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King John #1

籠の中の貴婦人

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She had sworn never to marry, never to allow any man to claimher or her lands. Nevertheless, LadyAdelaide fended off fortune huntersaplenty when she arrived at the king'scourt. Yet when dark whispers in castlecorridors threw her into the arms of avaliant knight seeking a wife, the beautifulheiress began to rethink her solemn vow.To ransom his captive brother, Armand de Boisbaston had great need of a wealthy--and willing--wife. Fate sent him the lady Adelaide instead. A womanwho claimed she wished to avoid the marriagebed, yet whose lips told a different tale. Nowdangerous intrigues forced them into amatch as inescapable as the burgeoningpassion that grew between them.

423 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2007

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About the author

Margaret Moore

214 books173 followers
There is more than one author with this name

Award-winning author Margaret Moore actually began her career at the age of eight, when she and a friend concocted stories featuring a lovely, spirited damsel and a handsome, misunderstood thief nicknamed "The Red Sheik."
Unknowingly pursuing her destiny, Margaret graduated with distinction from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature. During that time, she also became a Leading Wren with the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, where she learned to use a variety of weapons and had the weepy experience of being tear-gassed.
In addition to being a wife and mother of two, she's also been an award-winning public speaker, synchronized swimmer, an archer, and studied fencing and ballroom dancing.

Margaret sold her first historical romance and the premiere book of her Warrior series, A WARRIOR'S HEART, to Harlequin Historicals® in 1991. Since that time, she's written over 25 historical romance novels and novellas. She has also written for Avon Books, as well as a young adult historical romance for HarperCollins Childrens Books. She now writes for Harlequin's new single title imprint, HQN.

Her books have been published in France, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, Korea, Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, Russia, Poland and India.

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5 stars
57 (27%)
4 stars
56 (26%)
3 stars
71 (33%)
2 stars
21 (9%)
1 star
6 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
Profile Image for Lisa Shea.
Author 481 books469 followers
October 29, 2013
This book was primed to be a perfect one for me. It's set in 1204, a period I adore. It features a strong, independent woman who wants to stay that way, and a knight who feels strongly about honor and duty. Both are uninterested in politics and gossip.

The plot is that Adelaide, a ward of King John's court, is seeking to keep herself and her sisters unmarried because they don't want to be "ruled" by a man. Armand has just gotten out of captivity and is still trying to free his brother. He desperately needs money, and marriage is one of the few remaining ways to get it.

This is all fairly good - but then suddenly a series of completely outrageous things happen. Armand says "Oh well, I guess I'll go along with these ridiculous, quick choices." Adelaide says "Oh, you're doing this to me? OK, sure." And then in the next scene she's raging about how she'll never do what anyone else tells her to do because being independent is the only thing in life.

You get a shallow blurb about her being the eldest of three sisters and therefore she is the Ultimate Independent Woman. Also, their father was a drunk. Still, it doesn't flesh out the character and make her live and breathe. The way she acts is completely unrealistic for a woman in her time period. I'm not saying we want to read about women who were doormats. Medieval women weren't doormats either. But it reads as if a woman from today teleported back into medieval wear - and even more than that, that this woman rates incredibly high on the keep-men-away-from-me scale.

But this being a romance novel, you know that she's going to change her mind by the end - and that mind changing is also fairly unrealistic.

In general you get the sense that things happen for plot reasons, not for character reasons.

There are a few side characters who generally fall into the shiny-good or nasty-evil categories. I like to see more depth in the world I'm reading about.

A quick read, and the book sets the scene to have the second and third sister go through the same conversion process, so I'd be curious to see if the writer improved as she created those subsequent books. I would count this a good first start - I did read through the book after all - and would be willing to give the next book in the series a try.

One final comment - there are only a few romantic / sex scenes in the book and they are fairly mild. So for some people that might be perfect, and for others it might be disappointing. I think romance novels should have some sort of a "steaminess rating" so that readers of all types can know in advance what they're getting.
Profile Image for Cruth.
1,656 reviews145 followers
June 30, 2014
Author: Margaret Moore
First published: 2007
Length: 376 pages
Setting: Wiltshire, England, 1204
Sex: Explicit but not frequent. Caring.
Heroine: Eldest daughter of abusive Earl now ward to King John.
Hero: Knight who was held prisoner by French in Normandy.

