Book Review-The Tarnished Lady

The Tarnished Lady
Viking I Series
Sandra Hill
Leisure Romance,
390 Pages,
Published June 2002
Medieval Historical Romance 

Synopsis:
SILVER FLAME
Banished from polite society for bearing a child out of wedlock, Lady Eadyth of Hawks' Lair spent her days hidden under a voluminous veil, tending her bees. But when her son's detested father threatened to reveal the boy's true paternity and seize her beloved lands, Lady Eadyth sought a husband who would claim the child as his own.


Notorious for loving -- and leaving -- the most beautiful damsels in the land, Eirik of Ravenshire was England's most virile bachelor. Yet when a mysterious beekeeper offered him a vow of chaste matrimony in exchange for revenge against his most hated enemy, Eirik couldn't refuse. But the lusty knight's plans went awry when he succumbed to the sweet sting of the tarnished lady's love.

My Review:
I was truly captivated by Eirik and Eadyth story, it drew me into the plot and the characters felt so real for me, that I could never put it down. Every read that I have read of Sandra Hill I fall in love with her just over and over again. I just started reading her books, and I am definitely purely satisfied with her books and the enthralling viking stories that she writes.
Eadyth fell in love and desired marriage with someone when she was young, and foolishly in love with a man names Steven. Steven tricked her just to get her into his bed then abandoned her. Eadyth finds herself giving birth and raising a son, John whom she would do almost anything for. Steven has been threatening to take John away from Eadyth so she comes up with a plan to make sure he isn't taken from her. She covers her hair with a ugly gray wimple, and dresses in clothes that are old and torn and truly downright ugly. She covers her face in gray soot, hoping to seem like a lady of forty years instead of in her early twenties so that Eirik doesn't pursue her with lustful advances. She comes to him with a proposal of marriage, where he would get her fortune, and it would be more of a business agreement than a true marriage. Eirik at first says 'no'  but there is something about Eadyth that captivates him so he agree's with a few terms of his. As time goes one, his brother and many others in the keep know what is beneath her facade but it takes much longer before Eirik figures out her deception. Eirik has always been untrustful of women since he had a bad experience previously, and never knows if he can truly trust Eadyth.
Sandra Hill draws in the reader with The Tarnished Lady and bewitches the reader into thinking what is going to happen next and having a hard time putting it down. You see a young independent woman, who is stubborn, and usually takes matters into her own hands. Eirik is resistant to to her independent ways, but finds himself falling in love with her despite all that happens. Eirik has never known such happiness has existed until he marries Eadyth and has a family with her, and realizes how much that means to him. The Tarnished Lady has a great plot with a fiery passion that builds between Eirik and Eadyth, there is a mystery that is afoot with intrigue from Eirik most hated enemy, and a tender love that sweetens the story. I have no complaints with this, I truly was endeared by The Tarnished Lady and am looking forward to reading more of her. 

My Grade For This Book
5 Blossoms