Lady of Conquest: Teresa Medeiros

“MY KINGDOM FOR A KISS

“He is called Conn of the Hundred Battled, the warrior-king who forged a nation from a land of isolated clans. As High King of Ireland, he rides with the legendary Fianna, his elite band of warriors. But a threat to the throne looms from a mysterious scourge who has vanquished several of Conn’s bravest warriors. Conn rides out alone to face the seemingly invincible foe, never expecting that he will confront a grief-maddened hellcat with emerald eyes and hair like liquid flame….

“Wielding a sword called Vengeance, Gelina Ó Monaghan has sworn to defeat the man she holds responsible for her family’s ruin. She never dreamed she’d be bested by him in combat…and lose her heart in the bargain. Their forbidden passion will become a private war fought with swords and kisses, promises and betrayal—and surrender will be only the beginning….”

This book was Teresa Medeiros’s first and I can tell. She developed many characters for this story instead of focusing on two or three. I loved all of the history this book contained and it was a nice break from another author that I had been reading.

At times I wanted to beat Conn to a pulp for his inability to see what was right in front of him, and other times I wished I could hug him for his tenderness—it made it all the better knowing that he actually existed! Gelina was a fairly typical heroine with her loyalties split between those of family and her heart. She is a vicious warrior and an even fiercer lover. I loved her fiery spirit and her strong will to defy even the king of Erin in public. Their love story is one of the most rocky I have ever read and there were several plot twists that I both predicted and totally DID NOT see coming. All in all, Teresa Medeiros definitely didn’t disappoint me!

(***SPOILER: there was a rape scene, one near-rape, and another “pretty much rape” scene—for lack of a better way to describe it. This is the first author I have read that was brave enough to place the darker side of masculine power into the hands of the actual HERO of the story! I have mixed emotions about this, but it definitely only added to the overall effect of the story.***)