Apr
Beyond Temptation by Mary Reed McCall
Review By: Emily Morgan
Book: Beyond Temptation
Author: Mary Reed McCall
Author�s Website: http://maryreedmccall.com/
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: June 2005
Friday, October 13, 1307 was a dark day for the Knights Templar in France. Four knights meet in a rain-drenched forest after escaping the attacks. They are being hunted like animals and have no choice but to split up and make their separate ways to safety - to England.
Richard de Cantor returns home to Hawksley Manor after several years away in the service of the Templars to face the dark shadows of his past. His wife, Eleanor, is in poor health both in body and spirit and has not improved since he left her all those years ago to serve with the Knight Templar. The guilt that has plagued him returns in full as he once again takes his place as lord of his manor. There is one difference though, a young woman who has come to serve as his wife’s companion. A woman that evokes responses in him that he has not felt in a long time. Responses he is not supposed to feel.
Lady Margaret Newcomb was sent to Hawksley Manor as penance for loving a man below her birth. Serving as a companion to her distant cousin Eleanor her father thought she would learn humililty, but in fact Meg has found some semblance of peace. That is until the lord of the manor returns, a dangerously handsome man that makes her feel things she never thought she’d feel again. And he is a man she cannot have.
Both Richard and Meg have painful secrets in their past, something which eventually brings them together and makes them understand each other in a way others would not.
There are the added intruiges of what is going on with the Templar Knights and Richard is worried about his three friends who are supposed to meet up with him at Hawksley Manor. Will the King of England follow the lead of the King of France and attack the Brotherhood as well?
I really enjoyed this book and felt for the people in it. The story of Richard and Meg is heartbreaking. They have both suffered so much in the past that you really wish for them to find happiness and solace together.
Beyond Temptation is the first book in the “Templar Knights” trilogy and has been nominated as a Finalist of the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Medieval of 2005.
Emmie! That was great!
Another one for the TBR!
Mary, you rock!
April 19th, 2007 at 12:22 pmGreat review, Emily!
I can’t wait to read this one!!! Mary, you ROCK!!
April 19th, 2007 at 1:29 pmGreat review Emily!
And before you think anything bad, Mary sent me an email and said she’d be out of touch until this evening. So look back later for all the exciting behind the scenes from Mary a bit later this evening.
April 19th, 2007 at 4:28 pmThanks for the heads up, Haven.
April 19th, 2007 at 5:12 pmOk - I finally made it home after work (I can grab bits and snatches of time during the work day, but after around 2pm or so, I’m away from any computer until about 6pm, what with driving home, picking up the kids, and running them to dance lessons, play practice…well, you all know the drill! *G*).
First of all, thank you Emily for such a thorough review! You captured the conflicts of this story really nicely.
Now on to my behind the scene for this book…
Most of you probably already know that this book sprang from a snippet of an idea (I tend to do that a lot, I guess…see my comment on the origin of the Sweetest Sin and my idea that spawned The Maiden Warrior). I had this image in my mind all of a sudden one night, when I was in the “ruminating stage” of conceiving a new book idea (in other words, I was about half-way through writing The Crimson Lady, when I had to start thinking a little of what I was going to do next), when I got this mental picture of a knight, battle-weary and travel-worn, stumbling (on foot) the first few steps over the boundaries of his own lands and falling to his knees. He was returning after a long absence (from where and why I had no idea) and he was both relieved to have made it home and yet at the same time terribly, terribly conflicted and exhausted with the idea of what he would soon face (again, I had no idea what or why).
This mini-scene stayed in my mind for quite some time. Every now and again I would pull it out and run through it once more, turning it this way and that, sort of playing with it, to keep it fresh in my imagination.
Then, I had to put it away for a month or two while I went into the deep writing mode for finishing The Crimson Lady, which was due September 1, 2002.
Round about September 15th (there’s never the luxury of much time between projects, LOL), I was pulling out some historical-type research book (medieval, naturally) and skimming through them, trying to find something that would give me that spark of direction I needed to frame this idea, when I stumbled across an account of the mass arrests of the Templar Knights in France, on October 13, 1307.
