King Henry is determined to secure loyalty from Bracken of Hawkings Crest by having the young earl marry into a family loyal to the crown. Bracken must therefore wed Megan, the younger daughter of Vincent of Stone Lake. But having lived so many years with nuns in an abbey, Megan knows little about romantic love or marriage—and her unmarried older sister's jealousy is dangerously ignited when Bracken becomes a duke in The Knight and the Dove by author Lori Wick.

This is one of the rare times when I returned to finish a book I once gave up on. While there are two other books in this historical ChristFic series I didn't finish, I really enjoyed Book Two. Admittedly, I came back to this fourth book because I was in the mood for fluffy fiction.

I wasn't unprepared for the caricatural villain(s) and the story's melodrama, and being so familiar with this author from the past, I already expected that some aspects of the story would be unrealistic for the characters and historical setting. Still, I found myself wishing that there was more to the plot outside of the romance—more politics and intrigue, and less of Bracken and Megan's constant overreacting and arguing.

I like that Megan has brains, compassion, and even pluck at times. On the flip side, she cries far more than is necessary for a good story. I strongly disagree with some of the novel's (sometimes contradictory) theological content concerning God's will, and I could have done without so much of the salvational preaching. On a more minor note, this is not the only novel in which the author overuses the time span of 20 minutes: the characters do "20 minutes" of this, and "after 20 minutes" of that.

Still, even as my preferences in Christian Fiction have changed over the years, I yet see the appeal of this kind of faith-filled, easy reading. But readers should regard this as more of a fairy tale than solid historical fiction. ( )

Will Bracken ever show Megan the love she longs for.

This book had been sitting on my shelf for a long time- so I thought it was high time to read it. I had seen mixed reviews, and my own were also rather mixed. In many ways, it was a sweet Romance which explored the deeper issues within relationships, such as learning to give and take and a good Christian Story which was not afraid to lay out the gospel and the necessity of repentance and surrender to God.

Perhaps since 1995, when this was first written, there have been a lot of other stories in this vein, and so it seems similar to a lot of other stories in this genre. Clean, edifying and certainly commendable- but, and here's my major complaint- I think there's a problem with books written in a particular setting by people who are not familiar with it.

The basic details seemed correct (except the tea drinking!), and the sometimes rather inconsistent mixture of modern and archaic language, and what seemed to be something of a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of Medieval Religion.

Now I know Inspirational Fiction should be evangelistic, and that most Protestants accept that there are fundamental theological errors in Catholicism- but seriously- Catholics believe in the Crucifixion and Resurrection, and they did in the 16th century. So for characters so say that their unsaved followers believed only in God but not in Jesus just seemed a little silly, and some of the attitudes contrived.
The other major historical issue was to be found in the last chapter. Elsewhere there were few details of the major political events of the Tudor Age, but in the Epilogue Henry VIII's marriages were mentioned- yet in a way that seemed woefully inaccurate. It was said of Katherine Howard 'Henry had found her guilty of misconduct' and executed.
Seriously-So the King could just have people convicted on his word alone- on a whim? I don't think so--- and Katherine Howard was convicted of Adultery- tantamount to treason for a queen- not simple misconduct. Talk about historical misunderstanding....

Finally- there were the names- some of which seemed more appropriate for a fantasy story. Bracken has to be the most implausible name ever for a sixteenth century English noblemen- but others were little better- a neighbouring Earl with an ancient Viking name- and a soldier called ‘Stafford’. Stafford is the name of the a city in the English Midlands-it’s a place name- using it as a personal name is like calling a person Manchester, London or Oxford.

Overall, I am glad finally read The Knight and the Dove but I’m don’t think if I liked it enough to read it more than once. I tend to prefer my Medieval fiction more accurate, the characters more well drawn , and maybe the story less cliched or whimsical.
One for giving away or leaving on the train, I think…
( )

This is my all time favorite book and I have read it many time. Lori Wick does a great job bringing the middle ages in England alive. I only wish she would write more in this genre. ( )

As with all of Lori Wick’s books, I wasn’t disappointed. She created an interesting story that had some odd twists and turns, especially in the beginning. I was pleasantly surprised at the turn of some events. This is another one of those "feel-good" books that leaves you happy. Read more: http://christianfictionaddiction.com/book_reviews/knight_and_dove.htm ( )