Lianna is a lady disfigured and ridiculed at court even with her high station. Jason, with his dark reputation and his brother the most sought after knight at court seek out her company, protecting her and bringing her out of the shadows. Lovely romance.
( )

This was a short and sweet addition to the de Piaget saga. While I would have loved it to be longer, the story did hit all the high points for me. As a ward in King Henry's court, Lianna has no control over her life. She now spends her days weaving tapestries and doing her best to remain in the background. Once a beautiful woman, she is frequently the butt of jokes and mockery, thank to scarring from a bout of smallpox.

I liked Lianna from the very beginning. I felt terrible about the way she was treated but thought she had a pretty good attitude about it, preferring to go her own way rather than fight a losing battle. I felt her disgust with the way the other women plotted and schemed to trap Kendrick. It was hilarious to listen to her express her opinions of Kendrick, not knowing that he was the stranger who snuck into the solar to hide from his pursuers. I loved the way that Kendrick stood up for her against them when they returned to the room, but I suspected that they were going to create trouble because of it.

For all of the glowing reputation that Kendrick has, Jason's status is just the opposite. Because he was squire to Christopher Blackmour, who was rumored to be a warlock and other grim things, Jason is believed to be just as bad. When we first see Jason, he is in a foul mood from chasing after Kendrick to deliver a message and having just had to deal with the flagrant fears of those he encountered. All he wants to do is deliver his message and get on with his plans to join the Crusades. Instead, he met Lianne and was immediately and inexplicably drawn to her. That fascination ended up saving Lianne's life. It was satisfying to see Jason use his reputation to gain the cooperation he needed to save her. His protectiveness as he watched over her treatment and recovery was impressive. His ability to "see with his heart" had a significant effect on Lianne and her confidence - I loved the scene with the bitchy women and Lianne's needlework chest. I loved how Jason fell fast and hard for Lianne and felt for him when he realized that as a third son he might not win her hand. There was an unexpected obstacle and twist thrown in his way, and I wasn't sure how that was going to work out.

I loved the last chapter. Lianne's nervousness was realistic, and it was fun to see the way that Jason tweaked it. Their arrival at Blackmour was not at all what Lianne expected, and I loved seeing her reactions. The meeting with Christopher was awesome and great fun to witness. I adored the ending, especially Christopher's wedding gift to Jason, and the emotional effect it had on him.

One of my favorite things about this story was the relationship between Jason and Kendrick. All of the sons of Robin of Artane have this unique way of showing their love for each other. The constant baiting and battling were fun to watch. Though their relationship with each other is frequently contentious, they immediately join forces when faced with an outside threat. ( )