Totally worth listening to more than twice.  Great story in production!

Title: Unending Love de Lohr Dynasty
Author: Kathryn Le Veque
Genre: Historical Romance, Medieval
Pages: 293
Published by: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc., 3 edition
Published Date: May 7, 2014
ASIN: B00BFJY222

Narrated by: Sean Patrick Hopkins
Length: 10 hours, 39 minutes
Release Date: April 14, 2014
Published by: Kathryn Le Veque Novels

Publisher’s Summary:

1234 A.D. – For as long as she can remember, the Lady Adalind de Aston has loved Sir Maddoc du Bois. Being sent away to foster did nothing to cure her of her unending love for Maddoc, a sentiment he did not return. Years later, Adalind returns from fostering as a cultured and beautiful woman. So beautiful, in fact, that tales of her beauty are legendary and a string of hopeful suitors follow her home. Maddoc, now faced with this exquisite and refined creature, is tasked, as the captain of the army, with chasing the suitors away.

One suitor after another is turned away by Maddoc’s blade. Some go easily; some do not. Meanwhile, Maddoc has come to know Adalind on an adult level and is coming to think he has been very stupid about rejecting this sweet and beautiful woman. In fact, the more suitors that come around, the more Maddoc finds himself succumbing to Adalind’s charms and soon joins the parade of suitors. Adalind is thrilled when the man comes to his senses and offers for her hand. Finally, what she has always dreamed of will soon be hers.

But a new suitor pledges for Adalind’s hand, a cunning and powerful knight who will not be deterred by Maddoc. Maddoc and the knight face off in several fights, each one more brutal than the next, until the knight finally challenges Maddoc to the ultimate battle to the death for Adalind’s hand. A brutal battle ensues and Adalind, in her attempt to help Maddoc, ends up nearly costing the man his life. As Maddoc lays wounded, presumably dying, the challenger knight abducts Adalind and flees.

Adalind’s grandfather is the great David de Lohr, Earl of Canterbury. With Maddoc lingering near death, David gathers some of his oldest and dearest friends to help rescue his granddaughter.

©2012 Kathryn Le Veque (P)2014 Kathryn Le Veque

My Review:

Adalind, the heroine, has loved a knight who works for her grandfather, David de Lodhr, since she was five.  She was so sure of it, she asked Maddoc to marry her then. Time changes much except this love she has for Maddoc.  Between fostering and away at court, she hadn’t seen Maddoc for six or seven years.  Her heart tells her the same as when young.  “The heart wants what the heart wants”.  She loves the man more than when he was a boy.  But a female just can’t throw herself on a man when it is obvious, he avoids any entanglement.  His job is to protect the keep and the family within. That’s it.

How many women would wish to have the beauty that Adalind had? Adalind was chased by every man at court, the women were jealous of her beauty and were mean and sometimes cruel to her. Hence, after three years she returns home.

She is with her family when Maddoc who now is captain of the guard for the keep sees her again. She no longer is the girl with the buck teeth, but an exquisite creature, so lovely, he had never seen a woman of such beauty. Worst part – he doesn’t even know how to flirt. With her flirtation, his heart is utterly caught.  She is his to protect—she is his, period.

Adalind has not only beauty from the outside, but she is also sweet, vivacious and unpretentious.  Her woes at court follow her home. Men come knocking at her door, insisting she accepts their suit.  Men battle for her.  It seems rather crazy to see how men grovel at her feet, at first, I was amused by the situation.  But it later became irritating and then just dangerous.  By that time, I had stepped into Adalind’s shoes and found myself escaping across the highlands for safety.

I love the way narrator Sean Patrick Hopkins portrays each of Adalind’s suitors, some are rather simple-minded and obtuse (I found myself feeling sorry for them), others were cunning using position and power in the clans to get what they want, still another will appall you what he would do to get her hand.  Hopkins makes the characters pop from the page.

Le Veque’s writing and Hopkin’s narration make for an exciting read with action-packed, emotional scenes, where men will kill and go to battle over the hand of a woman. Surprises await you. I listened to the book twice and it is absolutely superb.