I am unbelievably excited to be sharing my review of A Defiant Maiden’s Knight by Melissa Oliver. I can’t wait to share this new book with you all, firstly a massive thank you to Melissa Oliver for my advanced reader copy!!
A Defiant Maiden’s Knight by Melissa Oliver
A tense, dramatic medieval love story.
A knight’s protection…That she doesn’t want…or need?
Joan Lovent may be losing her sight but she refuses to lose her independence too. So when Sir Warin de Talmont tells her it’s too perilous to be out alone in the city, she doesn’t pay him any heed. But with threats surrounding them, she begins to value his protection and helps with his dangerous work in return. If only the powerful connection between them wasn’t so impossible to ignore!
Review
We are once again being whisked back to the perilous 13th century, this time with a whole new collection of wonderful characters to get to know and love – plus for those who have read the ‘Notorious Knights’ series you may recognise a few names – unless that’s just me transporting characters from one book to another in my imagination, I have done it before LOL!🤣
Anyhow, in this breath-taking start of the marvellously named; Protectors of the Crown series we meet gorgeous, smouldering, loyal, protective, stubborn, growly, fierce Knight; Sir Warin de Talmont …..oooh, lordy lordy I am in heaven!! and kind, caring, generous, determined, passionate Joan. I have to be honest and say that at first sight, I would never have put Warin and Joan together, they are so different like chalk and cheese one basically does as she wants while the other is determined she do as she is told, but I feared for no reason for as soon as they start their little adventure together it’s clear to see that I was wrong, they are made for each other, their flaws and strength work beautifully with the other and they become a force to be reckoned with.
Sir Warin is one of a small elite group of very select Knights who call themselves; Knights Fortitude of the Order of the Sword – great name, right? the Knights are as all Knights do look after the good fight off dragons, only the dragon in this story isn’t a mythical beast, just your regular fire-breathing monster in human form.
it is on a very important tailing mission that Warin and Joan accidentally bump into each other, being the Knight in shining armour that is down to his steely core he can’t abandon a damsel in distress especially when said woman is the sister of his esteemed higher than a mighty leader; Sir Thomas Lovent so he comes to her aid. something Joan is rather peeved with as he has now foiled her own plans, damn men!!
Joan is an amazing woman, she is centuries ahead of her time with her opinions, she is practically saint-like with all the good deeds she never allows her failing eyes sight to impede her life she is strong and determined to live her life to the fullest. Joan is a real breath of fresh air, she is a marvellous character who I became fully invested in from page one, it’s so refreshing as well to have a disability portrayed in such a positive way in a story set in the 13th century. Bravo Melissa Oliver, Bravo!!
Sir Warin……phew (I say fanning myself) 🔥…..well what can I say about him that won’t have me sinking into a delirious swooning mess on the floor. 😍 I do love a Knight and Melissa Oliver creates the most alluring, intelligent and yet realistically flawed men you have ever met and I am in absolute love with them all.
Warin though broke my heart and then repaired it the space of reading this book. Anyone who reads my reviews will know how much I adore a wounded bird, a fragile and grumbling grizzly bear, a man who is broken side and only needs the love of a good woman to heal him and that is Warin!! He can’t allow himself to allow anyone close, he refuses to let his heart love…but, as with all our hearts, it has a mind of its own and his heart say we love Joan!
I love the adventure that follows their initial meeting, the horseback ride……..Gawd, those scenes!! I am s mouldering, gooey-eyed mess, I love a close romantic horseback ride between characters, we really need more of them in historical (hint, hint to all historical authors out there)😉
There is a lot at stake here, not only are Warin and Joan fighting their feelings, Joan is fighting to keep her independence for as long as she can and Warin has troubled all of his own. His work for the crown is dangerous, deadly and treacherous work, there are villains and trouble surrounding them, lurking in the shadows which he must stop – here comes the problem; he must find these perpetrators and wrong-doers and stop them from enacting their deadly deeds only for his infatuation with Joan to be a constant source of irritation, especially when she can’t leave well enough alone and insists on ‘helping’. Which is always good fun to watch!
I absolutely adore the way Melissa Oliver weaves her wonderful insight and knowledge of the era into her impeccably written stories, the descriptions of London at the time are stirring, it ignites the imagination and draws the reader into her darkly passionate world.
I am in absolute love with this book, the characters are beautifully created, and they are passionate and real. The plot is edge-or-your-seat exciting, dram, love, adventure, danger and heaps of passion. You won’t get any better, Melissa Oliver, I bow down to your brilliance!!
Overall a beautiful, evocative, mesmerising and perfect love story!
Chicks,Rogues and Scandals 