This novella is the tale of Jason of Artane, son of Robin and Anne De Piaget.
I have found that novellas have, under most circumstances, caused me to feel slightly disappointed and uncomfortable with the speed at which things were happening-not a Lynn Kurland novella. I feel as if I have enjoyed a full sized novel. And as always, I loved the sense of family and the rollicking interaction so prevalent in the DePiaget family. Great story telling and as usual left me smiling.

I am a HUGE Lynn Kurland fan and my only complaint is this book is "TO SHORT"!!! It's only 86 pages what's up with that! I have been waiting months and months for this book and it will take me one night to read the whole thing. Very disapointed.

Bigger books please Ms.Kurland!!

First, to those who might be confused, this book is the same short story that Lynn Kurland wrote for the anthology called Tapestry. That book has four short stories by four different authors... Here we get to have Lynn's story as a stand-alone book. But this is why it is so short compared to her regular novels.

That said... this is one of my favorite of Lynn's books, despite the shortness of the story. Lynn shared on her bulletin board once that Jason de Piaget of Artane (Robin's youngest son) was one of her favorite characters, and I have to agree. If you've read From This Moment On and This Is All I Ask already, then you already know (and probably love) Jason. Here you get to read his own love story. And believe me... you'll love him even more in this story for his mix of tenderness and gruffness, and his ability to see past Lianna's outer scars and fall desperately in love with her.

PS... for those of you who are Kendrick fans, you'll get to see quite a bit more of him in this book as well. He and Jason's brotherly relationship seems much along the same lines as Robin and Nick's (from If I Had You)... lots of love hidden behind tons of teasing and thrashing. It's fun to read. :-)

Since King Henry accepted Lianna as his ward, she has spent her time hiding from people. The pox robbed her of her beauty, leaving scars in its wake, and an unknown enemy robbed her of her family. She has, since then, kept herself hidden in the solar, surrounded my women who despise her for some reason. Lianna's only consolation is weaving tapestries. She has poured her energy into re-creating all that has been taken from her, including her beauty.

Kendrick and Jason are immediately taken wth her, more so because of her inner beauty. She stands out against all the two-faced women that fill King Henry's court. Jason falls in love with Lianna and asks for her hand in marriage, but the real obstacle is King Henry. Lianna is the wealthiest heiress in England and it's unlikely that he will allow Lianna to wed a man who has very little.

William Sedgewick unintentionally becomes the answer to Jason's predicament when he insults Lianna. Jason is not there to witness it but Kendrick is, and so Kendrick challenges him to a fight. King Henry agrees and the prize is Lianna's hand in marriage. Kendrick makes quick work of Sedgewick but then Jason steps in to fight his brother for Lianna's hand, and the fight is to the death.

There is much to the tale that is sacrificed when condensed into a novella. That is the case with this book. I love the story of Jason and Lianna but can only wish it were longer because the storyline is one-dimensional. There is a mention of the demise of Lianna's family but not much detail on what exactly occurred, who killed them, etc. Also, there is not enough time to flesh out the characters, travel through the back story and establish a better romantic relationship between Lianna and Jason.

The antagonists are four very jealous women, most of whom are married, who are enraged because Lianna attracted the attention of both Jason and Kendrick, but they all seem superficial. Their reason behind their malicious attacks on Lianna is hardly convincing.

I just wish there were more to this story than what is there.