Publication
New York : Random House Large Print, c2002.
Collection
Call number
Large Print Fiction F
Physical description
512 p.; 25 cm
Status
Available
Call number
Description
Damien Knight, the earl of Winterley, is proud, aloof, and tormented by memories of war. Though living in seclusion, he is named guardian to a fellow officer's ward. Instead of the young homeless waif he was expecting, however, Miranda FitzHubert is a stunning, passionate beauty who invades his sanctuary and forces him back into society. Struggling to maintain honour and self-control, Damien now faces an ever greater threat: desire. A bold, free spirit, Miranda has witnessed the darkest depths of Damien's soul - and has seen his desperate need for love. But before she can thaw his unyielding heart, she must endure a terrifying nightmare of her own . . .
Genres
User reviews
LibraryThing member onyx95
Spending six years in the war was all Damien Knight could take but when he came home he still couldn’t seem to get it out of his head. Reliving moments of the war during his dreams and even in his waking hours. Hearing that one of his comrades had died finally gave him something to do, Jason had
Book 3.…. This is a really good Historical Romance, the emotional connection to Damien is well written. Such a strong and courageous hero, then showing a very vulnerable side - without it being odd or obvious. Keeping Miranda so innocent but giving her such experience and a traumatic past. Well done - and with the inclusion of Napoleon (and the war), so much of the Knight family (Robert, Bel, Lucien, Alice, Alec, and Jacinda), all the action (several intense fight scenes), and the romance, this is a great example of a good series. Now that the twins are happy and healthy with their little families, I want to know more about Jack, but I will be looking for the next book (Lady of Desire) which seems to be Jacinda's story.
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left him as the guardian of his niece. She had been left at the boarding school and virtually ignored by her Uncles for so long, Miranda FitzHubert was shocked to hear her guardian was there. It wasn’t Uncle Jason, but the stranger who had turned wild the night before to save her life. Together Damien and Miranda set of for the Knight house, the hope of a new life for Miranda and maybe hope for Damien too.Book 3.…. This is a really good Historical Romance, the emotional connection to Damien is well written. Such a strong and courageous hero, then showing a very vulnerable side - without it being odd or obvious. Keeping Miranda so innocent but giving her such experience and a traumatic past. Well done - and with the inclusion of Napoleon (and the war), so much of the Knight family (Robert, Bel, Lucien, Alice, Alec, and Jacinda), all the action (several intense fight scenes), and the romance, this is a great example of a good series. Now that the twins are happy and healthy with their little families, I want to know more about Jack, but I will be looking for the next book (Lady of Desire) which seems to be Jacinda's story.
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LibraryThing member lina_em
because i didn't like damien, i took off one star. he just irked me too much.
LibraryThing member roxiereads
Enjoyed this book. Will read the rest of the series.
LibraryThing member gwendolenau
Guardian/ward romances are not really my cup of tea and this may have coloured my take on this story. The main characters were quite well-drawn but suffered from uneven plotting and pacing. The author has clearly done her historical research regarding details and yet, there was something every now
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and then which came through in the narrative tone, as well as dialogue and characters' attitudes, that was a little too modern, and a little too *American*, for the period and setting. This kept pulling me out of the narrative, which also lessened my interest. I don't think Gaelen Foley is the author for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member SusiB
Damien Knight, a former soldier who recently received the title "Earl of Winterley", suddenly finds himself named guardian to a fellow officer's and friend's ward. He thinks Miranda FitzHubert is a small girl who can stay at a boarding school, but instead she's a nubile young woman. He wants her to
This is definitely one of the historical romances whose history is no more than wallpaper. Very thin and threadbare wallpaper at that. I enjoyed the book despite, but not because of, that fact. For example, Miranda is easily accepted by nearly all members of the high society, even though she's the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman and an actress. One of the (female) characters suggests that they go ice skating, because it's "good excercise", and on Christmas Eve, they sing "Silent Night, Holy Night" - even though this Christmas carol was performed for the first time in 1818 (it took me about 1 minute to find this out on wikipedia.de) and the book is set in 1814 - 1815. And then, there's the ice. I don't mean ice cream. I mean ice cubes. At one point, Miranda pretends to have twisted her ankle in order to be able to leave the ballroom with Damien, and he asks her if she needs some ice. People didn't have refrigerators at this time, they didn't even have electricity and I think it's extremely unlikely that they would have put ice cubes in their drinks - it would have been more believable if Damien had asked Miranda if he should get her some snow from outside to cool her twisted ankle. Despite all these facts, I enjoyed the book. Damien is a tortured hero, but he has a good reason to be, and he is only very rarely cruel to Miranda and other people. Miranda herself is no doormat - I despise doormat heroines - but not overly stupid and feisty either. I like the fact that she wants to help her former schoolmates, but isn't so selfless that she doesn't want to have a good life for herself. And she does realize that this good life can be gained much easier by accepting her guardian's wealth than by becoming an actress - which is a no-brainer in real life, but obviously not so easy to unterstand to the myriad of stupid romance novel heroines out there.
