TENDER IS THE KNIGHT

Author: Jackie Ivie ISBN: 0821778099 10/2005 HISTORICAL Publisher: KENSINGTON
Time Period: 1876 Victorian

Sweeping from the cultured salons of 19th-century London to the wild Scottish Highlands, Jackie Ivie's seductive new novel weaves the tale of a desperate lady and a ruthless laird whose only common ground is the territory of desire.... A LADY OF ICE Beautiful and elegant, Elise, the Duchess of Wynd, has survived among the nobility by carefully cultivating a facade of cutting wit and heartlessness. Nothing ruffles her. And no man can break through her defenses.... A MAN OF ICE A fierce Scottish warrier, Colin is the new Duke of MacGowan and - in polite circles - looked upon as no better than a barbarian. Nevertheless, he is a lord who brooks no defiance...and holds no rein on his pleasures.... A PROMISE OF PASSION Colin's very presence ties Elise's sharp-edged tongue: She is all too aware that he could be the answer to her prayers - or her worst nightmare. For Elise harbors secrets that could change the course of both their lives. But before she can reveal them, she must make the wild knight her own....

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Every once in a while I will read a book that just makes my heart stop. A book that is so beautiful, so incredibly worthy that I will want to read it again the minute I close the last page. TENDER IS THE KNIGHT is that book.

When Lady Elise, the dowager duchess of Wynd, attends a party, she goes all out. She dresses to impress, making heads swivel and eyes bulge, and that is how she likes it. She is known as "The Ice Princess" for a reason, and she wants to keep it that way. She has such a past that you can't help but be taken in by this woman who has every luxury money can buy, and yet is still supremely alone. She never dreams that she will meet a man who will take her breath away and knock down all the walls she has built around her heart for so many years. She never dreams that there could be a man capable of the chore.

When Colin MacGowan, Duke of MacGowan, comes onto the scene, he is every bit the barbaric Highlander. He is massive and domineering, never expecting for one minute that there is a person in this world who will overrule his demands. Some of the things that he said and did are so outrageous that they had me laughing out loud; others had my eyes filling with tears. I wanted to love Colin in the beginning, and yet there were times that he seemed so harsh. But, upon reading more into the story, I found that there were reasons he acted the way he did and I truly started to like him. By the end, I was just plain in love with him.

Ms. Ivie puts so much emotion into her characters, gives them so much life, that I know that this is one book I will never forget. TENDER IS THE KNIGHT will live on my keeper shelves and I know I will pick it up again and again to revisit this wonderful story.

Kristal Gorman