Revenge is all Briar has been thinking about for the past two years.  She and her sister’s lost their wealth and security two years ago, thanks to their fathers treasonous ways.  They have had to endure times with no shelter, no food and have become entertainment in halls and castles with their singing,  where in the past  they would have been guests.

Briar blames one man for her father’s death and for the hardships that she and her sister’s have faced ...... Lord Radulf.  She vows to make Lord Radulf pay for what he has done by seducing  him into bed and have him lose what he holds dear in life ..... namely his wife!         

But Briar doesn’t know what she is in for when she sets her sights on Ivo de Vessey and sets out to seduce him, thinking that he is Lord Radulf.  Briar is shocked and humiliated when she learns that she seduced the wrong man. She feels terribly confused because she enjoyed Ivo’s touch and feels drawn to him. 

Ivo de Vessey is a disgraced knight that is friends with Lord Radulf and is looking forward to keeping Briar as his own.  And when he realizes that she is now the woman who as a young girl captured his young boy heart, he will stop at nothing to keep her forever.

Briar fights her feelings for Ivo and is determined to come up with another plan to ruin Lord Radulf and have her revenge at last.

This is a gripping tale of revenge, salvation and love.  Readers will be drawn to Briar, her sister’s and Ivo de Vessey and hope [as I did]  that Briar will realize what is in front of her before it is too late, and that all she has to do is reach for it.

Briar is a young girl that has had to deal with much in her young life and I was touched by her protectiveness for her sisters and the need to have answers to her questions about the past and about her father.  Ivo is the perfect man for her, one who will match wits with her, love her and cherish her as if she were a Queen. 

I was touched by Sara Bennett’s words, the characters and was captivated from page one.  I was swept back in time by Ms. Bennett’s words and her descriptions of the scenery and of how women were perceived back then.  Sara Bennett writes eloquent words and writes a high class tale.

This is the first book by Sara Bennett that I have read.  I didn’t have the privilege of reading the two previous tales in this series [I plan on remedying that] but if they are as good as this one is, then I will be as easily captivated and swept away once again.

I have added this exciting author to my list of auto-buys! 

The previous books in this trilogy are LILY AND THE SWORD and THE ROSE AND THE SHIELD.

Reviewed by Tracey West for The Road to Romance

May 31, 2003