Kristie J’s review of Dark Sexy Knight by Kate Regnery
Contemporary Romance published by Katharine Gilliam Regnery 03 Jun 16
One of my favourite ‘outings’ is Medieval Times Dinner Theatre. It hearkens back to my love of Medieval Romances, though it’s been a while since I’ve read one. I’ve been about five times now and I’m always open to more. With this love in mind, I started this book.
My first thought about this book is sweet. Now, sweet can walk a thin line between ‘gosh, I really liked this one’ to ‘yikes, this is so syrupy my teeth are aching.’ For me it was definitely the first, so I say quite happily, “Gosh, I really liked this one.”
The book opens at a job fair. The hero, Colt Lane, is in a booth, along with an HR person, looking for employees for Legends of Camelot Dinner Theatre – basically Medieval Times. Colt, being a loner and a real grouch (my favourite kind of hero), isn’t all that thrilled to be there, but hey, it’s extra money he can always use. He sees a rather desperate looking young woman accompanied by a much larger man, who he can tell by looking, is a relative of the young woman, and he is special needs. The last thing he wants to do is get involved and keeps telling himself that. But, as with so many gruff-teddy-bear-type heroes, he’s a softie on the inside. He manages to bring them to the booth and really champions them to be hired. And they are, rather reluctantly, hired – Verity, our heroine, as a salesperson in the gift shop and Ryan, her brother, to work in the stables with the horses.
Colton figures he’s done his good deed, but then he sees them a bit later standing in the rain waiting for a bus and reluctantly gives them a ride. When he drops them off at a very flea-bitten hotel and realizes they are like two wee sheep in a heard of wolves, he reluctantly agrees to let them stay with him until they can find a better place. Notice that each thing he does, he does reluctantly? That’s because he’s an outward grouch/inward sweetheart. Colton is one of the ‘knights’ at the dinner theatre. He’s big and a loner, keeps to himself mostly. He also has an anger management problem that plays big time into the story. But, despite this, he’s so easy to love as a hero. He’s very protective of those weaker than himself and really does become their champion. And, of course, because this is a romance, when he becomes Verity’s champion, love and romance come into the mix.
Verity is hovering on the brink when Colton comes to her rescue. Although she is younger, she holds responsibility for Ryan. He was kicked in the head by an animal even before she was born, so he’s always been ‘slow’ to her. Their parents are both dead, they were older when she was born. Their farm was destroyed by a twister and they lost their home. Verity can’t leave Ryan alone, so they really need to find a job at the same place for both of them. As mentioned, they are staying at a ‘rent-by-the-hour’ motel in a very rough part of town. So when Colton first gets them both jobs and then lets them stay with him, well, she is beyond thankful to him. The fact that she finds him very attractive doesn’t hurt at all. When his protective streak comes out with both Ryan, who is easily bullied, and herself, well, stick a fork in it, she is done for anyone else. She sees past his rough exterior to the gentle and lonely soul he is within. And for Colton, no one has ever looked at him the way Verity does.
This is the next book in a series Katy Regnery is writing based on fairy tales. This one is loosely based on the legend of Camelot. I didn’t really see it – but that didn’t matter, I really enjoyed the book anyway. I’ve read her previous books and I’m very much enjoying them.
Grade: B+
Summary:
Loosely inspired by the legend of Camelot, Dark Sexy Knight tells the story of dinner theater knight Colt Lane, who meets down-on-her-luck Verity Gwynn on the worst day of her life. Evicted from their home, Verity and her special-needs brother, Ryan, must find jobs or risk being separated. Colt, who is the furthest-possible thing from a white knight in real life, comes to their unlikely rescue, quickly cementing his place in Verity’s heart.
Colt has dark, deeply buried secrets that keep his smile hidden and his eyes down, which has kept people away . . . until he meets Verity, who seems immune to his gruff manners and taciturn ways. The more time Colt spends with her, the more he longs for her sweetness in his life and yearns to be the knight in shining armor she so desperately needs. Certain he will lose her if she learns the truth about his past, he must decide if he can trust her with his yesterday in order to build a beautiful tomorrow.
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