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alisonb's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars
The writing was engaging and I read the entire book in an evening.
As far as a romance, I kept waiting for something more to build, and I was left disappointed.
There were other reasons for my low rating, but the lack of romance and relationship building sums it up for the most part.
The writing was engaging and I read the entire book in an evening.
As far as a romance, I kept waiting for something more to build, and I was left disappointed.
There were other reasons for my low rating, but the lack of romance and relationship building sums it up for the most part.
madamemeow's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
literaryhaylee's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
This is probably the slowest of the bodice ripper romances I have read recently and by that I mean the bodice ripper element doesn't occur until about 60% (I can't exactly remember when, but I know it wasn't before the halfway mark).
War between William the Conqueror (Rolfe is his best leader/fighter), a Norman and I can't remember ???
Rolfe is given the Lady of the land they conquered to marry from William himself as a prize and a way to secure their stay. However, the first woman he meets who claims she is Alice is not about it. Insert spying and the enemies to lovers trope here.
Rolfe is set to marry Lady Alice so when he and his men are ravaging a town, he chases after this woman who escapes - which happens to be Lady Alice, or so he was told. Ceidre sometimes takes on the identity of her sister since she was nobly born. And when Rolfe hunts her down, she assumes this will leave her in good graces, but Ceidre didn't account for him claiming her for marriage.
Ceidre is unlike any woman he has ever seen. She is feisty and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She talks back to him and stands up to him, which immediately intrigues him more. She also has two different colored eyes. Because of her heterochromia, she is called a witch by everyone she knows and being a healer doesn't help her debunk their theories. Yet Rolfe is infatuated with her and sees past the image that everyone has painted of her. In fact he is eager to wed and bed her.
That is until he takes her to another village and learns that this cheeky woman he anticipated on marrying is not actually his bride to be. Because of his position that William has bestowed on him, he must give up on this woman who has entrapped him and do his duty.
Marrying Lady Alice has its challenges though because Rolfe cannot seem to give up on Ceidre. Lady Alice does not like this even moreso because she does not like her sister and is harsh towards her. But Rolfe isn't about her actions towards Ceidre.
Ceidre is super strong and just takes the punches, but not before she gathers all the information she can, because remember she is on opposites sides from Rolfe. Ceidre does not want them to win and so she spies. Which pisses off Rolfe, but he's basically obsessed with her and wants to protect her. In order to protect Ceidre, Rolfe arranges marriage between her and his best man, Guy. However, he still can't seem to let her go despite him being married to her sister and her being married to his best man.
Honestly this shit was intense!!
I really enjoyed this story it was like pulling teeth and nothing was easy. I definitely wanted to reach through the book and slap Rolfe.
War between William the Conqueror (Rolfe is his best leader/fighter), a Norman and I can't remember ???
Rolfe is given the Lady of the land they conquered to marry from William himself as a prize and a way to secure their stay. However, the first woman he meets who claims she is Alice is not about it. Insert spying and the enemies to lovers trope here.
Rolfe is set to marry Lady Alice so when he and his men are ravaging a town, he chases after this woman who escapes - which happens to be Lady Alice, or so he was told. Ceidre sometimes takes on the identity of her sister since she was nobly born. And when Rolfe hunts her down, she assumes this will leave her in good graces, but Ceidre didn't account for him claiming her for marriage.
Ceidre is unlike any woman he has ever seen. She is feisty and isn't afraid to speak her mind. She talks back to him and stands up to him, which immediately intrigues him more. She also has two different colored eyes. Because of her heterochromia, she is called a witch by everyone she knows and being a healer doesn't help her debunk their theories. Yet Rolfe is infatuated with her and sees past the image that everyone has painted of her. In fact he is eager to wed and bed her.
That is until he takes her to another village and learns that this cheeky woman he anticipated on marrying is not actually his bride to be. Because of his position that William has bestowed on him, he must give up on this woman who has entrapped him and do his duty.
Marrying Lady Alice has its challenges though because Rolfe cannot seem to give up on Ceidre. Lady Alice does not like this even moreso because she does not like her sister and is harsh towards her. But Rolfe isn't about her actions towards Ceidre.
