This is a Medieval historical romance of beautiful maiden, Holly, who has the harebrained idea of disguising herself as homely to avoid being married off by her father. Little does she realize, Austyn, a Welsh knight, is in need of an ugly wife due to a curse on the long line of men in his family (involved story) in which they've killed their beautiful wives - out of jealousy. He takes her back to his castle as his bride having no idea she's really a beauty underneath. So much of this book was farfetched and plodding, it took a long time for me to even get into it. I disliked Holly's deception from the beginning and the long drawn out disguise and expected betrayed feelings of Austyn when he learns the truth just only made me think he was so stupid he deserved what he got! Plus, his anger just went on much too long, locking her in the North Tower of his castle? All because he resented her beauty, it was so ridiculous! I just wanted to get this over with! I've found this author hit or miss - this was a miss. ( )

Welcome to the Middle Ages where the Gavenmore men have been cursed for centuries doomed by loving fair faced women, is it real or imaginary. It will take Austyn of Gavenmore to find the answer and it will take the head strong willful antics of Holly of Tewksbury proclaimed the fairest face in all of England to bring him to that end. But what end will it be, will she fulfill the prophecy of doom and disaster or will love reign over all else.
Teresa Medeiros is an amazing storyteller, from the first page her readers will be enchanted by her plot. They will be compelled to turn page after page to reach the outcome, to have their questions answered and they will be enthralled by her constant flowing dialogue that will take them to the imaginary castle high on a hill where all the secrets reside. Her characters are all unforgettable and memorable and her intimate knowledge of them will be apparent as you read. Her hero and heroine are two of the most likable and equally irritating people you will ever have the pleasure of knowing, but know them you will and by the end you will be rooting for their lives, their love and their future. Her supporting characters are also unforgettable and add depth to the story. Her romance is tragic and heartbreaking and pulls at your heartstrings. Her love scenes are sexy, sensual and sizzle on the page.
This is a historical classic tale of love conquers all and you will not read anything better no matter how hard you look. ( )

I've enjoyed everything else by Medeiros that I've read, but I had trouble getting through this one. Mostly because the heroine, Holly, borders on Too Annoying To Live. It got hard to deal with her 'my life is hard because I'm so beautiful!' routine after a while. Skip this one; check out 'Charming the Prince' or 'Bride and the Beast' instead. ( )

Rendezvous Review: Holly de Chastel is rumored to be the most beautiful lady in England in 1325. To her this is a curse. She is fed up with fickle men showering attention on her for her looks and not for the person she is. When her father arranges a tournament with her as the prize, she goes to great efforts to disguise her beauty. Sir Austyn of Gravenmore, a handsome Welsh knight, is looking for a plain wife. Beautiful women have been the downfall of the men in his family for over five hundred years due to an old and feared family curse. When he sees the plain Holly, he knows he has found his wife. By the time he discovers he has been tricked, he is already in love with her. Now, the Gravenmore curse will destroy them both. Ms. Medeiros has done it again. With her exceptional talent and magic words, she has produced another spellbinding love story to capture the heart of romance readers everywhere. I couldn't put it down. Her thrilling plot full of humor, intrigue, tenderness, passion, and love touched every one of my emotions. Ms. Medeiros breathes life into her tormented hero and her spirited and courageous heroine, directing them straight to the heart. Absolutely wonderful. ( )

This is the first and probably the last Teresa Medeiros book I will read. After years of seeing dozens of her books on store shelves in prominent positions, I expected much more than what she delivered in this story. Don’t get me wrong; her writing is fantastic. I certainly can’t say that Medeiros doesn’t have a way with words. In the “Fairest of Them All”, her characters are vivid in their detail and her descriptions are fascinating and heart wrenching enough to draw me into to the medieval setting. My problem is with the story, which was just plain awful. The plot reminded me of one of those old, gothic-like melodramas with its’ extravagant and forced emotions. The first two or three chapters were rather funny. The rest of the book was highly irritating.

