I just love Elizabeth Chadwick novels, this is a lighter one with fictional main characters, as always the historical research was extensive and detailed. Books I will return to again and again. ( )

The Love Knot by Elizabeth Chadwick is set in the mid-12th century during the civil war for possession of the English throne. The feud between Stephen de Blois and his cousin Empress Mathilda is ravaging the country. Dispossessed knight, Oliver Pascal happens upon the site of a particularly bloody massacre and rescues the two survivors, Richard, the 10 year old bastard son of the old king, and Catrin, the strong willed and comely young widow who looks after him. They are taken to Bristol and put in the care of Earl Robert of Gloucester who is allied with Mathilda. Oliver and Catrin fall in love but face many difficulties and battles before finding their happy ending.

Filled with rogue knights and lusty ladies, with lots of blood shed and vows of honor and virtue, this medieval tale is a fun blend of accurate period details and captivating story. Elizabeth Chadwick is an author that I can rely on to deliver appealing characters, intriguing stories, and consistently correct historical facts. Although rather predictable, The Love Knot was a big, juicy and enjoyable escape read exactly, what I was looking for at this time. ( )

Although it took me longer than usual to read this book, there’s a good reason for it. The Love Knot by Elizabeth Chadwick is a historical romance and the author has used a style of writing that fits with the era of the story, which is the 12th Century. Because of this, it meant I had to read slower than normal in order to grasp the meaning of the words and take the story in. This sounds like a hindrance, but it wasn’t. Apart from the fact that, like everything, it only took a short time to get used to the writing style, I found that it gave the story more authenticity.

I have always enjoyed a good romance story and this was one of them. A true romance, in my opinion, has a real story behind it. Something that is interesting with characters that you would want to befriend in real life. I tend not to read the sloppy romance that has no substance to it and is filling with cardboard cutouts that are meant to be characters because those types of books are simply not interesting enough to keep my attention. The Love Knot was far from being sloppy and the romance thread was only a small part of the story as a whole. I really enjoyed it.

The thing I especially liked about this book was the history. I’ve always had an interest for castles and knights and everything that goes with it, so I didn’t start reading this book with no knowledge of the period. However, as the story progressed I found that I was not only interested in the romance blossoming between Oliver and Caitlin, I was interested to learn more about life in the 12th Century. It was clear that the details had been thoroughly researched by the author and that goes a long way with me. It helped me settle into the story and “see” the surroundings through eyes that have not been tinted with a rose colour, which so many medieval type stories are these days. The author showed the dirt, the hardship, the death, the pain, but she also showed how the people of those days were able to find contentment with what little they had. I appreciated that.

The Love Knot is a story worth reading. I recommend it and I’ll be keeping an eye open for more books by this author. ( )

fascinating and poignant. But I wish the blurb hadn't said so much about the plot. The end of the blurb is the end of the story. So my advice would be to read only the very first line of it. ( )

http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/2012/04/love-knot-by-elizabeth-chadwick.html ( )