Ceidre is super strong and just takes the punches, but not before she gathers all the information she can, because remember she is on opposites sides from Rolfe. Ceidre does not want them to win and so she spies. Which pisses off Rolfe, but he's basically obsessed with her and wants to protect her. In order to protect Ceidre, Rolfe arranges marriage between her and his best man, Guy. However, he still can't seem to let her go despite him being married to her sister and her being married to his best man.
Honestly this shit was intense!!
I really enjoyed this story it was like pulling teeth and nothing was easy. I definitely wanted to reach through the book and slap Rolfe.
sammy234's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I really enjoyed reading this book, but the ending leaves me so conflicted. Stormfire by Christine Monson has a similar plot, but executes it way better. I sort of couldn't believe the hero's change of heart here, while in Stormfire I felt the main couple's reconciliation was hard earned and realistic.
Despite this, and despite some very cheesy lines ("am I your prisoner?" "Tis I who is a prisoner, of your heart") I was still glued to the pages. The Conqueror has all the romance tropes I just can't resist. It was also cool to see a female lead who has strabismus like I do. It's something you can learn to control and isn't really a big deal, but I still related with her self -consciousness about it. Had to laugh when the villagers freaked out over it and told her she had "the devil's eye." That's hilarious.
I really enjoyed reading this book, but the ending leaves me so conflicted. Stormfire by Christine Monson has a similar plot, but executes it way better. I sort of couldn't believe the hero's change of heart here, while in Stormfire I felt the main couple's reconciliation was hard earned and realistic.
Despite this, and despite some very cheesy lines ("am I your prisoner?" "Tis I who is a prisoner, of your heart") I was still glued to the pages. The Conqueror has all the romance tropes I just can't resist. It was also cool to see a female lead who has strabismus like I do. It's something you can learn to control and isn't really a big deal, but I still related with her self -consciousness about it. Had to laugh when the villagers freaked out over it and told her she had "the devil's eye." That's hilarious.
halffast's review against another edition
4.0
A Norman invader claims a Saxon village and takes its lady as his bride, but he only has eyes for her illegitimate half-sister, Ceidre. Ceidre despises the Norman and intends to spy on him to help the rebels, but she can't deny the simmering chemistry between them.
This is a prime example of an angsty bodice ripper chock full of heartbreak, betrayal and passion. Ceidre is a courageous and conflicted heroine, torn between her hatred and desire for Rolfe. Rolfe is an anti-hero in every sense of the word. His only redeeming qualities are his loyalty to his king (which he struggles with as Ceidre constantly commits treason), and the fact that he is totally gone for Ceidre. There are a lot of hurt/comfort moments where Ceidre has been harmed (either by Rolfe's actions or other people's) and he drops everything to take care of her. Alice, Ceidre's jealous half-sister and Rolfe's jilted wife, is an unbelievably conniving and horrible character whom I loved to hate.
Spoilers:
One note about the Kindle version I read -- lines of dialog are sometimes incorrectly split across paragraphs, or multiple lines of dialog are combined together. This occasionally made it difficult to follow who was saying what. Not impossible, just annoying. I think this was due to a buggy OCR process and not the author's fault.
Content Warning:
This is a prime example of an angsty bodice ripper chock full of heartbreak, betrayal and passion. Ceidre is a courageous and conflicted heroine, torn between her hatred and desire for Rolfe. Rolfe is an anti-hero in every sense of the word. His only redeeming qualities are his loyalty to his king (which he struggles with as Ceidre constantly commits treason), and the fact that he is totally gone for Ceidre. There are a lot of hurt/comfort moments where Ceidre has been harmed (either by Rolfe's actions or other people's) and he drops everything to take care of her. Alice, Ceidre's jealous half-sister and Rolfe's jilted wife, is an unbelievably conniving and horrible character whom I loved to hate.
