"great late thirteenth century romance"

Attracted as much to the earl's rakish reputation as to his gorgeous body, Marjory de Warenne ignores the warnings to avoid Guy de Beauchamp heeding only the advice of her best friend Princess Joanna Plantagenet to go out and get him. She begins her seduction to lure Guy, who is used to women desiring him.

However, Guy finds this lady tantalizingly different. He sets out to stamp her as his. The siren is being seduced by the womanizer as much as the womanizer is being seduced by the siren. Both want more with neither satiated beyond the moment. Over the years as rebels constantly try to bring down King Edward's reign, Guy and Marjory find a love affair that supersedes infidelity, betrayal, and treason that engulfs the two lovers.

Few writers, if any, can mingle real historical people like Joanna with characters so that the historical figures come alive and in turn make the protagonists seem real as well as Virginia Henley consistently does. In INFAMOUS, Ms. Henley brings the late thirteenth century England vividly alive through the actions and intrigue of the real regal court as much as by her pairing of Marjory and Guy. As always this is must reading for sub-genre readers as Ms. Henley provides a compassionate historical love story that transcends the era it picturesquely depicts.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted July 4, 2006

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Summary

With her marvelous prose and period detail, New York Times bestselling author Virginia Henley brings England's High Middle Ages to glorious life in a tale of a woman like no other...

Striking silver-gilt hair and pale green eyes give Marjory de Warenne the looks of an angel. The better to hide her willful spirit. In spite of every warning, the headstrong lady-in-waiting has given her heart to the notorious Guy de Beauchamp, the Earl of Warwick, a man feared on the battlefield—and in matters of seduction...

But Jory's guardians choose a more suitable husband for her, letting Jory believe that Guy has betrayed her. Yet, even as England's bravest men ride off to put down the Welsh rebellion, Jory's thoughts are with the one gallant knight she can never forget—and the passion that will one day be rekindled amidst the march of history...