5 star review for One Snowy Knight

TITLE: One Snowy Knight (Dragons of Challon #3

AUTHOR: Deborah MacGillivray

Kensington Zebra Historical

Release: Oct. 6, 2009
13 ISBN: 9781420104509
10 ISBN: 1420104500

5 STARS! *****

Set in Scotland, December of 1296. Noel de Servian's parents had died when he was but five-years-old. He was raised by the Earl Michael and grew up as a brother to the Challon siblings. Now the Challon brothers, including Noel, are known as the "Dragons of Challon". After long years of battles, the war weary dragons yearn to settle down and create their own families. Noel has been granted the title of baron and a small holding called Craigendan located in the rugged Northland. Eager to see his new home, Noel sets out during a massive snow blizzard. He ends up lost and face down in the snow. He is found by two children who go for help. The next thing he recalls is a beautiful woman shielding him from a wolf attack.

Lady Skena MacIain of Craigendan has seen too much of life's harsh realities to ever believe in wishes coming true. Her young twins, Andrew and Annis, insist the knight they found in the snow storm is the answer to their Yuletide wish. Though supplies are dwindling, Skena uses them to help save the knight. Unlike with her late husband, Skena finds herself drawn to Noel. The bond between them is so strong that it makes Skena nervous. Before Noel is fully healed, Sir Guillaume Challon arrives. Skena is shocked to learn Noel is the foster brother of Craigendan's overlord, not to mention he has come to take control of Craigendan.

As Noel heals, the bond between him and Skena continues to grow. The attraction is almost magical. But as the two begin to explore their feelings for each other, danger rears its ugly head. Someone is trying to kill Skena! When Skena informs Noel that she has been seeing glimpses of her first husband and that perhaps he was not really dead, Noel sets out to learn who is acting as the late baron's ghost. Noel knows for a fact that Skena's first husband is dead, because Noel's hand is the one that felled him. And though Skena claims she and her late husband never loved each other, how will she react when she told that her soon-to-be-husband is the man that killed her children's father?

***** FIVE STARS! Though this is the third book in the "Dragons of Challon" series, you do not have to read the previous titles to fully enjoy the story. The previous titles (A Restless Knight & In Her Bed) are about Skena's cousins. Each title is a stand-alone story. Those who have read the first two stories will feel as though they already know a bit about the main characters' personalities. The author made Noel and Skena even more real to me by giving the couple their own private jokes. (After all, every close couple I know have their own humorous quotes that makes them grin at each other or laugh, yet no one around them knows what is so funny.) These little touches endear the characters to me.

As with any good book, there is at least one villain so sneaky and vile that I could not help but love to hate. For me, this makes a book more interesting. I love it when I see the villain do horrible things to the heroine, because it makes me enjoy their capture so much more. This is a terrific addition to the "Dragons of Challon" series and I am happy to recommend it to fans of historical romances! *****

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Reviewed by Detra Fitch