A Knight in Shining Armor

This book was only the first 4 chapters. The rest of the book is missing!

I'm sorry, everyone I talk to says they really liked this book but I honestly just can't get past the weakness and stupidity of the main female character. She just really turned me off from the entire book. Just couldn't do it.

I love this author and as a teenager I loved this book. Now an adult I was excited to reread this it. Unfortunately I could not even make it through the second half. The heroine is an imbecile without any self respect or common sense. She says herself that she falls in love with every man that she spends more than a couple of days with. That pretty much invalidates the feelings she has for the hero since they are not earned nor unique to him. Their romance is silly and I can’t figure out why either of them fell in insta-love. I am a fan of insta-love stories and time travel but to put it plainly, this one sucks.

It's only showing 4 chapters! Feels like a ripoff to me!

Dougless is on a trip to England with her partner, Robert, and his spoilt-brat daughter, Gloria. When, after a fight, Robert and Gloria drive away and leave Dougless behind at a church without even her purse, she breaks down in tears on top of a tomb – the tomb of 16th century “rake” Nicholas Stafford. When a man appears, she refuses to believe he is from the 16th century – he says he IS Nicholas. She just thinks he’s crazy! Even still, she agrees to help him, as he is obviously confused about everything going on around him (or he’s acting so, anyway). They decide to do some research to find out more about what happened to him (he appeared to Dougless only 3 days before he was scheduled to be executed) – that is, who accused him of the crime he is to be executed for. I quite enjoyed this. I’m not a big romance fan, but I do like time travel. This one got even better with an unexpected turn of events in the middle of the book. Although, I did find Dougless to be a bit – I can’t think of a good word, but “flakey” maybe? I have no idea what she ever saw in Robert! I do feel like this was a tough one to find a good ending for, but I thought she did a good job with that. There is an afterword in the edition I read, which was apparently slightly rewritten from the original. The author said she tried to make the reader see a bit better why Dougless might have wanted so badly to marry Robert, but I still didn’t get that part of it. Despite that, however, I did love the time travel aspect of the book!

The book was great for what it was - a bit of romantic, escapist fluff. The main character was an absolutely horrible example of modern womanhood and the book could have/should have been about 100 pages shorter, but still, overall, very enjoyable.

I'm sorry, everyone I talk to says they really liked this book but I honestly just can't get past the weakness and stupidity of the main female character. She just really turned me off from the entire book. Just couldn't do it.

I enjoyed this as a bit of easy reading escapism. A bit predictable but an entertaining read. I love the time travel theme with a twist.

I cried at the end of this novel I really did! It is full of fiction and reality that it will take you inside of the characters, everyone of you will feel Douglas’s pain and agony, you will laugh your heart out in a lot of ways because it is a unique story, that will capture your heart as it did mine, you are going to laugh, cry, and wish this could come true, because extraordinary and enchanting love shouldn't just end and go away!

This book is a bit silly but its fun. Its a time-travel-romance-adventure-mystery through time.

This book made me realize that I hate romances, even historical ones with fantasy elements

I nearly gave this a five star rating, as the ending spoiled what was a very enteraining, funny, charming and enjoyable read.I have not read JD before and as I do love time travel stories, I was pleasantly suprised at how good it was.

This book was amazing. This was my first and only romance book I ever read. It was recommended by my mom and I loved it. I really enjoyed the time travel in the book on both parts. It was hilarious to see Nicholas react to the modern world. The sex scenes were done tastefully and not raunchy or nasty, which was great. I enjoyed Douglas' time travel as well. It was great to see that historical time in the book. Of course both Nicholas and Douglas had to stay in their time period, which to me sucked but there was a suprise at the end.

Now for the ending. As I said before, my mom recommended the book to me. She told me that her two sisters have read the book too and that for the ending you either liked it or didn't like it- there was no in-between. Sadly I did not like the ending for reasons I will not say because I don't want to spoil the ending for people who did not read it. The ending just wasn't for me. My sister and mom loved it though. So it really depends on the reader.

Even though I didn't like the ending, the book was worth the read and I absolutely loved it and recommend it for anyone to read.

One of my absolute all time favorites. I have reread this one quite a few times and recommended it to people also.

Looooooveee the book... Can't stop reading... I of my favorite books! Bought it 4 years ago but just finished reading it. Love Nicholas and love Dougless... Full of details and really touch me how the two of them connected. Love the faithfulness!!

