Cherished

Elizabeth Thornton's Cherished is a keeper. I have read it cover to cover, over and over. The love Leon Devereaux feels for Emily is evident from the start. She is unaware of his feelings, and indeed her own. An embarrassing encounter with Leon and a casual lover results in a forced marriage that guarantees a tumultuous relationship. The plot twists and turns across the North AMerican continent when Leon removes his wife from her natural element, London Society. I thoroughly enjoyed the glimpse of life in the New WOrld and the fur trade society developing in Canada.

I love this book! However,the heroine, Emily, could have had more depth. The hero, Leon, is absolutely enchanting. He demonstrates an overwhelmingly intense maleness that is just mesmerizing. He's a combination of possesiveness and tenderness. The book is just FABULOUS!

Let me start off saying this story deserves 6 stars. I read this book so many times I have lost count. I think I have read this book as many times as I have seen the Princess Bride. Another book which I would reccommend is Whisper of Roses by Theresa Meideros. These are the only two books I would read over and over again, and it would still feel like a new story every time. I think this book is really about the hero, a fallen hero, but a hero nonetheless. Leon has made many bad choices as a youth, stuff that would make your blood curdle, because of horrendous events in France that cost him his parents. He is also the "poor relation", the boy who Emily's uncle sort of adopted and saved from what would have been his short existence. He is instantaneously attracted to Emily, call it love at first sight or call it chemistry, this was what he felt. So after all the painful memories he's endured, he comes to England from France were his rustic manners and poor grasp of the english language cost him ridicule by his peers in school and also by Emily. Emily is not to be blamed since Leon constantly and intentionally behaves horribly to her to hide his vulnerabilty and infactuation with her. What is a guy to do with no money, a once noble lineage that is all but lost, and complete dependency on Emily's uncle (Emily is an heiress, coming from a noble lineage and posession of a large inheritance), how could he win her love? His worst fear would be complete and utter rejection from the only woman he has ever loved. How could he face losing his only hope in life? Emily, his only love, has to be won over and he will have to struggle with himself, to let go of his past and rebuild his future, piece by piece. He will have to prove to her and more importantly to himself that he is worthy of her love. This is no easy task, read the book, there are so many inner demons of his and her past that Leon has to face and defeat, and you will find out how this fallen hero finally redeems himself and wins his love at long last. My favorite romance book of all times.

I think the only reason I would not give this a 5 star review might be what has been mentioned before that the characters lacked a little depth. I felt the attraction between Leon and Emily but it could have gone a little stronger. And I was totally blown away with Sara and Peter - just did not see that ending as it did. But the plot was well developed and made for a lot of intrigue and interest - I look forward to more Thornton novels!!

Lady Emily and her younger sister Sara had grown up with Leon Devereux. Their Uncle having been appointed guardian to both Emily and Sara was married to the French émigré Zoe who was brother to Leon - so in effect, though not related, they had all grown up together. Emily and Leon were like oil and water, constantly bickering through her childhood while young Sara worshiped him. On Emily's sixteenth birthday, Sara had overheard Leon agreeing to a tryst with and older woman and told Emily. In trying to save Sara from doing something very foolish, Emily went to try and stop Leon. She arrived early and fell asleep then was awakened and was witness to Leon in the throes of a most intimate nature - quite horrifying to a young innocent. Terrified and humiliated to have seen, what she determined was a savage act, she ran to a tower room that was a known sanctuary of hers. Leon followed her and Emily hysterically shot him by accident. One thing led to another, assumptions were made that Leon had compromised Emily, and three days later Emily and Leon were married. Her Uncle extracted a promise from Leon that he would give Emily time to get used to the idea of marriage and encouraged Leon to go to America and build a life for himself.Leon returned to claim Emily and the battles began. Leon, who had always loved Emily, had to try to convince her that although the marriage was forced, it was what he had always wanted as he waited for her to grow up. It is a story of the struggles they both endured, along with the mystery of accidents that began to happen that convinced Leon that the horrors of his youth fighting in the underground against Napoleon were coming back to haunt him and all that he held dear. Someone was trying to kill them and Leon would have to protect Emily without letting her know that their very lives were in danger. One can assume that the scene Emily had witnessed of Leon and a willing bed partner could be construed as animalistic to an uninitiated young innocent and was horrifying to her. This one element was by far the hardest that Leon had to work hard to make her forget before they could be a happy familyEmily, who had always tried to take care of her younger sister, had to overcome the guilt she felt for taking away the love of Sara's life and thinking that Leon was really in love with Sara; wiping away the memory of the carnal scene she had witnessed of Leon with another woman; and then adjusting to a new life in America after being taken away from the aristocratic life she had grown up with in England where Lady Emily would now only be known as Mrs. Leon Deveraux. .This was a really robust and fast moving story, well thought out and plotted with numerous sub-plots and secondary characters, along with a great mystery and an ending that is pretty surprising. You can feel the anguish Emily was under and the frustration of Leon. I especially liked the historic insights of the early America and Canada. Very skillfully written