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Summary
Summary
Few writers can rival the sheer storytelling mastery ofNew York Timesbestselling author Virginia Henley. Brimming with sensual tension, humor, and narrative power, Henley's award-winning novels have enchanted readers worldwide. Now inThe Marriage Prize-the third novel in her Plantagenet trilogy, which began withThe Falcon and the Flowerand continued inThe Dragon and the Jewel-this incomparable storyteller returns to medieval England and brings to life a love story so passionate it will take your breath away. Orphaned at a young age, Rosamond Marshal is a royal ward of Eleanor de Montfort, sister of King Henry III and wife of the renowned warlord Simon de Montfort. Under the worldly countess's tutelage, Rosamond learns not only the skills of a chatelaine, but how to wield her female power by dressing exquisitely, conversing wittily, and charming men mercilessly. As she reaches young womanhood, the beautiful heiress is fearful of leaving the security of the de Montfort household and fulfilling her betrothal to the powerful bachelor knight Rodger de Leyburn. Just as Rodger devilishly outmaneuvers Rosamond's strategems to break their betrothal, Prince Edward will accept none of Rosamond's excuses to forestall her marriage. For the prince is determined to reward Rodger, his dearest friend, with a wealthy, noble wife. Slowly Rodger woos Rosamond, convincing her that his love extends beyond her estates and her wealth. But no sooner does Rosamond become Rodger's wife and experience all the exquisite ways a man can love a woman than she finds herself and her husband on opposite sides of a bloody civil war. For Rodger is fighting alongside Prince Edward and the king to quell the barons' rebellion, led by none other than Rosamond's beloved guardian, Simon de Montfort. With the gripping storytelling, vibrant historical detail, and powerful insight into a woman's heart that have made her one of the most popular authors of romantic fiction, Virginia Henley sweeps readers into the most captivating and wildly passionate love story of her career.
Author Notes
Romance novelist Virginia Henley was born in England in 1935. Her novels, many of them set in medieval England, Scotland or Ireland, are often published in hardcover as well as paperback, a rarity in the romance genre.
Henley won the Romantic Times Lifetime Achievement Award for Historical Fiction in 1996. Her titles "Seduced" & "Desired" were New York Times Bestsellers.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
Closing volume in Henley's Plantagenet trilogy (The Dragon and the Jewel, 1998, etc.). Can it be excessive researchitis that prompts some romance writers to give their historical characters a paste language that bears no ring of human speech? When the naked Rodger comes to his resistant bride Rosamond's marriage bed, she greets him with "icy sarcasm": "I have married you, and yielded my property to you, but I won't yield my body to you. At least not willingly!" At this, Rodger plucks out his naked dagger, cuts his thumb and lets three red drops fall onto the pristine sheets so that he will not be humiliated on the morrow. Rod sees that his "ice maiden" is a "stubborn little filly in need of a firm hand and a touch of the spurs!" Whereupon Rod, "allowing only his fingertips to penetrate her," sends Rosamond erupting and dissolving "into a thousand liquid tremors" before sliding "his shaft into the valley between her upthrusting breasts." For those with a lower melting point than Rosamond's, scenes like this should induce many pulse points of pleasure. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Rosamond Marshal, heiress and the ward of Eleanor de Montfort, sister of King Henry III of England, has felt secure with her adopted family ever since the de Montforts took her in at age 12 and arranged for a good marriage to an English knight so her future would be secure. Five years later, Sir Rodger de Leyburn, steward to Prince Edward, comes for his bride. Rosamond is frightened by the dark and virile knight but eventually agrees to the arranged marriage as a way of paying back her adopted family for all their kindness. Just as she starts to trust her husband, England is torn by a civil war. Rodger supports Prince Edward, while Rosamond's guardians lead the 1259 insurrection. Her loyalty is torn and she must decide whom to trust. This, the third of a Plantagenet trilogy, following The Falcon and the Flower (1989) and The Dragon and the Jewel (1991), is Henley at her best--a lusty medieval tale full of battles and romance sure to please her fans and introduce historical readers to her delightfully bawdy romances. --Patty Engelmann