I really liked this one. Good characters and a good love story.

lovely book about time travel and lasting love.Garwood showed that women too can be night in shining armors.the characters were both funny and entertaing.A must read

Even at the height of my love for Jude Deveraux's work, I hated this book. Dougless and Nicholas were both pretty unlikable, and the plot was filled with awkward moments between the two that actually made me uncomfortable to witness. It is a highly dramatic story, and I was compelled to finish it, but overall I was dissatisfied. Especially considering the overly tidy and convenient cop-out of an ending.

First published in 1985, this is a much recommended book and author in the romance genre. In this time-travel tale the hero, Nicholas, is summoned to modern day England by the need of the American heroine, Dougless, for a "knight in shining armor"--that, she tells Nicholas, is what "all women want...a man to rescue her." Two-thirds through the book she will also time-travel--to his 16th Century. When I first tried this a year ago, Dougless came across to me as a whiny doormat. It didn't help that in the opening pages marriage is described as what she "wanted most in life," and she's only with her boyfriend because he's "good husband material." I decided to give this novel another chance though, and at first my initial impression was the same, but pushing through those first few chapters I found at a certain point I was enjoying myself. That's because the author really was convincing in the book's historical details--I remember being struck by things like how she depicted Elizabethian dentistry and print. At first Dougless thinks Nicholas is illiterate, because he can't understand modern print, then he shows her the print and spelling of his era, and she realizes she can't make it out any better. Besides which, Dougless does grow in this book, and not just because of "love" but in seeking to help Nicholas she grows in competence and confidence--coming to his rescue. Nicholas, too, becomes a better person because of her entering his life. At points this piece of fluff still struck me as silly, and I had style issues. (Whoa, few romance authors can hold point of view.) Nevertheless, overall I found this an entertaining read, often funny and ultimately heart-warming.

This is one of the first true romance novels that I have read and it was very much what I was expecting....pure fluff. I really found it to be a bit over the top and unbelievable. I did enjoy the authors writing style which was rich in detail and very easy to read and found myself laughing out loud a few times. It was a good summer read but not the love story I was looking for.

I loved this book. This was the first book I read by her. I cried so hard throughout the entire thing. I love Nicholas' character, especially when she made him the brownies xD. I liked the entire theme of time travel. I usually don't like modern romance, but this was an awesome balance of both. I love how Jude goes into awesome detail of the historical clothing and lifestyle.

This one is a hoot! Dougless accidentally calls up the Earl of Thornwyck from his own medieval time. After several close calls and adventures in modern times, Nicolas (the Earl) goes back to his own time. Then Dougless finds herself back in his time, where she manages to change history enough to solve several problems. The characters are well-developed and funny. The medieval scenes are believable. The end is satisfying without being trivial.

This time travel is uniquely sad, suspenseful and romantic. I generally am not a fan of romantic stories but when my previous brother-in-law read this one because his mother and sister kept raving about it I had to check it out. I like many others, have read this book more than once and have loaned it numerous times over the years. One of those I had to have my own copy!

This is the very first romance book, which made me smile, laugh and cry. Read it three times and decided that I had to have it for myself. So now, it is sitting very nicely in my book cabinet, beckoning me to read it again for I-don't-know-how-many times. I must say, this is best book of all by Jude Deveraux. About time-travel romance, finding and recognizing true love even if its separated by decades of time. So, you will get to read about Nicholas realising his true love in Douglass's modern time and when he was returned to his medieval time (with no memory of their love), Douglass was 'transported' and determined to safe him from danger and once again, the strength of their love was proven. The scene nearing the end was heart wrenching when they were separated by time yet again, but their souls found each other, and they were 'reunited' and it ended with a happily-ever-after though not in a typical way. Best read with the 'dont disturb sign' outside your door.

Best love story I ever read. It's also the first adult romance I ever read :) Beautiful beautiful tale about a woman named Dougless who is abandoned in England and down on her luck and is saved by a literal knight that has somehow timetraveled into the present. Some comedy ensues, as Dougless thinks the man is crazy by claiming he IS from the past and has a little trouble understanding the modern day world.... but eventually the two fall in love......the ending is so heartbreaking though, it's not exactly your typical "happily ever after" ending.

