Settingnya di abad pertengahan, Sir Hugh the Relentless adalah seorang Lord sekaligus Ksatria yang ditakuti musuh-musuhnya karena kekuatan, keganasan, dan kegigihannya. Terlahir sebagai seorang bastard, karena orangtuanya meninggal sebelum sempat menikah, Hugh dibesarkan dengan idiom permusuhan, benih balas dendam, dan ketidakpercayaan pada cinta. Hugh ini sebenarnya juga tidak ganteng dan tidak seksi--bukan tipikal hero, tapi tetap saja dia punya intelegensi dan boleh dibilang, inner beauty (or inner handsome?) yang membuat dia sangat menarik. Dia juga punya komitmen terhadap apa yang sudah pernah diucapkannya. Sedangkan Heroine kita, Alice, adalah seorang fighter. Yatim sejak kecil dan ditelantarkan ibunya (lalu ibunya juga meninggal), Alice sudah terbiasa memegang komando di kastilnya. Alice ini tidak punya dowry (karena warisan dari ayahnya dikuasai oleh pamannya yang rakus), tapi suatu saat dia mendapat sebuah green crystal yang rupanya miliknya Sir Hugh yang dicuri. Saat ditagih pemilik aslinya, alih-alih mengembalikan, Alice malah mengajukan penawaran. Apa itu? Satu, Alice ingin adiknya yang pincang dibiayai studinya ke Spanyol untuk sekolah hukum. Dua, Alice ingin diberi Dowry. Sir Hugh yang ahli berstrategi pun balas mengajukan penawaran. DIa bersedia memberi Alice dowry, asalkan dia bisa memiliki si pengantin. Alhasil, mereka berdua pun bertunangan dengan dowry (seperangkat)rempah-rempah berupa dua peti merica dan jahe. LoLPertunangan ini pada awalnya disepakati akan berakhir pada musim semi berikutnya, tapi jangan juluki Hugh the Relentless kalo dia ga gigih merayu Alice sampai akhirnya mereka jadi nikah beneran. Dengan bantuan Alice, Hugh berhasil mendapatkan kembali kristal hijau yang jadi pusaka di tanah kelahirannya, Scarcliffe. Kristal itu sudah jadi legenda, di mana dikatakan bahwa ada harta yang tersimpan di suatu tempat dan kristal itu adalah kuncinya. Makanya waktu kristal itu hilang, rakyat Scarcliffe jadi ga percaya dan ga respek sama Hugh. Barulah setelah Hugh bisa mengembalikan Kristal itu (plus membawa calon istri), rakyatnya bisa mulai kembali hormat.Konflik di buku ini adalah mistery yang harus diungkap tentang siapakah orang yang berusaha mencuri kristal hijau itu dan juga rupanya kematian orangtua Hugh juga ada misterinya sendiri. Semuanya diungkap dengan mulus, ga maksa, dengan alur yang mengalir.Overall, saya suka cerita ini. Hero dan heroinenya smart dan punya ikatan yang tumbuh dengan kuat seiring dengan waktu. Konfliknya menegangkan dengan akhir yang ga begitu mudah ditebak, tapi tetap reasonable & logis. Scene romantisnya juga dapet banget. Paling lucu waktu Hugh yang ga pinter merayu, minta tolong ke kurirnya untuk dibikinkan daftar kalimat-kalimat rayuan buat ngerayu Alice di malam pertama mereka. So sweet. Hihihi..
