Castles in the Air

by Christina Dodd

Book Overview

King Henry commanded Lady Juliana of Lofts to marry Raymond, Count of Avrache. She refused. It was unheard of to defy one's king. What man would have her once he discovered her secret? what man's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061080349
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Avon
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Edge of Your Seat Reading

This was such a good story with so many conspiracies it will keep you on the edge of your seat and turning pages with a passion! Raymond, Count of Avrache, confidant to the King and cousin to the Queen of England - was commanded by the King to wed lady Juliana of Lofts - only the bride doesn't show! This not only causes Raymond embarrasment - but it also made him quite angry. Who was this Lady Juliana to defy a King!She should have known that sooner or later Raymond would come for her, but she mistakenly thinks he is the King's master castle builder come to build her another wall. Posing as a castle builder - Raymond who really has no idea at all about building anything (you will find some humour here) decides that it is a good way to find out what motivates this Lady Juliana and why she has such a distrust of men!This is an amazing story with so many plots, twists and turns, yet it still keeps itself very much a medieval romance. The personalities and characters are all complex and it is such a page turner trying to find out all the secrets that are the so central to the telling of this story. So many times, I found myself holding my breath.I truly enjoyed Raymond and Juliana - both with so much emotional turmoil scarring both of them that it was so gratifying to see them tear down one another's emotional walls and begin to heal each other's souls. Truly a wonderful story.

Very entertaining

I am an occasional romance reader. One day I was bored and picked up this book to flip through. I was very pleasantly surprised. The book had all the necessary elements to create a good book. It was funny, romantic, thrilling and overall had a lit bit of everything to engross the reader. I also found the descriptions of the era very interesting. I highly recommend this book to anyone even partly interested in romance novels.

Good Old-Fashioned Love Story Wins You Over

Although Castles in the Air has its share of intrigue, deception, and angst, it's definitely not a depressing book. That's because Raymond and Julianna are, from the get-go, basically two good-hearted people, who are destined to love each other. There are some different angles to the book - Julianna is a widow with two girls, her first husband wasn't evil (although just about every other man in her past was), and although she's plenty strong-willed, she's not totally goat-headed like a lot of heroines are. Yes, Raymond is the classic hansom hero, but he's got an endearing personality too. (Plus, he doesn't get along with his parents - don't heroes usually admire their father and worship their sainted mothers?) Another interesting side to the book is Dodd's attempt to portray medieval England at least somewhat accurately - the lady of the castle still sleeps in the great hall (enough of these castles with all these private rooms!), walls take years to build, 11-year-old girls aren't considered far from marriageable (or worse), pagan rituals are still observed, even by pious Christians. Some of the side characters are interesting and well-drawn (Kier just cries for his own book), others (Sir Hugh) aren't fleshed out enough to really understand. Love (the emotion) is very strong in this book, "love" (the physical act) is not as "fleshed out" (pun intended) as it is in other Dodd books. Overall, a great read because of the wonderful love story.

From beginning to end a wonderful love story.

This story will make fans of Christina Dodd. Raymond and Julianna were real people facing real issues. This book even had an exciting finale that will keep readers transfixed until the end of the book. Raymond was a true knight, to quote a couple of lines from a poem by Stephen Hawes on true knighthood: "And no quarrel a knight ought to take But for a truth, or for a woman's sake." It was especially refreshing to see that Raymond behaved like a man, and not simply a caveman by conquering what is rightfully his, but by being a sensitive human who is aware of the needs of other people. I strongly recommend this book to anyone, it is a sweet and complex story that won't disappoint readers.

Very Good

This is how a historical hero should be. Raymond was a man who was very sensitive to the feelings of the heroine. I am so sick of hearing the hero say that he is a warrior and he does not feel love for another woman because it will make him weak. And the heroine was just as great. She was strong, compassionate, considerate, logical but she had flaws just like everyone else. The love story was wonderful. You get to see this couple change and mature together and become stronger with each others support. Read this book! You will not be dissapointed!