Crusader's Lady

by Lynna Banning

Jerusal n, 1192. Tercera cruzada. Soraya al-Din era una mujer sedienta de venganza. Disfrazada de chico, nada podr a apartarla de su objetivo. Marc de Valery era un caballero cansado de combatir que... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373294425
• ISBN13: 9780373294428
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Harlequin Special Releases
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

Disguises, oaths and and danger in a medieval historical romance

Jerusalem, 1192. The Third Crusade. Marc de Valery swore an oath to protect the king. Marc however is not blind to the realities of the Crusades. Hardened by war, he sees beyond into the ugly ground experiences of war and the Crusades. Soraya al-Din swears revenge against Marc when Khalil, a man she calls her uncle, is killed. Dressed as a lad, she only hopes she can maintain the disguise long enough to exact her revenge. First she must complete Khalil's task of delivering a message. For his part, Marc is not an easy man to hate. At every turn, he surprises her with his kindness and inner nobility. Soraya herself is not like any lad Marc has ever encountered. She speaks Arabic and Norman French and her eyes are not the typical color of a Circassian. When he discovers that she is no lad, but rather a woman, she only seems to mystify him even more. Drawn to her, yet sworn to protect the king, Marc walks a fine line as his party travels through from Jerusalem to Cyprus, from Italy to a journey over the French Alps. Will Marc be able to protect Richard without revealing his disguise to his enemies? Will Soraya and Marc be able to find love or will duty and danger thwart their romance? In CRUSADER'S LADY, Lynna Banning makes an exciting entry into the world of medieval romance. Previously known for her western romances, Lynna Banning adds a freshness, giving readers a look at the lesser explored landscapes and alliances of the medieval world. Soraya's disguise provides the ground for several humorous and sexy scenes as her innocence and womanhood are awakened by Marc's body. Lynna Banning unmasks the disguises for the reader, but not for her characters, creating a suspenseful atmosphere as two characters missions overlap and diverge from one another. Outside Marc's small group, danger threatens from the outside, adding another layer of suspenseful action as Marc and Soraya travel across the landscape, a landscape of countries with their own allegiances and political aims. At each step, one slip could spell danger for the king or the members of their party. CRUSADER'S LADY makes medieval history an integral part of the romance, bringing real historical events and persons into key moments of the romance's plot as well as the development of her characters. Lynna Banning's ability to synthesize history and imagination into the very heart of this romance makes CRUSADER'S LADY an exciting romance for medieval lovers. The exquisitely placed portrait of Eleanor of Aquitaine brings a whole layer of richness to this romance and the transformation of her characters as romance enters their hearts. Medieval history lovers will find a special delight in Lynna Banning for upping the level of historical detail to more than just a backdrop. The romance, the themes of disguise and unmasking, and the layers of suspense are an added bonus that just make this romance fun reading from cover to cover. COURTESY OF BOOK ILLUMINATIONS

Believable historical romance

Crusader's Lady (Harlequin Historical Series) Lynna Banning has done it again, created a beautiful love story between two unlikely protagonists, the Scottish knight, Marc de Valery, and the young Circassian woman, Soraya al Din. Two lands and two cultures merge in this tale of intrigue and passion. Under Ms. Banning's skilled prose, the twelfth century comes alive as Soraya, Marc and his monk journey from Jerusalem to Scotland with stops along the way. One can almost taste the scenery, feel the grit, see the grandeur as Richard the Lionheart and Queen Eleanor come to life on the page. When Soraya loses her heart to the man once her enemy, only to discover he is betrothed to another, readers will find it impossible to stop reading until the final, satisfying ending. Ms. Banning has written many westerns; Crusader's Lady is her first Medieval. What a stunning debut. Highly recommended.

A wonderful read!

Soraya al-Din is a 16 year-old girl/woman disguised as a boy. Together with a man she calls her uncle but who is in fact a kind stranger who bought her as a slave and treats her well, she arrives in the English camp of King Richard the Lion Heart in Jerusalem to deliver a secret message to the kind from Saladin. Saladin is a great Muslim warlord, fighting to unify his empire from Syria to Egypt and that includes kicking the Christian conquerors out. However, he is also an honorable man who sends his doctor to treat the sick English king and also sends his spies (Soraya and her uncle) to warn Richard that Leopold of Austria intends to kidnap Richard and hold him for ransom. As soon as Soraya and "her uncle" sneak into the English camp, they encounter Marc de Valery, a war-weary Scottish knight and one of King Richard's confidants. Marc mistakes Soraya's "uncle" for an assassin and kills him. Soraya vows to avenge her "uncle"; she is also committed to completing her "uncle's" mission for Saladin, which means she must stay close to Marc because unknowingly he holds the message to warn Richard of his Austrian enemy. Marc is summoned by Richard and is entrusted with transporting the sick king back to England. But they must travel in disguise because the king has too many enemies and no one must know he is on the road to England. And so begins Marc, Soraya, and Richard's voyage from the Holy Land of 1192 back to England. They travels by ship to Cypress and Italy and then cross the wintry Alps to France. All this time Marc has no idea that Soraya is a female. But a special bond is formed between them, one of trust and friendship. Marc lost his brother in the war and is deep in sorrow. Soraya's company helps him deal with his grief. The long middle of the book depicts the long voyage with the rowdy king. It is a story of knights camaraderie in a very interesting period in time, but unlike most medievals in which we encounter the hero when he returns home, this book takes us with the hero to the fighting in Jerusalem, Cypress, and so forth. I was impressed by the extensive research done for this book. The entire period came to life for me and I enjoyed every moment. The romance takes a back seat to the voyage and the friendships of the men throughout most of the book. It didn't really matter to me because lots of historical romances these days just give the sexual tension with very little story. To categorize this book as a romance would do the book a disservice. It is absolutely wonderful. I wish the author didn't feel she had to compensate with lack of romance with the ending, which in my opinion dragged on when the story was all but done. Soraya's makeover scene, in which she discards her boy's clothes for woman's clothes and suddenly becomes a goddess was an unnecessary cliche the book could have done without. The long ending in Scotland with Marc's fiancee was also redundant and took a lot of the spark of the story. So that by the time I fi

Wonderful Medieval!

I truely enjoyed Crusader's Lady! I read a lot of medieval romance and Ms. Banning delivers---a great story, a strong heroine, and a hero I love. I know she has more great medievals from Harlequin coming, and I can't wait to pick them up. I'm glad Ms. Banning, who also writes historical westerns, is stepping into the Middle Ages!

Wonderful read!

Departing from her usual American West setting, Lynna Banning successfully takes on the Middle Ages with this satisfying romance between a Scottish knight on the Third Crusade and a woman who spies for the great Saladin. Banning expertly walks the knifespoint between historic accuracy (stinky soldiers, barbaric Christian acts, gritty settings, a less-than-noble Richard Lion-Heart) and the elements that make the Middle Ages seem romantic today (beautiful silk dresses, men whose word is their bond, honorable knights, the brave and savvy Eleanor of Aquitaine). Some romance novel purists may object to the fact that the internal conflict keeping Soraya and Marc apart is minor compared with the external conflicts--Soraya's secret errand for Saladin, Marc's required service to King Richard, assassins who want Soraya dead, travel across a harsh European landscape in winter, Marc's long-standing engagement to a noblewoman, Soraya's low birth, European prejudice against outsiders, and the whims of Queen Eleanor. However, I found this departure refreshing and the twists and turns harder to predict as a result. Saroya is a Medieval heroine who is both believable in her time period and yet satisfying to a modern reader. Readers who liked Candice Proctor's The Last Knight should also enjoy this book.