Knight of Desire: All The King's Men Series, Book 1

By: Margaret Mallory

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

His surcoat still bloody from battle, William FitzAlan comes to claim the strategic borderlands granted to him by the king. One last prize awaits him at the castle gates: the lovely Lady Catherine Rayburn. Catherine risked everything to spy for the crown. Her reward? Her lands are declared forfeit and she is given this choice: marry FitzAlan or be taken to the Tower. Catherine agrees to give her handsome new husband her body, but she's keeping secrets, and dare not give him her heart. As passion ignites and danger closes in, Catherine and William must learn to trust in each other to save their marriage, their land, and their very lives.

©2009 Peggy L. Brown (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Set during the Welsh rebellion against the English, Mallory's debut is impressive. She breathes life into major historical characters and presents varied political viewpoints in a dramatic romance." ( RT Book Reviews)

A VERY ENJOYABLE WELL WRITTEN ADDICTIVE LISTEN

Prepare to be whisked back to Medieval times to join in all the trials and tribulations of beautiful, strong and independent Lady Catherine who has been forced, not once but twice, into an arranged marriage. Her first husband was abusive and made her life a living hell..... but her second husband just might turn out to be her Knight in Shining Armour (and who doesn't love one of those!).

As the action-packed emotional story unfolds Catherine slowly has to learn to trust her new husband William who's an honourable, handsome, thoughtful and kind Knight and she also learns there's more to the marriage bed than abuse - desire, passion and fulfilment. It's a deep emotional romance with a lot of hurt, anger, mistrust and misunderstandings but there's also lots of passion, intrigue, excitement, witty banter and adventure with betrayal, kidnapping a few skirmishes and murder thrown in too. As well as the likeable H/H, it's also packed full of great secondary characters and, whether they're nasty or loveable, they will all entertain you and, as the hours fly by and you finally share in the couple's much awaited HEA ending, you can't help but be thankful that this enjoyable listen is in your Library.

However, for me it lost a star because of William's ever changing yes/no trust issues which eventually made him seem a little lost and I prefer my heroes to be all 'break the doors down' Alpha types but, despite his flaws, he was very likeable, caring and loving but also sadly all too ready to believe the worst of Catherine rather than the best.

Worth a credit? Well IMHO, as this was her debut novel, MM should be congratulated because not only has she given the listener a touching love story that had many twists and turns, she also managed to accurately portray all the intrigue and political unrest that went on between England and Wales 600 years ago. So, for any historical romance lover, this has to be a credit well spent.

Good Listen/Read

I have the paperback and enjoy reading it. Listening to it was just as good as reading.

Knight of desire

The story started out with the couple meeting one another falling in love and not realizing it. Then to meet many years later to be married and fall for one another with others wishing that they were the one.

God's Beard!

I like the narrator, brings the story to life! God's Beard!!! hilarious! I am enjoying Historical romantic fiction and appreciate authors research

another good read

love the writing a d the author did a great job the historical background the characters are great i love the narrator I can't I would but he did a excellent job this author is becoming my favorite writer

Stong Heroine.

Got this book on a recent sale so I couldn't pass it up.

This one is definitely not the usual damsel in distress historical romance. The heroine, Catherine, is a strong and capable woman and William is a man who has many insecurities. Both of them have troubled pasts that make for a rocky relationship.

The story is interesting, well paced and the characters are intriguing. Although the story started out really good it slowly declined a bit about 3/4 into the book because I found Williams trust issues frustrating There were times I actually wanted to slap William! I know they both had a lot of issues to deal with but his insecurities seemed a bit over the top. Despite this the book is still worth listening to because it does redeem itself as many issues get resolved.

Since this book was a good foundation I will be listening to the others in this series. Also, the narrator is very good and I'm glad he is also narrating the next in the series.

strangers in the night

I love this series. This is the second time reading this series. I love medieval romance and this is a wonderful story of how two people met when they were young and were put together as adults many years after. Their lives were much changed and as the story unravels we find that through the years the two often thought about that night so long ago and that it had helped them get through dark times. Great story

Very good!

Another captivating book by Margaret Mallory. An added plus is the historical information about the characters/area etc. after the conclusion of the book. Very interesting.

Interesting, Unusual Story With A Strong Heroine

I enjoyed Catherine's character, a strong woman. She went through a lot at a young age, but she was good at her craft as a woman. On the other hand William was a strong fearless man when it came to battle, but in his personal life, he was very insecure. I know people who are like this and it can start from their childhood on. There are a couple of reasons William is this way and I think you will enjoy the story as you find out more..

loved it

Really liked this story. I laughed a lot and in a few places felt it was intense enough for me to hold my breath (while walking) to see what will happen next. I cannot wait to read her next book.