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find a husband, but at the same time, he'd like to keep her for himself. If only he wasn't going mad...This is definitely one of the historical romances whose history is no more than wallpaper. Very thin and threadbare wallpaper at that. I enjoyed the book despite, but not because of, that fact. For example, Miranda is easily accepted by nearly all members of the high society, even though she's the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman and an actress. One of the (female) characters suggests that they go ice skating, because it's "good excercise", and on Christmas Eve, they sing "Silent Night, Holy Night" - even though this Christmas carol was performed for the first time in 1818 (it took me about 1 minute to find this out on wikipedia.de) and the book is set in 1814 - 1815. And then, there's the ice. I don't mean ice cream. I mean ice cubes. At one point, Miranda pretends to have twisted her ankle in order to be able to leave the ballroom with Damien, and he asks her if she needs some ice. People didn't have refrigerators at this time, they didn't even have electricity and I think it's extremely unlikely that they would have put ice cubes in their drinks - it would have been more believable if Damien had asked Miranda if he should get her some snow from outside to cool her twisted ankle. Despite all these facts, I enjoyed the book. Damien is a tortured hero, but he has a good reason to be, and he is only very rarely cruel to Miranda and other people. Miranda herself is no doormat - I despise doormat heroines - but not overly stupid and feisty either. I like the fact that she wants to help her former schoolmates, but isn't so selfless that she doesn't want to have a good life for herself. And she does realize that this good life can be gained much easier by accepting her guardian's wealth than by becoming an actress - which is a no-brainer in real life, but obviously not so easy to unterstand to the myriad of stupid romance novel heroines out there.
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LibraryThing member francescadefreitas
Miranda falls for her new guardian, a war hero who suffers terrible from post-war trauma.
LibraryThing member mom2lnb
Lord of Ice is another winning story from Gaelen Foley. In my opinion, it was a little light on the romance, with the historical and suspense elements being given almost equal weight, but it was still a wonderful and engaging book. I did not find this to be a predictable read at all. There were
Damien and Miranda were a memorable hero and heroine. Damien is an intense, tortured alpha with the call of the warrior in his blood and an extreme case of PTSD from the time he spent in the Peninsular War fighting on the front lines. After an incident in Lord of Fire, where he lost track of where he was and came back to himself with weapons in his hands, he decided to live a solitary life for the safety of his loved ones. The psychological pain he experiences is so intense that he has thought of killing himself more than once, and he has a few flashbacks that were violent enough to make me a tad squeamish, one involving a horse, which as an animal lover, was particularly disturbing. Miranda is a strong, independent-minded young lady, who is a spitfire without being shrewish and is gentle and sensitive without being a push-over, which is an amazing balance for an author to be able to strike. At first, I found myself thinking of Miranda in a childish way, but perhaps that was a stroke of genius on Ms. Foley's part, since that is what Damien had initially thought as well. It didn't take long for Miranda to “grow up”, and although she did lie to Damien a few times, I am happy to say that she never had any TSTL moments. She was a very smart girl, who always seemed to know when to cut her losses and simply tell the truth. Miranda had been through tremendous pain in her own life. She was a bastard child, lost her parents at a young age, was sent to live in a terrible boarding school where she was abused, and now her own uncle is trying to kill her, yet she somehow still maintains a spirited, “glass half-full” approach to life. My other favorite scene is when Miranda tried to get a rise out of the buttoned-up Damien by saying some rather scandalous things, which made me laugh. Miranda is not afraid to go after what she wants, and that, she discovers pretty quickly, is Damien. She is almost the exact opposite of Damien, but is deftly able to handle him, even in his darkest moments. I loved her fearlessness, determination and loyalty to her man, and how she never gave up on him, even when he tried his best to drive her away. The personalities of this couple reminded me a great deal of the hero and heroine from Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels, so anyone who has enjoyed that book, should like this one and vice versa.
