Risa's father forbids her to marry, and at last Risa discovers why--years ago, her father promised her to a sorcerer in exchange for his wife's life. Unwilling to wait around to lose her soul as part of a sorcerer's household, Risa flees. The sorcerer pursues, but to everyone's amazement Sir Gawain happens upon them and rescues Risa. Gawain offers his protection to Risa, and as they ride together toward Camelot the seeds of love are planted in them. But even as they fall in love, they are troubled by marauding bands of Saxons, sorcerous machinations, and Gawain's tendency to save any damsel he comes across.

I don't know exactly why but I just didn't enjoy this. Zettel conveys the medieval period well, and Risa's reactions to spices, servants, and cloth types tell you a lot about her society. But Risa herself feels like an anachronistic hodge podge of modern fantasy heroine tropes; if I never read another red haired archer who disobeys her father to be with the man she loves, I will still have read too many. Gawain at least is given a chance at depth, as he tries to be honorable even as he's stupidly susceptible to manipulations by ladies. Two side characters, Agravain and Kaye, comment on this, and I think a little more attention to this aspect of the novel would have made me like it more.

I didn't like the pacing; the plot with the Saxons is built up to be the big problem of Camelot, but then it fizzles away (presumably to come up again in some later book in the series). The sorcerer is defeated ludicrously easily and simply. Worst of all, I flat out disliked Zettel's rewrite of the Green Knight and the Loathly Lady stories. She actually manages to make the Loathly Lady tale less feminist. In the original, the hag asks her new husband whether he'd rather have a virtuous hag or a perfidious beauty as a wife, and the knight says she should be whatever she chooses. But in this, Risa is saved from her horrible disfigurement by Gawain's kiss. Additionally, the sorcerer asks the riddle "What do all women want." In the original tale, the answer is "sovereynté." In this, the sorcerer assumes that all women want "sovereignty" and Risa tells him he's wrong, all women want "freedom." What? That just seems like a difference in word choice.

Basically, I didn't like Risa, was unconvinced (and uninterested) by the romance, and thought the plot was a combination of poorly-paced imagined events and poorly-rewritten legends. ( )

Set around King Arthur's reign this book is an enjoyable mixture of folklore, magic and romance. Well worth the read. ( )

Did not finish.

I liked this story--mildly. I'm a fan of Arthurian stories and given this is the story of Gawain and his lady that helped. Being a fan I've read such excellent takes as those by Mary Stewart, T. H. White and Gillian Bradshaw. The comparison didn't help. This one is more in the mode of T.H. White in the sense history was played very loosely and the fantasy element to the fore, but there was none of the imagination and whimsy that was the hallmark of White.

It did help that this was one of the better Lunas. I had a friend looking to publish her first novel, and because of that I read this new line of books from Harlequin that strove to be placed in the Fantasy rather than the romance section, that were to feature strong heroines. I found them pretty formulaic up to this one and this didn't break the mold. Young heroine finds special powers and finds love. I did like Risa though, and found this a decent read. It's certainly better than most fair I've found on the romance aisle. But it doesn't compare well to high fantasy or Athurian tales for those who've cut their teeth on Marion Zimmer Bradley, Bradshaw, Stewart or White. I felt no desire to go on to the next of the series about the brothers of Gawain and their loves. ( )

I was prepared to adore any book written by a woman who's cat is named Buffy the Vermin Slayer. Unfortunately, this did not quite reach adored status. The story of Risa of the Morelands and Sir Gawain of the Round Table is filled with Celtic mythology and Arthurian Legend. Risa's father has sold her to a sorcerer and Gawain must rescue her. That's pretty straightforward, but there is also another witch who wants Arthur's throne and sees Gawain and Risa's issues as fortuitous to her aims.
The pacing is a little slow, but the characters are well-developed and sympathetic. Zettel's take on Camelot is not wholly unique, but she throws in enough of her own inventions to make this different enough from other Arthurian tales that it doesn't feel old hat.
This is the first book in a series, but I don't own the other three. From reading this, I would be interested in Gawain's brother Agravain's story, but in doing some research his is the fourth book, and I didn't like this enough to slog through another two 400+ page novels to get to that. In my opinion, the ending of a series book should make one long to pick up the next, but I am sort of glad this didn't. This way I can leave it here with a satisfying wrap-up, knowing Gawain and Risa are going to be happy and well. ( )