This is the complete Legendary Bastards of the Crown Series.This boxed set includes:Destiny’s Kiss(Series Prequel)Lady Annalyse Granville is a cursed second-born twin that has lived most her life in a nunnery. Superstition has it that a second born twin is a spawn of the devil. But when Annalyse returns home one Christmas she receives a kiss from Highlander Ross Douglas under the kissing bough. … Douglas under the kissing bough. From there, her life is changed forever. What happens that Christmas affects everyone’s lives in ways they could never expect.
Restless Sea Lord
(Book 1)
Rowen the Restless is one of the bastard triplets of King Edward III. At birth the superstitious king ordered the babies killed. But things don’t always go as planned. Now, over two decades later, Rowen, who has has been raised by pirates, has joined together with his brothers to raid their father – the king.
Lady Cordelia of Whitehaven is a young widow who wants nothing more than to have children. When she’s at the wrong place at the wrong time, she ends up captured by a sea lord who has stolen her dowry – her only hope of marrying a nobleman. Will a lady and a pirate find love on the high seas?
Ruthless Knight
(Book 2)
Rook the Ruthless lives in the catacombs and is known as Lord of the Underworld as he continues to raid the king. But with a raid gone bad, it leaves him in a horrible position and the legend of the Demon Thief is threatened to be put to rest. Rook is a ruthless man, his heart darkened by his past.
But one day Lady Calliope stumbles into his underground lair and he is captivated by her beauty and kindness. Can the lord of the Underworld be brought from the darkness by the angel who sees a spark of light in his soul that he doesn’t believe is there?
Reckless Highlander
(Book 3)
Reed the Reckless swears he will never fall prey to the English king’s trickery. Having been raised by a Highlander, Reed embraces the Scottish heritage. While leading a raid, he runs across his childhood sweetheart, Maggie Gordon and things become complicated.
Maggie Gordon has lost almost everything, including her family years ago during Burnt Candlemas. Having left her homeland of Scotland, she’s spent years in England only to be reunited with a lost Scottish love. But to her dismay, Reed is nothing but a raider and a thief. Can friends turn into lovers or will anger and vengeance keep them apart?
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Destiny’s Kiss 5* – This is a prequel to The Legendary Bastards of the Crown series and as such is only 10 chapters and covers a period of only a couple of days. Having said that it is surprisingly satisfying and a good lead into the series which follows. There is injustice, deceit, superstition, tragedy and love. A recommended read.
Restless Sea Lord 4* – I had no idea that children of multiple births were considered cursed during the Middle Ages and so it was fascinating to read a story about a set of triplets; bastard sons of the King of England. The prologue sets the scene for the 12 year old boys to find out the truth of their lineage and how they come to be separated. It would have been interesting to have had a couple of chapters about Rowan’s life as a pirate in the intervening years between the prologue and chapter 1 and how the triplets managed to find each other again as adults. This however is glossed over. I enjoyed the story and really felt for Rowan about the decision he had to make in order to be with Cordelia.
Ruthless Knight 5* – Another compelling story by Ms Rose. This is the second story about one of the bastard triplets of King Edward III and follows the book Restless Sea Lord. Rook is the triplet who when the three boys were separated aged twelve on Burnt Candlemas 1355/6, was hidden in the catacombs by a monk and has forever since hidden out amongst the dead. Since the boys were reunited when they were 22 they have made it their mission in life to harry and steal from King Edward, who they hate with a vengeance. Not only did he order their deaths the night they were born but twelve years later slaughtered and pillaged the inhabitants of Lothian, where the boys were at the time living, in his attempt to conquer Scotland. However, with the betrayal of Rowen (accepting a wife, castle, wealth and a knighthood from their father) the legend of the Demon Thief is falling apart. Without Rowen’s pirates they don’t have enough men to steal from Edward’s heavily guarded wagon trains and without Edward’s gold Rook has no money to pay his mercenaries. Whilst he holes up in his secret room within the catacombs of the ruined Lanercost Priory he doesn’t expect to find Lady Calliope from the nearby castle nosing around his belongings and so begins Rook’s love story.
Reckless Highlander 5* – This is the third and final story about one of the bastard triplets of King Edward III and whilst it can be read as a standalone the books are best read in sequence and this one contains spoilers with regard to the others.
Reed and Maggie pledged themselves to each other when she was 9 and he 12 but Reed believed that she died the night of Burnt Candlemas when in fact she and her baby brother Duff escaped with Annalyse and her daughters over the border into England. When they meet again 10 years later their feelings are unchanged but Maggie is betrothed to an English baron and Reed is a wanted raider/bandit. Reed is a hothead and never thinks before he acts or speaks, the consequences of this foolhardiness in medieval Britain is very often death (it is certainly surprising that the Scots were prepared to let him lead them into battle) and he needs his family and friends to provide calming counsel. I very much enjoyed this book and it was nice to have four HEAs by the end of the book.
I have read the above books individually and copied my reviews to this boxed set.
I loved all three books in this series including the prequel, Destiny’s Kiss. This one tells the backstory of the birth of Reed, Rowen and Rook. Restless Sea Lord was Rowen’s story, Ruthless Knight was Rook’s story and Reckless Highlander was Reed’s story. These three for the illegitimate Sons of Edward the Third, King of England. The boys were separated for here’s before reuniting and the Demon Thief was born. When the boys were born, their mother Gabrielle died in childbirth and Edward along with everyone else, was superstitious and believed that multiple births were a curse and he condemned the three boys to death. Queen Philippia helped smuggle the triplets out of the castle and they were raised by Ross Douglas and his wife, who was Gabrielle’s twin sister. The triplets all had very hard lives and because Edward would not legitimize them, they started writing his coffers. Rowen was kidnapped by Pirates and raised aboard the Sea Mirage and subsequently became a pirate himself. Rook was rescued by a monk and he hid Rook in the catacombs of a priory. Reed was taken to Scotland and raised by Clan Douglas. But all the triplets came together as one to raid Edwards ships, Caravans and coffers. They had to overcome many obstacles in their search for their true love. I really liked the series but I could not understand why the king would not legitimize them. There was a lot of action in all the books as well as some steamy love scenes. I like the fact that all the female characters were strong women. If you are looking for an action-packed series of books as well as some Romance, I highly recommend this series.