I keep forgetting how solid Amanda Quick is when it comes to relationships. She's got a knack for giving us a believable couple- fun, lovely, and a joy to read really.Our hero, Hugh, defines what it means to be Relentless. He decides the heroine, Alice, is the perfect wife for him, not because she's quiet and beautiful, but the exact opposite! We've finally got a historical hero who's looking for a partner in life and not a woman who's just there. He doesn't do the initial lusting thing, which is much appreciated because he really picks her out for her brain and her character strength. He's also logical and smart so he knows he'll have to work on her before he can get her to marry him. I love love love that he doesn't think much about seducing her to accept him... he recognizes that he would like a partner rather than a side object in his life so he knows he needs to work on her in other ways.. too bad the heroine is just as smart so she gives as good as she gets from him lol.Alice knows what she wants, and she works hard to get it. She doesn't cower from scary Hugh the Relentless like everyone else, but she's sensible in her stubbornness. She doesn't get all shrew-y and mad, and she's just as logical as Hugh so she doesn't do stupid things. Their relationship is a really beautiful thing because they are honest with each other and they don't hold anything back. They learn to trust each other and when two smart stubborn people get together there's bound to be fireworks every time.This book lost a star for me due to the mystery surrounding the characters. Sometimes I feel like Quick sacrifices certain things in the story to make others better, like she was so focused on the h&h she forgot there's a story of vengeance and a mystery of the stones happening as well. The hero's vengeance seemed weak at best, and the mystery of the stone had a nice twist but it wasn't really resolved. I did like the whole "Storm bringer" theme though. I could envision it clearly whenever she wrote about Hugh's internal as well as the external storms. Since I don't mind a weaker story if it means a stronger h&h relationship I don't think I would have changed much here. I enjoyed reading about Hugh and Alice, and I know their kids are gonna grow up super smart and tough and ridiculously stubborn.
Do You like book Mystique (2005)?
I do not usually write reviews for books, but I had to comment after I finished reading Mystique by Amanda Quick. This has to be on my top three favorite Amanda Quick books thus far. Mystique goes way up there with Mischief and Ravished for me. The reason that this was such a good book in my opinion is because the hero in this novel was so lovable and kind hearted, even when the heroine did some very questionable things. The heroine, Alice, was also very likeable and made you like her very much. The undercurrents of humor in this novel had me laughing and not realizing how humorous the characters were. The story was not as predictable as most Amanda Quick novels and it leaves you with a suprise who the true villan of the story is. A tantalizing tale of a legendary knight and a headstrong lady whose daring quest for a mysterious crystal will draw them into a whirlwind of treachery-and desire. When the fearsome knight called Hugh the Relentless swept into Lingwood Manor like a storm, everyone cowered-except Lady Alice. Sharp-tongued and unrepentant, the flame haired beauty believed Sir Hugh was not someone to dread but the answer to her dreams. She knew he had come for the dazzling green crystal, knew he would be displeased to find that it was no longer in her possession. Yet Alice had a proposition for the dark and forbidding knight: In return for a dowry that would free Alice and her brother from their uncle's grasp, she would lend her powers of detection to his warrior's skills and together they would recover his treasured stone. But even as Hugh accepted her terms, he added a condition of his own: Lady Alice must agree to a temporary betrothal-one that would soon draw her deep into Hugh's great stone fortress, and into a battle that could threaten their lives...and their only chance at love
—★ Codie Papageorgiou ★
I loved this book. I loved the characters and the romance. I liked that the sex wasn't heavy and the main center. I liked the mystery and the excitement. At times Alice was a bit too headstrong bordering on stupidity but I liked her bravery and her loyalty. Of course it helped that Hugh was the whole package. Strong, great fighter and a smart man. I even liked that she didnt describe him as some perfect man, he always seemed too pointy with an over bearing forehead but I thought that was great. It would have nice to habewit confirmed that his father wanted to marry his mother but I get why it wasn't fully confirmed. And I would have liked to see Alice's uncle get some of his over due cummupance but that never happened either. All in all it was a cute little read.
—Raven R.
There's a lot I like about Amanda Quick. Her stories are bouncy, light-hearted, and easy to read, and this one is no different. I liked the hero, a knight who actually respects and supports his "betrothed wife" despite his reputation for being a tough guy. Kind of a modern mindset for a medieval character, but this isn't the kind of story you read for historical accuracy. I like that Quick always depicts her main characters as being intelligent and scholarly although, ironically, her books themselves aren't very deep. Still, a nice light read, and better than a lot of romances that are out there.
—Catherine