Margaret Moore writes solid medievals with a good historical context and engaging characters. What should be weekend fluff takes a turn into quality read when Moore respects the past and lets the people live within it, not forcing them to be 21st Century Misses before their time.

Enjoyable and a good re-read.

Corfe:
"The king, dressed like a peacock in a long, heavily embroidered robe, his hair smoothed and cut in the Norman style, his fingers jewelled, and his plump face smiling, led in his diminutive, juvenile queen." p.144

John, King of England from 1199 to 1216, married Isabelle d'Angoulême in 1200, when she was 12 years old.

Series:
Book 1 My Lord's Desire - Armand de Boisbaston and Lady Adelaide
Book 2 The Notorious Knight - Sir Bayard de Boisbaston and Lady Gillian
Book 3 Knave's Honor - Lady Elizabeth d'Averette and Sir Oliver de Leslille
Book 4 The Warlord's Bride - Lady Roslynn and Lord Madoc of Llanpowell
Book 4.5 The Welsh Lord's Mistress - Trefor ap Gruffydd and Bron

References:
Author's website: http://www.margaretmoore.com

(ISBN 978-1-55254-851-6)

-CR-
Profile Image for Lisa  Montgomery.
829 reviews3 followers
January 23, 2015
She had sworn never to marry, never to allow any man to claim her or her lands. Nevertheless, Lady Adelaide fended off fortune hunters aplenty when she arrived at the king's court. Yet when dark whispers in castle corridors threw her into the arms of a valiant knight seeking a wife, the beautiful heiress began to rethink her solemn vow.

To ransom his captive brother, Armand de Boisbaston had great need of a wealthy--and willing--wife. Fate sent him the lady Adelaide instead. A woman who claimed she wished to avoid the marriage bed, yet whose lips told a different tale. Now dangerous intrigues forced them into a match as inescapable as the burgeoning passion that grew between them.…

I have enjoyed all the books in this series. They are well designed and highly entertaining.
Profile Image for LadyAileen.
1,203 reviews10 followers
August 8, 2021
Di solito non sono una grande appassionata dei romance ambientati nel medioevo ma avendo sentito parlare bene dell'autrice ed avendo letto dei libri in passato mi sono decisa a cominciare anche questa nuova saga.
Complessivamente è un buon romanzo mi dispiace solo che il "cattivo" sia diventato palese quasi subito avrei preferito rimanesse nell'ombra quasi fino alla fine. Nonostante ci sia una congiura il romanzo diventa movimentato solo nella parte finale. La vita di corte raccontata è fatta dai tipici intrighi, invidie e congiure per cui da questo punto di vista non è una novità. Entrambi i protagonisti non hanno avuto una vita familiare molto felice, hanno un senso dell'onore davvero spiccato e per questo hanno tutta la mia simpatia.
Profile Image for Evelyn alfonzo.
526 reviews4 followers
February 11, 2022
Una historia bien contada, entretenida, no pierde el ritmo entre los protagonistas Armand me pareció el perfecto cabellera y Adelaida una mujer muy segura. No le doy las 5 estrellas porque estás historias se parecen unas con otras pero es muy buena, la recomiendo voy ahora por el segundo. Los hermanos de los protagonistas
Profile Image for Vanessa Montês.
700 reviews26 followers
July 9, 2014
(...)

Armand foi outra personagem com quem tive o mesmo problema. Achei-o com uma história de fundo interessante mas de alguma forma a autora não me deixou criar afinidade suficiente com a personagem. Outro ponto que tenho a apontar são os diversos personagens que são apresentados repentinamente, sendo que mais à frente quando nos falavam de novo da personagem x, acabava por não me lembrar onde já tinha lido sobre ela.

É uma leitura fluída e simples, sendo óptima para um dia de praia. Histórias com personagens interessantes com uma boa história de fundo, mas com quem não consegui criar uma afinidade total, o que foi uma pena.

Opinião completa em http://blocodedevaneios.blogspot.pt/2...
Profile Image for Nora.
157 reviews6 followers
January 12, 2014
I had a really hard time finishing this book. I just lost interest in the middle.
I was not really into the characters or story line unfortunately.
Profile Image for siriusedward.
254 reviews1 follower
February 2, 2014
liked armand .though not adelaide mich..too much of nonsense..." i cant marry because of some nonsense vow" she proposed, esp after she realised that he was a good man.. idiot or what?
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews

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