Header PromotionThe Vow (1994) by Mary Spencer
Sir Eric Stavelot is a famed knight of the realm, but he doesn’t
know who his real parents are. Raised by a loving adoptive family, he’s
known great happiness, but believes that love and marriage are beyond
his reach. That doesn’t matter to Lady Margot le Brun, however, who has
loved Eric since she was a girl. She is determined to have him for her
husband, regardless of every obstacle that the world — and Eric — can
set in her way.
Pages: 449
Series: 1 of 2, Stavelot Series
Long Ramblings: This wasnt satisfactory in terms of a
historical read in the year 2008 but if you’re in the market for a
sweet read set in the year 1403 in which characters fall in love
instantly in the traditions of courtly love and talk with “thee” and
“thou” and “certes” in their speech, this might work for you.
Lady Margot le Brun, a heiress with a stuttering problem, first
meets Sir Eric when she is 8 and he is 13. Due to his kindness to her
that day, she remains steadfast in her love for him for the next ten
yrs. Sir Eric may grow into an ugly, dark, giant of a man but to
Margot, he is the bestest, handsomest knight in the kingdom. Sir Eric
on his side pretty much falls in love in a day or so since Margot has
grown up into the prettiest chick in the land. So what’s the deal? The
conflict comes from the fact that Eric doggedly refuses to marry Margot
because he is adopted and dont know his heritage. He refuses to budge
no matter how many times Margot tells him she loves and that it doesnt
matter (and she does this A LOT) or even tho Margot’s father knows that
Eric is spawned from the ebilest dude in England (Eric looks exactly
like him, talk about convenient) and still implicitly gave his
permission for the marriage. Basically, Eric is braindead. Electrical
impulses still let him wield his sword, I guess.
I am going to automatically demerit a romance if the H/H first meet
on Page 81 as this one does. I dont think there is any excuses for not
having the H/H meet by Page 50 in a romance. But that’s just one of
many, many things that disappointed me about this novel. I guess
because medieval was a simpler time, there is none of the subtleties of
characterization and observation that I so enjoyed in Spencer’s Wager
series which were set in Regency. I also prefer when the author SHOWS
the character falling in love and why instead of instant love as a
given. And as mentioned before, the stubbornness of Eric just grated.
Then to top it all off, I finally, FINALLY get to the wedding night and
the author draws the curtain! The smut addict in me is outraged! Hell
NO, you do NOT chicken out on the love scene after I muddle through 400
freakin’ pages! Where is the payoff?
Jeebus, I would have been better off reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Which rawks, BTW.
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