This was a cute romance, but I thought it would be funnier based on the description. It is the first book I've read by this author.

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Story begins in 1347 England with a young and eager Lady Willow of Bedlington waiting by her father’s side for his new wife Lady Blanche and her new mother. Willow has always wanted a mother to love and is certain Lady Blanche will be excited to have a daughter. Lady Blanche finally arrives, but no alone to Willow’s surprise she already has children of her own. Willow is not at all welcomed into the blended family she is out casted by her stepmother and her new brothers and sisters treat her horribly.

It is now 1360 in England and Sir Bannor the Bold has returned from the war with father of 12 motherless children he sends out his trusted friend to find a woman who likes children, but is homely looking so he want be lured into her bed to produce more children. He returns with Lady Willow who is not at all homely but beautiful. Willow had been without love for so long she yearns for her prince and wants Bannor to be him.

Willow learns of his reputation fathering several children out of wedlock and does not believe he will ever truly love her. Willow is determined to have the love of her husband all to herself so she seeks out the town whore for assistance.

Willow bonds with the children, and with their help tries to capture Bannor’s heart, but is disappointed when yet another baby arrives at the castle who Bannor claims as his own. What can Willow do to win his heart? A nice heartwarming book really enjoyed the theme and the children. 4 Stars ( )

Lord Bannor The Bold is the Pride of the English and the Terror of The French. He has fought many battles in the past 14 years; he has been tortured, scalded in boiling water and carries scars from arrows and sword fights. But as our book starts he is found cowering in the top tower of his fortress, praying to God to save him for he has finally met his match…..his children. All 12 of them.

For Bannor is not only all of the things above, he is also a prolific procreator. He is a legend; people say that he can impregnate a woman just by looking into her eyes. But now that the war against France is over and he has to stay put in this fortress with no wife (both his former wives died in accidents) he does not know what to do with the kids or with himself. He barely knows the children having spent most of his life away making war, coming home only occasionally to say hello for a few days and leaving the wife alive at that moment with a child in the making.

So he comes up with a plan: he needs a new wife to be a mother to them. But she must be unattractive so that he won’t feel tempted to have more children. So he sends off his steward to find a bride for him. The man goes around the country and has no luck until one day he sees from a distance a young woman, who seems to be quite plump surrounded by children, playing tenderly with them. So he goes to her father and asks for her hand in marriage for his Lord.

Enter Willow, our heroine, who of course, is not unattractive at all and as it just so happens, hates children. She grew up in a loveless home with a weak father, an eeeeevil step-mother and horrible siblings who treated her like crap. All she ever wanted was to be loved and she has this image of a prince charming coming to her rescue. So she jumps at the opportunity to get married to Bannor. She thinks she is leaving this loveless life behind but to her surprise as soon as she arrives at her new home, she is met with a band of ruthless brats and a husband who freaks out at the mere sight of her. Of course, she thinks he does not find her attractive at all and before she can say anything she is left to fend for herself. Bannor wants her to leave before he falls for her but has no courage to send her away so asks the children to drive her nuts. This way she will be the one to make the decision to end the marriage and he won’t feel guilty. But Willow is smart and turns the game around by joining the kids in their attempt to get his father’s attention.

Sounds silly right? It is. And yet this was exactly what I needed to read last Sunday afternoon when it was raining and I was not in the best of the moods. Cinderella meets Sound of Music. Without all the singing and dancing. And with sex.

It is certainly not the best of the books nor the most original out there, but it is not bad either. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments and the story turns from a comedy of errors to a true love story where we learn that there is much more to Bannor than meets the eye. As he learns to love his children and his wife and Willow finally gets her prince charming, I found myself letting out a satisfied sigh, or two. And sometimes there is all I could ask for.

Notable quotes/parts: The epilogue is a complete riot, easily one of the funniest parts of the book. The hardest battle Bannor has ever fought turns out to be the birth of his first child with the woman that he loves.

Additional thoughts: The secondary characters were lovely. The children were ever so funny and the love story between Edmund (Bannor’s oldest and heir) and Bea (Willow’s half-sister) was quite sweet. Although I did worry a bit – they were both 14 year old, isn’t that a tad too early for getting married, even in medieval times? Note to self: Must look it up!

Verdict: It is a light read for those moments when you need a pick me up. I am keeping mine for the time being but I may well give it to someone further down the road when I need the space in my bookcase.

Full Review at:
http://thebooksmugglers.blogspot.com/... ( )