It gave the details of the story, pared down here for space’s sake: King Philip the Fair (or Phillipe IV of France) sent out sealed, secret missives to every sheriff and constable in France with explicit instructions to open the seal and read the contents at dawn of October 13th. To break this commandment would be on pain of death. As the sun peeked over the horizon of Friday the 13th, all those missives - hundreds of them - were opened, and inside was the directive for the sheriffs and constables to arrest immediately every Templar in their province, without delay.
The armed forces of the king went out almost simultaneously all over the country, it is suspected (heavily armed - because after all, the knights of the Templar Order were known as the most fierce, deadly, and unstoppable military force the world had ever know…they were the elite forces of their day). By nightfall, nearly 6000 Templars were in French custody, some confined in their own preceptories, others chained and in dungeons. It was probably the most efficient and effective operation of mass arrest and siezure ever put into motion by any king of any nation.
Now here’s the jaw-dropping part of it (and if I hadn’t read it in several accounts from the time, I might not have believed it possible): a few Templars managed to escape. They slipped through the massive assaults, traps, roadblocks, and organized armies aligned against them throughout France on the day of infamy. Some accounts place the number at 24 or 25 men. Others less than a dozen.
It was spine-tingling history, and almost too-perfect-to-be-true. I felt everything sliding together in my mind as I read over those pages again, realizing in a burst of creative inspiration that four of those men were going to be the heroes of my first ever series (I’d had no intention of writing a series until that moment). And the first one was going to be the knight in my snippet of a scene, stumbling across the borders of his homeland, exhausted, bedraggled, beaten down by some horrible assault from without and within.
The assault from “without” was clear now - he was a Templar Knight, one of the few who had escaped France during the arrests by the very people - other Christians, after all - that he had given his life and blood to protect with his vows as a Templar. The assault from “within” was something I still needed to flesh out more. But when I realized this knight was going to be Richard de Cantor, younger brother of Braedan from The Crimson Lady, part of my work was done for me (and I can’t say more without giving spoilers for TCL).
It wasn’t long after that, that I talked to my agents, took a train down to NYC, and pitched the idea over lunch at the agency, to my editor. She loved it, they loved it…and I was psyched to write it. A happy ending all around.
So that’s my behind the scenes. If anyone has any questions, comments or just in general wants to chat about the book, I’ll be glad to post more comments.
Oh - before I forget - I did mention this to Haven as well, but I want to be sure you all know here…tomorrow, I will be checking in early, early (like at 6am) - but then I won’t be able to stop in at all until evening, because I have to attend a conference for all English teachers of College Courses in the High School at SUNY ALbany tomorrow. So I won’t have any access to a computer until I get home. So my posting of “behind the scenes” will be dependant upon when it’s posted here and when I get a chunk of time to write my commentary. I’m looking forward to it!
Last thing…I’m still happy to accept ideas for blog topics for next week. You can post them here or e-mail me privately if you want.
Thnks again, Emily, for your enjoyable review!
–MRM
April 19th, 2007 at 5:13 pmOh - slight mistake in the above post. In regards to the number of Templars arrested on the 13th…I meant to note that *some* accounts place the number of captured Templars (not all knights, BTW, but many sergeants, priests, and lower-born brothers who managed the farms) as high as 6000. Others say over a few thousand. Either way, virtually all the Templars in France were under arrest by nightfall.
Just wanted to clarify.
–MRM
April 19th, 2007 at 5:23 pmHi Mary!
I can’t wait to get home to read your post and comment!
April 19th, 2007 at 5:25 pmThanks for the extra information Mary
I found the book extra interesting since I’ve always been fascinated by the Knights Templar.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:38 pmAbsolutely fascinating. And we forgive you for WORKING :-). I should do that sort of thing more often myself.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:15 pmAbsolutely fascinating. And we forgive you for WORKING . I should do that sort of thing more often myself.
LOL! Yes, exactly what Lacey said.
