You met Cullen de Nerra in the January 2019 release ‘By the Unholy Hand’. Now, Cullen is off on his own adventure of political intrigue and a forbidden love!1208 A.D. – Sir Cullen de Nerra is a knight’s knight. The son of the Sheriff of Hampshire, Val de Nerra (Vestiges of Valor), Cullen has been heavily involved in the politics of William Marshal for many years, but never more involved than when … involved than when The Marshal gifts his services to a powerful, but unpredictable, warlord, Preston de Lacy.
De Lacy is a rich man with too much time on his hands and a great hatred for King John. Cullen’s task is to keep watch on de Lacy and pass information to William Marshal on his movements and actions. It is suspected that he is behind a renewed resurgence of rebellion against the king and William Marshal must stay one step ahead of him.
Cullen is very good at keeping in eye on de Lacy until a new distraction enters the picture – Lady Teodora “Teddy” de Rivington. Teddy had been betrothed to Preston’s nephew until the lad got himself killed. Now, as a matter of gaining the de Rivington fortune, Preston assumes the betrothal and marries Teddy. With Teddy’s father greatly loyal to King John, Preston is only concerned with using his new wife against her father, but Teddy’s father is pleased for the same reason – using his daughter to gain information on the king’s enemies.
The situation is complicated enough when a new facet arises – Cullen’s growing feelings for Teddy. The woman is caught in a deadly game of politics and Preston refuses to have anything to do with his wife, leaving Cullen as her only source of comfort. What starts off as a polite acquaintance quickly grows into something far more passionate.
As a lonely knight and a lonely lady are drawn together by circumstances beyond their control, the situation explodes. When Cullen prevents King John from abducting Teddy to punish de Lacy, he is declared a fugitive from the law and Teddy is told that he was killed whilst fleeing the prince. Believing he is dead, she also discovers she is pregnant with his child, making the situation far more complicated because her own husband has never bedded her.
It’s a race against time for Cullen to return to the woman he loves and save her from the king, her father, and her own husband. In the beginning of their love affair, he promised to always love her, to always protect her, and to always be faithful to her. He intends to fulfill that promise… or dying trying.
The Promise is an epic Medieval adventure you’ll not soon forget.
The Promise is a full-length novel linked to the Le Veque books Vestiges of Valor and By the Unholy Hand
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This was a fun, quick read.
A scary Medieval rollercoaster! When you think the knight who falls in love with his lady will lose her forever, he manages to keep his promise to protect her at all costs and in the end win her for his own.
I don’t know how Ms. Leveque does it, but her books just keep getting better!
I truly loved this new, amazing, book by Kathryn Le Veque. The Promise, is just that. It comes from a time when social depravity was an unspoken norm. The promises made and held bu Cullen De Nerra and Teodora (Teddy) de Rivington de Lacy were a wonderful reminder of what true honor and honorable character stood for. In a world full of chaos, they held true to their beliefs and proved that dreams can come true if you never give up. There is excitement, intrigue, betrayal, loyalty, and, acceptable at that time in history, deviations from the norm sexually. The ending of the book was truly well written with a well deserved happily ever after for one of the important, but not leading characters. While this book seemed different to me from most of Kathryn’s more recent books, I can easily say she nailed it! This is one of my newest favorites by an astounding author.
SETTING: The year: 1208. Lady Teodora, a Warrior in her own right, takes part in a battle on the day of her wedding in her wedding dress! As her parent’s only child, she has been raised to fight by her father and to be the chatelaine of a castle by her mother. This does not sit well with her husband-to-be, Preston de Lacy Earl of Barklestone, who is only marrying her to fulfill an contractual obligation after his nephew dies before he can marry Lady Teodora. It is up to his champion Cullen de Nerra to round up the embarrassed Lady after harsh words by de Lacy send Teodora riding away from home, apparently to escape the wedding. Thus the unhappy start to what promises to be an unhappy marriage.
CRITIQUE: Once again, Ms. Le Veque takes us back as if in time travel to a point in history about which she writes both accurately and believably. This time we have a strong female heroine as well as Hero, that we cheer along as they fall in love in the worst of circumstances. The Hero, de Nerra, is secretly working for William Marshall, an actual historical figure, in a believable role given the tumultuous political situation between the 2 sons of King Henry, John and Richard. John makes an appearance in the story and is accurately portrayed. Our story thread winds through the palace and its intrigues and then continues on, to its HEA, and surprising ending.
