This was a great love story. Set during the Crusades, the story was fast-paced, the characters were well-developed, and the plot was engaging. I could relate to the main characters: Ware with his compulsive desire to protect everyone around him and Thea with her often stubborn insistence on freedom. Kadar, Ware's half Frankish-half Armenian best friend, was an intriguing character. The secondary friendship/romance between Thea's little sister, Selene, and Kadar was poignant--they were both such isolated, self-reliant people, who found in each other a reason to be less so. Ware's secret, when it was revealed, was surprising and thought-provoking. Considering the story's setting during the Third Crusade and the condition of women in the 12th century, I believe that the Knight Templars' secret was potentially catastrophic, and the danger to Ware and everyone close to him, real. In a perfect world, their secret needn't have been so. But then, the "best of all possible worlds" doesn't exist.

This book is wonderful. READ IT, you will be glad you did.
I, like many other reviewers here, humbly beg this outstanding author to write a sequel -with Kadar and Selene. PLEASE I NEED the sequel !!
This book was probably one of my favorites ever. I read the Tiger Prince A LONG time ago and happened across this at a book store. SO GLAD i picked it up. I have printed a list of ALL of her other books so I can read them.
I think this was a true epic. It is not all flowers and roses (maybe mulberry trees) but it is perfect, AND historically correct as it is. And I disagree with the other reviewer about Vaden and Ware's ending. I think their ending was perfect. I really do hope the ending is leading up to a sequel with Kadar and Selend...have I mentioned that ??
Thanks for an outstanding book !
Cincinnati Reader
SJT