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If I Had You
by
Lynn Kurland
historical romance in a Kindle edition that was published by Berkley on October 1, 2000 and has 438 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Love Came Just in Time, Tapestry, Stardust of Yesterday, One Enchanted Evening, One Magic Moment, From This Moment On, Spellweaver, Gift of Magic, All For You, Roses in Moonlight, Dreams of Lilacs, Ever My Love, A Tapestry of Spells, Star of the Morning, The Mage’s Daughter, Princess of the Sword, Dreamspinner, River of Dreams, Dreamer's Daughter, A Dance Through Time, This is All I Ask, The Very Thought of You, Another Chance to Dream, My Heart Stood Still
Second in the De Piaget historical romance series and revolving around Rhys de Piaget and his family. The focus is on Anne of Fenwyck and Robin de Piaget in the England of 1225.
You really need to read Another Chance to Dream, 1, before reading If I Had You, if only for its background information about Robin’s and Nick’s parentage.
My Take
Okay, this was much better than the first in this series . . .
Kids can be so mean! If I Had You shows how that meanness affects you throughout your life. That childhood rhyme? “Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me?” Nope. It’s the other way around. Words always hurt. Ask Anne. Talk to Robin about his need to impress his “father”.
I enjoyed this and yet it was also annoying. Kurland uses third person dual protagonist point-of-view from Anne’s and Robin’s perspectives and . . . oy. Anne and Robin each go through such agonizing, relentless, repetitive whining, cutting off their noses to spite their faces. I wanted to smack them both!
Kurland finally gets around to Robin showing his love for Anne, and it will crack you up. Poor lad. Then there are the stories of revenge and battle Robin tells Anne. His idea of wooing, lol.
It is lucky for Anne that she did spend so much of her life at Artane. I can’t imagine Geoffrey as a loving father, and she only ended up with a stepsister to boot. Artane and the de Piagets are a much better bet.
Robin already has a formidable reputation for swordplay and prefers “the luxury of constant training more than the uncertain sport of war”.
”When I think, Grandmère, I always find myself in trouble.”
I do wish Kurland had let slip more about how Sir Montgomery was wounded. What kind of skirmish or ??? As for the Fitzgeralds, I want to know more about them as well.
Rhys and Geoffrey are still at odds with each other, even though they are allies. Rhys is determined that Anne stay at Artane and that he have a say in who she marries. Where he gets that idea, I don’t know. Oh, I understand the sentiment, but . . .?
Where do the bad guys get their delusions from? I don’t get Edith. What’s her problem? What are these hurts she talks of? As for her intelligence, shouldn’t she have foreseen what an idiot Maude would be?
Kurland has created a fascinating range of characters — the good and the bad. There’s plenty of action with attention to the times, its mores, and its physicality. I also enjoyed Kurland’s dialogue styling. It does flow well.
The Story
It’s the end for Anne of Fenwyck. She’s been in love with Robin de Piaget since forever, but he doesn’t return it. Now her father is adamant that she be married. A trick-and-a-half when she’s crippled and, she thinks, ugly.
Worse, Robin doesn’t want her. And she’ll lose the joy of Artane . . .
The Characters
Anne of Fenwyck, a.k.a. Ugly Anne of Fenwyck, is the deluded Lord Geoffrey’s crippled daughter fostering with the de Piagets at Artane. And she’s treated as family by the de Piagets.
Sir Rhys de Piaget, lord of Artane and one of the most powerful lords in England, is married to Lady Gwennelyn “Gwen” (Another Chance to Dream). Robin, lord of Ayre, and Nicholas (he has a keep in France and other holdings in England) are his adopted sons who are off doing battle as knights. Jason of Ayre, Robin’s cousin, is Sir Robin’s squire. More of Rhys and Gwen’s children are the frank and headstrong Amanda (whose father had been Alain of Ayre), the brooding Miles, the sweet Isabelle, and the mischievous twins, Montgomery and John.
Sir Montgomery of Wyeth, the last of Rhys’ original guard, has died (Another Chance to Dream). The Fitzgeralds died a few years earlier. Other guards include Sir Richard of Moncrief. Stephen of Hardwiche is the unlucky page. John had been Alain of Ayre’s youngest brother, Jason’s father, and is looking after Ayre for Robin. Master Erneis is Artane’s current healer, trained by Berengaria.
The determined and very cultured Joanna of Segrave is Gwen’s mother. She has quite the entourage, and I reckon they’re each skilled in more than one way. Reynaud seems to know about hair. Wulfgar the Large is the dancing master. Robin learns what today’s football players have discovered . . . dancing is hard work. Geoffrey is a master lutenist.
Sir Baldwin of Sedgwick is no courtly knight, but a bullying idiot. His brother is the heir to Sedgwick who has recently had a son, William. Edith is Baldwin’s evil sister. Both are cousins to Rhys through Rhys’ mother, Mary. The abusive Patrick of Sedgwick is their father and brother to Mary. Maude of Canfield is a baron’s daughter with dreams far above her station. Poor Robin.
Sir Guy is part of Nicholas’ garrison in France. Anne’s suitors include Guy of York. Past tormentors include Peter of Canfield (Maude’s brother) and Rolond of Berkhamshire, who now has a substantial wife, Alice, who wasn’t impressed by Martha, his mistress.
The Cover and Title
The cover is grim with its deep yellow-green background of rumpled fabric, its right edge an embroidered and be-pearled border. The minor text is in black: an info blurb at the top and another to the right of the author’s name and a testimonial below. The author’s name at the top is an embossed colonial blue shadowed in black and highlighted in a pale blue. The title is centered at the very bottom in a black-shaded white. The graphic is Robin’s wooden box with those four treasured ribbons hanging over the edge.
The title is what keeps going through each of their minds, If I Had You, and how glorious life would be.
