When Love Awaits: A Historical Romance of Revenge and Fiery Desire in Medieval England (Avon Historical Romance) Mass Market Paperback – January 27, 2004

It's a great quick read. I give it 4.5 stars. Rolfe and Leonie have a lot of misunderstanding because he lets his ex-mistress stay at his castle, because she lies and tells him she is pregnant. He doesn't think Leonie knows she was his mistress and he believes she thinks Amelia is his ward. Therefore he is not worried about her staying there until the baby is born. He wants time for Leonie to fall in love with him before he tells her about the baby. Unfortunately Amelia is telling Leonie all sorts of things that are not true. Leonie does not say anything to Rolfe as she believes he still wants Amelia, and she doesn't want him to know she cares. Rolfe is faithful to Leonie during the book, unless you want to count the one time he almost gets with her, but doesn't know she is his wife. A mistake he makes before he really knows her. He doesn't know what she looks like because she hid her face during the wedding and their wedding night, because she had been beaten. He left immediately in the morning, and was away trying to seize one of his 7 castles. He hadn't planned on being faithful, since he was only marrying her to gain peace. All that changes once he realizes who she is.I do want to say someone really knocked the violence on this book. I want to say that at the beginning Leonie does not want to marry Rolfe, so her evil stepmother has her man of arms beat up Leonie until she agrees. It is not covered in the book. It goes from you knowing he is going to hurt her, but hasn't yet, to the next morning. So it is not covered at all other than to tell how bad she was beaten. As far as the almost rape thing goes, she is captured and they are getting ready to rape her. They are talking about doing it right then, but have not laid a hand on her yet. Then she is recused before it even starts. I wanted to straighten that out.

good story, flowed well.i the characters were well developed.....I just became irritated with Rolfe because of his lack of understanding as to how Leonie resented Amelia, Rolfe's former mistress, living in the same home with them......too many secrets, too many misunderstandings as well that interfered...

Set in England in 1176, this is the story of Lady Leonie, sent away by her father to her dower keep because he didn’t want to be reminded of her mother (or so she was led to believe). When her neighbor, Sir Rolfe d'Ambert, a favored knight of King Henry, discovers she owns the land that is causing all his problems, the mercenary Lord of Kempston asks the king for her hand. Leonie knows Rolfe only by reputation and it is not good, but she cannot defy the king. Little does Rolfe know, he is about to get more than he bargained for.This is a fun romp through time when Henry II ruled England and reflects research into the people’s lives in that era. There’s treachery, rogues and villains aplenty with enough adventure to keep you entertained. Rolfe is a worthy hero who will have his way. And Lionie is an honorable woman who will have hers.Of Lindsey’s many novels, I would say this is one of the lighter ones, but still has enough historical detail and enough angst to satisfy.

Wow! I love this read! This is a very good read. I lived the h/h and his story. The hero was brusqe in the beginning , but was a sweetheart throughout the book. The heroine was female and sweet, but not a door mat. She was strong and assertive when it came to The hero, but was very prideful. I would definitely recommend this read.

When Love Awaits is a novel to read when you have read every other 4-5 star regency book. Most of the story is filled with misunderstandings between Rolfe and Leonie. Misunderstandings that can be straightened out easily and become too distracting to follow the love story. It is a very frustrating story line, and the ending felt a little rushed. I liked both Rolfe, and Leonie and felt they had excellent chemistry.I didn't like the fact that Rolfe kept his ex-mistress in his house without explaining the reason behind it to Leonie. Leaving her to believe Lady Amelia was still his mistress throughout the entire book. Lady Amelia's behavior throughout the novel infuriated me to a point where if I had any other book to read, I would have read it instead!All in all , the only reason I continued to read this book was to hopefully get a happy ending. The book has some very sweet parts between both Rolfe and Leonie. The ending was good if a little rushed. I recommend you read other Johanna Lindsey novels above this one first. To name a few, Hearts Aflame, You Belong To Me, Man of My Own, Savage Thunder, Gentle Rogue, Tender Rebel, The Magic of You, and A Loving Scoundrel.

This is my favorite author and to get one of her stories for $1.99 is more than a bargain it's an out right bonafided STEAL. I almost feel guilty for not paying more.It was one of Johanna's better efforts and I loved the Black Wolf. Though I thought he was a bit obtuse at times and he really didn't understand women at all and his lady wife in particular. I am glad I don't live in times when wives were supposed to both submissive and blind to their mates mistresses. I really would not have fared well in that time.I found it a great and very entertaining story and because it is Johanna Lindsey it needs no other praise nor reason to buy and read. She is one of the most talented of the romance writers alive today and you can never go wrong with her stories.BUY, READ, AND ENJOY

I had read this book a long time ago and recently decided to buy it. I have all of Johanna Lindsay's books except most of the new ones. I have to say that Ms. Linday's older books are all wonderfully romantic and I have loved every one of them. Her last books have been a real disappointment though. It's like someone else is doing the writing ... characters are not "connecting" and the story just rushes through. I just wish Ms. Lindsay went back to write as she did before and until I hear differently I will not purchase any more of her books.