Review: Destiny, thy name is Christien Chevalier
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 2, 2012
***original review posted at Romancing Rakes For The Love of Romance***A woman walks into a bar... Yeah, that would make a great joke but it's not what this book is about. Yes, a woman does walk into bar but she ends up having the shock of her life as well as meeting the one man she is destined to be with.Christien Chevalier has lived for seven centuries and is tasked to guard the Templar treasure from getting into the wrong hands and bringing on the end of the world. In the fourteenth century, he was Templar Knight. He fell in love with the lady of the manor, Madelaine, Countess of Flandres. Alas, he was too noble to make a move and lost her at the hands of the overreaching, jealous castle wh*re.Seven centuries later, Lainie Alexander walks into his nightclub and he thinks he's seeing things. What terrible, horrible, no good being would reincarnate her to taunt him? After all these long years of almost becoming at one with his sad,lonely, empty heart, Madelaine or someone that looks exactly like her is here.Madelaine or rather, Lainie Alexander is sent to the nightclub by her mean girl boss Giselle to get papers signed. What the french toast? Really? Couldn't Giselle send her at a more reasonable time? Good grief! The bouncer tells Lainie that he knows nothing about an appointment and she has to go to the end of the line. Fifty-eight minutes later and twenty dollars poorer, Lainie finally gets into the club. As she's trying to find Chevalier or anyone who knows where he might be, she gets grabbed by some drunk guy. *insert clopping of horse hooves and some trumpeting* Enter the dark knight. I mean, a knight in an exquisitely cut suit.Christien is momentarily shaken after seeing Lainie, rescuing her and flipping through the papers that he's supposed to sign. At first, he wonders if Lainie is working for Etienne Lucheux, his archenemy. A distraction of sorts. Or perhaps to get to the treasure.After meeting Christien, Lainie begins to have very vivid dreams of a woman who shared her name. Fourteenth century Madelaine was married to a vile count who only married her for her family connections (how typical) and enjoys punishing her for any sin she has committed. Even going as far as making up things. His punishments not only include verbal abuse but physical abuse as well and god help her, Madelaine endures each and every one. The only light in her life is Christien. She is drawn to him from the moment their eyes meet and he to her. Madelaine's husband's right hand man has a thing for her and he's lude, crude and sweet jaysus, I wanted to call him out. So gross. Can I say that he's villainously vile?Christien wants to protect Lainie, even going as far as having her move in with him after she gets pushed in front of a car. Lainie is only working for Lucheaux because of the pay. Her father is in an expensive nursing home after losing it when the government took their farm away and she also has student loans to pay. The lure of the paycheck is too great.Christien must find a way to convince Lainie that she is his Madeleine, reincarnated. He must also find a way to keep her and the Templar treasure safe. Should all seven seals break, h*ll would break loose (literally). With danger at every turn (whether it's in the fourteenth century or the twenty first) Madeleine and Christien are destined to be together. She is his destruction and salvation. She holds the key.Trading in their mortality, Lucien (Madelaine's husband's right hand man) and Giselle (the overreaching, jealous castle wh*re) want to be come one of the horsemen of the apocalypse. Lucien, to this day is still attracted to Madeleine (in the form of Lainie) and Giselle is still as jealous as ever.As the danger closes in, Christien must protect Madeleine at any cost even if it means re-living seven centuries twice and convince her that they are destined to be together. Lainie must come to grips that she is indeed the Madeleine she keeps dreaming about. The dreams are vivid, in freaking techinicolor and surround sound. Christien has her convinced when he tells her things from her dreams that she hasn't told him. When all is revealed, Christien and Madeleine may have to sacrifice their love. Again.OMG! What a well written, heart breaking read that beautifully blends the past and the present into a giant rollercoaster of emotion that had me sobbing like I'd just lost my nearest and dearest. I was stunned. Utterly floored. Holy carp! Ah-mazing. I can tell you that I will be reading more Sharon Cullen.***review copy from Netgalley***