Gwen Rowley, Knights of the Round Table: Lancelot

Knights of the Round Table: Lancelot

Gwen Rowley

Jove, Sep 2006, $6.99

ISBN 0515141992

The Lady of the Lake blessed Sir Lancelot du Lac with fighting skills no one has matched. He will keep his role as First Knight as long as he adheres to his loyalty vow to his King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. However, as arrogant as Lancelot is in jousts and in battle, he feels lonely.

Guinevere orders Lancelot to pose as just a regular knight instead of a superhero warrior at an upcoming tournament. When he stops at run down Corbenic Castle he hides his identity from his hosts. He quickly realizes that the lord's daughter Elaine holds the poor keep together as her father spends all of his time seeking the Holy Grail and her brother with alcohol following a maiming by Lancelot at a tournament. She sees the guest as a chance to escape from her current downward spiral while he sees her as salvation. However, once she knows who he is, she rejects him. Lancelot can hide behind his pride or he can risk humiliation on a chance that love can save both of them.

Though Camelot is in the background, this tale is more a Dark Ages romance between the individuals with a mutual past to overcome if both take the steps that love offers them. The arrogant Lancelot is a fascinating character as his skills are a blessing and a curse; he hides his vulnerability behind a conceit made from his military achievements in jousting and war. Elaine gets past his armor into his inner soul, but has doubts when she realizes whom her beloved is and what he did to her sibling. Fans of Arthurian tales may want to pass, but historical romance readers will enjoy this fine interpretation of the mists of Camelot.

Harriet Klausner