The White Lord of Wellesbourne

By: Kathryn Le Veque

Narrated by: Brad Wills

Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

1485 A.D. Adam Wellesbourne and his four sons - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - comprise the most feared House in the service of Richard III. Adam's eldest son, Matthew, has earned such an influential reputation that throughout England he is known as The White Lord of Wellesbourne. Upon the eve of the Battle of Bosworth field, Matthew finds himself forced into a contract marriage that he has been avoiding for 10 years. He has no desire to wed the Lady Alixandrea Terrington St. Ave, but his father is insistent. The lady comes with a dowry of 400 fighting men, most important in these warring times. But a strange thing happens to Matthew the moment he meets his future bride; he is actually attracted to her. The Lady Alixandrea is beautiful, intelligent, and kind. But she is also unknowingly caught up in a deadly game of politics. Suddenly, a simple marriage becomes a deadly happenstance. As forces for both King Richard and Henry Tudor build toward the battle that will decide the future of England, Matthew is distracted by the woman he never wanted to marry. In this world where the politics of rival men vying for the throne control the fortunes of a nation, The White Lord of Wellesbourne is torn between the unexpected life he never thought to have and the warring life that he'd always known to be. Will lovely Alixandrea win him or will King Richard?

©2012 Kathryn Le Veque (P)2014 Kathryn Le Veque

Medieval Heaven!!

Its truly wonderful when you find a book that has characters that you love and a story that makes you laugh and cry. This is a touching story of Matthew, a compassionate knight, and Alixandrea, a sweet lady, who are betrothed through an arranged marriage. This beautiful medieval book is filled with history, betrayal, passion, war, jealousy, secrets, loyalty, friendship, grief, and even some humor. It’s got it all.

It took me a while to adjust to the narrator, but he grew on me and overall he was very good.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy medieval romances. Now, because I have to know Gaston's story, I'm off to listen to Dark One, Dark Knight.

The White Lord of Wellesbourne

5 Stars for Brad Wills spectacular performance as narrator! Once again he has helped these characters find a special place in my heart. One of my favorite narrators of all time.
5 Stars for another of Kathryn Le Veque's amazing novels. There is no way to describe how addicting her Medieval stories of Knights, Lords, Kings, and loves are. They have mystery, love, emotion and the unexpected kin each book. This one is no different. It is a fascinating journey into a tumultuous time. Definitely a do not miss!!! Easy to recommend to Medieval romance lovers.

Touching Story

I particularly like the author ability to infuse reality into Romance - the death of Luke was one such moment - she made us acutely feel the loss while celebrating life and love. Very well written and fast pacing story - definitely worth a read.

3.5 stars, Enjoyable

I liked this sweet story. It was based on "insta-love," though, and I prefer a build up. The narrator was very good, except his voice for Matthew made him sound like a 65 year old man. That is my biggest pet peeve with narrators. I hate for young characters to sound old. I also didn't like his voice for Adam, Matthew's dad. He sounded 100 years old and like he was on death's door every second he spoke.

I love a happy ending!

It was a great story and I was happy at the end of the story. The narrator did awesome with the voices and accents.

Knights and Damsels.

I like the narrator when he was the maid. It was very funny, with humor.

A marvel--simply swoonable!

What does Brad Wills bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The lovely accents, deep knightly voice and gripping emotional moments in motion!

Any additional comments?

My Thoughts: This book was everything I could want in a Medieval historical romance. The cadence of its sentences, along with the superb (and frankly, ravishing voice) delivery of narrator Brad Wills, transported me from now to then. From the outset I was engaged with the humorous scene where Luke tells Lady Alixandrea the woes of his brother and how utterly ashamed Luke became once he knew who he spoke with.

Kathryn Le Veque’s descriptive words of imagery set the scene of each act. I clearly smelled the putrid stench of the tavern as Lady Alixandrea walked through the doors, the dirt of the road that her maid kicked up while walking, the terror of a battle raging around her head and helpless for escape, of stables smelling of hay and urine. I was there. I saw it all.

