Sin and Surrender
subtitle
Julia Latham

Avon Books / HarperCollins
December 28, 2010/ ISBN 978-0-06-178348-7
Historical Romance/ London 1847
Amazon

Reviewed by Linda Young

Sir Paul Hilliard had once been a knight in the secret League of the Blade; he was a Bladesman. The League had raised him and his two brothers after his parents had been murdered. The League was a secret society of knights that fought injustice on behalf of the innocent. But, like every secret society, this one had its secrets. Some of those secrets were what drove Paul to leave the League years ago. Now they have called him back. There is a threat against the king. It is up to the League to infiltrate the group of traitors and expose them. Paul is their only way to do this, and he is to have his own bodyguard and a concubine. That woman is Juliana Gresham. When he had left years ago she was a young girl that he had trained; now she was a woman of great skill and beauty.

Juliana Gresham was a Bladeswoman - a warrior who had been primarily trained by Sir Paul. Paul had been her teacher from the beginning when the League had taken her in after her father was killed in prison before he could come to trial on charges of treason. Paul had taught her how to fight and how to survive, how to blend in and how to go unnoticed, and how to hide her emotions and her feelings. Even though she had learned to rely on herself and her skills, she was still dependent on him as her teacher. And then one day he was gone. He had left her when she was still a young girl. But now she was a woman, a warrior, and a Bladeswoman, and she was to be Sir Paul's bodyguard and play the role of his concubine.

Paul and Juliana must spend their days and nights together. They must act their parts in public and share their bed at night with each other. The more time they spend together, the more they learn about each other. Paul has sworn never to marry. Juliana has resigned herself to a single life as a warrior. But when they are forced to spend so much time close to one another, the passion begins to invade their hearts and souls as hot and intense as their passion to win in battle. Will love find a way into the hearts of these two warriors? Will they find the traitors and save the king?

Julia Latham has done a great job of writing a book in a series that can stand on its own. I found the story very believable. As a history major I am very familiar with the cover story which they use to infiltrate the traitors in this story. Latham did an admirable job in weaving the story around these events. I was impressed with how she wrote it into her book. I have not read her others, but I am very interested in them now. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the League of the Blade series. If you love history, romance, and a good all-around story, this book is for you. It won't disappoint.

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