Lynn Kurland's This is All I Ask

THIS IS ALL I ASK by Lynn Kurland
Jove Historical Romance
9/97 (Available) 422 Pages, $5.99
ISBN No. 0-515-12139-8

As if her life isn't bad enough with a domineering father who beats her and who wishes to sell her off in marriage to the highest bidder, Gillian Warewick is being betrothed to the "Dragon of Blackmour." Although thankful for the opportunity to escape her sire, she grows fearful of the evil that awaits her at Blackmour Castle.

She had no doubt that all she heard was true. She believed in witches and magic, and in men changing their shapes when the moon hid his face. And she could readily believe the rumours of Blackmour's harshness, of the beatings he dealt his servants, and the cruelty he showed to every soul who crossed him. And now, she was to be his. Exchanging one prison for another, with like jailors.

The Dragon of Blackmour holds secrets he does not want to share. Nor does Christopher Blackmour wish to have a wife. If not for a promise to his best friend, he would be holed up in his seaside castle at the Scottish border, alone with no one other than his servants.

Though afraid of her new husband and master, Gillian Warewick begins to adore her new home and finds a place for herself in the running of the castle. And although she believes that her husband will never care for her simpleness and ugliness, she becomes fond of him and wishes to please him. Soon, the Dragon of Blackmour sees more to Gillian than he has ever seen in any woman. If only he had something more to offer her than himself, he would embrace her as a true wife.

From the onset, THIS IS ALL I ASK rings familiar, much like the story of RIGOLETTO, with undertones of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. However, this story and its characters do not hold up to their forerunners, and I found the similarity to be a curse. Too weak and simple to command the attention deserved a protagonist, Gillian flounders through a highly predictable plot (reminiscent of Du Maurier's REBECCA), being absolutely sweet to everyone and annoyingly naive about sexual matters.

Christopher, with his dark secrets of a past love, plays a more interesting character, but not enough so to inspire the emotions one hopes to encounter in a romance novel.

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