Spoilers:
Spoiler
I thought Ceidre became a little too desperate and weepy at the end of the book, but I also sympathized with her losing everything, including losing her heart to Rolfe. I also didn't like the hints of kink shaming toward Alice, who enjoys painful sex. Rolfe hated her enough as it was, so his extra scorn toward her for being a masochist was unnecessary. The angst continues up until the very, very end. There were 15 pages left in the book and I thought it would be impossible for the author to give Rolfe and Ceidre a happy ending.One note about the Kindle version I read -- lines of dialog are sometimes incorrectly split across paragraphs, or multiple lines of dialog are combined together. This occasionally made it difficult to follow who was saying what. Not impossible, just annoying. I think this was due to a buggy OCR process and not the author's fault.
“Come here and demand of me, Ceidre, that which you want. I am most amenable tonight.” He smiled again. It was like the brightest of suns, when he smiled, perhaps because true mirth, from him, was so rare. Ceidre realized her heart was fluttering madly and that her limbs were taut. “You are not serious.” “Oh,” he said softly, “I am most serious. Do you not know you can get anything you wish of me?”
Content Warning:
Spoiler
non-con, dub-con, lots of OW drama, cheating/infidelity from both hero and heroinejessenreadsromance's review against another edition
2.0
Content warning!
Non-consensual scenes abound in this one, starting from chapter one.
It’s a risk you take when reading books published during this time but I still had hope for this enemies-to-lovers romance. Unfortunately, the story almost doubles down on how far is too far and pushes both characters to the limits. How many betrayals does it take before the hero or heroine washes their hands of the relationship?
I was extremely frustrated with both Ceidre and Rolfe. There was almost no desire for compromise or understanding the others’ perspectives. Loyalty is the only thing that mattered even if it was misplaced. One of my biggest complaints was that Ceidre continually trusted her evil sister, Alice, knowing that Alive hated her and would do anything to see her severely punished or even dead. How thick can you be?! Tons of lust, little true romance.
Watch my review here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kayJVfVVqtk&t=4s
Non-consensual scenes abound in this one, starting from chapter one.
It’s a risk you take when reading books published during this time but I still had hope for this enemies-to-lovers romance. Unfortunately, the story almost doubles down on how far is too far and pushes both characters to the limits. How many betrayals does it take before the hero or heroine washes their hands of the relationship?
I was extremely frustrated with both Ceidre and Rolfe. There was almost no desire for compromise or understanding the others’ perspectives. Loyalty is the only thing that mattered even if it was misplaced. One of my biggest complaints was that Ceidre continually trusted her evil sister, Alice, knowing that Alive hated her and would do anything to see her severely punished or even dead. How thick can you be?! Tons of lust, little true romance.
Watch my review here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kayJVfVVqtk&t=4s
loverofromance's review against another edition
5.0
Rolfe, a conquerer and a barbarian is ordered to take the Lady Alice as his wife and be the ruler over Castle Aelfgar, by his king. But when he first comes to the Castle Aelfgar he is stunned by Ceirdre, Alice's step sisters. With her beauty alone, is temptation enough for him, and refuses to give this beauty that he has found, up just because he knows he needs to marry her sister. But as time draws even nearer to the wedding, he starts to realize how much he is beginning to care for her, and how much he loves her and that he would risk betraying his own king to have her in his life and keep her for all time...The Conquerer is the first in the de Warenne series that is written by Brenda Joyce. At first the story starts out with the bonding between the two, Rolfe and Ceirdre is purely of a sexual nature, but as passion inflames them, there is a tender and powerful love that slowly builds throughout the whole story. The characters are deeply portrayed and teh story plot is engaging. I truly enjoyed reading this book, it was filled with so many aspects that I enjoy when reading Medieval romances, and seemed very vivid in detail. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series, as I have truly enjoyed reading each and everyone of Brenda Joyce's novels, may they only get better!!! A truly remarkable read!!!
enur's review against another edition
4.0
Kitap 1069 yılının İngilteresinde yani Normanların İngiltere işgali döneminde geçiyor. Ceidre sakson, Rolfe da norman. Bu serinin tamamı için geçerli ama ilk kitap özellikle günümüz kadınları için mide bulandırıcı. Fakat dönemin gerçekliğine uyduğunu düşünüyorum. Hatta Avrupa'nın barbarlığını düşünürsek, kıyasla bu haliyle bile yumuşatılmış.