If I were the kind of person who could quit reading a book once I've started, I'd have thrown A Knight in Shining Armor against the wall somewhere during the first chapter. I loathed the heroine. I didn't just dislike her or think she was a wimp, and I certainly didn't feel sympathetic for her.Dougless... and okay, let me get the name rant off my chest first. It's explained later on that she's named after a historical figure, and that fits with her father being a history scholar, but mostly it just seems like an excuse to indulge in the odd 1980s habit of giving romance heroines masculine names. And poorly spelled ones, at that--is she less of a Doug? lacking a Doug? Argh. I'm over it. I'll try again.Dougless Montgomery is on vacation in England with her live-in boyfriend and his 13-year-old daughter. I'm not going to bother describing them because they're not even as complex as 2-dimensional caricatures of The Most Obnoxious Boyfriend Ever and The Most Bratty Girl Ever. She's taken advantage of horribly, but there's no point in being angry with cardboard cut-outs. Instead, I think she's a complete idiot. Their actions are so over-the-top that only a fool would have put up with a fraction of it. At the end of the book, there's a half-assed apology and explanation, but I ignored it--it made no sense anyway.Once she's been abandoned at a church, things start to look up for the story. She's sobbing her heart out next to a knight's tomb, wishing for "a knight in shining armor," and poof! There's one standing next to her.He's Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck, and seconds earlier, he'd been in 1564, writing a letter to his mother while awaiting his execution.It takes Dougless a long time to believe him, but she feels responsible for the apparently confused man, and she helps him out. Eventually they decide the purpose of the time travel is to clear his name and prevent his execution. And while they're working on that, they fall in love.I'm not going to go into any further details, because the plot twists, and I don't want to spoil the surprises (surely, I can't be the only one who hasn't read this--though sometimes it's seemed like I was). Suffice it to say that the time travel aspect of this book is the most convincing I've read, and I've read quite a few time travel romances. Not the mechanics of how the time travel was accomplished, but the reactions of the characters.Dougless's inability to believe, and the things that surprised Nicholas, were absolutely real, as were their outlooks on life and love. I've read so many historical romance characters who are very untrue to their times--nearly all of them are against slavery, strangely addicted to bathing, and would never consider marrying for other than true love. Nicholas is not like that. He's a man of the 16th century, and he acts and thinks like it.Then add to that the emotional punch of the star-crossed lovers, and I was hooked. There are no easy answers for these two, and they know it.There are also some very funny moments that stick in my head--Dougless showing Nicholas modern conveniences--a calculator, the TV--to distract him, and Nicholas's reaction on reading Romeo and Juliet (they were disobedient children).The ending is very typical for time travel romances, but it's satisfying, and somehow more true to the spirit of the story than alternatives might have been. It's a hopeful, rather than a happy ending.So many, many people have cited this as their favorite romance novel ever. I can't say I agree, but I'd put it up there among my favorite time travel romances.

Best Time Travel , Knight, Historical Romance Novel I've ever read to date !!!!! It will make you laugh and cry. When you think of "True Love"....this book is it ! I re-read this book at least once a year and I recommend it to all my friends:) This one book got me hooked on Jude Deveraux ! Now, if she would just go back to doing Historical Romances instead of the Contemporary Romances that she does now :(

Possible SpoilersDouglass Montgomery is vacationing in England with her boyfriend/housemate Robert and his spoiled teenage daughter Gloria. The expected romantic vacation has been full of unexpected surprises including Gloria, the lack of an engagement ring, and the fact that Robert expected Douglass to pay half of all expenses. The three stop at an old cemetery and before Douglas realizes, Robert and Gloria have driven off with her, purse, money, and passport leaving Douglass to fend for herself. Inside the church, Douglas kneels at the base of an ancient tomb and cries for help. Suddenly a man dressed as a knight, armor included, introduces himself as Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck. Much to her dismay, he claims to be from the sixteenth century.Douglass and Nicolas lead each other on a merry chase. First, in modern day England where Douglass hopes to meet back up with Robert and later in the Elizabethan sixteenth century where Douglas attempts to prevent Nicolas from losing his head.I read the original shortly after its first publication in 1989, and since it’s been a while, I did not notice a difference in this 2002 version. Ms. Deveraux states in accompanying author’s notes that she has made several changes in the new edition. I enjoyed both editions. I like her historicals and the way she includes items about the everyday lives of her characters. I also know that if I need a good laugh Ms. Deveraux is more than able to provide me with one. This work has a something for everyone; romance, history, contemporary lifestyle, suspense, time-travel, and humor.

This is one of my favorites......truly a love story. I recommend it whenever I can. The ending is great and made me cry like a baby!

I was never interested in reading romance novels but this book was recommended to me by a good friend so I read it. I am so glad I did because it is one of my most favorite books.