Knight's Treasure follows Lady Adela Macleod, surely not a great choice for marriage. She was abducted on the steps of the church before her wedding;
when the ceremony was rearranged two weeks later (once she'd been rescued by her abductor), things seemed to go
okay... except that her husband keeled over and died at the wedding feast celebration a
few hours later. Adela is normally a quiet and biddable girl, having kept house for her father and been rather a shadow to her louder and livelier sisters but the disasters of her marriages start her on a new path.
After the unexpected death of her husband, Ardelve, Adela is left in an unfortunate position. She should probably go with Ardelve's body back to the Highlands, but she barely knew him, was younger than Ardelve's own son who would have to take her in, and would probably not get on with her stepson's wife as the two would be occupying the same position: mistress of the house. Adela's friends and relatives all seem to know what's best for her, but she wants to make her own decisions now, rather than returning to being under her father's thumb.
It's when she's considering her options while having a good cry in the dark that she first talks to a mystery man who listens to her and helps her to make up her own mind. He arranges to meet her a second time in the dark, where they talk again - he is a friend she can trust, she believes. She also has a pretty good idea of who he is
- a Frenchman cousin to her father's fiancée. However, she oversees someone plotting the death of a man who helped rescue her from her abduction and tries to intervene
when she realizes that she has stumbled onto a big secret, and that her mystery helper might end up meaning more to her.
Sir Robert Logan is a Knight Templar entrusted with two secrets when he was young. He doesn't know exactly what they mean, but he has a strong suspicion that it may lead him to
a treasure in Scotland, or perhaps something more important. Unfortunately, others
also want this mystery treasure, including the powerful Earl of Fife. Even more troublingly,
these people believe that Adela may know something about it following her
abduction. Sir Robert and Adela find themselves having to work together to
secure the treasure and stay safe from the political machinations of the powers in Scotland.
Although billed as a romance, this book isn't particularly romantic. Perhaps this is a more accurate depiction of life in Scotland in the 1790s; pragmatism was far more important than emotion. Our hero and heroine evidently like each other and have some reasonable verbal sparring, but this book lacks that certain something
that makes romance come out from the printed page. It seems as if the book focuses more on the treasure hunt; although that
is interesting, it is also rather a foregone conclusion.
The writing style is good with some excellent period detail, much of which shows the difficulties of life in those times.
Some stray Americanisms sneak into the speech, but generally the setting is convincing and the history accurate. The book
lets down a little on characterization. I didn't feel that I got to know either hero or heroine particularly well, and I
found their love story rather disappointing. Knight's Treasure will probably appeal more to those who are interested in the history of these times rather than
those after a straight romance, but it's still a worthwhile read.