Knight of Pleasure started out as a promising read; the heroine seemed interesting and a little different, the conflict looked intriguing, and the historical details appeared to be authentic. Unfortunately, the book failed to deliver on its promise. Instead, it descended into Cliché-land. The details remained well-researched, but the behavior of the hero and heroine became increasingly predictable and tiresome. By the end I could hardly wait for it to be over.

Lady Isobel Hume was the apple of her father’s eye, and he raised her indulgently, letting her practice swordplay with the boys and generally cavort as she wished. It all ended when she was married off to an old man when she was only fifteen. The match allowed her father to regain his lands, and no one really thought her husband would live for eight years. When he finally dies, Isobel believes that she is mistress of her own lands – until she discovers that her husband was hoodwinked into believing that he had a son. Isobel petitions a bishop, who tells her that in order to gain the king’s favor, she’ll need to be married of to a nobleman in the newly reconquered Normandy. She goes off to France unwillingly, figuring that the king’s choice for her husband can’t be worse than her father’s.

Sir Stephen Carleton is a knight/spy/apparent male slut. He serves King Henry, and most of his assignations are politically motivated, but most people don’t know that. He meets Isobel as she is waiting for her new betrothed, Lord de Roche. De Roche is a somewhat slippery character, and Henry wants Isobel to keep an eye on him and gauge his loyalty – when he finally shows up in Caen. While Isobel waits for de Roche to claim her as his bride, the king has appointed Sir Robert to watch over her. Robert actually wants Isobel to marry Stephen, and is secretly working to make that happen. Stephen and Isobel share an immediate connection. He helps her progress with her sword-fighting skills, and before he knows it, he’s in love with her. Isobel returns his feelings, but knows she must marry de Roche.

And that’s more or less it. They reach the “we’re in loooooove” point early on, but Isobel Won’t. Marry. Stephen. They sleep together, and he proposes. She refuses. This happens many times. She refuses to argue on her own behalf, even when de Roche finally shows up and anyone can tell he’s a real jerk. Isobel has about a thousand reasons: She needs to do her duty, she thinks Stephen will be unfaithful, she can’t make Henry mad, she isn’t sure Stephen loves her, blah, blah, blah. Oh, and at one point, she decides Stephen must be in love with his sister-in-law. The whole process is so relentlessly irritating that I decided early on that Stephen should just give her up and find someone more worthy. And I usually like love triangles. So if you hate them, don’t even consider this book.

Stephen is a little more likable, and is nothing if not persistent and faithful. Which does make one wonder why Isobel is determined to believe he would cheat on her.

The strong point of the book is definitely the historical and political intrigue. Margaret Mallory has clearly done her research; this isn’t wallpaper history. The setting is detailed, and the time and place are very specific. I appreciated that it was set in Normandy and centered around actual events.

But that can only take a book so far. If you don’t have interesting, sympathetic characters (or you do have characters that start out that way, but you fail to give them a compelling conflict), then what could be an interesting read becomes a chore. Knight of Pleasure is part of a series. It stands alone fairly well, but since my reading experience was so laborious, I didn’t have much desire to repeat it with any sequels or prequels. Mallory would do well to continue with the great research, but she really needs a better plot to go along with it.