In the words of the author, “The story of Simon and Eleanor is one of the great love stories of the thirteenth century,”-a story that Henley masterfully brings to historical romance, a tale of two passionate people and the historical events that swirled around them. The worse thing for me was at about 52% when Simon brought a servant to orgasm in order to get information out of her, this was after he had met and been close to the heroine, and when the heroine finds she's like oh ok - my reaction - what the hell!?Įnthralling 13th Century True Love Story, 2nd in the Plantagenet Trilogy The 'hero' in contrast spent a fair about of time talking about her knowing her place and his orders mattering more - I know this was a HR read but still the way in which it manifested made me grind my teeth. I have to say overall I much preferred the heroine's first husband William - he didn't touch her when she was a kid, he encouraged her to learn, be independent and valued her voice. There were so many moments when the 'hero' Simon de Montfort made me want to bang my head on the table. I so wanted to love this one, but the read and the hero just did not work for me.

Once he sees her, he decides she will be his. A year later, the great war lord, Simon de Montfort, enters her life. Eleanor is devastated by his death and takes a vow of chastity and perpetual widowhood. Others are plotting the demise of William Marshall for his influence with the king and on the night William would finally claim his bride, he suffers a heart attack and dies, the blame placed on his young bride and her wanton ways.

Luckily William isn't a perv and its marriage in name only until she's 16, a big age difference it works due to how the author depicts William and the development of things. When she is nine, Eleanor is wed to William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke. Set in 13th century England, this story is focused on Princess Eleanor and Simon de Montfort, the Earl of Leicester.

Lion and the jewel novel