Reviewer: Connie Payne
Title: Tender is the Knight
Author: Jackie Ivie
Publisher: Zebra
ISBN: 0-8217-7809-9
Release Date: December 2005
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Romance
Year/Setting: 1878 - London/Scotland
Overall rating: 5.0
Sexual content rating: Subtle
Language (profanity) rating: None
Jackie's Website:
www.jackieivie.com
We see this story, Tender is the Knight, through the eyes of Elise, Dowager Duchess of Wynd. She’s also known as the Ice Goddess. A role she strives very hard to maintain.
In her carefully constructed role of Ice Goddess, Elise stands in the receiving line to be introduced to Colin MacGowan, the new Duke of MacGowan. It’s known that he’s in London to choose a bride, but she has other reasons for wanting to meet him. It involves a secret. But her every opportunity to tell him the secret is blown for one reason after another until it becomes almost impossible to find the right time to tell it.
Having vowed after her husband died never to marry she finds herself thrown into situations with Colin. And each time she has a harder time maintaining the Icy façade. Not only that, but Colin seems to be able to see straight through the façade and tells her things about herself she doesn’t want to hear. It’s not long before she loses her heart to him yet when she does it just may mean heartache such as she’s never felt before when he learns about the secret and assumes the worst.
Through this journey Elise learns things about herself and about life. She’s put in situations that will test her strength and open her eyes to the possibilities life and love can bring her. She’ll learn through her experiences with Colin.
As I read this book I found layer after layer being peeled away from Elise with each scene. I learned so much about her, apart from the secret she had to tell, apart from the printed word. It was engrossing and seemed almost real. As if you could actually feel Elise’s shock and surprise and despair as life as she knew it unraveled from the pattern she’d designated only to weave itself into a different pattern altogether.
I was pleased that Ms. Ivie showed us that the Iciness was an act from the beginning, though we were shown why a little at a time. It made it much easier to like Elise and sympathize with her right at the start.
Colin is a strong force in the book, though we aren’t privy to his thoughts. His strength and convictions are clear, as are his tenderness and volatile emotions. He knows what buttons to push and what fires to light to melt the ice.
Tender is the Knight offers a deeper insight to Elise if you take the time to read between the lines so-to-speak. No word, thought, emotion, or scene is wasted between the covers of this book.
It appears as if Ms. Ivie has written this story straight from the heart. It has a depth to it that will touch you and emotions that will grab you.
Connie
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