The heroine of this book, Zahirah, is a Muslim assassin set to kill Richard the Lionhearted during the Crusades. But when she's unwittingly tied to Sebastian, a Crusader and one of her sworn enemies, the sparks really fly. The characters in this book are well-drawn, and the plot twists and turns are anything but predictable. The setting was well-researched and added texture to the already-spectacular story. I absolutely could not put this book down!

An A+ read from a not-to-be-missed author. Highly recommended!

I loved Sebastian of Montborne from his first appearance in WHITE LION'S LADY. He was noble and honorable then, but in this book he really lives up to his hero status. Strong, intelligent, sexy as hell, he is a hero to sigh over. And Zahirah, the assassin who has a secret mission to kill King Richard the Lionheart is one of the most tortured heroines I've ever read. I sympathized with her even as I wondered how she and Sebastian could ever work through the obstacles between them. And I loved the fact that she was actually a capable assassin and not just a misunderstood innocent who would never hurt a fly. Zahirah kicks butt and I loved it!

BLACK LION'S BRIDE is a definite contender for my favorite book of 2002. It's exciting, passionate, suspenseful, and very different from the usual medieval. Read it and you will see why I am raving over it! (P.S. to Ms. St. John or her publisher - can we get a story on Sebastian's Scottish friend Logan someday? He was great!)

From the minute I met Sir Cabal on Crusade, bloody dagger in hand standing over a dead officer (the heroine's husband, come to find out), I was hooked. When he and Emmalyn get together it is tender yet hot and never silly like some other books get. Cabal is dark and dangerous as the infamous Blackheart, but he is never cruel and Emmalyn is strong and intelligent as well as beautiful. I was so nervous when Cabal's dark secret came out near the end but the final chapters had me cheering!

I really loved this book (and her first one LORD OF VENGEANCE!!) and now I eagerly await the next one on Ms. St. John's schedule!

If you only read one romance book this year--this is one not to be missed. The only gripe I have--Ms. St. John does not write them as fast as I can read them. I wait anxiously for her next book.

I was a motivational "speak" junkie but didn't see results of daily affirmations until I changed to daily AFFORMATIONS.

This is a great gift book!

Two points of interest are worth mentioning here. The first is Augustine's mother, St. Monica. Throughout the book, Monica is an omnipresent figure in Augustine's life. She is a tireless Christian, and she does many things to try and bring Augustine into the faith. She prays incessantly, has visions and dreams from God that promise Augustine's conversion, and she follows her son everywhere he goes. Augustine gives much praise to his mother, but it's important to remember that he was writing this account after his conversion. At the time, Augustine must have been sick to death of some of her antics. He actually lied to her so he could sneak off to Rome without her, although she was soon on a boat so she could catch up with him. I also felt sorry for his father, Patricius. Dad wasn't really into the Christian thing, so Monica put on the pants in the family. Augustine even says that Monica made God the 'true' father in their house.

A second point of interest is Augustine's actual conversion. He seems to go through two of them in quick succession. The first is an intellectual conversion, as Augustine uses the texts of Neo-Platonic authors to prove to himself the fallacy of the Manichean theology. It seems the Manicheans believed in a Christ figure that was not fully divine, as well as the idea that God was a substance. Augustine shows how substance can be corrupted, making this idea totally incompatible with the idea of a perfect God. After all, if a substance can be corrupted, how can it be perfect? After the intellectual conversion, Augustine still can't totally believe because he can't give up the fleshly sin of lust with women. This second conversion finally comes about in the famous 'pick it up and read' incident in the garden. Augustine, wracked by his sins and on the verge of some type of mental collapse over his anguish, hears a child's voice singing, 'Pick it up and read.' Seeing this as a sign from God, he picks up Paul's Epistles and reads the first thing he sees in the book. He reads a passage about the evils of fleshly vice and his conversion is complete.

After this conversion, the rest of the book veers off on a tangent. Augustine examines the concept of time, in great detail, and writes an incredibly dense exegesis on the first parts of the book of Genesis. This section, with the exception of his discourse on time, isn't nearly as interesting as the account of his life and the fundamental changes he goes through as he tries to find the true way to live life. I do suspect that thousands have converted after reading this book because it speaks to every human on a fundamental level. The above description I've given doesn't even begin to cover the amount of information in this book. The Confessions is both beautiful and thought provoking and I would recommend it to anyone.

I do have a word of warning for those who are considering giving this one a shot. Avoid, like the plague, the John Ryan translation. It is wordy, dense, and not at all clear. Read this Penguin version, written by Mr. Pine-Coffin (great name, huh?). It is a clear and concise translation. It's one thing to struggle with ideas in a book, but why should we have to struggle with the syntax? Go forth and read, young man!

I'll read more of Oe's works.

From the moment the reformatory boys are introduced to the end of their abandonment and the narrator's final, fearful sentences, Oe drags the reader through the hell of his ambiguous setting. Pulled along with the narrator, his brother, and their reform school compatriots, the reader follows into the nightmare of a plague-infested village and their utter isolation. While the boys struggle to eke out their existence and build lives in their newfound freedom, one is constantly on edge awaiting the collapse of their delicate system. When, finally, the villagers return and the madness of the world indeed crushes their fragile independence, the reader emulates the boys in their sense of relief and subsequent betrayal.

One of Oe's first novels, the deft manipulation of the reader's emotions and interactions between the characters promised great things for the young writer. As I begin another of his books, I cannot help but agree that he deserved his Nobel.

Oe is a brilliant writer. This was the first book I have read by him, and I was taken away. Leaving no harsh image unspoken, Oe isn't bashful about writing details that may make the reader's stomache churn.

To describe the book in a very breif synopsis, a group of reform school boys get abandoned amidst a plauge. The setting is post World War 2 Japan and the boys find a leader from the narrator, and form their own community.

Children are forced to grow up far too fast, and their age has no relevance to their minds. Once the narrator becomes an adult, and sheds his last memories of child hood, even his pride of adulthood is stripped away from him.

Filled with beautiful sentance structure and much philisophical thoughts, you will find yourself constantly quoting this book. I have reccomended it to all my friends. It is a stunning read and was a Nobel prize winner.

review by Janet Knori, author of Awakening in God