much is also made of how English versus Norman he is. Yet he never once has any doubts about his course of action? It is all glossed over and made to seem irrelevant, when he risks danger from all sides.

Madeleine does, however, have doubts about everything he does. She is convinced he is a traitor right until the last few pages of the book. They never get to know each other well enough to trust in the other. He is sure that she has been cruel to her tenants and so he avoids her like the plague. He only cares that her uncle beats her with a LOG because he is afraid the English people will be punished if anyone finds out they have been complicit in the abuse she is suffering.

The wedding night is crude, and indeed all the violence as she is spanked, manipulated, and nearly if not totally raped by the different men who want to control her is really offensive even if we do assume that things were a lot more rough than in they are now. Aimery's reiterated point that it is not rape because she is his wife is just revolting.

Her sleazy cousin trying to betray them at every turn, and a cast of odious traitors makes it very hard to like anyone in the book apart from Aimery's brother Leo, already married. The next book in the series is supposed to be about his brother Roger, but the couple of times he appears he is so offensive, why bother? Aimery is supposed to be the hero but he has abot as much depth of character and heroic qualities as a sponge.

Madleine tries very hard to be a heroine, but she has little personality and is only seen a a voluptuous woman wih a natural talent in bed. Or the target of the men's brutal violence and lust. When she finally tells her she loves him, it is laughable.

This book was only interesting in terms of the historical period of time and William and his wife Matilda. Everything else was just macho posturing, violence, and crudity. Fans of the Mallorens will be sadly disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Well Written And Original
Review: Jo Beverly simply cannot write a bad story in my opinion, and Lord Of My Heart is no exception. This story takes place around the year 1066, the time of the invasion of England by William of Normandy.

The hero is half Norman, half Saxon and he identifies with both the conquering side and the conquered side. You can see the struggle in him as he tries to figure out which side he is on. So he disguises himself, and travels from village to village to give his saxon people any help he can. The heroine is a Norman Heiress who the hero is forced to marry. It is a marriage he does not want, because he believes the heroine is cruel and vicious to his people(Saxons) and he does not trust her. The heroine does not trust her new husband because she believes he is committing treason against the new king by planning a saxon uprising. Eventually, they learn to trust each other and realize they are in love.

Lord Of My Heart is a well written story that is original in its plot. Jo Beverly has once again created a story that is well researched and plotted out. For those who have read and liked this story, try one of Jo Beverly's other medeival romances. Dark Champion is another good one.

Rating:
Summary: Rich historical details and powerful love drama
Review: Judging from her earlier books, it is no wonder why romance maestro Jo Beverley is a 5-time winner of the coveted RITA and Lord of My Heart is yet another classic even if it lacks the heartening fun and audacity of My Lady Notorious.

It isn't a just comparison of course when the serious Lord Of My Heart is set in the pagaentry and chaos in the time era of 1065 Normandy where Norman conqueror William the Bastard ousted the Earl of Sussex to lay territorial claims on England after King Edward's demise. There lies the conflict of half Saxon-half Norman Aimery de Gaillard who pledges fealty to William but acknowledges his fraternity with English rebel Hereward. Aimery is torn between loyalty when he secretly and unwittingly helps the English populace as his disguised alter-ego Golden Hart battle injustices inflicted by powerful Norman landlords like Madeline de la Haute Vironge's uncle who rules Badderley with tyranny.

Madeline has to wed a lord to remove her uncle from her estate - and with a twist of fate she ends up choosing Aimery. Yet trust eludes them when Madeline fears that Aimery is a treasonous traitor and Aimery grips with rumors of Madeline's cruel facade behind her beguiling innocence.

Rich with historical details and majestic in its scope of war, betrayal and treachery, Lord Of My Heart sweeps the readers away with the period and embellishes it with a heartfelt romance that sparkles with wits and sensual delights. The clash of honours, familial ties and love evoke a powerful drama to rival the ferocious intensity of the swashbuckling extravaganza.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't know JB wrote these kind....
Review: This is another example of the difference in my taste for romance & that of a large number of others. JB, as usual, wrote a wonderful story rich in history. I realise that thousands of people would really love this story. Alas, it's not my kind of love story.
The story was set in 1068 during the invasion of England by William ...of Normandy. It is a romance but the story is full of war, betrayal, & the horrible realistic everyday life of the people that lived during that time. I don't care to read about that much realism... I'm one of those that want to escape from those type of horrible realities - not into them. Reading about mutilation & inhumane punishments are just not my cup of tea. Unfortunately, I picked this up after reading her Malloren series & was unpleasantly surprised.
Another thing that wasn't to my taste was the often told story of mistrust between the hero & heroine. They met, fell in love (& lust of course) - the great misunderstandings took place & they alternated between lust & turning cold shoulders to each other - almost til the end of the story. I got really disgusted with both of them - often!
Anyway, JB is definitely a great author - however, I will have to be more careful of her books that I choose to read; I was sad & sickened by the reality of those times through-out almost all of this book. But, I do want to stress that those of you that like a well written story rich in history (and can handle brutality) may very well love this story

Rating:
Summary: Frustratingly Delicious
Review: This is another of Jo Beverley's earlier novels written with just the right amount of sensual delight to heighten a romance lovers interest.

The period is quite early (1068) with the Norman conquest of England and William as the King.
Madeline de la Haute Vironge given a choice to wed one of three choices of King William. But the choice is and is not easy even if the handsome Aimery de Gaillard were not her hearts desire. She has every reason to fear him and he has reason to hate her. Or so one would think..

Oh, were it not for the authors pen to write such misunderstandings between two people so destined to be together.

Another beautiful story one has come to expect from the pen of Jo Beverley. Try to find a copy and read it.

Rating:
Summary: Lord of My Heart is pure brilliance!
Review: This story, set in 1060s England is a seamless blend of romance, history, and passion. Normandy has invaded the English and the land is in turmoil. Aimery de Gaillard, half English and half Norman, help aid the English peasants under the thumb of Norman overlords and becomes known as "Golden Hart". He's distinguishable by markings on his hand, though he tries desperately to disguise himself at all times. He comes upon Madeleine de la Haute Vironge in the woods. She was caught looking upon him as he bathed and he seeks to teach her a lesson. Speaking English he tells her what he would do to her, though she doesn't understand a word. This first meeting lays the foundation of their very passionate, sensual relationship.
When the King decides to give Madeline a choice of 3 men she may choose to marry and Aimery is one of them she finds once again she is drawn to him. Though this time not as Golden Hart, but as the King's favored choice. Aimery warns her not to choose him, because to do so would expose him as Golden Hart and a traitor of the crown. For circumstances I will not reveal in this review, she does choose him and they marry much to the delight of the reader. It doesn't end there so hold onto your seats!

This story is a masterpiece. Not only is it set in one of my favorite time periods, the dark and turbulent early 1060s, but it is does not hold back. Jo Beverly serves up a heavy weight punch and this book is a classic.

Rating:
Summary: Book Description from back cover
Review: To save her barony from ruin, Madeleine de la Haute Vironge must wed one of a trio of lords offered by King William. A shocking twist of fate impels the convent-bred beauty into the arms of the most dangerous of the three-a magnificent, exciting stranger Madeleine desires...but also fears.

Torn between familial loyalties and devotion to his king, handsome Aimery de Gaillard prowls the forest as the Golden Hart, devoted to helping the common English folk. But the beautiful young heiress he is honor bound to marry suspects his secret, threatening his cause and his life. Yet his noble heart, hardened by mistrust, aches with passion for Madeline's sensuous innocence-entreating the daring outlaw to surrender to the glory, the rapture...and the peril of love.