This book sounded really good - I loved the idea of a woman sweeping in to rescue a man - even if he didn't really need it.  But it just didn't live up to my expectations.  Alice is super critical of not being told everything at once.  How many people would really start a conversation by giving her every little piece of information she may want to know?  She was a little too insecure for being such a strong character in other ways.

Mark was a great guy.  I really don't think Alice gave him the credit he really deserved.  He was always doing things about as right as he possibly could.  This is also a very short novella, so we didn't get to explore much between them and I think that really hurt the story as well.

This one is my favorite Kingdom novel to date!  I'm not really sure why that is.  This one is the first one to really have a quest for them to do.  It's also hard to hate Rumpelstiltskin after his helpful plotting in this book.

 

I expected the end to be the way it was -  the cover is very sleeping beauty/snow white.  I'd been wondering which fairy tale this was, but the cover should have given it away. Do any fairy tales have them going on a quest?  None that I can think of, but that doesn't mean much really. 

 

I expected to have more to say then this!

Ya know...if I had wanted to read a trilogy or whatever...an ongoing series which cannot be read as a stand-alone, I would do that.

But reading a book, I think the reader deserves to know whether the book is part of an ongoing series that is open-ended (leaving the reader with numerous loose ends) or not; readers expect a book to be a stand-alone that is unless it says otherwise. A book at the last page reads "The End" for a reason.

I find it important that the Charlie Hood series be read in sequence which I like to read in sequence anyhow. But because this book, #3 in the series, relies somewhat heavily on the past two books and Charlie's previous relationships it's most important that book #1 and #2 be read before this book.

In fact, if someone had just picked this one up at the library and decided to read it because they liked the cover, the blurbs on the back of the dust cover or the rah-rahs that TJP has received, I can see where they would never read another Parker. There are far too many references to previous relationships and events and far too many story-lines left hanging at the last page.

For that reason, and that reason only, I'm giving it three stars other than four or five. I gave five stars for the first in the series L. A. Outlaws and four to the second, The Renegades. And let it be clear, I simply LOVE Parker's writing, just love it!

But hell's bells, I may not even finish reading the series I'm so pissed about all the hanging story-lines. Not as bad as the hanging chads in Florida, but real close. Still pissed about those chads, too.

This was a very Talia-oriented storyline, which made me a very happy camper as she is my favorite character. Some parts dragged, but no more than in the previous books. I absolutely love these characters. Seeing Talia happy and in love (*gasp*) is such a refreshing change!

"A beautiful synthesis of Robin Hood legends." --Marion Zimmer Bradley

With her king a captive and her coffers drained, England is left in turmoil during the Crusades. After the death of her father in the Holy Land, Lady Marian of Ravenskeep finds herself alone--and at the mercy of men vying for her lands and her beauty. Thrust into games of political intrigue, the sheltered knight's daughter soon learns to trust no one. . .

Afforded a hero's homecoming, Sir Robert of Locksley returns from the Crusades a shattered man. In a country he barely recognizes, one torn apart by treachery and betrayal, he finds in Marian a kindred soul. Their quest for justice will take them into the depths of Sherwood Forest, where the dream of a new England will be born. . .

"An imaginative and riveting novel, impossible to put down." --Booklist

"Robinson expertly evokes the sensations and frustrations of medieval life." --Kirkus

"A diverting, delightful book." --Publishers Weekly

My Thoughts:

I was impressed by this interpretation of the Robin Hood legend. It's highly realistic in its historical accuracy, especially in its ability to make you understand why someone like Sir Robert of Locksley would become someone like Robin Hood. The author also does a really great job with the court intrigue, women's roles of the times, medieval life and the ability to make you understand the characters motivations and differences.

"Now she knew, and spoke it, answering him in kind with cool self-possession, fully cognizant of what the admission could mean.

“The fleshly sword, yes. But he also taught me what you cannot: what it is to love a man.” Dull color stained his face. Her thrust had gone home cleanly, and more deeply than she had hoped. Her matter-of-fact confirmation of his crude insinuation turned the blade back on him.

His eyes glittered in flame. “Do you know what I see?”

She knew very well what he saw. She named it before he could. “Robin Hood’s whore,” she answered. “And grateful for the honor.”

I did have some problems with it, however, but it has more to do with personal preferences than anything else. I had some problems with the writing style which wasn't made easier with the fact that the author jumps back and forth between characters a great deal. I wanted to linger with certain characters a bit longer. And at 608 pages I easily became a bit frustrated. Don't get me wrong, if a book grabs me it doesn't matter how many pages it is. But here, certain events were moved along a bit too slowly.

"He wound his hands in her hair, drawing her hard against his body. “I want—” But he couldn’t finish.

“I know,” Marian whispered."

Furthermore, it took forever for Lady Marian and Robin to become a couple! I really got invested, and was ultimately a bit disappointed by the so-called fade-to-black when they finally consummated their love. I wanted to linger there more... Understand that moment in their lives, especially since their love making had such an impact on Robin as a person. He really came into his own when they found each other. In many ways, it gave him strength and a sense of purpose. Life came to matter again, after having been to war for so long. So that's why I wanted that love scene to be more detailed. But that's a personal preference, I realize.

"She knew him better than that. Marian did choose. And later, a little later, he had shown her a different side; he had shown her a different man, this one able to rouse her as she had roused him, proving haste was not required, nor roughness, nor possession, but the avid tenderness and slow consummation of bodies but newly awakened: hers for the first time, his after nearly two years."

Ultimately, it's a Robin Hood interpretation I highly recommend. What I like here is that it focuses more on Lady Marian, giving it a new angle into the legend.

"In that instant Marian was swept up by the need to touch him, to reach out and press flesh to flesh, finger to finger; to close her hand on his arm so she could feel the warmth and vigor beneath the tunic sleeve. She wanted to know without question he was living, breathing, and hers."