The cast of secondary characters was superb with all the Knight siblings playing fairly significant roles except for black sheep, Jack, who has yet to make an appearance. It was so nice to catch up with Robert and Bel from The Duke, as well as Lucien and Alice from Lord of Fire, and see the changes in their lives. I like that these books seem to take place almost consecutively, with no time lost in between stories. Also present were Jacinda, Lizzie and Alec who get their own books later in the series. There were also brief appearances by Bel's father from The Duke and two of Lucien's young secret agents from Lord of Fire. Readers are given an introduction to the scandalous but charming thief, Billy Blade, who becomes the hero and object of Jacinda's affection in the next book, Lady of Desire, as well as, the dashing Ian “Griff” Prescott, who becomes the hero of Her Only Desire, the first book in the Spice Trilogy spin-off series. I have to say that both of these men have definitely peaked my interest. With Mr. Reed and Miss Brocklehurst, the headmaster and headmistress of the girl's school; the evil Algernon Sherbrooke, Miranda's murderous uncle; and all of his cronies from the Raptors street gang, there were bad guys aplenty. There was also Algernon's son, Crispin, who is a dissolute rake with a gambling problem, but who doesn't quite seem to have his father's penchant for villainy. All in all this was a very full and well-rounded cast that made the narrative even more robust.
There was very little I didn't like about the book, but if there was one thing I could change it would be that Damien and Miranda would have had more scenes together. When Damien let his guard down, and they were in each other's presence, they lit up the pages, but most of the time Damien kept Miranda at arms length, thinking it best for her safety. I sometimes wished that he would lighten up a little and not be so stubborn, as I sometimes felt like there was an arctic chill emanating from the pages. Then again, he was an uber-alpha, making those characteristics consistent with his personality. Also, it was pretty overtly implied that Miranda was molested by the headmaster of her school, but other than the mere acknowledgment of the abuse and justice being served, this aspect of her life was never really explored. I found this to be a little disappointing, but I suppose understandable considering the sheer volume of events that were already on the canvas, as well as the darkness of Damien's PTSD. The inclusion of too many unhappy incidents would have made the story depressing, when a large part of it was pretty intense already. Overall though, these were fairly minor detractors from an otherwise extremely well-written novel. I don't think that any author to date has given me three keepers right in a row, but Gaelen Foley did just that with the first three books of her Knight Miscellany series which I greatly look forward to continuing soon. Lord of Ice is preceded by The Duke and Lord of Fire and is followed by Lady of Desire, Devil Takes a Bride, One Night of Sin and His Wicked Kiss. While Lord of Ice was not to my knowledge ever billed as a Christmas story, the bulk of it does take place around that time of year, making it a timely read for the upcoming holiday season.
