Tender is the Knight

By: Kathryn Le Veque

Narrated by: Daniel Dorse

Length: 12 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

1228 A.D. - After a vicious battle with old adversaries that sees his father killed, Sir Dennis d’Vant finds himself the head of the House of d’Vant. A house descended from the kings of Cornwall, they are a proud but warring people. Their most hated enemy is their neighbor to the north, the rich and cunning Earl of Cornwall. Dennis, however, is not like his forefathers; a giant of a man and a skilled warrior, he is also quiet and gentle. He does not possess the same fiery instincts of his family and for that, he is often looked upon as weak.

But Dennis is anything but weak; he is brilliant and introspective. Dennis is trustworthy; the earl is not. Little does Dennis realize that his offer to marry a woman of the earl’s choosing will change his life more drastically than he could ever imagine, and put the House of d’Vant in danger of being wiped from the face of the earth.

The Lady Ryan de Bretagne is the daughter of the earl’s captain. Having no daughters himself, the earl chooses Ryan to marry into the hated House of d’Vant. Ryan is a feisty, head-strong woman and wants no part of the marriage, but is forced to wed the giant knight with the mysterious gray eyes. When he takes her back to St. Austell Castle, she is introduced to a shocking new world of women who dress and fight as knights, of filthy keeps and filthy men, and of a people who want to hate her simply because she is related to the Earl of Cornwall. As Ryan struggles to become acclimated to her strange and frightening new world, the Earl of Cornwall works in secret to destroy the treaty he has agreed to fulfill, thereby eliminating the House of d’Vant once and for all so he can confiscate their lands. At the heart of all of the earl’s animosity is a terrible secret that binds Cornwall to the House of d’Vant, something so awful that it cannot be spoken of. But those who know the secret know how very shameful it is to both sides.

©2013 Kathryn Le Veque (P)2014 Kathryn Le Veque

Heartfelt story

Great story from Kathryn Le Veque and smooth narration by Daniel Dorse. Daniels voice coincides with Dennis d’Vant’s demeanor.

A knight so tender and true like no other

Any additional comments?

The hope of peace came with the death of Dennis’s father. He proposed marriage to a woman from Cornwall to breach the rift long-standing between the clans, beginning a healing process.

His vision, far beyond his father’s, his knights’ and sister’s, was the only solution he thought might work to stop the bloodshed and endless repair to his beloved castle, where his family and knights wanted only revenge for the death of all the knights in the last skirmish and the death of his father. He was now Earl, responsible for the House of d’Vant. He was a great warrior, a man not understood and found himself at odds with his family, and knights of the castle. Even his sister Charlotte, better known as Charles, since she was a knight of the castle, didn’t care to bring anyone from the Earl of Cornwall’s castle into their midst.

Charlotte made Lady Ryan very uncomfortable in her new position, wed to Sir Dennis. Sir Dennis could not believe his good luck when he took Ryan as his wife. He was willing to marry a hag, and somewhat expected they’d offer him one, not this beautiful creature, Ryan. Sir Dennis was won over quickly by the intelligence, wit and kindness of Ryan. Not so his sister.

This is a story about how far man will go for greed. For there are some very greedy men who are a danger to both Lady Ryan and Sir Dennis. It was resplendently written as with each of the novels Kathryn Le Veque writes. She has a brilliant approach to the telling, gripping the reader by her shoulders—exciting, tragic, weep-worthy, suspenseful, passionate, humorous, and sweet, all woven together.

I ask myself, what makes a good story. They all have the same ingredients as does a cake: Flour, sugar, oil/shortening, milk, salt and other spices. In a story it matters when each of the ingredients are added, how much of each is present, where and how long it is baked. When it is done right the cake is a masterpiece. The same holds true for a good tale. Author Kathryn Le Veque knows just how to combine the ingredients, what and how to include to set a reader to only want more of what she writes.

Daniel Dorse uses a very low, warm voice for the general narrator, quite subdued and lulls the unsuspecting reader when he breaks into dialog. He’s delightful in his portrayal of various characters. His voices for the Spaniards speaking English are excellent. The emotions of the character were very convincing only reconfirming to me how much fun it is to listen to audio with a narrator who knows what he’s about. The way he tells the story is quite mysterious and compelling. I chuckled when I heard Charlotte’s voice. Charlotte, first born and sister to Dennis, learned to be more man than woman, ever as much a knight as other men. Her father was disappointed having the first-born female, but decided to train her as male and warrior. I enjoy how she is caught having ‘woman’ thoughts with such a masculine exterior. With the voice Mr. Dorse chose for her, he doesn’t let us forget what she looks like, yet she does endear the reader with her gruffness and fierce loyalty.

If you haven’t read Kathryn Le Veque, and enjoy medieval historical romance, you do yourself a disservice. She carries you to far-off lands of a time of hardship, bravery and honor.

So disappointed in the narration!

Would you consider the audio edition of Tender is the Knight to be better than the print version?

No but only because of the narrator.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dennis, of course.

Did Daniel Dorse do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

He did a so-so job. His whispering voice put me to sleep a few times. His narration was also monotonous.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Must see a Kathryn Le Veque movie!

Any additional comments?

I love all of Kathryn Le Veque's books, but I usually don't look at the narrator until I have already bought the audio book, then I could kick myself. I'm sure Mr. Dorse is a very nice man with a very soothing voice, but he just isn't right for Le Veque's books. He lacks the emotion, passion, excitement in his narration of these books. I have to increase the speed of the narration when he is doing the reading because I can't understand him and I fall asleep. What hurt this audio book was the narrator. I just hope I don't run across too many that he has done. So if you like slow this is the book for you!

Story is great, narrator is horrible

While I loved the story and it is really tender with strong and witty heroine and a kind tender hero …. all the good work the writer did went away with a horrible narrator - you really should re-record the book!

Hard to sit through entirely

The narrator sounds like a really old man- and the different voices he acted out per each character was annoying. Ryan is nuisance and whiney.

Please don't use this narrator again!

A large part of the reason I enjoy LeVeque in audiobooks are the excellent male narrators, but this narrator was a very poor choice. He speaks as is he has been awake for 72 hours straight, almost slurring the words. I found it very difficult to listen to, but the book started mid-morning while I was at work, and by the time I got home, I was halfway through and wanted to see what happened in the book, so I suffered through it. I will be sure to resist purchasing books with this narrator in the future!

A WONDERFUL STORY RUINED AGAIN BY NARRATOR...

I could not wait for this audio to be over...I have never felt that about a Katherine LeVeque book. She is definitely one of my top five authors. This narrator was awful and ruined the entire listen for me. Terrible female voices...whiny men's voices...terrible whispering narration and just bad experience. Please Katherine..I don't mean to be unkind to this man, however, please don't use him for your wonderful books again... I'm sorry, however, that was almost painful to listen to. Love you KL...keep those wonderful books coming!!

Argh....

What did you like best about Tender is the Knight? What did you like least?

Disappointment all around. The narrator has a lovely voice but I had to set speed at 1.5 because he read SOOOOO slowly.
The heroine was pathetically stupid.

Captivating!

Would you consider the audio edition of Tender is the Knight to be better than the print version?

I really cannot compare, because I haven't read the book, but loved this audio!

What did you like best about this story?

Some scenes are so much fun to follow! lots of beautiful emotions!

Which scene was your favorite?

None in particular!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no, I listened to it by chapters!

Any additional comments?

Great story to enjoy!

Loved This Novel

Kathryn Le Veque always does a great job and this is no exception. Head-strong ladies and hot knights are always high on my list of preferred reading, and this novel provided both along with excitement and intrigue. Loved it!