April 19th, 2007 at 7:32 pmemily that was great! Mary, what fabulous behind the scenes story!! I love that you pictured the scene, picked his past, and then saw all of that in Richard… I so cannot wait to read this book- from what Emily said, I really like this heroine. I’m glad about doing the reviews in order of the way you wrote them… it’s all so much fun!!
April 19th, 2007 at 8:32 pmThese insights into Mary’s books have been fantastic as I have said before I have read the first two in the Templar knights series and have loved them and eagerly await Alex’s story.Mary your writing is a joy to read and I will be checking Rendzevous books out to see if I can get all of your books they will be fantastic reading during the winter months here in Australia. Thanks Ladies.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:17 amHave Fun
Helen
Loved the behind the scenes for Beyond Temptation, thanks, Mary.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:58 amHi Emily—Great review!
BEYOND TEMPTATION was my first Mary Reed McCall book and I’ve actually written a review for this book—it’s posted on Amazon. I thought this was a fascinating and thrilling story—that was very rich in historical detail. It gives the reader a real feel for the terrible torment and persecution the Templars faced from King Philip and the corrupt French Inquisition, while intertwined with Richard and Meg’s extremely poignant and tender love story.
MRM created two beguiling characters who though emotionally scarred—are valiant, kindhearted and caring souls—and she brought them together (after many thrilling twists and turns) and gave them the chance to heal each other. The end result… BEYOND TEMPTATION is a very satisfying and beautiful “second chance at a love” and “healing power of love” story. I definitely recommend reading it.
And Mary, I loved the spine-tingling feel of the opening scenes where the Templars are frantically racing through the forest—it pulled me right into their story.
Sorry I’m late with my post. I read this review yesterday, got distracted, and somehow forgot to come back and post to it—yesterday was a little busy. But I did have some good news; I won a hard cover copy of Eloisa James POTENT PLEASURES in the Squawk Radio 2nd Anniversary give-away. Woo-hoo!!! The Squawker’s are so cool—they’re celebrating all through next week too—and giving away lots of their wonderful books. Check it out!
I even mentioned Mary’s SECRET VOWS in Eloisa’s “Best First Lines” game.
April 20th, 2007 at 1:55 pm“I am Catherine of Somerset. A woman without place or time. A woman, God help me, without hope.”
Irene said: “I even mentioned Mary’s SECRET VOWS in Eloisa’s “Best First Lines” game.
“I am Catherine of Somerset. A woman without place or time. A woman, God help me, without hope.”
Awwwww….Irene, you darling woman! How sweet - thank you!!
And thanks, too, for the lovely comments on Beyond Temptation. I was thrilled when you wrote the review at amazon (and I’m still delighted about it now, since a couple other people have come by and give it one and two stars
which is tough on the old ratings, since I don’t usually get that many amazon reviews to being with. 
Your review is keeping my rating in the “respectable” zone, LOL).
You’re the best!
–MRM
April 20th, 2007 at 5:56 pmMary wrote: “I was thrilled when you wrote the review at Amazon…”
Mary ~ You don’t know how pleased that statement made me feel; especially after something I read today.
I really enjoyed your book—and since I buy A LOT of books thru Amazon—I was very happy to share my positive reading experience with other Amazon book buyers. Good or bad…I know a review is only one person’s opinion, but when I’m undecided or hesitant about purchasing a book, which could be for any number of reasons—I also know that I’ve been persuaded to BUY—by an enthusiastic, articulate, detailed and carefully thought out review.
And, I’m also happy to say that I’ve benefited from those thoughtful reviews because—more often, than not—I’ve been very pleased with the books they helped influence me to purchase.
Though I haven’t written that many reviews, thanks for making me feel that I didn’t waste my time on the ones I wrote—or may write in the future.
Isabel, I’m still counting—now up to 49,298
April 21st, 2007 at 1:37 amThanks, Mary for your compliments on our reviews.
Irene ~ Isabel, I’m still counting—now up to 49,298
Eeek!
April 21st, 2007 at 2:26 pm