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several times that the direction of the story surprised me, but none more so than the ending or perhaps I should say endings. The main plot of the story climaxed about forty pages or so from the end of the book and then turned in a completely unexpected direction, actually giving it a second ending of sorts plus an epilogue. I'm not really sure this second ending was necessary, but it did give another slice of life scenario to this appealing couple. I loved the warm family atmosphere surrounding the Knight clan. Even though they are of mixed parentage and each of the siblings has a distinct personality, they are a very close-knit and welcoming family. One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Miranda spies the Knight brothers having a late-night snowball fight like a bunch of unruly schoolboys. It was an extremely heartwarming scene that left a huge smile on my face. I also really appreciate Ms. Foley's use of details to enrich the narrative. In some books I have read, such descriptions can be dry and slow the pace, but in Lord of Ice, everything from the account of the Knight family's Christmas celebration to the political climate of the era was woven together seamlessly and in an engaging way that made it seem like I was actually there.Damien and Miranda were a memorable hero and heroine. Damien is an intense, tortured alpha with the call of the warrior in his blood and an extreme case of PTSD from the time he spent in the Peninsular War fighting on the front lines. After an incident in Lord of Fire, where he lost track of where he was and came back to himself with weapons in his hands, he decided to live a solitary life for the safety of his loved ones. The psychological pain he experiences is so intense that he has thought of killing himself more than once, and he has a few flashbacks that were violent enough to make me a tad squeamish, one involving a horse, which as an animal lover, was particularly disturbing. Miranda is a strong, independent-minded young lady, who is a spitfire without being shrewish and is gentle and sensitive without being a push-over, which is an amazing balance for an author to be able to strike. At first, I found myself thinking of Miranda in a childish way, but perhaps that was a stroke of genius on Ms. Foley's part, since that is what Damien had initially thought as well. It didn't take long for Miranda to “grow up”, and although she did lie to Damien a few times, I am happy to say that she never had any TSTL moments. She was a very smart girl, who always seemed to know when to cut her losses and simply tell the truth. Miranda had been through tremendous pain in her own life. She was a bastard child, lost her parents at a young age, was sent to live in a terrible boarding school where she was abused, and now her own uncle is trying to kill her, yet she somehow still maintains a spirited, “glass half-full” approach to life. My other favorite scene is when Miranda tried to get a rise out of the buttoned-up Damien by saying some rather scandalous things, which made me laugh. Miranda is not afraid to go after what she wants, and that, she discovers pretty quickly, is Damien. She is almost the exact opposite of Damien, but is deftly able to handle him, even in his darkest moments. I loved her fearlessness, determination and loyalty to her man, and how she never gave up on him, even when he tried his best to drive her away. The personalities of this couple reminded me a great deal of the hero and heroine from Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels, so anyone who has enjoyed that book, should like this one and vice versa.
The cast of secondary characters was superb with all the Knight siblings playing fairly significant roles except for black sheep, Jack, who has yet to make an appearance. It was so nice to catch up with Robert and Bel from The Duke, as well as Lucien and Alice from Lord of Fire, and see the changes in their lives. I like that these books seem to take place almost consecutively, with no time lost in between stories. Also present were Jacinda, Lizzie and Alec who get their own books later in the series. There were also brief appearances by Bel's father from The Duke and two of Lucien's young secret agents from Lord of Fire. Readers are given an introduction to the scandalous but charming thief, Billy Blade, who becomes the hero and object of Jacinda's affection in the next book, Lady of Desire, as well as, the dashing Ian “Griff” Prescott, who becomes the hero of Her Only Desire, the first book in the Spice Trilogy spin-off series. I have to say that both of these men have definitely peaked my interest. With Mr. Reed and Miss Brocklehurst, the headmaster and headmistress of the girl's school; the evil Algernon Sherbrooke, Miranda's murderous uncle; and all of his cronies from the Raptors street gang, there were bad guys aplenty. There was also Algernon's son, Crispin, who is a dissolute rake with a gambling problem, but who doesn't quite seem to have his father's penchant for villainy. All in all this was a very full and well-rounded cast that made the narrative even more robust.
There was very little I didn't like about the book, but if there was one thing I could change it would be that Damien and Miranda would have had more scenes together. When Damien let his guard down, and they were in each other's presence, they lit up the pages, but most of the time Damien kept Miranda at arms length, thinking it best for her safety. I sometimes wished that he would lighten up a little and not be so stubborn, as I sometimes felt like there was an arctic chill emanating from the pages. Then again, he was an uber-alpha, making those characteristics consistent with his personality. Also, it was pretty overtly implied that Miranda was molested by the headmaster of her school, but other than the mere acknowledgment of the abuse and justice being served, this aspect of her life was never really explored. I found this to be a little disappointing, but I suppose understandable considering the sheer volume of events that were already on the canvas, as well as the darkness of Damien's PTSD. The inclusion of too many unhappy incidents would have made the story depressing, when a large part of it was pretty intense already. Overall though, these were fairly minor detractors from an otherwise extremely well-written novel. I don't think that any author to date has given me three keepers right in a row, but Gaelen Foley did just that with the first three books of her Knight Miscellany series which I greatly look forward to continuing soon. Lord of Ice is preceded by The Duke and Lord of Fire and is followed by Lady of Desire, Devil Takes a Bride, One Night of Sin and His Wicked Kiss. While Lord of Ice was not to my knowledge ever billed as a Christmas story, the bulk of it does take place around that time of year, making it a timely read for the upcoming holiday season.
