The Courageous Heart

The Third Crusade is over, and King Richard the Lionheart has finally returned to England.  When the nobles of Windale are called to London to affirm their allegiance to the long-absent king, Joanna Dunkirke travels with them as maid and friend.  Unfortunately, Joanna’s friends have deadly enemies among King Richard’s court who conspire to have them imprisoned upon pain of death.  The only person who can help Joanna free her friends is Ethan Windale, former master of Windale and close personal friend to the king.  Ethan has always been fond of Joanna, but will he help her when leaving her friends to their fate means he could once again have possession of Windale?

What a rollicking adventure The Courageous Heart is!  The action and intrigue begin in the first chapter and continue to the very end.  Without having read the previous books in this series or having knowledge of events that happened in earlier books, characters’ relationships may be confusing at first, so it is difficult to know who to root for.  Almost all the characters seem to have committed shady acts in the past.  One thing that is never in question, however, is Joanna’s attraction to Ethan and vice versa.  Readers will root for these star-crossed lovers, and in the end it will come down to this observation made by Ethan – “Love might sacrifice, but it never dies.”

Leslie Stokes