My Lady Gisborne

My Lady Gisborne, A Love Story is a follow up book to The Tempest by the same author.  In The Tempest, Guy of Gisborne and his wife Cassia are deeply in love and they have four children together.  In My Lady Gisborne, several years have passed and their children are much older.  Guy and Cassia have been married for 18 years.  After so many years of marriage Guy and Cassia are still deeply in love and their family is a very close knit one.  

The storyline revolves around their daughter Evelyn Elizabeth Gisborne.  When Evelyn was  a baby Guy promised her hand in marriage to the son of a dear friend and fellow nobleman, Basil Jean-Carre.  When Evelyn is fifteen years old she finally meets her betrothed Simon Jean-Carre'.  It had been arranged that Evelyn would marry Simon the day after her sixteenth birthday.  Now remember this is a medieval love story so marrying at 16 is common.    Evelyn is now 15 years old and it is time for her to meet the 23 year old young man that she is betrothed to.  However, Evelyn also meets Rene' Jean-Bastien who is a nobleman turned rogue.  Which man will Evelyn choose to marry?

I did not care for Rene' from the start.  I thought he was immature, way too arrogant and selfish.  I was not happy when Evelyn started to fall for Rene'.  Simon Jean-Carre' is a handsome and decent man of noble birth, but he is a bit cold and believes that his duty to the Crown is most important in life.  Having a wife was good but he only saw that as a backdrop to life.  Being under the same roof with the Gisbornes changes all of that.  Simon truly falls in love with Evelyn and he wants to have a close knit family of his own like the Gisborne's.

Even though I did not care for the Rene' Jean-Bastien character, it did add immensely to the storyline.  Rene's feelings for Evelyn forced Simon to realize the depth of his love for her.  For a man who was not used to expressing the tenderness of love in words and emotions the threat of Rene' forced Simon 's raw feelings to surface and remain there.

I cherished Guy of Gisborne even more in this book.  Guy's love for his children is so strong.  The day that Guy had to give Evelyn away in marriage touched me deeply.  I could feel Guy's emotions as he had to let go of his daughter to a life of her own.  

I really enjoyed this book by Charlotte Hawkins so much.  It was a great continuation of a wonderful love story.  I will forever love the Gisborne's through this author's books.

4 Stars