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LibraryThing member LadyIsis
I continue to love this series. As much as I fell for Lucien I fell harder for Damien. Damien Knight, Earl of Winterley, is a wounded warrior that is in need of someone to listen and understand what he has gone through. War during this time period was gruesome. Swords, guns and cannons and men
Miranda FitzHubert is a fiery, independent, and compassionate young woman. She protected those girls younger than her from the abuse of those that were to care and protect them. She is a natural actress and loves the adoration of an audience. However, she also knows that her mother wanted her to enter society and be a Lady. In some ways Miranda is insecure. She has been told all her life that she is no one and never will be. I think though that she is probably the perfect match for Damien. She knows the terrors of losing her parents and trying to fight the abuse of those in charge at her school. She is going to be a great mother and aunt.
This is another of those books that doesn't fit into a mold. While there is some sex it isn't until later in the book and it is brief. There is some action also at the end of the story. We do meet some interesting characters in this story and I have to wonder if they will show up in future books. It was nice to see Robert and Bel; Lucien and Alice; Harry, Lady Jacinda, Miss Carlise, Lord Alec. There are some very funny places in the story and few were you will probably need tissues. This is a wonderful story and I read it in record time. A fine example of the historical romance genre.
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rushing head long into the field of fire. I can't imagine the carnage that would be present on a battlefield. All the blood and suffering. Plus there was almost no medical help for serious wounds after a battle. Many men died of infection, remember antibiotics had come into being yet. Many others died of blood loss, transfusions also had not come into being yet. I am not surprised that it took so long that PTSD was recognized in war veterans. Damien is definitely an knight in shining armor. He is kind, intelligent, honorable and compassionate. I loved how he tried to protect Miranda.Miranda FitzHubert is a fiery, independent, and compassionate young woman. She protected those girls younger than her from the abuse of those that were to care and protect them. She is a natural actress and loves the adoration of an audience. However, she also knows that her mother wanted her to enter society and be a Lady. In some ways Miranda is insecure. She has been told all her life that she is no one and never will be. I think though that she is probably the perfect match for Damien. She knows the terrors of losing her parents and trying to fight the abuse of those in charge at her school. She is going to be a great mother and aunt.
This is another of those books that doesn't fit into a mold. While there is some sex it isn't until later in the book and it is brief. There is some action also at the end of the story. We do meet some interesting characters in this story and I have to wonder if they will show up in future books. It was nice to see Robert and Bel; Lucien and Alice; Harry, Lady Jacinda, Miss Carlise, Lord Alec. There are some very funny places in the story and few were you will probably need tissues. This is a wonderful story and I read it in record time. A fine example of the historical romance genre.
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LibraryThing member dukedukegoose
I'm beginning to wonder how much I actually enjoyed The Duke after the next two in the series. This one suffered massively from "skimming" over things, or just plain summarizing pretty huge events. I've come to appreciate, and almost love, how Foley just seems to really embrace the most dramatic
That being said, at least Damien and Miranda weren't QUITE as Too Stupid To Live as Lucien and Alice, but it would've been a very very close contest.
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tropes possible. But this book suffered so massively from multiple sections just being "summed" up. The entire last 10% of the book is literally just Foley telling us a bunch of stuff that happened, and as a result there's absolutely no emotional impact at the end. None. It was like Foley remembered, "Oh, shit, Napoleon escaped Elba and I'm already at 285 pages." That being said, at least Damien and Miranda weren't QUITE as Too Stupid To Live as Lucien and Alice, but it would've been a very very close contest.
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LibraryThing member mitabird
Lord of Ice was OK. I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of the book. I felt sorry for Damien having to deal with his PTSD and I admired how Miranda did her best to try to help him overcome his demons. However, once they uttered the "love" word, the romance become sappy and the rest of the story so
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predictable that I just didn't care how it was going to end. Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2002-02
ISBN
9780375432750