This is another excellent historical romance from Ms. Le Veque, as we have come to expect. I eagerly await our next trip with her.
Cullen de Nerra is loyal to William Marshall. He is stationed to watch over Preston de Lacy, a man known to be an adversary of the current King John. If Cullen is successful in his mission, he has been promised lands and property. He is part of a plan and stays true to his mission, no matter what. He is a warrior of the highest standing.
Lady Teodora de Rivington is a pawn. Being used by both sides to spy, she has been betrothed to the nephew of Preston de Lacy. Upon the murder of his nephew , Preston steps up and fulfills the marriage contract. Although he has no interest in this stubborn woman, he has plans to use her to further his cause. When he refuses to consummate the marriage, he sends Cullen to complete deed, in his place. Only following orders, Cullen is becoming more and more protective of this woman and risking everything he’s worked so hard for.
This is an amazing tale. It’s full of adventure, intrigue secrets and finally love and longing. Very emotional and draws you in. Kathryn le Veque is an author that has the ability to bring out emotion while reading her books.
This is an absolute must read.
This marriage was not made in heaven or founded upon love. It was formed by nobles to spy on King John and King John in turn could spy on his enemies. This was a time when England was in an uproar over the way the King governed his people and the chaos was great. However, Cullen de Nerra, was an honorable knight in service to a not so honorable liege. When his liege married Teodora de Rivington, he was given the task of being her champion; her husband had no interest in bedding women, as his interest laid elsewhere. Combine this with King John wanting to claim Teodora as his own, sets the stage for Cullen protecting her and the story turns tragic. I found this to be one of the best med evil romances I have read. I cried, hope for the hero, found the heroin in great peril, found interesting characters along the way. What an adventure and when Cullen’s promise seems to be lost, I could not put the book down. Wow!
I’m sure you have read what the book is already about, what I can say about this story is WOW. I can’t tell you how much I loved this story. I loved Cullen, he is a strong knight who is doing his duty assigned to him by his liege. A duty he does not particularly want to do but the end goal of his own land and home motivates him. He has to do a lot of not so honorable things, but will do his duty for the good of England. Teodora is a strong willed warrior who is doing her duty for her father and marrying Lord Barkelstone. Both are thrown into situations beyond their control, both fighting to survive and overcome the life that has been forced on both of them. I loved the story, I loved how all of my other favorite knights from her other books appeared in this story, and yes there was a sense of deja vu and I loved that. I have read many of Kathryn LeVeque’s books and this is wonderful and I can’t say enough of how much I loved it. Definitely five stars, bravo!!
An extraordinary tale of a knight ingrained with duty and loyalty that executes his orders honorably. Sir Cullen de Nerra is that knight and when directed to serve the powerful but erratic warlord, Preston de Lacy, he goes with certain directives. Be on the watch for a possible rebellion against the king and report back.
Lady Theodora “Teddy” is betrothed to Preston’s nephew, but when the lad gets killed, she ends up married to Preston himself. But he is only using her to get political information from her father and her father wants to use her to get the same information from her husband. How could that feel? Her husband has nothing to do with her and she is left with Cullen as her only outlet for solace.
But it is a very dangerous time and as the two are drawn together everything shatters and they are torn apart. The love that is felt between the two is palatable.
Kathryn Le Veque has created an intense story that has pulled so many emotions out that at times I wanted to cried but then I would have hope and the story would turn again. She is a master wordsmith and historian that takes you into a time and place that seems real with characters that pull at your heart. Do not miss this latest saga that is one of the top stories I have read this year.
Sir Cullen De Nerra is the third son in a powerful family. That means he must make his own wealth if he is going to be the man he wants to be. Luckily (or maybe unluckily) his Liege Lord is William Marshall, just about the most influential man in England. When that man says jump the men around him ask how high, hence Sir Cullen’s new job.
Lady Theodora De Rivington has lived a happy and privileged life as the only child of a rich man. She has done anything she wants, including training with her father’s warriors. The normal life as a Lady is not for her. That is until she suddenly finds herself getting married.
Our hero is a brave and honourable man who finds himself, through no fault of his own, doing things that are far from honourable. He will have many battles and responsibilities. Can he possibly survive them all??
Our heroine will need every ounce of her strength and willpower to navigate the political maelstrom she finds herself in. Who can be trusted, and who is the true villain???
A wonderfully complex story that needed to be the nice fat book it is. Hours of reading enjoyment that I couldn’t put down. I’m never disappointed with any of this author’s books.
I loved every page and meeting up with some old friends from other books.