She Who Laughs Last

by Jennie Klassel

Book Overview

In an attempt to regain her family's castle in medieval England, one woman holds a prince for ransom--only to become a hostage to his love. Co-winner of the New Historical Voice Contest sponsored by... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0843952318
• ISBN13: 9780843952315
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Leisure Books
• Length: 300 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.1" x 7.3"

Customer Reviews

So Funny

I thought this was one of the funniest romances I've ever read. When a fever leaves their father witless, Syrah and Eben of the 9th House, find their home invaded by their awful cousin Gyp. Gyp produces a forged bethrothal and attempts to force himself on Syrah. Syrah sends three missives to the king of the Dominion and when he fails to help them she stages the drowning of Eben, several servants and herself until she can form a plan to retake their house. That plan ends up being to kidnap Crown Prince Jibril whom Syrah has always secretly loved for enough gold to hire a mercenary to rid them of Gyp. Syrah, Eben and their very imaginitave and dramatic maid manage to actually kidnap Jibril by drugging his wine and then sneaking him out in a coffin with the dreaded plague markings on it. Using their wits they manage to elude capture and hide him away on the Island of Lost Souls. When Jibril finally comes around he realizes that a small group of amateurs (two women and a young boy) have kidnapped him and his pride is wounded. He knows he is in no danger and is intrigued by the lady who leads the pack. Although they all wear hoods he is intrigued by her and after his release when he realizes who is captor was, he decides he will track her down and marry her. The only problem is his father decides to use Syrah and her brother Eben to bait the evil Gyp into showing his hand. When it appears as though Jibril has betrayed her, Syrah's heart is broken. When she realizes she is being used as bait, Syrah decides to have the last laugh and save the day her own way. the characters in this book are so funny I couldn't stop laughing. Eben's outrageously imaginative stories get them out of more than one bind and Syrah's maid Mayenne's wild fantasies of ravishment and torture are hilarious. I loved this book.

Lots of Chuckles in this Debut - Fun Read

In her delightful debut, Klassel has created a middle ages historical setting in the kingdom of Dominion comprised of lesser twenty-seven different domains called Houses. This story centers on Lady Syrah, the eldest daughter of the Ninth House, who has made repeated requests of the king to protect her and her brother from the evil machinations of their cousin, who has used the debilitating illness of her father as an excuse to move in and take over their castle and domain. After the cousin makes attempts to force himself on Syrah, using a forged betrothal document her addled father doesn't remember signing, she escapes along with her brother, father and a couple of loyal family retainers. Dropping out of sight, they concocted a ruse that made it look as though the family had perished at sea. Determined to regain the family estate for the young brother Eben, whom she felt responsible for, the two siblings devised an elaborate and wholly amusing plan to kidnap Jibril, the crown prince of Dominion and ransom him back to the king whom Syrah believed had forsaken her. The plan was to raise enough funds to hire a mercenary to oust her evil cousin from their home and regain it for her brother. The fact that Jibril had been the love of Syrah's young life (charmingly described in the prologue) ever since she met him at the age of 13, her treatment of him as her prisoner was a total joy as they matched wits against one another in both games of chess and love! *** In reading SHE WHO LAUGHS LAST, the debut novel for Jennie Klassel, it was certainly easy to see why she was the winner in the National Contest sponsored by Romantic Times Bookclub and publishing. She created dynamite characterizations from the lead protagonists right down to the lowliest of guards and maids who were so totally endearing that it would be hard to say just who you liked the best - and believe me there were an enormous amount of secondary characters here to choose from as well as the two totally delightful leads. I have to admit that the 14-year-old brother Eben with his tall tales, usually centering around dromedaries, was so funny I often found myself chuckling out loud. Lady Syrah was a totally divine lead who was fashioned brilliantly with intelligence, a lovely sensual aura, and a charming sense of humor. The entire ensemble of supporting characters, a beautiful plot, and vivid sensual emotions, made this a fun read and a book that I can highly recommend. --- Marilyn, for www.romancedesigns.com ---

BRAVA, BRAVA MS. KLASSEL

What a pleasant and great surprise to find this debut novel. Set in the middle ages somewhere (probably near Constantinople??), this is an adventure/romance with a super hero and absolutely great heroine. The plot involves the struggle of Lady Syrah to regain her family lands and title for her younger brother. In order to get the necesary funds to hire mercenaries for the job, she kidnaps Crown Prince Jibril of the realm (with whom she has secretly been in love with since meeting him when she was 13) and holds him for ransom. An so the fun begins...This is a great novel, with fully-realized supporting characters, including Syrah's 14-year-old brother Eben (who spins hilarious detailed tall tales), wily and wise King Ahriman, an African "mercenary" Zebengo, and a lady's maid who has hysterical sexual fantasies at every moment.But the star of this book is Syrah...who play's an expert game of chess...I won't say more - JUST READ THE BOOK!!

medieval romantic romp

Desperate times call for desperate measures. In a public tavern, nineteen years old Lady Syrah Dhion of the Ninth House is acting the harlot with the Crown Prince of the Dominion Jibril of the First House. His wine is drugged and Syrah and her fourteen-year-old brother Eben take Jibril prisoner. The Dhions hope to restore the wealth and splendor of their house ruined by their feeble father and destroyed by their odious cousin.Syrah treats Jibril less like a royal and more like a pain until he kisses her. Soon Syrah finds her heart imprisoned by her captive. She frees Jibril, but he refuses to go because the future he wants now is to be her prisoner and she his forever once he dispatches her nasty relative.This medieval romantic romp is a fun tale that lightens up the usual intense sub-genre with plenty of humor caused by the gender war between the lead couple in which both sides surrender. The amusing story line works because of the sexual battle between Syrah and Jibril. The secondary characters augment the ribaldry that goes the gamut from slapstick to double entendres proving that Jennie Klassel has a large funny bone, but the audience has the first, middle and last laughs at the antics of the cast.Harriet Klausner

She Who Laughs Last-I Sure Did

Loved this book!!! Haven't read a good Fairy Tale romance like this in awhile. The plot was original and very inventive, taking place in some kindom in the 14th century. Lets just say it is not your standard plot. I Liked the hero, Prince Jibril, very much, but I liked the heroine... alot!! Lady Syrah was clever, smart & very resourcefull. No whining maiden here. She knew what she had to do and did it, much to the dismay of Prince Jibril and the men after her. She would show them that she was not an inferior female in any way. But in a good way. The Prince & his men sure didn't know what Lady Syrah was plotting to do next! And I as the reader didn't either!. In that respect I thought that the author Jennie Klassel was superb. Ms. Klassel did not give much away and so the story was not predictible at all. Just the kind of stories I enjoy. An added bonus was that it made me laugh. It was very funny! I chuckled throughout the Whole book!! The secondary characters were great! Lady Syrah's brother Eben was quite a stitch, weaving tales galore to throw everyone off course.I would definitely recommend this book!! By the way, Jennie Klassel was voted New Historical Voice contest winner. This novel was well written, fast paced & humorous. I definitely look forward to her next novel. Hope it is real soon!