Plot relies on way too much of hero and heroine lusting after one another but knowing they cannot be together. Details are revealed very slowly as the book progresses. The ending had things wrapped up too neatly in a way that seems hardly likely for the times. 3/5 stars ( )

Welsh Marches, 1222
All Sir Padrig ap Huw had to do was escort Lady Alys Delamare to her father but he found her watching him as he bathed in a nearby stream and things started to change for them both. Alys was fascinated by Padrig in all his glory and she knew then that she may not be able to live the rest of her life in an Abbey after all. The sensations and emotions she started to feel every time he was around made her aware that she had not been true to herself, ever. The trip should have been uneventful, the storm came upon them quick and fierce, as they were looking for anyplace to use a shelter, the lightning strike tumbled trees down all around them, and on top of them. Most of the troop and both of the ladies were buried under the mountain of trees causing Padrigs heart to race for concern for the lady who had only that morning sparked his interest.

This is the last (as far as I know) of a 7 book series. The character base is great, we have witnessed Padrig as a boy (To Tame a Warrior’s Heart) and now as a Knight. His humor his great and his intense feeling are so easily followed, the laugh out loud jabs he takes at himself, his friend Rafe and Alys make for a fun if not all that exciting of a book. Not really any fighting in this story, unless you count the fight against the elements, and their own feelings. The return of Lord Rannulf and Lady Gillian is perfectly timed and in perfect character. I enjoyed the fact that Alys was writing a ’chronicle’ of several stories from the accounting of people at l’Eau Clair, a great touch to finish off this Chronicles series. It is a Harlequin Historical (2006), Sharon Schulze could always add a story but for now this seems to be the end of the l’Eau Clair Chronicles, I have enjoyed reading them (re-reading most). ( )