HEART OF HONOR (Knights of Honor #5) by Alexa Aston-Review, Guest Post & Giveaway
HEART OF HONOR
Knights of Honor #5
by Alexa Aston
Release Date: August 21, 2017
Genre: adult, historical, medieval romance
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date August 21, 2017
1375 A.D. – When Sir Christopher “Kit” Emory’s beloved mother falls ill, he decides to seek the help of someone he met briefly at the royal court years ago—Lady Alys de Montfort, a renowned healer despite her young age. While traveling to her home at Kinwick Castle, Kit is accosted by a band of highwayman, who beat and rob him, leaving him to die. Fortunately, an escort party comes across him and Lady Alys insists they take the stranger home so she can use her skill in the healing arts to save his life.
The man awakens and has no memory of his identity, but Alys believes he might be Kit Emory, a young man she’d met once when she was a young girl. Kit comforted her when the queen died and Alys never forgot his kindness to her. Alys does what she can to jog Kit’s memory, even as she struggles with her growing attraction to him, knowing Kit was betrothed and must now be wed. Kit also finds his desire deepening for Alys, but he doesn’t know his own name, much less if he has a wife or family. Until he recalls who he is, he refuses to commit his heart to Alys.
Once Kit regains his memory and realizes he is free to pursue Alys, their road to love is anything but smooth.
Join Kit and Alys as they overcome events that continue to tear them apart and threaten the love they have for one another.
Each book in the Knights of Honor series is a standalone story that can be enjoyed out of order.
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REVIEW: Heart of Honor is a medieval romance and book five of the Knights of Honor series by Alexa Aston.
This is the story of Christopher Emory and Alys de Montfort. If you are fortunate enough to have read the other books in this series, you will recognize Alys as the daughter of Lord Geoffrey and Lady Merryn. This wonderful story is every bit as talentedly written as the others.
Alys is in court and serving the ailing Queen Phillipa when she meets Kit (aka Christopher). He has been sent by the king to ask Alys to attend to the king’s headache. She also was requested by the queen to bring the king to see the queen. They have a momentous first meeting and the king attends the queen on her deathbed. This is also where she learns Kit (the only man to attract her attentions) is betrothed to another.
Six years later, Alys is home at Kinwick castle and learning more from her beloved mother. Her father and others have just returned from fighting the French. Kit has also returned from the war to find his beloved mother ill, his unbeloved wife dead. With his mother very ill, he remembers the lovely girl (the only one he’s ever been really attracted to) comes to mind as a wonderful healer and the wife he really wants to have. He immediately sets out to retrieve the Lady Alys for both reasons.
On his way to Kinwick, he is beset by robbers. The Montfort’s are escorting their sons back to their fostering home and find the unconscious man, stripped naked and left for dead. Alys doesn’t recognize him but sends for a cart and they take him to Kinwick for healing.
This is what begins this marvelously romantic and adventurous story. The twists are heart rending and the love scenes are heart thumping. The story is fast paced and full of familiar and wonderful characters. The two main characters are wonderfully developed and capture you heart.
If you’re a fan of this series, this story does not disappoint. If you have not read this series, Good Lord why not? These are tales of knights of honor and adventure, love at its finest. Do yourself a favor and put these in your collection or your TBR. You’ll be happy, I promise.
Click HERE for Georgianna’s review of book 3 CODE OF HONOR
Copy supplied for review.
Reviewed by Georgianna S
The Code of a Medieval Knight
I’m in the middle of writing my Knights of Honor English medieval romance series, so I’ve been doing tons of research about knights—their training, their oath of knighthood ceremony, and what they are responsible for once they’ve become a knight of the realm.
Various sources report about the vows every knight took. French literary historian Leon Gautier published La Chevalerie in 1883, where he tried to summarize many of the vows knights took into what he termed the Ten Commandments of Chivalry. They included:
• Thou shalt believe all that the Church teaches and thou shalt observe all its directions
• Thou shalt defend the Church.
• Thou shalt respect all weaknesses, and shalt constitute thyself the defender of them.
• Thou shalt love the country in which thou wast born.
• Thou shalt not recoil before thine enemy.
• Thou shalt make war against the infidel without cessation and without mercy.
• Thou shalt perform scrupulously thy feudal duties, if they be not contrary to the laws of God.
• Thou shalt never lie, and shalt remain faithful to thy pledged word.
• Thou shalt be generous, and give largesse to everyone.
• Thou shalt be everywhere and always the champion of the Right and the Good against Injustice and Evil
In The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland), an epic poem based upon 778’s Battle of Roncevaux, Charlemagne’s knights adhered to this code of honor:
• To fear God and maintain His Church
• To serve the liege lord in valour and faith
• To protect the weak and defenceless
• To give succour to widows and orphans
• To refrain from the wanton giving of offence
• To live by honour and for glory
• To despise pecuniary reward
• To fight for the welfare of all
• To obey those placed in authority
• To guard the honour of fellow knights
• To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit
• To keep faith
• At all times to speak the truth
• To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun
• To respect the honour of women
• Never refuse a challenge from an equal
• Never turn the back upon a foe
Taking all of these vows into account, I began crafting my different heroes and their stories. In my first Knights of Honor tale, Word of Honor, I combined a few of these ideas and had my hero Geoffrey de Montfort remain true to the word he had pledged to another and living a life of honor by keeping a sacred promise—even though it almost costs him the woman he loves, his wife, Merryn.
In Book 2, Marked by Honor, my knight Raynor Le Roux must protect weak and defenseless (or is she?) heroine Beatrice Bordel. He also must persevere to the end and remain true to his commitment to deliver Beatrice to her betrothed, although his heart breaks in doing so, for he has fallen in love with this lady.
Book 3, Code of Honor, has knight Michael Devereux valiantly serving his liege lord, Geoffrey de Montfort—and falling in love with Geoffrey’s niece—as well as keeping his faith in God and restoring his mother to her rightful, honorable position.
Journey to Honor, Book 4, features Kenric Fairfax, a fierce knight who believes he hasn’t lived up to his knightly code and hacks off his hard-won spurs, which reveals to the world he’s fallen short of his duties. With the help—and love—of heroine Avelyn Le Cler, Kenric redeems his honor and once more is seen wearing his spurs.
In my latest release, Book 5’s Heart of Honor, hero Kit Emory doesn’t even know if he’s a knight! Kit was attacked on the road and suffered a head injury, causing amnesia so severe that he doesn’t even know his own name. Heroine Alys de Montfort helps in the recovery of his memory, and Kit rises to the challenge, showing his valor and resourcefulness.
As I continue writing this series, I will weave in as many of these knightly tenets as I can!
One random commenter will win an electronic copy of Heart of Honor.
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(A special thanks again to The Reading Café for having me as their guest today. They have been supportive of my Lauren Linwood books and now my Alexa Aston books, as well.)
Alexa Aston offering an ecopy of HEART OF HONOR to ONE (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.
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