We have lady Holly de Chastel, an extraordinary beauty and hopelessly spoiled brat who from the cradle has been used to every man, woman and child fawning over her adorable self. All her life she has been known from far and wide as the fairest in the land. Now well past marriageable age, her father wants to see his daughter happily married and settled. Though she never lacked for suitors, Holly devises numerous practical jokes in an attempt to scare off every man who she believed was only interested in her beauty. Those scenes, which are the bright spot of an otherwise dismal story, are truly hilarious. Holly’s father, Barnard de Chastel, however proves to be even cleverer than Holly. He devises a jousting tournament, with Holly as the grand prize. Holly is only momentarily caught off guard by her father’s desperate move. The lands fairest remakes herself into the lands ugliest, by chopping off her hair, blackening her teeth, applying a mustache, binding her breasts and even donning a fat suit, among other outrageous attempts to hide her beauty. She is certain that no one will want her now.

In walks the handsome, Sir Austyn of Gavenmore, a despised Welshman with a fierce, warmonger reputation. Ugliness doesn’t bother him in the least. In fact an ugly bride would be an unexpected blessing. His family has been enduring the Gavenmore curse for centuries. It seems that every male ancestor, as well as their lady love is doomed to suffer greatly if a Gavenmore loses his heart to a beautiful woman. Despite the rumor of the maiden’s beauty and the superstitious fear of his own mortal doom, Austyn is determined to win her and her much-needed dowry to rebuild his ancestral home.

Just prior to the tournament, Sir Austyn sneaks into the castle garden to garner more information on the lady he has vowed to win. There he spies a beautiful woman, unbeknownst to him, it is Holly, singing like a lark. Austyn is mesmerized, enthralled by her playful banter and beautiful long black hair. They share a torrid kiss. He fears at that moment, his heart is irrevocably lost now to this beautiful mystery lady. The lady too is caught up in an emotional whirlwind. I will admit that Medeiros chapter two was thoroughly confusing.

Once the tournament festivities get underway, most of the knights quickly lose interest in vying for such a pitifully, ugly crone. Her poor father is aghast by his daughter’s most outrageous antic yet. Only Austyn and a rather determined former suitor, Eugene remains to duel it out. Holly is highly disappointed that her father does not cancel the tournament immediately due to the shock of her homely appearance. She is even more crushed when her father does nothing when the Welsh Austyn wins the tournament and marries her right on the spot. For once, Holly is trapped in a fate of her own making. Holly is forced to leave her home and travel with her new husband disguised as a homely bride.

And now the fun begins or rather more inane stupidity begins. Accompanied by her nurse, her priest and Austyn’s friend Carey, who I enjoyed immensely, the entourage begins their long journey. Being the spoiled brat that she is, Holly makes life miserable for everyone on the way to Gavenmore. Austyn cannot believe the harridan he has tied himself and his people with. Holly cannot believe that she finds herself in the possession of a mysterious and dangerous Welshman for the rest of her life. Holly is relieved but yet insulted to be spared a potentially frightening wedding night by Austin’s confession of love for another. Holly does not deal well with her first taste at rejection.

Once at castle Gavenmore she learns about the fabled family curse and has to deal with the reality that she may indeed be trapped in her disguise forever because everyone is thrilled with her ugliness. Finally the curse will be broken! Holly is not without resources, and once she realizes that Austyn may not be all bad, she tries to get him to love her despite her outward appearance. Soon a fragile truce begins to build between the two. Of course if the relationship is to truly flourish intimately, Holly can’t possibly keep up with her disguise.

The turning point of the story occurs when the truth comes out and everything turns disastrous. Austyn locks her in a tower, depriving her of the comfort of even her nurse. Of course, lust gets the better of Austyn and he visits Holly every night in complete darkness as to avoid seeing her beautiful face. The fact that he berates himself does not excuse his abominable behavior. But also Holly’s behavior is difficult to sympathize with as well. The heart-tugging games the two play with one another are maddening. The big problem with the story is that Austyn and Holly are just too melodramatic for me. True, both have tortured souls for various reasons, but their so-called anguish is completely over the stop. I wanted to howl with outrage at every ludicrous turn in the story. For me the book is a farce, not a romance and for that lack, I cannot recommend this book. ( )