The Dark Knight's Captive Bride

By: Natasha Wild

Narrated by: Anna Parker-Naples

Length: 16 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's Summary

She is the daughter of his enemy...and the keeper of his heart.  

Richard de Claiborne, the dark earl of Dunsmore, serves King Edward Plantagenet well. Sworn to obey his king's every order, he nevertheless chafes at the command he wed the daughter of his enemy - a man who slew his father in cold blood.   

But King Edward wants peace in his lands, and he will stop at nothing to get it. If he has to order his most powerful Marcher lord to marry a Welsh princess, he considers it a small price to pay.  

Princess Gwenllian is a political pawn. When she's forced to marry the evil Black Hawk de Claiborne, she quakes at his fierceness and brutality. But she does her duty to her father and her people, knowing she will never surrender to her enemy.   

In the halls of Black Hawk's great keep, Gwen glimpses a man who can be tender and passionate - and who teaches her about breathtaking sensuality and a desire so great it threatens every vow she ever made to keep her heart locked tight.  

As war once more looms between Wales and England, Gwen realizes a terrible truth: she's in love with the enemy. When long-buried secrets threaten to destroy her fragile happiness, she must make a terrible choice - or watch the man she loves sacrifice his life to save hers....

Contains mature themes.

©2016 Natasha Wild (P)2019 Tantor

Needs A Male Narrator

This was the first novel I have listened to by this author and I enjoyed it very much. I will admit that I loved the story, but the narrator needs to be a male. The leading male character (Richard) was a strong larger than life leader of fighting men, so a female narrator just didn't sound right and the female lead character's voice (Gwen) sounded like a ten year old girl, not a grown woman of twenty... it was off putting, especially during the love scenes. Author, Kathryn LeVeque, writes stories such as this and she always uses a male narrator, making the characters sound as they should.

I would like to highly recommend the author Kathryn LeVeque if you have never read any of her books. She seems to always get it right.

JMN: 02-03-19

Annoying Heroine, But I Only Have Myself To Blame

Author definitely has an excellent grasp of history, but I couldn’t get past how dumb & whiny heroine chick is, exacerbated by Anna Parker-Naples’ incredibly annoying interpretation of her voice. Anna’s take on every other character is spot on except for the main female protagonist: go figure. I soldiered on despite a voice that was like nails on a chalkboard.

Erotica not historical

I bought this story as a historical romance. But it is best classified as Erotica. It was more sex scenes with some story in between. Not my cop of tea and I could not finish it

What a great book

I never read one of Natasha Wild’s books before but now I’m going to be looking for another one. She writes like Kathryn LeVeque. So much so that while reading sometimes I had to look back to see who wrote it. Kathryn LeVeque is one of my favorite authors.

Horrible book

This is a boring story. The plot is almost non existent. Character development is nil. The history is flawed. Don’t read this book.

Narrator

This would have been much better if it was read by a man and/or a man and woman. I had a very hard time understanding this narrator.

Good mixture

I enjoyed the story line. The characters kinda drove me crazy. What if he doesn’t love me 😢. She always thinks the worst of me. 😞.
Tons of make up sex... okay, just a lot of sex period... hold on to your skirts!

absolutely brilliant

Loved every second of it. I couldn't stop listening, but of course I had to a few times as it's a long story, but I couldn't wait to get back to it each time. I didn't know how it was going to end till the very last chapter.
The narrator was good but at times Gywnn's voice sounded like a cartoon character. But on the whole she was good, her voice was full of the emotions necessary and her voice for Richard was very good.
This was the first book I've listened to by Natasha Wilde and unfortunately the last as there are no more books by her on audio.
So will definitely be listening to this book again.

Great story!

Really enjoyed the story and the narrator was really good doing both the male and female voices (I usually find with romance that one of the voices sounds a bit ridiculous, but not in this case!)

great story

This book was fantastic, I couldn't stop listening, I had never heard of the author but will be keeping an eye out for any more she puts on audible.

A must read.. captured me from beginning to end

I absolutely loved this book. I'm more into the dark romances when I read romance, but this book captured my mind and heart and I devoured it greedily. Gwen is a young Welsh princess, somewhat spoilt and very naive, Richard is an English Earl and knight bound by duty and honour. The king of England Edmund orders the two to marry and their battle of hate, lust and love ensues.

I was crying my eyes out near the end of the book (of course I won't divulge why!), which is a rarity for me, but such is the way this book engulfed my emotions holding them hostage from beginning to end.

If you're like me and period dramas/romance isn't normally your kind of thing, I would still strongly recommend this book since it's a beautiful read, with enthralling characters. I have read a few books by Natasha Knight and as usual she failed to disappoint.

Excellent!!!

Perfect story, the narrator should’ve been male and the Welsh accent left a lot to be desired!