Lady Helen of Tiernay and Lord Hethe of Holden have been
at odds since Helen's father died, five years before.
Helen has been sending missives to His Majesty himself,
Henry II. Henry has had enough, and when his chaplain
suggests a solution to their woes, Henry is all for it.
Helen and Hethe might as well be married to each other,
they will have no choice but to try to make things work.
Upon receiving the King's message, Hethe is not too
thrilled, but being hot-tempered, he has learned to
control himself, and takes the matter rather calmly. He
had glimpsed Helen about ten years before, and he recalled
a pleasant-looking child. On the other hand, Helen is
livid, enraged, furious, but one cannot refuse to obey His
Majesty, can one? However, she can try to have Hethe back
out of the arrangement, that's when Helen, her lady's maid
Ducky, and Helen's aunt Nell concoct a plan. It's war
between the Tyrant of Tiernay and the Hammer of Holden,
and Helen will win it, or die trying. Or Hethe might die
first...
BLISS is a reissue of a 2001 book, and if I'm not usually
crazy about the idea, it seems in Lynsay Sands' case, it's
been a winning tactic, because this is an excellent book,
and in my case, I had missed it the first time around.
BLISS, in spite of Helen's and Hethe's initial shock,
starts out all nice and lovely, and that's when Lynsay
Sand's genius strikes full force! Ms. Sand's incomparable
sense of humour is at its apex, and by the end of chapter
2, when Helen and Hethe first meet, I was laughing so hard
it made reading difficult! I was really laughing out loud,
and that was not the only time. Their hijinks were not at
all what I anticipated, they were not mindlessly silly
shenanigans, but extremely creative, ingenious, and so
very, very funny!
Only Lynsay Sands could write so beautifully something so
hilarious! There are even funny sex scenes, which are also
tender and sweet. Still, the characters are unusually
complex, the story well constructed, and Helen is a
supremely strong heroine, while Hethe is a man of action,
he is not an annoying alpha. What I did not expect was the
underlying mystery -- I should know Lynsay Sands better by
now! -- everything made perfect sense, and what clever plot
twists they were! The suspense was as exciting and
ingenious as the all-out-war between Hethe and Helen was
hysterically funny, and the epilogue was absolutely
delectable! BLISS is one of the most unusual romances I
have ever read, yet lovely and touching, and probably the
funniest. BLISS is one book that is definitely not to be
missed!
No one blends humor and sensuality like
New York Times
bestselling author Lynsay Sands in this captivating story of
feuding nobles forced to marry…and destined to fall in
love
Love thy neighbor, ’tis said. A fine idea, except when the
neighbor in question is Lord Holden. Lady Helen Tiernay has
complained frequently about his treatment of his people.
Too frequently perhaps, for the king intends to
curb their constant bickering by ordering them to wed. Helen
can’t refuse a royal decree, but she’ll do everything
possible to drive away her devilishly attractive husband-to-be.
Holden has faced all manner of horrors on the battlefield.
But marriage to “the tyrant of Tiernay” is still a worrying
prospect—until he glimpses Helen in the flesh. What flesh it
is…soft, lush, made for his touch. If she weren’t so intent
on thinking up devious ways to prevent consummating their
bond, Helen would see how perfect they are together, and
that a marriage begun as enemies can turn to absolute pleasure.
© 2003-2023 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy