Shadowheart

Seventeen years old, Elayne of Italian descent, lived in the forest of Savernake, in the fifth year of the reign of King Richard II. Elayne has gorgeous dark long hair with unusual violet-blue colored eyes... Raised by her sister, Cara, both who lived under the protection of Lady Melanthe Countess of Bowland, Elayne's Godmother. Elayne is a simple, happy Christian girl, who had a tendency towards spells and magic. This was a constant concern of her family. The devils work, people believed. Elayne, was a dreamer, who thought herself in love with Raymond de Clare a knight in Lord John of Lancaster's service. Little cat, that was Raymond's pet name for Elayne, he is an arrogantly handsome peacock. She has made a love charm to make Raymond fall madly in love with her, so she thinks. Elayne was waiting for Raymond to request her hand-in-marriage, but he later announces to be marrying another. Broken hearted, Elayne's Godmother Lady Melanthe, sends her on a pilgrimage to Rome, to become more polished and refined. She also finds out, that she is the last unmarried princess of Monteverde blood, and will be married at the end of her journey to her families sworn enemy, Franco Pietro from the house of Riata. Little did Elayne know, that this journey into darkness, would forever change her soul... Allegreto Della Navona, is an exiled illegitimate son from the house of Navona. His family was overthrown and cast out of Monteverde by Franco Pietro. Allegreto is now, so full of hatred and contempt, he will stop at nothing to usurp what he has lost, not even if it means selling his soul to the devil... Allegreto, has the ship Elayne is traveling on waylaid and brought to his private island fortress, high upon the cliffs. The first time Elayne sees Allegreto, she envisions her ideal dark angel on earth. What she finds out, is more like Lucifer made real, the lord of light fallen down to perfect darkness in the flesh. Elayne nicknames him, Raven, because of his long black hair, dark deadly eyes and a body of a harden killer. Allegreto displays of power and magic scare and enthralls Elayne. Allegreto, also has a nickname for Elayne, Hell-Cat. He sees her not as a sweet innocent soul, but an embodiment of sin and fire ready to unleash. The erotic obsession between Elayne and Allegreto throughout this book is dark and unholy. You will find yourself turning the pages unknowingly. Engrossed in a tale of dark sensuality and the poignant message of redemption, that is...SHADOW HEART...

Allegreto Navona is a dangerous assassin who will stop at nothing to regain his rightful place...And suddenly, the perfect tool has been dropped into his lap in the form of Elena - The long-lost Monteverde princess. Seeing the usefulness of an alliance between himself and the Lady, Allegreto schemes to bind her to him...Only he never expected that Elena would come to him willingly and that he would grow to love her in return. Shadow Heart was SO GOOD. Yes, it had its flaws. I had a few problems with the plot and things that I felt were a bit unbelieveable..things that I wont go into here...Basically, I was so taken with this story and its characters and their relationship, that the flaws were ones that I happily overlooked. I just adored Allegreto. I adored him. He did bad things and was not always the most likeable character, but he was so unsure and vulnerable when it came to his Elena... I just couldnt help myself..I have to say that he has become one of my favorites. I liked Elena as well, but mostly, I liked Elena and Allegreto together. There is one scene where Allegreto and Elena play this game of Morra together that was just so unbelievably endearing, I read passages of that chapter over and over. In fact, this book was full of small sweet moments that I found myself rereading as I went. What can I say? Once again, Kinsale didnt disappoint..this is a book that has made its way firmly onto my keepers shelf.

A lot of the negative reviews for this book were written in the spirit of postmodern political correctness, and that's really a shame. Fiction should challenge our beliefs about what's right and wrong, what's high and low. Think of Nabokov's "Lolita" or Ayn Rand's "Fountainhead" (which also turns on a quasi sado-masochistic relationship that begins with a rape). Kinsale's "Shadowheart" should be seen in this light. I, too, couldn't believe my eyes when I first saw the rough-stuff, but I knew that Kinsale is too good a writer to do this gratuitously. After thinking a bit, I understood why she had made Allegretto a masochist: what better way to show us a thoroughly corrupt man who despises himself and all the world? His outer beauty masks a wasteland of inner ugliness. How to reclaim such a miserable creature? Kinsale's solution is inspired. Elena's sadism offers Allegretto an avenue toward repentence and salvation. Her sexual humblings purge him - much as medieval monks would purge their sins through self-flagellation. Allegretto is not a masochist in the sense that he delights in pain for its own sake - only in the just punishment that pure and innocent Elena administers. Allegretto's childhood, we learn, had been terrorized by a father who tortured him without so much as scratching his perfect hide; it's fitting that his righteous child-bride should cut Allegretto's flawless skin with her claws. But her bites and scratches aren't really vicious, and Allegretto's submission isn't all about suffering. As their relationship matures, Allegretto achieves a kind of purity, becoming martyrlike in his efforts to spare Elena pain, disillusionment and eternal damnation. Only when he has passed through a purgatory of self-denial, loss and loneliness does he deserve the happy ending that Kinsale rewards him with. This book is leagues ahead of the usual romance fare so it's not surprising that many readers "don't get it." Readers familiar with better fiction will understand.

Laura Kinsale is an awesome author. Her characters have complex motivations and the plots don't follow the usual formulae. This book is no exception. This is not a good choice for those who want a few cute and spicy romp scenes wrapped up in a who-cares-if-it's-reseached time period. But if you want characters who grow and develop and who have deep motivations and drives this one is great. The main characters are completely believable, from what I understand anyway, as reflections of the mideval time. Their outlooks may seem foolish to us, but they reflect a lot of the worldview.It's true that incredibly handsome Allegreto has been warped and turned into an assassin by his controlling and vicious father. And at first he does behave horribly toward Elena, and she responds in kind, while being incredibly attracted to and repelled by him. As others have mentioned, the sex scenes are unusual and there are some other graphic scenes in the book that are uncomfortable. But by the end of the book Allegreto and Elena's relationship has "normalized" a lot as their emotions are produced more by love and less by fear, anger and domination/submission. But the plot is beautiful and the character of Allegreto is amazing, even though I'm sure I wouldn't like him if I were to meet him in real life.

It's been a long draught for Kinsale fans. I believe I heard rumours of a crippling writers-block. Well, the dam must have broken, but because she is back and better than ever! This is one of THE MUST-READS of this Spring. The book is a marvellous tour de force for the returning author and sure will quickly win back old fans and make new! I love heroes that are alpha (strong, dominant personalities), but the more complex, dark ones are the Gamma rogues - the males that are outside of society, that chew up the Alpha males and spit them out as a pastime, men in the genius Anne Stuart's Bad Bad Boys vein. Stuart is the Queen of the dark and deadly male, but Kinsale is shaking the leg of throne with Allegreto. He is a brilliant creation that leaps off the pages. A trained assassin, he is determined to regain his rightful place in the Italian Principality of Monteverde - and he does not care what he has to do to achieve his aim or whom he uses. And in reaching his goal, he sees Lady Elena, the lost Monteverde Princess as the perfect pawn, thus sealing her fate. Elena is returning to Monteverde, betrothed to the man now running Monteverde. Her ship is overtaken and captured by pirates - lead by none other than Allegreto. She is first his prison, then later forced to wed him. Captive, lover, wife, Elena is naturally furious, as he is a hard man, nearly cruel, but flashes of moments when he displays a tenderness toward her begins to cause her to look part the killer veneer and see the man - the real man there - a man driven. Take a killer and making him a hero is, as they say, "a hard row to hoe". Anne Stuart did it in her brilliant "Moonrise", a book that haunts me years after putting it down. Kinsale now does it with "Shadow Heart". It is amazing the craft and magic both writers breathe into these hardened men, yet make the women love them for what they are - just as the readers will. Kinsale's love for this story shines, and like a master storyteller of old around the fireside, she weaves a tale that mesmerises, compels and leaves you breathless. You may want to buy three copies of this book - 1) to read more than once 2) to give to your best friend - she will love you for it and 3) to put on your keeper shelf and treasure!!