It was a story of heightened tension in a gripping storyline erupting even before Matthew could take Lady Alixandrea to the castle. Their neighbor, a Tudor ally, attacked them, something Matthew knew would eventually happen, just not that day. Luckily, with the additional 400 fighters with him he fought well, even though the attack was a surprise. They were able to fight them off, but Luke, Matthew’s brother, was struck by an arrow. He had been guarding Alixandrea. I was ready to see the lady shot or White Lord injured. But we find that Lady Alixandrea is not only beautiful and as graceful as any queen, but quick-witted, intelligent and courageous besides.

We learn Matthew is not only a fighting knight, but also a compassionate son. For the last 12 years, since his mother had died, their father, also a knight, had never been exactly sane. Anything could set him off. Matthew had taken it upon himself to try to manage his environment so he would not go over the cliff into madness. He’d drink and talk of his lost lady love, how much misery life was without her and very often would try to kill himself.

From the first, I was caught in battle, intrigue and the wicked ways of greedy men. I was privy to how knights discuss strategy and warfare. I was party to reasons why men fight each other, why some men would follow Richard III and others Henry Tudor, how women could be used as pawns to barter.

I enjoyed the scenes where the four brothers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all knights, would work together to protect their own and their king, would discuss the great battle soon to be fought because it was evident something large was going to happen. When divisions were apparent among the brothers, it never interfered with how they pulled together. The author created a great story in the throws of history. Certainly, this would make a great film!

This story gave me a real sense of the peril people lived in during that time of history in England, with the constant wars. It was a gripping tension-filled read, further enhanced by the excellent performance of narrator Brad Wills. His voice for Matthew was perfect. It is a deep bass voice that only bespeaks the size of the man. I coward when he spoke and then he’d use his voice speaking words of respect and love to Lady Alixandrea which would melt my heart. But with such a huge, massive voice, he paradoxically spoke the dialog of Lady Alixandrea eloquently, befitting the woman. His voice for the lady’s maid, had a rather raucous pitch and volume much as I envision the non-nobility of that time period speaking. Brad Wills’ performance perfected a most perfect story. She's gained another besotted fan!

Love this Medieval Romance story!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, if you love strong heroes and feisty females then Kathryn Le Veque delivers it all. I've read several of Ms. Le Veques' books, and I love her writing style-and love for big, strong, fierce, knights. Our hero is Matthew, he is called The White Lord and the title fits him due to the fair hair, blue eyes, and generally pleasing personality he's known for. Our feisty heroine is Alixandrea is not too impressed with her betrothed. They have been betrothed for 10 years and she is vexed to have been waiting for so long to be married. Matthew’s story starts out as he's been avoiding his betrothed for 10 years, and is currently holed up in an inn drowning his irritations in alcohol and wenches before Alixandrea arrival to "seal the deal”. We all know what happen when our heroine is vexed and the story just takes of from here.

What does Brad Wills bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Brad Wills has a great voice and he does a wonderful job of bringing Katheryn Le Veque’s story to life with the many voices he has to perform to make the story interesting and enjoyable. Brad Wills is fantastic with his portrayal of characters in this book. You know who he is portraying with just his different voices. His deep, sexy voice that soothes you to the tips of your toes.

AWESOME!!!!

Kathryn Le Veque is a new author for me and she is awesome. This is about the 6th book I have listened to back to back and they are all amazing. Sir Matthew is against marriage for 10 years until he set eyes on his wife to be. I loved how Sir Matthew and Lady Alixandrea talked though there problems. It was great seeing Gaston De Russe-The Dark One and Matthew's best friend in this story. Such a powerful ending. Matthew pays the ultimate sacrifice for friendship.

The White Lord of Wellesbourne

What made the experience of listening to The White Lord of Wellesbourne the most enjoyable?

That Brad Wills read the story.

Any additional comments?

Brad Wills did a fantastic job with all the characters.