The Christmas Knight by Michele Sinclair

A sweet and festive tale
4 stars

Unprotected and alone, Bronwyn de Breton must protect her younger sisters and their home at Hunswick Castle. Things go from bad to worse when a war-hardened, scarred warrior arrives as the new lord of the castle with orders to take the youngest daughter as his bride. Bronwyn refuses to let a man as reputedly hard and wild as the new lord marry her sister so she steps up and pretends to be her sister.

Ranulf de Gunnar, however, is not so easily fooled. He knows that this woman is not his intended but as they are forced to spend time together he cannot seem to resist this woman who teaches him passion, loyalty and love.

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I have never read Michele Sinclair before but I can’t resist a Christmas tale and this one seemed right up my street with a scarred man made whole by the love of a good woman. I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed.

Ranulf was, for me, the perfect kind of hero – brooding and angry but underneath so vulnerable; I just wanted to hug him! Bronwyn was also an exceptional character and was a spirited and likeable female that still felt right for the medieval time period. They worked fantastically together and I liked their chemistry and how together they were stronger – once they got over their insecurities, that is.

The book mainly covered the relationship between Bronwyn and Ranulf although there was a little bit of intrigue and danger. Some might find this makes the book a little slow but I was gripped from start to finish. There were also lovely little snippets about Christmas and festivities in the medieval period which were a nice touch and really fascinating. There were a few too many modern Americanisms for my liking but I’ll admit that this is a personal peeve of mine in any historical book.

I see that there are books planned for Bronwyn’s sisters and I very much look forward to reading them and hope that I enjoy them as much as I did this one. Overall, this was an entertaining book that I couldn’t wait to continue reading and one that I would very much recommend. A high 4 stars from me.