Sir Adam de Ware is on a mission as a spy for King Edward III. He is sent to Cavendish Castle to investigate some odd behavior from the earl. If he succeeds to get answers for the king, he will be rewarded when the mission is completed. Wanting to get close to the earl’s daughter, the cold-hearted Lady Eva to find out more, Adam decides to seduce her. But the only way to seduce a woman like this … this is to appeal to what she most desires, and that is sumptuous food! Adam uses his unique skill of being able to cook delectable holiday dishes to lure the woman closer.
Lady Eva Cavendish will do anything to protect her father’s secret, even forging missives to the king in her father’s name. But when Sir Adam shows up at her doorstep on Christmas Eve with a roasted goose and all the fixings to offer, she finds that she can’t turn him away. Since the death of her mother, the kitchen servants haven’t been able to serve an edible dish and she longs for properly prepared food for the Christmastide season.
When the Lord of Misrule proclaims that Sir Adam will be cooking in the castle’s kitchen during the twelve days of Christmas, Lady Eva cannot go against the custom of the twisted holiday tradition. And when Sir Adam starts to seduce her with everything from Partridge with Pears, to French Hens, to Collie Bird Pie, she finds his talents alluring and starts to fall for him.
Amidst the deceit, how long will the romance keep cooking? And will someone get burned in the end?
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another wonderful book from Elizabeth Rose. Wonderful Christmas story with complex interesting characters. Interesting bits about the food of the period. Sir Adam could cook, which may have been odd for a knight. You will love Lady Eva as you continue to read. loved it!
Eva and her grandmother are trying to keep it a secret from the King that her father had an accident, which left him with a broken leg and a stroke. They are concerned that the king will strip him of his title and land. Sir Adam is a knight, sent by the King himself, to find out why the Earl has been avoiding him. Sir Adam, arranges a way for him to stay in the castle, as a cook, so he can discover what Eva is hiding. As Adam and Eva prepare for the Christmas festivities, they develop feelings for each other. This is a sweet Christmas novella and I really enjoyed reading
To fall in love with the hero is just the best! Mistletoe and Chain Mail by Elizabeth Rose is book 1 in the Holiday Knights series. Elizabeth’s stories are just too delightful not to read and I always look forward to her new releases. Her characters are wonderful, her descriptions are very vivid, easy to read and always original. This medieval book is a must read. This story has deception, kindness, schemes, a spy, an accident, treason, an amazing cook, protection, controlling, lots of celebrations and love. I highly recommend you read this Yuletide story or any of Elizabeth’s books, you won’t be disappointed!
***This book was gifted to me and I am voluntarily reviewing.
This was a sweet read with love coming quickly. Adam was a bit hard to take at the beginning because of how pushy he was. As his acts of kindness grew to love, I liked him much better. Eva was a good woman, trying to keep things together, but she had her moments of vulnerability. There were a few tears at the end for me.
This is my unsolicited review.
There’s a secret at Cavendish Castle, and King Edward has sent Sir Adam de Ware to find out what it is. Lady Eva Cavendish is the Earl’s daughter. She is said to be a cold-hearted woman. In truth, she is guarding the secret Adam needs to learn. Adam knows that Lady Eva loves good food. Adam is handsome, charming, and brave, and he can cook. He plans to use his culinary skills to get close enough to Eva to learn why her father will not go to see the king. His plan might work. If it doesn’t, his goose is cooked!
Mistletoe and Chain Mail is a happy Christmas story with charming characters, a look at Medieval holiday traditions and dishes, and a bit of mystery. Adam and Eva were wonderful together, a little sparring and a lot of fun. Grandmother is protective of the family and scares Bryce (Adam’s squire), who in turn frustrates Adam. Putting the whole thing together, and Elizabeth Rose does it very well; we have good fun, good food, and good company. This is a wonderful beginning to the Holiday Knights series. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a Christmas treat.
Such a wonderful and delightful Christmas story, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I fell in love with Sir Adam right from the start, what a character he is…and he knows how to cook!!! Lady Eva starts off as seeming to be quite angry and miserable but you soon learn why she’s acting that way and it doesn’t take long before you know she’s perfect for Adam. I loved reading all about the various dishes that Adam cooks, all popular from that era. My mouth was actually salivating at times! lol All in all, this book was perfect and I highly recommend it!!
I enjoyed the story and the characters. A special bonus was learning some of the medieval Christmas celebration customs. (One really seemed barbaric) I received an arc of this book.
What a wonderful Christmas novella read. I read this in one day and enjoyed every minute of it. I loved all the little references to the song “12 days of Christmas” and many of the customs of medieval times. It is obvious that Ms Rose put a lot of research into the customs. The characters were well written, full of feeling and understanding. It was a clean read and a great beginning to Ms Roses “Holiday Knights “ series.
What is not to like about a knight that can cook and make delectable dishes? Sir Adam is sent to Cavendish Castle to find out what is happening with the Earl and his behavior noticed by the king. Determined to get the truth, he takes the route of trying to get close to Lady Eva, the Earl’s daughter. So what is the quickest way to her heart? Using his skills as a good cook and making scrumptious holiday dishes that she could not resist!
But Eva has a family secret she is determined not to reveal it. Fortunately Adam with his skills in cooking and seduction, might break her barriers but you never know!
Loved the research that went into this story with all the different dishes and they really sounded good! Elizabeth Rose, always writes a tale, I could not put down until the end!
I loved reading about all the long ago Christmas traditions (that I have recently read about in Alison Weir’s book A Tudor Christmas) bound up in a novel. All the descriptions of scrumptious festive fare made me drool and look forward to the coming holiday. The romance between Sir Adam and Lady Eva was delightful and I could appreciate the terrible position that the Cavendish family found themselves in.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I truly enjoyed Adam and Eva’s story because the sites and smells of the holiday were evident in the many dishes that Adam prepared for Eva. I love how in-depth the research was and the traditional dishes that were served in the medieval period. I completely sympathized with Eva in protecting her father from getting his title and lands stripped from him and I cannot say were I in her place that I wouldn’t have done the same thing. I would love to have some of the recipes for the dishes that were prepared in this book. I was very impressed with the fact that Adam, despite him being a knight, not only cooked as well as he did but also liked doing so. I just had to read the whole book in one sitting because I was always intrigued by what was going to happen next. Would they discover Eva’s Secret? Which should be tried for treason? I won’t spoil the ending by telling you what happened because you can read it for yourself and I highly recommend this holiday Romance.