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Title: The Dragons of Challon, Book 3 – One Snowy Knight
Genre: Historical
Author: Deborah Macgillivray
Reviewer: Chrissy Dionne
Publisher: Kensington
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Author Website: http://deborahmacgillivray.co.uk/
Format: PRINT
Rating: 5 blue ribbons
Scotland, 1296
Following the unfortunate deaths of his parents when he was just a young boy Noel de Servian was taken into Earl Michael’s loving home and raised alongside Julian, his brothers and their cousins at Castle Challon. As a group the boys were sent to be squires to King Edwards and later served as his knights – and earned their reputation as the Dragons of Challon. After years of fighting in the name of the king, Noel is ready for peace and when King Edwards gifts him with Craigendan Keep he thinks the serenity he seeks is finally within reach.
Lady Skena MacIain of Craigendan Keep was not heartbroken when her husband failed to return from warring at Dunbar. Their marriage had never been a love match but their children made their union worth the disappointments. Skena struggles with caring for the people of Craigendan especially since all the men left are old, feeble or too young to protect or hunt. Food and supplies are scarce and Skena worries over the fate of her people.
With her children, Andrew and Annis, missing, Skena sets out from the safety of Craigendan Keep to find them before the snow and darkness make this endeavor too difficult. The last thing she expects is to find them in the company of a magnificent steed and insisting that the horse is a kelpie and it brought Andrew’s Yuletide wish – a knight to protect them. Or Annis’s wish for a knight to care and love them – something she’d never received from her father. Skena doesn’t believe in wishes – none of hers have ever come true but once she sees the unconscious knight laying in the snow she knows that she cannot leave him to an icy fate. Thus begins the wholly unexpected romance between Skena and Noel. As she tirelessly works to save his life after he takes ill thanks to the weather, there can be no denying that he’s a beautiful man and she’s attracted to him as she’s never been to any other man but how will she feel when she learns that he’s the new Lord of Craigendan? And there’s the little issue of Noel’s involvement in her husband’s death – or is Angus truly dead? Skena swears she’s seen him on several occasions and each sighting is coupled with something sinister so what is really happening and why?
ONE SNOWY KNIGHT is the third book in Deborah Macgillivray’s DRAGONS OF CHALLON series. Noel’s a knight who takes his responsibilities seriously first and foremost but he’s got a gentle nature that comes to the forefront especially when it comes to Skena or her children. The bond he shares with his foster brothers really says a lot about him as a man and gives the impression that anytime he needs assistance or they need it of him then they would be there for each other. The relationship between Skena and Noel is fun, passionate and endearing and I really loved the playfulness between them. Deborah Macgillivray always adds a dramatic flair to her storylines that captures the imagination and keeps you smiling through each page of her books.
While it’s certainly not necessary to read all the DRAGONS OF CHALLON books in order to enjoy ONE SNOWY KNIGHT, the other stories are just as delightful so I’d recommend picking them up as well.
The other stories available are:
A RESTLESS KNIGHT and IN HER BED
REDEMPTION is the upcoming DRAGONS OF CHALLON book and it’s due to be released in September 2010.
Curtesty of Romance Junkies
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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
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! *****
HUNTRESS REVIEWS
Reviewed by Detra Fitch
An Extraordinary Read! *****
Trevelyan (Sinclair) Mershan is a man on a mission. His mission…revenge. Along with his brothers, Trevelyan is dead set on bringing down the Montgomerie family by seducing then destroying the “meddling Montgomerie” sisters. He has his sights zeroed in on Raven Montgomerie, the beautiful, quiet, and most vulnerable of the sisters.
Raven Montgomerie prefers the quiet life of painting and socializing with gypsies in the English countryside. While she could live in luxury, she chose to live in the estate cottage rather than in the main house of Colford Hall. However she doesn’t live alone. She shares the beautiful country cottage with an odd menagerie of pets; two cats named Chester and Pyewacket, a one-legged seagull named Atticus, and a lively miniature pony named Marvin. (I love these names!)
What Raven needs is a knight in shining armor. Little does this timid woman know, her knight will be riding into her life in a shining Lamborghini Murciélago. Then when Raven and Trevelyan first meet, sparks ignite a fire and the instant he touches her, their fates are sealed.
In this third installment of the Sisters of Colford Hall series, I found myself completely absorbed in the story of Raven and Trevelyan! I have read the other two in the series and even though I completely enjoyed them, I have to say A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing is by far my favorite! A magical love story that even includes a ghost named Annie. (Great name!)
Ms. MacGillivray has a talent for creating stories that clutch the hearts of her readers and in A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing, you won’t be disappointed. She has woven a tale of passion, love, and desire that grips you from the first page to the very end.
- Annie Marshall, Author of Her Noble Destiny
Annie's Celtic Reviews
The Mershan brothers plot to take over the Montgomerie clan by seducing the sisters, while quietly buying up all the stock in the family's company, is finally in the final stretch. Trevelyn's focus on destroying the relatives of the man who ruined his life as a child is all he has concentrated on for as long as he can remember. For his part, Trevelyn has chosen Raven, the eccentric artist sister. However, to his dismay, he is more interested than he wants to be in her, and the fates seem to have a hand in pushing them together. He is unable to resist the powers- that-be to become her knight-in-shining-armor.
Raven Montgomerie is unlike the rest of her family with their designer clothes and fancy cars and reside in the large manor on their estate. She lives in the cottage by herself with her unusual collection of pets and her artwork, perfectly happy driving an old MG that runs only sometimes. For the past weeks, she has put all of her time and energy in a charity auction her family is putting on for a local orphanage. Now that the big night is here, she receives a unique fortune teller machine for a birthday gift, but the fortune it tells is confusing -- until a mysterious man becomes her saving grace.
The third book in this fabulous series is witty and sensual with laugh-out-loud moments that make it thoroughly enjoyable. Definitely a must-read!
Revenge — that was Trev’s goal when he first set his sights on Raven. And a delicious revenge it would be. He and his two brothers had each selected a Montgomerie sister to systematically seduce and destroy, and this quiet granddaughter of his enemy was perfect. She lived simply in a cottage in the English countryside, a painter, and socialized only with gypsies and a menagerie of misfits: her fat orange tabby, her one-legged seagull and midget pony. And in addition to beauty, Raven had a delicious vulnerability begging to be exploited. Trev was happy to oblige. In fact, it felt like destiny.
Magic and fate have brought a self-proclaimed wolf to Colford Hall. He’s dressed in a designer suit, drives a Lamborghini Murciélago and apologizes for nothing. And though Trev doesn’t realize it, wolves mate for life.
