Desiree [Mass Market Paperback]

I was like a kid at Christmas when I first learned there was to be a new installment in the wonderful Roselynde Chronicles. I have old, yellowing editions of all the previous installments, which Ms. Gellis wrote in the 1980s, and they will remain on my shelf 'til the day I die. But as I read _Desiree_, I was repeatedly dismayed at almost every aspect. I only finished it out of a sense of loyalty to an author I admire to the point of reverence. Had this book been written by anyone other than Gellis, I'd have put it down before the halfway point.

The main characters are colorless and sometimes not even likeable. Desiree, especially, is weak and vacillating and has no self-control whatsoever. The hero, Alex, is a nice guy but so full of self-doubt that I questioned my beloved Simon's judgment in appointing him as a castellan. And Alex, like Desiree, turns out to be lacking in the self-control department. The villain, Vachel, bungles all his half-baked schemes, and the one character who might have made a worthy opponent for the hero and heroine remains offstage throughout the story.

The premise is a good one: Desiree married an old man for protection against a neighboring lord who tried to force her to marry him. Now her kindly old husband is debilitated by illness, and Alex comes to serve as castellan so there will be a strong male presence on her lands. While Alex works to protect Desiree's domains from incursion by her old enemy, they fall in love. This could have been a heart-wrenching scenario: a young lady in a platonic marriage to a kind old man nobly fighting her attraction to a young, virile knight who likewise would cut off his arm before he would wrong his helpless old employer. But alas, this is where Alex and Desiree's lack of self-control made me cringe.

Even the writing disappointed me. It's as if some wannabe writer set out to imitate Gellis's style. There's a familiar echo now and then, but precious little of the vibrancy and richness that makes the previous Roselynde installments pure joy to read.

_Desiree_ is not without redeeming qualities. Gellis's loving attention to historical detail is there (albeit in a lesser quantity than before). The fleeting glimpses we get of our beloved Simon and Alinor are the highlights of the story. They are just as we would imagine them during the early years of their marriage: happy, openly affectionate and ruling their lands jointly. Alinor is her usual pragmatic, forthright self and has bought the office of sheriff of Sussex for Simon.

If this is your first Roberta Gellis book, please don't judge her by it. I feel certain the inferiority of _Desiree_ is due to the dictates of her publisher and not to any diminution of her abilities or standards. This isn't the 1980s, and she simply wrote _Desiree_ in the way historical romances are written today.

The good news is that Harlequin is going to re-release the entire Roselynde Chronicles over the next year or two, so there will soon be crisp, shiny new editions of Gellis at her best. I just might replace my old, crumbling copies. Meanwhile, if you like medieval mysteries, Gellis's Magdalene la Batarde books are among the best and prove that her abilities are still completely intact.

I normally love Roberta Gellis's work, but this one almost got wall-banged several times throughout the reading. I only stuck with it out of respect for Gellis's earlier works, including Roselynde and Alinor. This one is poorly thought out and executed. None of the characters rang true; Alex second guesses himself so frequently that I wanted to scream. Desiree's abrupt personality changes made me shake my head in wonder. I could never work up enough interest to care whether or not Vachel actually carried out any of his not well planned schemes. And the love scenes were almost laughable at times....an example is a one sentence paragraph: "Oh, oh!" Desiree cried. I am saddened at this below-par work from a normally engaging author and I hope her next book takes us back into the writing and magic of her earlier works. I give this book 2 stars based on my respect for Gellis as an author, not based on my enjoyment of this book at all.

After leaving his loveless home in Normandy, Alex journeys to England to ask his uncle Sir Simon Lemagne for a position with him. After training, Alex is knighted and sent to prosperous Exceat whose ailing lord Sir Frewyn is probably dying. With Richard held for ransom, the coastal estates prepare for an invasion by the minion of Prince John.

The Lady of the manor, Desiree appoints Alex as her castellan. They are very attracted to one another, but neither acts on these feelings out of respect to Sir Frewyn. Alex shores up the defenses at Exceat while keeping a close eye on his brother Vachel who is on a mission for Prince John. Vachel intends to kill his uncle, his uncle's wife, and his brother so that Nicolous of Lewes can have Desiree and her estates while John can have is vengeance on Simon and his wife. Though aware of his sibling's perfidy, Alex, lacking proof, will have to use skill and intelligence to keep his beloved family and lady safe.

Readers rejoice! The latest Roselynde Chronicles is out and Roberta Gellis shows she remains one of the most brilliant historical romance writers of the past decade or two. This novel occurs between ROSELYNDE and ALINOR, which leads the audience to feel a homecoming with friends they have not seen in over a quarter of a century. The sexual tension between Desiree and Alex runs at high levels throughout the book as both ethically refuse to cuckold Frewyn. This spices up the story line that concentrates on readying the keep for invasion while surviving Vashel's machinations.

Harriet Klausner

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