The King's Mistress by Terri Brisbin

The Lion In Winter is one of my favorite movies - I'm always intrigued by books set during that time period, even though medievals aren't really my favorite.

The King's Mistress by Terri Brisbin
(2005, Medieval) 5/2/08
Grade: 3.5

Marguerite was raised to be a king’s mistress, but Henry Plantagenet has tired of her, and orders her to marry Orrick of Silloth, a northern lord she considers far beneath her. Orrick hopes to find happiness in his marriage, despite the circumstances, but can Marguerite let go of her life in Henry’s court, and accept the love of her new husband?

This was an interesting read that took a chance on a hero and heroine that aren’t your typical romance characters. Marguerite, in particular, is not all that likeable in the first part of the book. She’s no romance virgin - she was the king’s mistress and she enjoyed it - the power, the weath, the sex. She’s angry and hurt by her banishment, and she fights against it for most of the first half of the book. (Her treatment of her illegitimate daughter also goes against what you might expect of a romance heroine, although it’s probably accurate for the time.) But as we get to know her background, I found her more interesting and sympathetic. I appreciated that Orrick wasn’t a typical romance hero, either - he was a nice beta hero who wanted to woo his wife, not dominate her. (I especially liked his “bribe” of a library full of books.) However, I never felt a real romantic connection to this book. Maybe it needed more space than a Harlequin Historical could provide, but I just found the story a bit lacking - there was something missing that would have made this book more compelling.

I've read some wonderful medievals, but I think authors who write in this period have a greater challenge - it's hard to really put ourselves in the mindset of people who lived in that period.