Lady Valiant - Suzanne Robinson

A REBELLIOUS BEAUTY
Once Mary, Queen of Scots, had been her closest friend. Now Thea Hunt was determined to pay back the queen's kindness--by journeying to Scotland to warn her away from a treacherous marriage. But in the thick of an English forest, Thea suddenly finds herself set upon by thieves ... and chased down by a golden-haired highwayman who'd still her struggles--and stir her heart--with one penetrating glance from his fiery blue eyes.
A DARING ROGUE
As a spy in Queen Elizabeth's service, Robin St. John was prepared to despise this traitorous wench ... to enjoy her torment as he spirited her away to the castle where she'd remain until Mary Stuart was safely wed. But from the moment he beheld Thea's tantalizing golden eyes, her raven locks and stubborn courage, he found himself desiring her more than any woman he had ever met. And now, as captive and captor clash, Robin vows to use his every weapon to make Thea surrender--to the raging fires of his need and to the rising heat of her own passion.

Elizabethan stories always seem to include lots of spies, plots to help or undermine the queen and this one is no exception. It is a sequel to Lady Defiant (a sequel to one of my favourite Elizabethans, Lady Gallant) and as the previous book it doesn't come close to the first book.

Common to all 3 books is the love / hate relationship between the main characters. The heroes believe the heroines to be spies trying to harm Queen Elizabeth and they do their best to hurt, imprison and control them. Here I thought the hero worked on little evidence between deciding Thea was guilty. Not only that but in the beginning it seemed almost a game between them, with him accusing her of things she did not understood. I think the story has an uneven balance between some funny moments and some poignant ones and it would have been better served with choosing one or the other.

Robin catches Thea on the road to Scotland and due to her intriguing grandmother he believes that she carries messages to Mary Stuart, aiming at putting her on the throne instead of Elizabeth. He stops her and eventually imprisons her before realising that she is an innocent pawn. Unfortunately, like in so many other similar stories the hero never really grovels enough after what he did to the heroine and she is definitely too quick to forgive him. To forgive and to fall in love with him. Not only that but Thea ends up being the strong one. Robin is scarred by the treason of his dead wife and seems incapable of committing again. He is also estranged from his father because of the death of one of his brothers and Thea helps him deal with all that baggage.

In the end Thea really was a valiant lady but while this was an entertaining story it was not a memorable one.

Grade: 3.5/5