By the Unholy Hand
Kathryn Le Veque
Medieval Romance
1200 A.D. – In the time following the death of Richard the Lionheart and the ascension of his brother, John, to the throne of England, a plot against the new king is hatched from an unexpected place – deep within the bowels of The Lateran Palace in Rome. It is rumored that the Pope himself is behind it. It is a plot so dark, and so dastardly, that William Marshal needs men who specialize in dark and dirty games in order to save a king they all hate, yet a king that England desperately needs.
The Marshal needs the men known as The Unholy Trinity -the Executioner Knights.
Sir Maxton of Loxbeare is the leader of this unholy band of cutthroats. A big man with dark hair and dark eyes, Maxton fostered in the finest houses, but there is something unsettling about him. He is a man who easily kills without remorse, and he never questions an order, no matter how unsavory it is. William Marshall tasks Maxton and his comrades with seeking out the papal assassins, and the duty soon becomes a high-stakes game of chess, with checkmate being the life of the King of England.
Enter Lady Andressa du Bose. A great heiress who was cheated out of her inheritance by a conniving aunt, Andressa has spent unhappy and bitter years serving in the convent she was essentially sold to. A chance meeting with Maxton introduces Andressa to a world she wants to be part of, and a man she is greatly attracted to, but in that meeting, she has unknowingly given Maxton a lead on something he very much wants – a clue to who the assassins really are. All signs point to papal operatives. Maxton has a job to do and he’ll use anyone he can to complete it, including the lovely pledge who is increasingly on his mind… and in his heart.
Join Maxton and Andressa in a deadly game of cat and mouse, where all is not what it seems, and even those most devout can sometimes hold a terrible secret. It soon becomes clear that Maxton must make a choice… give in to his feelings for Andressa, or save a king, and with that, England’s sovereignty.
It’s a showdown of good against evil, and the power of love against a knight’s sense of duty, in this larger-than-life Medieval Romance.
Uncaged Review: The first book of The Unholy Trinity series and the Executioner Knights, and this one is focusing on Maxton. The Knights are tracking an assassination attempt on King John, and when this story unravels all the twisted and dark knots of this story it will be quite surprising. The reader is brought into this intricate tale like they are right in the story watching it unfold in person.
There is a romance here, it’s not the main part of the story, but it’s also a story of equals, as equal as a man and woman can be in this age. Lady Andressa is as smart and cunning as a Knight, and proves her worth time and again. The epilogue in this book was almost a story in itself, and gives us a good idea where we may go next in the 2nd book in the series, and shows us what life has been like for Max and Andie a few years down the road.
I’ve never been disappointed by this author’s books, and this book didn’t let me down, and she has a knack of yanking me into her story very early in the book. I am very much looking forward to the next book. Reviewed by Cyrene
