A Knight in Shining Armor
Grade : A-

A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux is truly the definition of a Desert Isle keeper for me. If I could only have ten books to read for the rest of my life, I would want this to be one of them. I knew this book was something special when I read it for the first time while I was in college. I spent the night sobbing over the ending because I had become that involved with the characters. I've probably read it six times since then. I hadn't read it lately, which gave me the perfect opportunity to read the reissued version.

If you have for some reason missed reading this book, you should probably skip this review, since I'm going to spoil the entire book for you. If you have been wondering if the author change the controversial ending in the reissued version - I'll get to that in a minute.

In her own words at the end of the book, Deveraux states that she smoothed out the writing and added more explanation for Dougless' actions regarding her relationship with the horrid Robert. This was all so seamlessly intertwined that I really didn't notice anything different.

Now, about that ending. When I first read this book, it didn't bother me all that much, as I couldn't really picture it written any other way. However, over the years the ending has come to bother me more and more. Dougless returns to her own time and Nicholas remains in 1500s England. Nicholas achieves greatness but dies alone. Dougless meets Nicholas' re-incarnated soul, but has to learn all about this new man who is Nicholas reborn. This ending has caused a lot of readers trouble, since Dougless and Nicholas do not get a happy ending with each other.

Does Deveraux change this ending? No, she does not.

I've always loved this book because I think the author did such a great job with the details of Tudor life and the special love between Nicholas and Dougless. I would still want to re-read this book and take it with me, but upon reflection and the passing of years, the ending is not wholly satisfactory. Rather than the A+ it once was, it's now an A-. Those who loved the original version from 1990 won't notice the changes Deveraux made, but a classic's still a classic.

Reviewed by Liz Zink
Grade : A-

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : April 10, 2002

Publication Date: 2002

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Liz Zink

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